I am going to take a different direction with this blog for a moment. This photograph is from around 1991, when I was an apprentice with the Local 48’s Electrician’s Apprenticeship program(1988-1992). Yesterday I saw David McElwie at the Oak Grove Fred Meyer’s (person in front, on the left of photograph), who was an apprentice in the same class that I was in. Through our conversation I learned that Gary Johnson, the man sitting next to me (to the left of me in the photo), had died shortly after our apprenticeship had finished. I began to tear up, and I cried for a little while in the store. The back story to this is that Gary and I had a “miracle moment” while we apprenticed together. One class day we had a major test to take, and I had noticed how mightily Gary had been struggling with the course material (it was much too easy for me, since I had 6 years of electrical engineering training). For some reason, I began to pray for him, something I would never even think to consider to do for most situations. Why I did here, I will never know, but, at the end of the test, Gary came over to me, and thanked me for praying for him. HUH? I was stunned and shocked. THERE WAS NO WAY HE COULD HAVE KNOWN THAT I HAD PRAYED FOR HIM (I always hid my ‘sensitive nature’ from the coarse masculine energy that permeates our electrical industry, and the apprenticeship classes were no exception).
We are all linked together on a much more fundamental or foundational level than we realize. Our thoughts may be nothing more than unfocused prayer, so be careful with those thoughts that we entertain in our private little worlds, because they always become quite “public”, in reality. Women’s intuition may be nothing more than a more direct, though intermittent, connection to the underlying truth that connects all of us together. Thank you, Gary Johnson, for helping LIFE reveal one of its greatest truths to me!

Bruce

Presently, I am 67 years old, and I am learning how to live the life of a retired person. I am married to Sharon White, a retired hospice nurse, and writer. Whose Death Is It Anyway-A Hospice Nurse Remembers Sharon is a wonderful friend and life partner of nearly 30 years. We have three grandsons through two of Sharon's children. I am not a published writer or poet. My writings are part of my new life in retirement. I have recently created a blog, and I began filling it up with my writings on matters of recovery and spirituality. I saw that my blog contained enough material for a book, so that is now my new intention, to publish a book, if only so that my grandsons can get to know who their grandfather really was, once I am gone. The title for my first book will be: Penetrating The Conspiracy Of Silence, or, How I Lived Beyond My Expiration Date I have since written 7 more books, all of which are now posted on this site. I have no plans to publish any of them, as their material is not of general interest, and would not generate enough income to justify costs. I have taken a deep look at life, and written extensively about it from a unique and rarely communicated perspective. Some of my writing is from 2016 on to the present moment. Other writing covers the time prior to 1987 when I was a boy, then an addict and alcoholic, with my subsequent recovery experience, and search for "Truth". Others are about my more recent experiences around the subjects of death, dying, and transformation, and friends and family having the most challenging of life's experiences. There are also writings derived from my personal involvement with and insight into toxic masculinity, toxic religion, toxic capitalism, and all of their intersections with our leadere. These topics will not be a draw for all people, as such personal and/or cultural toxicities tends to get ignored, overlooked, or "normalized" by those with little time for insight, introspection, or interest in other people's points of view on these troubling issues. There also will be a couple of writings/musings about "GOD", but I try to limit that kind of verbal gymnastics, because it is like chasing a sunbeam with a flashlight. Yes, my books are non-fiction, and are not good reading for anybody seeking to escape and be entertained. Some of the writings are spiritual, philosophical and intellectual in nature, and some descend the depths into the darkest recesses of the human mind. I have included a full cross section of all of my thoughts and feelings. It is a classic "over-share", and I have no shame in doing so. A Master Teacher once spoke to me, and said "no teacher shall effect your salvation, you must work it out for yourself". "Follow new paths of consciousness by letting go of all of the mental concepts and controls of your past". This writing represents my personal work towards that ultimate end.