Tag: audio book

street dreams eps. 1-5

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https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-w9r6q-c8280c

Revised Version of Street Dreams Nov.9,2019

Street Dreams by Ken David Stewart

Introduction

It was back, big time. Harold Peyton found himself in the clutches of the most devastating episode of clinical depression that he had ever experienced in his sixty-five years. He was used to this. Harold suffered from the type of depression that was episodic in nature. He was not depressed all the time, but large chunks of his life had been lost. During these times, Harold would succumb to the vast darkness of depression, what Winston Churchill described as his ‘black dog’.

Harold just wanted to shut down and block out the whole world. He sat in a broken -down office chair adorned with torn upholstery. Harold was a published author and was working on a new mystery novel. The problem was that he couldn’t get his muse turned on. Every time he tried to think of a new idea to move his plot along, his mind went blank.

Harold just stared at the blank word document on his computer screen. Everything that he attempted was hard. Harold was grateful that he had a month’s holiday left from his part time job as a substitute teacher. To do a job like that you have to be able to get yourself pumped up and be able to think very sharply. Right now, Harold could do neither.

Episode 2:

Harold Peyton was exceptionally fit and healthy for a sixty-five year- old male. He was once a heavy smoker but overcame his addiction to cigarettes twenty years ago. Harold made his physical fitness regimen a top priority in his life. He rode his prized black and white Giant Mountain bike every day, even during inclement weather. On alternate days Harold would go to Shapes gym for a forty-five-minute resistance training workout. Although he was still a bit pudgy, he carried his excess weight well and was still a physically attractive man. Harold looked at least ten years younger than his chronological age.

Harold lived in a modest home in the suburb of

Elmwood in the windy city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He loved animals and was presently the proud owner of two dogs and two cats.

Following the frustration of fifteen minutes of totally unproductive writing, Harold got out of his office chair and walked over to the burgundy colored drapes of his picture window. He tugged on the cord that opened the curtains and gazed upon the outside world. The city of Winnipeg experienced an early bitter winter during November 2019. The picture window was covered with intermittent patches of frost and ice. Snow was now falling very heavily.

Harold honestly enjoyed the winter season especially fresh snow falls. He loved the way the tree branches looked when they were covered by shiny, white, snowflakes.

Episode 3 and 4:

 Today the beauty of the winter season had little effect upon Harold’s somber mood. When he was trapped in this mental state, he was unable to bring himself to experience joy in things and activities that had once brought him pleasure. It was as if his happy button had been turned to the off position.

Harold thought of his ex-wife Clarissa. They had been divorced nearly five years now. Harold missed Clarissa, but he did not blame her for leaving him. What woman could live with the frequent intense darkness of his moods. During these times Harold would totally ignore her as he closed himself off from the entire world. After staring out his picture window for about two minutes, Harold could hear his dogs barking loudly and sharply. He soon realized what was upsetting them.

A white Ford 150 truck was parked directly across the street from Harold’s house. He could see a large burly man with black hair in the driver’s seat. The man appeared to be in his early thirties. He was very angry at a young female who looked to be in her early twenties.  Harold watched as the young man pushed his female passenger out of his truck and onto the ice packed snow covering the road. He then tossed a large orange and turquoise colored duffle bag onto the street. It almost hit the young woman who was lying prostate on the street. The angry male in the truck yelled a few vile obscenities at his female victim and then drove away swiftly in his Ford 150.

Looking through his picture window, Harold watched the young woman slowly and painfully rise to her feet. She was wearing only a grey hoodie sweatshirt, black sweat pants with a tear in one knee and a pair of well worn red Converse running shoes. She was now standing in the street shivering on a cold day in March. A black Honda Accord honked loudly at her as he came close to colliding with the girl who now had tears streaming down her cheeks.

Episode 5:

Harold watched after the Ford 150 drove away. He stood and stared at the young woman and started to think what he was going to do about her. Harold didn’t even consider calling the police. Instead he opened the front door of his house and called loudly to the girl in distress.

“Come here young lady. You need to get out of the cold or you’ll freeze to death!”

The young female looked towards Harold with a confused and frightened look. She wiped the snowflakes off her hoodie and walked awkwardly towards the door that Harold was holding open for her.

“Thank you so much Mister. You may have saved my life. May I come in your house?

