Doubt As Opportunity
Full-Circle Memoirs
By John Potts
My memoirs covering my 76 years have been published as an Ebook available for Kindle at Amazon and Nook at Barnes & Noble for $2.99. Enter "Doubt As Opportunity" by John Potts to bring the book up on-line.
The following is a summary of the book:
A life filled with goals, adventures, zeal and… who knew what else was lurking beneath the surface? What we all should know about…
Mental Illness
and the search for balance in
RELIGION and SPIRITUALITY!
Includes Full-Color Photos throughout the text and of the Author's Clay Treasure Houses
At some point during a woman’s pregnancy, our universal, yet individual spirit entered the fetus, having previously agreed to this life during a training period (life-between-lives). At some point during our earthly life in these bodies, our outer-shell, this body will die and our universal spirit will regroup in the mysterious and glorious place for life between lives… healing, planning and looking toward a new fetus to join… It is a “Full Circle”… From a fetus to life, to bodily death to life between lives… back to another fetus.
FOREWARD
A wise man once said:
As I look back on my life, I say:
“Thanks”
As I look to the future, I say,
“Yes!”
In my mid-60s, (at this time I am 76), I felt the desire to relate my life experiences. These words are the result. I am so thankful for the experiences which I have had over my decades of living - well… many of them anyway! As I complete these memoirs, revised and polished over ten years, I am not sure who, or if, anyone will read these words. I hope that at least my children and their children will read this someday and understanding a little of what I have learned from living.
I faced life with an air of excitement. I had very little formal education, but have experienced many interesting things. Some of my experiences have touched many lives, hopefully in positive ways. I am sure some people will feel that I touched their lives in negative ways.
When we awoke this morning, we realized we had re-occurred one more time in these bodies. There will come a moment in time when we no longer re-occur in these bodies. That we may not pass this way again would be almost unbearable, except that it renders sacred, precious, holy, this moment in time here and now…
We’re having a party - it’s called life…
Can you come?
I think that I have tried to live my life as a sacred and Holy party. I have enjoyed my intuitions and inspirations . In retrospect I now realize they were radical and driven. I hope that someone else will grow spiritually from reading these words.
While traveling the path of this life, I was known by various names and titles used to describe my current station at the time>
During childhood I was called little Tommy and also became an older Brother.
As a teenager I dedicated myself to enter full-time Christian served - someday.
Upon enlisting in the Coast Guard at age 17, I asked to become known as John - a more mature sounding name… to go along with being a Bosun’s Mate in charge of a 40 foot Coast Guard rescue boat.
In my early 20s I became a Husband and Father.
Upon receiving the first specialized career training in my life, I became known as a Coast Guard Radioman Petty Officer.
At age 24, having turned my back on the Christian faith, I assumed the title of agnostic.
Upon graduation from Coast Guard Officer Candidate School at the age of 26, I was known as Officer-in charge Radioman School.
During my late 20s and into the 30s, I was known as ship’s Navigator, Executive Officer and Commanding Officer.
At age 31, I repented of my agnostic title and resumed being called a dedicated Christian.
In my late 30s, I became known as Water Survival Instructor, Christian Book Store/Art Gallery owner and Choir Director.
In my 40s and 50s, I was known as Pastor, Reverend, Foreign Mission Motivator, Voice of the Persecuted Church and Bible Smuggler… and somewhere in there at age 50, I became a Grand father.
In my mid 50s, I called myself an Adult Child of an Alcoholic, Addictions Counselor, Parole and Probation Drinking Driver Program Monitor and also, a Divorcee. I also became a spiritual searcher, exploring concepts outside of the fundamentalist Christian view.
In my early 60s, I became known as a District Supervisor for the state of Maryland as well as a Retiree officially on Social Security.
In my 60s and into my 70s, I was known as a Clay Artist and a Coast Guard Auxiliarist with the various positions of - Flotilla Commander, Public Education and Communications Staff Officer, National Division Chief, National Deputy Department Chief and finally Director.
In my early 70s, I might be known as a Meditator in the Zen tradition. In my late 60s and 70s, my wife has called me by my first childhood name from time to time - Little Tommy… almost back to the beginning of these full-circle memoirs of
One Man’s Path - From Here to… Here.
And finally in my mid-70s, my Buddhist name:
“Arriving Home At The Source”
I can count at least 38 different names and titles which I have used at various times to describe my stations in life. If I really thought about it, I could come up with a lot more subjective adjectives I might have used to describe my lot in life over the years.
I should caution any family member here who is reading these memoirs, that you might feel disappointed at the lack of intimate immediate family details. I offer the following explanation - the number of titles given in the above list is a very low percentage relating to family; the number of non-family roles I assigned myself regrettable reduced my focus on family priorities. For this I sincerely apologize.
The above titles (which at this time in my life seem meaningless) tell a lot about my unbridled radicalism and drive. However, rather than a bunch of mere information, I hope that you will be able to see the higher level of my stories where the nature of my identity is revealed. These stories touch on who we are and where we come from… as I approach the full-circle of this life called John Thompson Potts Jr a.k.a. Arriving Home At The Source.
CONTENTS
In The Beginning
First Loves
On Becoming A Man
North To Alaska
The End of the Earth and Beyond
HigherAspirations
Marriage - The First Year
Realities
The Disillusionment
On A Roll, er… Role
The Commissioning
Semper Paratus
Back to Paradise
Miami
On Spirituality and Command
The Voyage from Hell, er… Heaven
The Decommissioning
On Spirituality and Command
The Judgment of America
Semper Paratus Again
Rev. John Potts
Go Ye Into All The World
Me, An Adult Child of an Alcoholic
A Life Lived With Eyes Wide Shut
New Beginnings
My Seventh Career and More
Psychological Realities
Faith Stretching
My Life In Retrospect
EPILOGUE
Treasure House Photos
I do hope you will do yourself a favor and download these memoirs as an Ebook on Kindle or Nook. You will learn a lot from my life lived with eyes wide-shut and perhaps it will open your eyes if they are wide-shut... or help you understand someone else's behaviors.
When you read the book, I hope you will enter your comments on Amazon or Nook... and place your comment or questions on this blog site.
Sincerely in Love:
John T. Potts Jr.
Arriving Home At The Source
