DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS CONTENTS

By Dirk J. van der Merwe, author of ‘Scrap Religion, Live Extra-ordinarily’

 

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.

                                                                                                                             Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 

As a recanted Christian minister, the greatest loss for me, besides the lack of fellowship with people who believed the way I once did, was not being able to hear from God through the bible. You don’t lose your faith in the church, its teachings and the fount it draws its convictions and teachings from, and then go back to it for solace and direction.

            Even though I rejected the church, its teachings and its book, I still very much loved God and wanted to live by the lofty message I once preached. It became my heart’s yearning to know: how do I hear from God, how do I speak to God and how do I experience the wisdom of God’s word in the vacuum my decision left?

            Then one day, as if by a miracle, I found the book I was looking for. It had the most profound messages straight from the heart of God; but best of all, it came with clear instructions on how to talk to God, as well as how to receive a message from the Creator in return. It was fantastic! I was elated! It was epiphany time! Even if I memorize every thesaurus ever written, I’d still not be able to describe in words the joy, the ecstasy and the liberation the discovery brought. It also confirmed to me my decision to break with organised religion, at the expense of my career as a much sought after speaker, was the right one. God, the book also confirmed to me, is not to be found in temples, cathedrals, churches, dogmas, rituals, incantations and doctrine.

            From this wonderful book I learned:

 

1.      God is a strong helper in time of trouble and need.

2.      God’s Way--- the G.I.V.E-plan (as explained in my book)— replaces poverty with wealth wherever it’s implemented.

3.      Goodness, not might, is strength.

4.      To love and to be loved is to be truly rich.

5.      The leader of the people must strive for peace. Someone, please, explain that to Messrs Bush and Blair.

6.      To become brightly famous you must be forged through the heat and pounding of life. There’s a price to be paid for everything of lasting value… and the list goes on and on.

 

Here is the cryptic form in which these potent messages, in this marvellous book, present itself:

 

1.      Valerina Alexander (Valerina is Latin for strong. Alexander is from the Greek and means assistant or helper in).

2.      Victor Poorman, believe me Poorman is in fact someone’s last name. (Victor in Latin means conqueror. The poor man’s poverty is conquered by wealth).

3.      Agatha Strong. (Agatha is Greek for good. Strong naturally means strength).

4.      Amy Alda (Amy is from French meaning to love. Alda is old German for rich).

5.      Dirk Malcolm. (Dirk, is a derivative of the German name Theodoric, which means the ruler of the people. Malcolm has its roots in a Latin word, which means dove. The dove is the internationally accepted symbol of peace).

6.      Robin Smith. (Robin in Old English means bright fame. A smith is a person who moulds metal into shapes by the use of fire and hammering). Robin is my editor. She’s fast, effective and very competitive with her fees. Her web site is: www.robinsmithink.maxbizcenter.com

 

The magnificent book I got these powerful messages of God’s wisdom from, which also gave me clear instructions on how to talk to God, is the telephone directory!

            Every name in the telephone directory represents a real living person and each name has a meaning that carries a message. All you need to discover its richness and significance is a book on the meaning of names, freely available from your local library, and a little imagination to make it come alive.

Then when you want to talk to God simply follow the instructions in the telephone directory, which are: lift up the receiver and dial the number. No matter who picks it up on the other end, it will be God! God lives in people. Not in buildings or institutions. If the person you’re calling is someone you love, tell him or her, and then wait and you’ll hear God say ‘I love you too.’ If it is someone you’ve hurt or wronged say ‘I’m sorry’ and you’ll hear God say ‘I forgive you.’ You don’t have to spend years in a seminary to understand that, now do you?

 

            Do you know all of us are ‘Gods in hibernation?’ If not, then you clearly haven’t read my book, ‘Scrap Religion, Live Extra-ordinarily’ yet.

            The telephone directory is also the only book of its kind that doesn’t discriminate; it is so godlike. Even the bible is prejudiced, racist, sexist and mean in places. Not the telephone directory. No matter whether we are black, yellow, brown, red or white we are all equal in God and the telephone directory’s sight. Unless it is an Asian or other clearly discernable ethnic name you can’t tell from the name what the person’s race or gender is, unless of course a woman decides to indicate her marital status; it treats all of us as absolute equals.