“Step into the living room and make yourself at home,” Harold replied.

“Thanks. Hey, I should introduce myself. My name is Whisper,” the strange young woman said as she found a place to sit on Harold’s yellow and orange patterned sofa. Whisper admired the brass antique lamp to the left of the sofa. The full décor of Harold Peyton’s living room had the ambiance that could only come from a man who appreciated fine art.

“Could I interest you in a cup of Tim Horton’s coffee or perhaps a mug of hot chocolate?” Harold asked. “By the way, Whisper is a beautiful name. Who gave you that name?”

“My grandma came up with it if I remember correctly,” Whisper replied.
While standing in the hall, Harold now had a good opportunity to observe Whisper. Her hair was blonde highlighted by orange streaks. It presently looked wet and tangled. There were still some snowflakes in her hair. Whisper’s make up was smudged and smeared from her tears. Whisper had a gold rod piercing through her nose. She wore orange lipstick and had a pentagram tattoo on her left forearm. She was not very attractive and was slightly overweight giving her somewhat of a pudgy look. Harold thought that Whisper resembled a naughty, terribly neglected little elf.

Summer Dreams eps. 12 to 14

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https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-hxazg-c4bdfb

Episode 12:

“No wonder you’re scared. I can drive you to the Employment and Assistance office any time you are ready to go,” Harold offered.

“That’s awesome Harold. I’m ready to go right now if that’s possible,” Whisper said.

“Let’s get going then.”

Harold owned a burgundy colored 2006 Ford Taurus. He had a lot of problems with his car a few months after he bought it. The most expensive repair bill occurred when the transmission on the Ford Taurus crapped out. The total bill for having a rebuilt transmission came to close to three thousand dollars.

Fortunately, Harold’s stepson, Richard had a friend who was a licenced auto technician who did auto repairs in his spare time when he wasn’t working for Seabrook Auto Clinic. Richard’s friend was able to charge his customers very reasonable rates as he did his part time work under the table so that he didn’t have to pay taxes.

Whisper needed to go to the closest EIA office as she needed to inform social assistance that she now had a permanent residence. She also needed to fill out the rent information so that welfare would pay her monthly rent directly to Harold.

It was a chilly twenty-one degrees Celsius as Harold and Whisper walked to his car. Whisper shivered from the cold because someone had stolen her winter coat.

“After you take care of business at the social assistance agency I’m going to take you to Hangers to buy you a new parka,” Harold said.

“You don’t need to do that Harold. I don’t want you to spend your own money on me,” Whisper said, still shivering from the cold.

“Don’t worry. I can afford it and you can rest assured that there are no strings attached,” Harold responded.

Episode 13:

When Harold and Whisper arrived at the EIA building Harold opened the front door of the entrance. Both Harold and Whisper were almost overwhelmed by the strong odour of poverty and homelessness. Whisper waited in line for the welfare intake worker for about twenty minutes before the worker typed in Whisper’s personal information. After this task was completed the worker asked Whisper to find a seat in the crowded, foul smelling waiting area.

Harold and Whisper found two empty folding chairs. Harold was seated next to an elderly man who reeked of body odour and was having an animated discussion with himself. “Probably schizophrenia,” Harold thought. He had a cousin who suffered from schizophrenia and Harold was very cognizant of the manifestations of this devastating illness. Auditory and visual hallucinations were common symptoms of this chronic and persistent mental illness. To Whisper’s left was a wall with four pay phones. A dishevelled and agitated young man who appeared to be in his early twenties was growing increasingly frustrated as he was trying to call a phone number that he had misread. He started to loudly utter obscenities until a burly security guard intervened and asked the man if he required assistance with dialing the phone number.

There were at least twenty people in the reception area. They were all people that our society would not or could not accommodate. Most successful and prosperous people would never encounter them and would only know about them on an intellectual level, probably by hearing about the poor and needy people by way of the media.

Only the truly marginalized would end up in a welfare office. Nobody could really understand this mass of unfortunates except the unfortunates themselves. Some of the most dedicated social agency workers would do some research and attempt to educate themselves about the plight of their clients. However, very few of them had personal experience with poverty, chronic disability and illness, addiction issues and homelessness.

