The little red book (← a pun is there folks!) I’m referring to is titled The Book of Prayers: Compiled for Everyday Worship. It was published in 1981 by Avenel Books in New York and edited by Leon and Elfreda McCauley. Most people would glean through its pages and think it to be dull. Maybe I did too, since I never paid much attention to it during the quarter of a century that it’s been sitting on my shelf.

Anyhow, earlier last evening, I had been brought down in spirits because of being reminded of the harsh realities Aspies face in regards to employment due to how illogical (insane) the work force scene is. It came from the book Theory of Mind and the Triad of Perspectives on Autism and Asperger Syndrome: A View from the Bridge by Olga Bogdashina (more specifically from Temple Grandin’s statements repeated on page 158):

“Many people with autism expect all people to be good. It is a rude awakening to learn that some people are bad and might try to exploit them. AS people often cannot hold down jobs as they are unable (and often unwilling) to ‘play social games’. They are straightforward (not rude). They cannot accept that ‘know-who (to please)’ is more important than ‘know-how (to do the job)’.”

If all people lived to please God, then the work force scene would be logical and sane instead. Oh well, that’s for the new earth — for now, there is still work to be done in this present one. Even though I enjoy most of the work I do,¹ in spite of not getting paid and never receiving encouragement or praise for it, I don’t enjoy being constantly compared to and judged against the lifestyles of ‘normal’ women today.

Enough said about what brought me down; now to what elevated me! Page 28, of the prayer book, contained one called For a Purposeful Life. These are the words which blessed me with the same peace that children acquire from knowing their boundaries given to them from loving parents for their protection:

“When we have found life good, O Lord, we have asked for longer days; when we have found it heavy, we have asked for a lighter load. Teach us to accept whatever comes to us as useful cargo freighted with possible blessing. Help us to wrest a blessing from circumstance, to work with thee in making all things work together for good because we will to live according to thy purpose. Amen.”

Living according to God’s purpose, rather than according to what I want God’s purpose to be for me, is a comfort zone that no prescribed medication can offer. I should know that by now. It must go to show that knowing is not the same thing as humbly abiding in that knowledge.

I don’t know what other blessings lay ahead from the prayers in this book, but I’m eager to find out. The introduction The Strength of Personal Prayer by Harry Emerson Fosdick is loaded with profound statements. I shall summarize this post with a portion from page 4:

“There are two aspects to every strong life—rootage and fruitage, receptivity and activity, relaxation and tension, resting back and working hard. A man who cannot do the former can never do the latter well, never! He who cannot rest, cannot work; he who cannot let go, cannot hold on; he who cannot find footing, cannot go forward. The offices of psychiatrists are littered with folk who have mastered the techniques of activity and aggressiveness and now are going all to pieces because they have failed to master that other technique: they have nothing to rest back upon.”

¹It’s the household engineering duties that can be a drag, but then when I feel that way, I know what’s in need of readjustment (me). Being thankful is the cure for most everything → the greatest is being spared from eternal annihilation!

I know those kids mean, “Get your own life!” Then I ask, “How does someone steal another person’s life?” Identities get stolen, but how does one acquire another person’s life? Even if s/he took the life of another human being by murdering him or her, s/he can’t absorb the recent victim’s life to have it replace her or his own.

We can waste parts of our life by not utilizing our talents to serve our purpose here on earth. Take me for example. Surely I must be wasting a section of my life and yours (assuming you’re still reading this) here and now by writing what I am, especially when it’s an absolutely gorgeous day outdoors (cold, but with bright Finn colors—blue and white)? But how do you or I know that my purpose here on earth isn’t to use my talent for making people think?

Whose decision is it to tell me what to make people think about? It’s my decision when what other people do, because of their lack of thought, affects my life. It’s my duty to affect the lives of other people. We’re all doing it anyhow . . . some unconsciously, some consciously.

So, who would disagree with the logic that since everyone is having an effect upon others around them, everyone should increase their awareness of what effect they are having upon those others? If they don’t care, then that means we, who are being affected by the I Don’t Give A Crap About You Syndrome folks, need to make up for their deficiencies. Maybe that’s why I feel like people think I care too much about how other people think. Why do I think that? Because there must be some reason for people often telling me I analyze things too much. Those are the ones who aren’t analyzing things enough (especially their own self behavior and thoughts).