MASTERING SELF: A Postscript

This book consists of 200 white papers (brief essays) within the context of mastering self in a culture absorbed in self and beginning to disconnect from reality. Most live like kings compared to the rest of the world. Enter your income into a global rich-list calculator on the internet to remove doubt. We live in a culture consumed with consumption, possessed by possessions, and preoccupied in pastimes that indulge self—permeated with idols, materialism, technology gadgets, screens, entertainment, sports icons, and celebrities, where the mindset of many is self-centered entitlement. These papers are the work product of journaling through life to clarify what matters—beliefs, ethos, values, and destiny the other side the divide. They reveal the ponderings of an armchair theologian, backseat philosopher, and pastime historian. They present ideas, issues, inquiries, ideals, indicatives, interrogatives, and imperatives for perusal that may call for a second reading—those that stretch the mind, unsettle settled assumptions, give pause, or pinch the comfort zone. They focus on practical theology, philosophy, and aesthetics under assault in contemporary culture and politics, which disregard or reject relevant lessons of history. These papers are for serious thinkers who want to clarify their worldview with a biblical basis.