People with some or all, of there issues helped create a billion- dollar industry. The irony was that the most marginalized persons in society were responsible for creating and maintaining full time profitable employment for a substantial number of professional workers. Those in administrative positions made the big money. The front- line workers didn’t make a living wage unless they had a strong union. The needy people in the province were responsible for generating significant employment but the tax payer picked up the bill.

Whisper an Introduction

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https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-gmvs5-c44796

Whisper by Ken David Stewart

Introduction

It was back, Big Time. Harold Peyton found himself in the clutches of the most devastating episode of clinical depression that he had ever experienced in his sixty-five years. He was used to this. Harold suffered from the type of depression that was episodic in nature. He was not depressed all the time, but large chunks of his life had been lost. During these times, Harold would succumb to the vast darkness of depression. What Winston Churchill described as his ‘black dog’.

Harold just wanted to shut down and block out the whole world. He sat in a broken down office chair adorned with torn upholstery. Harold was a published author and was working on a new mystery novel. The problem was that he couldn’t get his muse turned on. Every time he tried to think of a new idea to move his plot along, his mind went blank.

Harold just stared at the blank word document on his computer screen. Everything that he attempted was hard. Harold was grateful that he had a month’s holiday left from his part time job as a substitute teacher. To do a job like that you have to be able to get yourself pumped up and be able to think very sharply. Right now, Harold could do neither.

Episode 2:

Harold Peyton was exceptionally fit and healthy for a sixty-five year- old male. He was once a heavy smoker but overcame his addiction to cigarettes twenty years ago. Harold made his physical fitness regimen a top priority in his life. He rode his prized black and white Giant Mountain bike every day, even during inclement weather. On alternate days Harold would go to Shapes gym for a forty-five minute resistance training workout. Although he was still a bit pudgy, he carried his excess weight well and was still a physically attractive man. Harold looked at least ten years younger than his chronological age.

Harold lived in a modest home in the suburb of River Heights in the windy city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He loved animals and was presently the proud owner of two dogs and two cats.

Following the frustration of fifteen minutes of totally unproductive writing, Harold got out of his office chair and walked over to the burgundy colored drapes of his picture window. He tugged on the cord that opened the curtains and gazed upon the outside world. The city of Winnipeg experienced an early bitter winter during November 2013. The picture window was covered with intermittent patches of frost and ice. Snow was now falling very heavily.

Harold honestly enjoyed the winter season especially fresh snow falls. He loved the way the tree branches looked when they were covered by shiny, white, snowflakes.

Episode 3 and 4:

But today the beauty of the winter season had little effect upon Harold’s somber mood. When he was trapped in this mental state, he was unable to bring himself to experience joy in things and activities that had once brought him pleasure. It was as if his happy button had been turned to the off position.

Harold thought of his ex-wife Clarissa. They had been divorced nearly five years now. Harold missed Clarissa, but he did not blame her for leaving him. What woman could live with the frequent

 

 

 

 

intense darkness of his moods. During these times Harold would totally ignore her as he closed himself off from the entire world. After staring out his picture window for about two minutes, Harold could hear his dogs barking loudly and sharply. He soon realized what was upsetting them.

A white Ford 150 truck was parked directly across the street from Harold’s house. He could see the black hair of a large burly man in the driver’s seat. He was very angry at a young female who looked to be in her early twenties

Harold watched as the man pushed his female passenger out of his truck and onto the ice packed snow covering the road. He tossed a large orange and turquoise colored duffle bag onto the street. It almost hit the young woman who was lying prostate on the street. The angry male yelled a few vile obscenities at his female victim and then drove away in his Ford 15 Harold watched the young woman slowly and painfully rise to her feet. She was wearing only a grey hoodie sweatshirt, black, sweat pants with a tear in one knee and a pair of well worn red Converse running shoes. She was now standing in the street shivering on this cold day in March. A black Honda Accord honked loudly at her as he came close to colliding with the girl who now had tears streaming down her cheeks causing her mascara to run.

Open Heavens, the Anointing and God’s Favor

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https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-vbre6-c1c7b9

Open Heavens, Anointing, and God’s Favour.

