Passageways

by Kim R. Shaffer

Kindness in your dealings with yourself and others will work wonders in your life. Much more so than rightness in your thinking. Are there things you are struggling with? Are there things you are wrestling with? We all have fears. We all have regrets. All of us are failures in some ways. These aspects of ourselves can be seen as burdens that weigh us down or as sources of wisdom and the bedrock of compassion. I have known the pains of being mistreated, and I have known the deeper pains of self-degradation. I began my quest for meaning and self-understanding out of desperation. In my search for the spiritual, I have traveled many paths, and I have come to many dead-ends, but I have been determined in my quest. I have had some remarkable experiences along the way, experiences that changed me, and I have learned one can take the failures in oneÕs life and make something else of them in service to others. I do not want to be believed and I do not want to be agreed with. I would rather you doubt and question everything I say. But in discerning, consider What really matters is not what is real and what is not, but what is good and what is not, what nurtures, what sustains, what gives meaning, depth, and substance to, and what takes away.

252 pages, Paperback

About the author

My name is Kim Shaffer. If you have ever heard of me, I would be surprised. I began writing and publishing in the 1970s, but my early work was never widely available. After more than ten years of writing very little, I began again in the spring of 1996. What started out as one book, over a period of twelve years, became a series of eleven books. I then began experimenting with different kinds of internet publishing. In the course of that experimentation, I went through all eleven books, taking just the best material from each. This was then formed into a single book, which I entitled Passageways.

When I decided to publish this work as an ebook, the book was edited again, in ways large and small. At that time, I did away with the verse-like format, which I had considered important at one time, but no longer. I then retitled the book, There Is A Light. I am explaining this, in part, so that if you should happen upon references to these other books, and earlier ones, you will not think you are missing something.

I am a Gemologist, by profession. My training and work in gemology has involved the identification, grading, and appraisal of diamonds and colored gems. In some ways, this may seem a curious choice of professions for someone preoccupied with spiritual and philosophical matters. Perhaps so, but diamonds and gems are beautiful creations of nature. They are rocks that are cut and polished to reveal their unique qualities and characteristics.

I have worked in retail jewelry, on and off, but for more than half of the last twenty-five years, since graduating from the GIA, I have made my living as an antique dealer. Antique quilts were my full-time business for a number of years, and they remain an enthusiasm of mine. Vintage movie posters have been my specialty for the last ten years.

My wife Cindy and I live in Kansas. Cindy is an elementary special education teacher. She is a saint, in many ways, and she has been the single most important spiritual influence in my life. My personal experiences and their spiritual dimensions are often the subject of my writing. As you will see, if you have not already read, I am usually the slow learner in these stories. Others are usually the sources of inspiration.