Welcome to the site of my memoirs!
This memoir is available in Ebook form from the following sources:
Amazon as a Kindle Ebook
Barnes & Noble as a Nook Ebook
Enter Doubt As Opportunity & John Potts in 'search'
Price is $2.99
This memoir covers the past 76 years of my life. It has been in the making for the past 10 years and finally published March of 2015. The book has many color photos throughout.
Below I am presenting you with the opening pages and contents so you will understand what the book is about. If you purchase the book, I would love for you to leave comments on the seller's page AND this blog page. I really would like you to start a conversation about the issues raised in the book. I will see your post below and respond accordingly.
Doubt As Opportunity
Full-Circle Memoirs
By
John T. Potts Jr.
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 of the AuthorClay Treasure Houses
JOHN POTTS BOOKS
Copyright © 2015
All rights reserved. This book is protected by copyright. No part of it may be reproduced without written permission from the author.
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-692-39749-7
Potts Jr, John Thompson
1. Memoirs. 2. Mental Health. 3. Religion. 4. Spirituality.
First published as Ebook March 2015 United States of America
Doubt As Opportunity
Arriving Home at the Source
Full-Circle Memoirs
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.
By
Arriving Home at the Source
(John T. Potts Jr.)
Doubt As Opportunity
DEDICATION
I dedicate these memoirs to the following people whose lives I wish that I had touched in more positive ways -
My mother
My first wife
I further dedicate these memoirs to -
My loving sister, the real family historian - she passed into the next life on March 5, 2011 - I miss her very much, and…
My second wife, who entered my life at a time when I needed help opening my eyes from being wide shut for so many years.
And last, but not least - my four beloved children and my two wonderful step-children who accepted me as part of their family.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD
In The Beginning
First Loves
On Becoming A Man
North To Alaska
The End of the Earth and Beyond
Higher Aspirations
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
FOREWORD
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 regrettably 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.
So, prospective reader, reference the "Mental Health" mentioned above, I talk about the rolls that the following played in my and my family's lifes:
Alcoholism
Adult Child of an Alcoholic
Adult Attention Deficit Disorder
Depression
Anxiety
Excessive Zeal and Compulsion
Fundamentalism in Christianity
Agnosticism
Mindfulness Meditation
Unitarian Universalism
Zen Buddhism
I also think you will enjoy reading about my colorful adventures in over 21 years with the U.S. Coast Guard and 6 other shorter careers which I gave myself fully to and enjoyed very much!
I will not get rich by selling this low cost book, but I wrote it for YOU, the reader, hoping that you might gain insight into your own life or how someone close to you may be living.
AND - Please - Don't forget to comment with your book seller AND also in the comment section of this blog! I would love to hear from you!
Bless you!
