Three Pairs of Shoes and a Bundle of Books

About the Book

A blessing is a blessing only when it is shared. In this book, the author shares the blessings of a lifetime. The blessings we receive are God's gifts of the Spirit to each of us. They are, as well, God's gifts to others that we are chosen to bear and deliver, for it is by our blessing that we are empowered to serve as a blessing to others. It is in them that we find our talents, our joys, and the means by which we might bring joy to others.

Experience teaches, but experience is not the lesson. David wrote one piece in this book a week after his mother's death. He does not speak of the experience. You will find nothing in it about his mother or her death. The piece is about the lesson of the experience. Read the book. See if you can determine which piece it is.

To pray is to speak to God. To meditate is to listen for His response. This book contains both prayers and meditations. It also contains many of Dave's opinions. In fact, that is much of what it contains. When we realize an experience is behind us, and we yet live; when the lesson has been taught and learned; then the telling of the experience, the lesson, the learning, and the hope it generates are all summarized in an opinion. Our opinions are monuments to our having lived. This book is the monument to Dave Keele's having lived, thus far.

About the Author

Originally from Sedalia, Missouri, Dave Keele is described as an over-educated hillbilly of pioneer stock. He once noted that an educated hillbilly is one who knows "ya' all" is singular, and the plural form is "all ya' all." Regarding "of pioneer stock," David's grandfather was a cowboy in New Mexico territory in the 1880's. One of David‰*ªs gggggreat grandfathers was John Stewart, the first white man killed by Indians in Kentucky territory. (Stewart's wife was Daniel Boone's sister.)

Since many attitudes do not change year to year, but rather generation to generation, David's attitudes still center on three axioms: Shoot Straight! Shoot Fast! Shoot First! His philosophical development was impacted by three factors: Baptists, Bibles, and Harry S. Truman. Resultantly, he is attracted to Truman and repulsed by Baptists and Bibles. This has made of him an iconoclast, though not of the caliber of one of David's gggggggggreat grandfathers, who advocated the execution of King Charles I in an essay entitled "Eikonoklastes." He was the poet and philosopher, John Milton.

David graduated from college at age 20, and received a Master's degree in Economics at 21. He began teaching and, at the time, was the youngest college instructor in the country. Thirty years later, he earned another Master's degree - in Education. David taught at-risk youth in special programs in east and south-central Los Angeles, and in the California Youth Authority. Now retired, he continues to be involved with problem youth, especially those who have fallen victim to addiction.