(Written in Spring 1997, updated Spring of 2021)
My name is William P. Beeler. My Mother, my employer, and the taxman are just about the only ones who call me that much more than once. I see myself as Bill Beeler. As you read these essays – it’s important that you have a feeling for who I am, and the basis for my conclusions. As you follow my search, you must make your own decisions. Is what I’m saying logical? Full of crap? You decide.
I was born into a Roman Catholic family on the 28th of December 1943. We were always active in the church. Mother was a pragmatic Catholic and zealous mother. Dad was a somber soul who saw himself as the provider and guardian of his family. Mother willingly dominated him. Dad faithfully followed and supported her in everything for fifty-five years. We never knew how much he loved to talk until Mother passed on, then he rarely stopped talking.
Getting back to me, I was a late Christmas present – three days late. The baby of the family. Sue beat me by 6 years and Lucia by 3 years. I probably would have been a junior. With three years between Sue and Lucia and ongoing uterus problems, Mother & Dad decided Lucia would probably be the last – so she was the junior. Dad’s name was Lucian, her name was Lucia. That is how I got all my grandparents in my name. William Patrick Henry got them all (William Henry Telker and Patrick Henry Beeler). Maybe that is why I enjoy family history so much.
I attended Parochial schools through junior College. Elementary school in St Joseph’s was a terrible experience. High School at St Joseph Prep wasn’t bad as long as I stayed on the edge and out of sight. I enjoyed the brothers and the male environment. St. Catherine was a non-experience that I knew I had to escape. I’ve never been religious in the traditional sense. When the Priest said, “The Mass is ended, Let us go in Peace,” everybody answered “Thanks be to God.” I always thought we were thanking God that mass was over and we could get the hell out of there. I still feel that way sometimes.
Sounds kind’a dumb that I, bi-sexual, rough-around-the-edges trainer of Soldiers should be sharing with others my search for God. What I am saying in these essays sounds at least suspect, if not down right heretical. Maybe I am a heretic at heart. I won’t try to convince you of the truth or validity of anything. I’ve been honest. I’m no prophet. I don’t pretend to be anything but me. You have to open your heart and make your own decisions. As I open my heart, I find that conversing with God is very simple. Believing is the hard part.
Albert North Whitehead, a noted Theologist, gave us good advice when he said that our effort to understand the philosophical is puny at best. The minute we start bringing in the idea of dogmatic certainty, then we are talking pure folly.
I was married to a really great woman for 49 1/2 years. We had three children. John David died soon after birth. That leaves two grown children with three grand children. Vennie and I had a good marriage. We lived in central Kentucky. We were members of a small country church where my father was raised – St Ignatius Catholic Church in Harcourt area of Hardin County. We have finally put down roots – Vennie and I have purchased a family plot of eight lots in the St. Ignatius cemetery. I am related to about half of the graves there.
Teaching and counseling has always been my first love and main activity over the past 30 years. As an Instructional Systems Specialist for the Army at Ft Knox, I taught teachers to teach and training developers to develop training. As Dr Jackson, the assistant commandant of the Armor School use to say, “I teach people how to teach other people how to kill large numbers of the enemy efficiently”. I loved my work.
I gave numerous workshops & seminars each year. My hobbies included Toastmasters International, computers, fishing, and writing. I enjoy watching sports from a distance.
Presently Things are different. I am obviously retired. My hobbies are computers, reading, and learning to be a better cook. Vennie and I separated in 2016 and divorced in 2018. She divorced me so that I could live the life I have always wanted to live. It was a friendly divorce and I am happy to say we are still friends.
As you read the posts labeled “Bill’s Musings” You will lean more about me, so I’ll stop here.