The telephone directory is the only place all of us have a crack at being famous. Imagine that, our names in print right there amongst the rich and glamorous. It’s the only book that makes every one of us a somebody regardless of who we are or what our station in life is. In the church you are either clergy or laity.

            It’s the only book in the known universe that gives you immediate access to all the world’s knowledge. You don’t have to meditate or spend hours in prayer to get an answer to your questions. The answer you wish is just a phone call away. The only thing I consider well worth the time I spent in theological college was what the rector once told us in passing. He said: ‘Smart people are not the ones who know everything--- no one knows everything anyhow--- smart people are the ones who know where to find the answers.’ {The old scoundrel used illegal means to get me expelled from college because I was too mouthy for his liking. I was formally tried by the disciplinary board, but not expelled as he hoped. You have to read my book to learn what happened to him, because of me following the strategy my Inner Voice (God) told me to follow, seconds before I faced the inquisition. My book tells the whole hilarious story with its incredible conclusion}.

Through the years I’ve followed the rector’s advice to the letter; and every time the telephone was my means of getting in touch with the source of knowledge. When I want highly specialised information I simply phone the university closest to me and ask for the department that deals with my question. Like the time I wanted to know more about anachronisms (in this sense I mean words falling into disuse or undergoing a change where, in some cases, it means the very opposite it once meant). I phoned the University of British Colombia, and from the kind professor I spoke to, I learned there was a time when prevent, which today means to stop something from happening, meant the very opposite. It meant to prepare for something to happen. It makes sense if you think that pre means before and vent means to release; in other words: before something is released for happening.

Now that’s pretty smart of me to know that, wouldn’t you say? And to think I achieved it with just one phone call to a person who had to study many, many years to be so clever. It is much less time consuming than trying to get the answer from the Internet. I’ve learned educated people just love to share their knowledge with hungry minds. Seeking out their wisdom is the highest honour anyone can pay them. You really must try it.

            Do you know there are only two ways to get rid of pests that terrorise your life? I know both of them; a professor from the same university’s biology department told me. If you want to know too, ask for a free copy of my essay ‘The Blackberry Syndrome Born Out of 9/11.’ My e-mail address is: dirklc@intekom.co.za. Your e-mail address will not be stored for soliciting or any other purpose.

            With the miracle of the cellular phone you can now talk to God any time anywhere!

The beauty of it all: this marvellous book, like all God’s gifts, is free! Simply go to your local phone company and ask for your copy if you don’t already have one.

 

No, I don’t work for a telephone company, I merely want to make the point that God lives in people and divine words are written everywhere if only we’ll look with our hearts. So what if telephone companies may benefit from my essay. In fact, if such companies want to use it to humour their employees or customers they are free to do so, provided they meet with the conditions as spelled out at the conclusion of my composition.

Yes, with this essay I want to promote my book. About the title‘Scrap Religion, Live Extra-ordinarily’: Has it ever occur to you that the word ‘extraordinary’ is a combination of extra and ordinary, yet it implies the very opposite? Extra, in essence, means more and ordinary denotes plain, nothing fancy, down-to-earth. Why then does extraordinary, a combination of the two, mean phenomenal, exceptional and outstanding and not, as one would expect, simpler or more mundane?

My book will show you why those who rose to the dizzy summits of success and the complete fulfilment of their dreams did it nature’s way, God’s way, the simple extra ordinary way. If you love God, the truth and people, you’ll love my book. It’s packed with spellbinding drama, extraordinary experiences--- the stuff that ‘miracles’ are made of and great revelations that’ll have you sing the praises of God. It’ll show you how you can be guided by your Inner Voice (God) and be the person you were born to be, free from the soul-numbing rituals, pie-in-the-sky rhetoric, guilt trips and constant pleading for money of organized religion. It is guaranteed to give you some of the best laughs of your life, too.

 

Order your copy of ‘Scrap Religion, Live Extra-ordinarily’ from: www.1stBooks.com/bookview/12209 or phone your local bookstore and ask them to order it for you from Barnes and Noble; those in the trade will exactly know what to do.

 

Dirk only waives his rights, protected by international convention, if this work is passed on, duplicated, published or read in public, exactly as is, which includes the promotion of his book. Editor.

 

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