Same Ole Or Something New

Over a chasm darkened by Washington’s war chronicles, corrupt leadership and warped values, the author of BREAKDOWN this time builds a bridge of global activism challenging flawed precedent and shining light on progressive possibility. At the heart of Same Ole or Something New is the belief that we can and must do better — the way it “is” is wrong and it does not have to be this way. A world multifaceted in cultures, traditions and histories, issues and insight, experiences and contributions requires unconventional thought, multi-diverse input, consent and competence in a process of re-recreation. The regressive ̄is” must be undone. Same Ole’s second half brings light to global voices and ideas outside the mainstream, which are eminently capable of uprooting power entrenchment. They personify Something New.

Why is so much of our existence so ordinary? Why this immense tract of stuff in our lives that seems to have no lofty purpose? In ninety short devotional chapters, Mike Mason meditates on this question, concluding that in fact everydayness, to the extent we embrace it, is a source of deep consolation. Far from being meaningless, the humdrum and the commonplace may actually hold the secret of life. Same Old, Same New—beautifully and provocatively written and full of arresting insights—will take your old tired world, stand it on end, and spin it like a top. “Mike Mason straddles two worlds, the quotidian and the eternal. Of course those two worlds aren’t separate worlds at all—and the reality of that intermingling, that co-existence of the mundane and the mystical, is perhaps the recurrent theme of Mason’s writing.” ~Ron Reed, Founding Artistic Director of Pacific Theatre

This book is written with Christians principally in mind, folks whose spiritual life has been nurtured by the sacraments. The Christians I have in mind are also seeking a practical way to enter more deeply into the sacred mystery of the divine presence on a daily basis in their walk-about lives. The sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Penance and Eucharist are considered from the viewpoint of the method they reveal for developing an habitual state of mind and heart that gives entry into a deeper daily connection with the mysterious presence of the divine in all things.

Without a question to hook onto an answer, even profound information can just breeze on by. From his previous six books, all of which explore diff erent aspects for how to deepen in the spirit, the author has selected about 90 of the most provocative questions. Th ese are grouped into three parts: 1) the good beginning 2) the good middle and 3) the good end.. Lots of space on the page between questions is meant to encourage refl ection and perhaps a written note, because the author believes that it is not the quantity of information that satisfi es one’s soul, but the quality and depth one achieves by going deeper following those questions that truly engage the heart. Th e author calls question like this “pathfi nder questions.” Good questions lead to good answers, better questions to better answers, and really good questions lead to superlatively good answers. He hopes that every reader will engage at least one superlatively good question that will, in eff ect, become a path to follow to ever greater spiritual abundance.

This volume is a compilation of six smaller books that were published between 2012 and 2014. They were written as though I were taking dictation. Some higher power unlocked the gates of inspiration and articulation, and I wrote almost continuously for three hours every day without ever fi rst composing an outline for any of these books. Instead of coming out as gibberish, they form a coherent, and I feel, cogent whole, and so I have grouped them together in one volume. Performance excellence in any fi eld requires, among other things, a clear goal that can be methodically approached incrementally in manageable steps and stages. Without a clear goal, there can be no cogent methodology. Accomplishment in the practice of a spiritual discipline that leads to excellent results is no diff erent. Together these books off er a clear goal and method for accomplishing what I feel is the universal target of every valid form of spiritual practice, namely, seeing through the illusion of our separateness. This goal is universal to every form of spiritual aspiration. The methods outlined in this book, therefore, bypass every form of sectarianism. They can be applied and practiced by anyone of any faith who is sincerely motivated to deepen in the spirit that unites us all.

If we all were not so distracted these days by one thing and another, we would notice more the fallout from our lack of focus. Sophistication in the form of multitasking is just one example; its become a synonym for cultivated distraction. Distraction comes in many forms. There is a time management demonstration in which a large jar is first filled with big stones, then pea gravel, then fine sand and finally water. At each stage the jar appears full until a finer ingredient is added to the mix. The point of the demo is to emphasize the importance of getting your priorities right. If the big stones dont go in first, then you will never get them in. This book invites the reader to focus first on the big stone of ones ultimate purpose. Remembering to remember to remember ones ultimate purpose is the first step in eliminating other finer forms of distraction. The erosion of meaning through the slippage caused by distraction is the overall theme of this book.

Jackie Allan was a normal teenaged boy, he aspired to pick up his grades and leave highschool and his hum-drum life and small town behind. But little did he know his trip down the straight and narrow road was about to take a shard turn Straight down the crooked path!