 

This is episode three of the series that I’m currently working on called, A Christian With an Attitude.  This is episode three.  Warning: if you are not a believer, you could become one by reading my blogs and listening to my podcasts.  This may not occur suddenly.  It might take a few weeks, a few months or possibly even a few years, but I pray that the Holy Spirit will visit you in a prompt manner.  This is up to God, not me.  If you hate Christians and the church, perhaps you should read this to as there is a lot of bad press on the news and social media about the fellowship of Christian believers. Unfortunately, some of this criticism is justified  In my articles and podcasts, my goal is that you come to know the real Jesus and not the fake Jesus that is so often portrayed in the news and on social media and sometimes by the church itself.  What I’m saying is that I won’t take any responsibility or credit if you become a Christian.  That is between you and God.  If you are a discouraged Christian, I pray that I can bring you some hope, breakthrough and encouragement.

For approximately one month, I’ve been living under what I call an open heaven and have been blessed with a powerful anointing upon my life.  This is also a time in which I am blessed with a special kind of favour from God.  I’m not a theologian, nor do I pastor a church in the physical realm.  I’m just your average garden-variety Christian.  I have secular jobs such as working as a substitute teacher.  I am also an author, a blogger and have my own podcast show.  I’m not rich and famous yet, but if it’s God’s will, I will be someday. If I don’t become rich and famous I will continue my blogs and podcasts anyway as if even if only one human being on this planet is blessed, I will be grateful to God forever.

You may ask, faithful reader, what in the world is an open heaven?  I don’t think I can theologically define the term, but I can share what it looks like to me.  To begin with, I have not experienced an open heaven for a long time, until now. Just last month, God brought me out of a horrible clinical depression that probably lasted for two months.  During this time, I could barely get out off my living room couch.

After my breakthrough, I began to progressively feel better on a day-to-day basis.  Life gradually became a little more tolerable.  I was able to accomplish at least a few simple tasks per day.  After about three weeks I was back to my premorbid, baseline status.  In other words, I was functional. I am now back in the saddle and am once again a productive member of society.  I give God praise for this positive change and so does my wife.  You can only imagine how difficult it is to be married to a man who is too depressed do anything but lie on the couch and watch television.  I thank God that my wife is a godly woman and did not leave me.  Many other women would have.  I am greatly blessed.

When I am blessed by an open heaven, things rapidly start to improve for me.  I begin to have hope, my energy level increases dramatically and I feel much more empowered to deal with the stresses of daily life.  Stress in life is inevitable.  It cannot be avoided.  Whether or not stress will make you ill or even kill you is significantly based on your ability to cope with life’s major and minor crises.  I don’t want to only be able to cope with stress.  I want to thrive in stressful situations.  I want to enjoy the stress.  One fact that every Christian needs to know is if they stick out their neck for God and take risks, they will soon discover that they have an enemy.

The enemy’s name is Satan.  And believe me he hates God and all Christians.  In fact, he hates humanity in general.  If one is mostly just a Sunday Christian who attends church regularly, and perhaps even attends a Wednesday evening Bible study, Satan will not likely hassle you too much because you are already saved and there’s nothing he can do about it. He doesn’t think that you pose much of a threat to his kingdom.  If, on the other hand, you’re a radical Christian or as I call my podcast A Christian with an Attitude, the enemy will do everything and anything in his power, which is limited by God, to make your life miserable.  As it says in the Bible, you must count the cost.  My wife and I have both made the decision, to count the cost and pay the price.

Satan’s attacks are very predictable, but may show up in a variety of forms.  If you usually have a harmonious relationship between yourself and your significant other, you may suddenly realize that now you are now bickering constantly.  Your car may break down and you may be burdened with an expensive repair bill.  You may think that you have a good relationship with your supervisor at your job and now feel that he or she is finding fault with your every move, even if none of this criticism is justified.  I believe you get the idea.  Satan will do anything that he can to destroy your ministry.  If you are a believer, you have a ministry.  You don’t need to be an ordained minister to have a ministry.  If you help the needy and disenfranchised people in our society, you have a ministry. You can justifiably call yourselves lay ministers.  My wife and I don’t get paid a cent for our extracurricular service to God.  We don’t worry about this because God will be a debtor to no man or woman.

On an informal basis, my wife and I minister to the poor, needy, disenfranchised, mentally ill, youth at risk and to those suffering from the terrible disease of addiction.  We both love our ministries both as a couple and as individuals, but believe this, it can be very draining on both our finances and physical and emotional energy. May God bless, prosper you, heal you and give you good success. In Jesus name, Amen.