'It's time to start creating harmony globally!', October 2, 2008
By Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
For those readers who purchase this book subtitled 'Memoirs of a Homeless Man' expecting to find a prolonged excursion into the seamy, smarmy aspects that surround the lives of the many homeless people we encounter on our cities' streets - a 'tell all' about just how grim life as a homeless person can be - then this book may disappoint. This is a not a down and out tragedy about a fallen man, though those aspects of writer Daniel Martin's life are patently clear here, but rather this is a book about hope, about finding some answers to universal questions the hard way - through the fog of drugs and alcohol and physical abuse to the ultimate light of recovery. But that summary doesn't do Martin's book justice either: this is a book that must be read to leap into the enlightened realm of finding balance that Daniel Martin so willingly shares. It is a book well worth your time to read and then share with friends who hopefully will continue the message.
A true story here, Daniel Martin reflects on a family life that was disruptive to say the least, a life that was bogged down in Hell and Brimstone fanatic religious zeal, pushing him to escape into the arena of drugs, addiction, crime, and homelessness at the tender age of 18 years. Failed 'relationships' (including marriage) and lack of follow-up during his several bouts of sobriety began his pattern of downward spiral, doing everything including selling his body to support his habit. But throughout this period of his life he passed through some supportive people's lives that left an indelible influence on him and eventually served as fodder for reevaluating his previously warped view of the universe and the presence of spiritual sense to what had always appeared to be a chaotic world.
Part II of this little book is devoted to Martin's now happy life as a clean and sober - and enlightened! - individual. He questions the image of God as held by fundamentalists, a God that can reign the breath of Hell as the threat for not committing to a rather narrow path of living behavior. Some of his courage to find the 'truth' at the core of all religions came from his participation in recovery groups, and some came from his studies and observations of human behavior, informed as he has become from exploring the bottom of the trough to survive and succeed in finding happiness in a world he struggled to create. One interesting aspect of the current mind of Daniel Martin is his altering the words used to address a supreme being, moving from 'God' to 'Creator Spirit' to 'Mother Earth'. And once Martin has talked us through his journey to light he tugs at the reader to find the courage to accept that we as humans are all sacred and programmable. 'We are all sacred and programmable human animals, not the wretched sinners some of us were raised to believe we are. Even when it comes to those of us who, like myself, have behaved badly on more than one occasion, with enough desire, anyone can change. Of that belief, I am living proof. What I've learned is that we're all perfect and innocent products of our education, upbringing, life experiences, healthy relationships, or the lack thereof. But it is up to us to either use those experiences for our betterment, or as an excuse for our misery.'
It is this sort of homespun but well-written philosophy that makes Daniel Martin's book and message important. He sees the desperate need for harmony in the Universe and especially on our abused Mother Earth. And he leaves his past history as memory-joggers to encourage us to program our lives in a positive manner. 'It's then that we will be able to decide between what is good and what no longer creates harmony in Paradise - building upon the positive and releasing the negative.' Daniel Martin has wallowed in the dirt as a homeless person to climb up to Paradise, a place where he believes we all can be if we heed his wise and caring thoughts. Grady Harp, October 08
