Redemption Stories, Unwasted Pain:Book Launched

I've been sending copies of Redemption Stories to all the people whose stories are told in the book. It's been a long time since I've had connection with some folks...so it's been great to hear back from those that have responded so far. 

Zaher and I spoke on the phone. His story includes overcoming racial hatred and a past of walking down some seriously dangerous paths, with members of his gang. I asked him what he was doing now, and he told me that he was working with youth in gangs in the East Bay, trying to encourage gang members to leave the gangs. We both remarked on how his earlier "education" (read Chapter 7 in Redemption Stories) positioned him to do this work well. His life is a good example of one of the two ways of becoming a Samurai--walking the low road. I learned this from watching my favorite film: Samurai--the life story of Musashi, Japan's greatest swordsman. The two main characters are Musashi, a juvenile delinquent who has great physical strength, and his opponent who has gone to the best schools and received classical Samurai training. Both become highly skilled, but Musashi's training comes mostly from walking the "low road." Walking out into the world and learning from every experience that he has. These two men end up as highly skilled, equal opponents in the films final fight sequence. Zaher took that low road, and his earlier hard experiences are transmuted into unwasted pain. It was good to hear how and what he is doing.

I also spoke to Cecelia (Chapter 11). She told me that she kept her "rebeemd" car another ten years, and when it got too old she found a young man, a mechanic, and sold it to him for one dollar. He was putting the work into it to keep it running.

So the book is launched on the internet. I've sent out about 500 emails, and about 100 post cards, and handed out business size card about the book to those who were interested. Now I get to watch what happens...what kind of life this book will have.