Stairs Upon the Mountain (Unimproved Version)

Non-Fiction, Experiential. This is about a secular monk (Roman Catholic - lay person that keeps a lifestyle similar to that of a professed monk but stays in society and doesn't need anybody's approval or permission to keep office 2 to 4 times a day or buy a toothbrush); that's a hymn or two and a bit of scripture reading) who is now 69 years of age. Back in 1989 he spent 10 months at a Cistercian Abbey in South Carolina as a monastic guest. A monastic guest is someone that lives the life of a Trappist Monk, work and prayer, without actually being a professed monk; so he actually knows how to go about being a secular monk. Whatever, during his stay at Mepkin Abbey, he had more than his fair share of miracles, visions, locutions, etc.; and the daily work frequently put the man into a lot of pain. Bottom line, this previous artistically inclined idiot made a lousy chicken farmer and the monks at the abbey really didn't know what to think as concerns his unusual experiences; so at the advice of his spiritual advisor, this individual returned to society as most people in this country understand it. However, the unusual number of spiritual experiences didn't cease; and he returned to work long enough to save a bit of money and get back into college. He studied general business and electronics technology. He graduated with a degree in general business; then he tried to go back to the starving artist routine and proceeded to make one financial blunder after another, eventually wound up homeless and playing eremitic hermit living in a tent in a wooded section of Panama City Fl. All his own fault and a poor witness for Christ Jesus. His campsites were near a swamp, then a water runoff area. He would still be living in a tent, but vagrant's and children keep stealing everything he owned; so after 3 years he gave up on tents and managed to get a mickey mouse security job that included a climatic control storage room and held down a part time job as a care giver to someone that couldn't wipe his own butt. He worked day labor while on tent duty and also wrote this book; which is about experiential fun with demons, and other religious mystical experiences such as a Marian Apparition. Good stuff for a reader interested in spiritual growth. The author is now retired and living off SS Retirement benefits and a VA Service related disability 50% (skin cancer issues.) But he's still an idiot.