The Brown Book Commentaries

―Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and
all. And I‘m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if
they start to go over the cliff. That‘s all I‘d do all day. I‘d just be the Catcher in the Rye. I know it‘s
crazy, but that‘s the only thing I‘d really like to be.‖ ~ J. D. Salinger
The vast majority of humans are living lives of quiet desperation – running madly towards the
crazy cliff of ―success‖ or ―fame‖ or ―wealth‖ or ―victory‖; and thereby actually creating long
lives devoid of Meaning and empty of real Love. To awaken them to their self-inflicted plight is
to be their Catcher in the Rye … To hold them
close and remind them of their unconditional
worth is to be their Catcher in the Rye … To
awaken them to the Truth that that their own
purpose is to become a Cather in the Rye for
others is to be their Catcher in the Rye.
“The only thing that counts is Faith made effective through Love.” ~ Paul (Galatians 5:6)
I include this verse here not only because of the Truths it shares (the Truth that one‘s faith in
God &/or Goodness means nothing without the believer actively emulating the same; and the
Truth that acts of selfless Love are the only true Faith -- and that true Faith is the humble,
empathy-rich foundation of every act of selfless Love), but also because it is Paul who did the
sharing thereof – Paul, the faux-prophet who spent so much time directly & drastically
contradicting the teachings of the man he so wished to honor; Paul, the man who – so unlike Jesus
Christ – spent so much time telling others that works meant essentially nothing; that it was only a
passive, self-centered, intellectual faith in Jesus as the only Son of God that counted. How
wonderful that even a man as flawed as Paul could stumble upon the Truth in verses like these
sprinkled throughout his letters – how wonderful that even a man so steeped in fear and judgment
and self-loathing could cast an untainted glimpse upon the Truth of raw, unadulterated,
unconditional Love; Love, the verb … Love, the giving … Love, the sacrifice … Love, the
foundation of any & all real Faith.
―You asked me what I came into this world to do, & I will tell you:
… I came to Live out Loud.‖ ~ Emille Zola
It is only possible to truly ―live out loud‖ by courageously leaping fully into the very deeds we
most fear, and to do those deeds for the very individuals we most often refuse or reject.
Image 130 (Page 59b) … This image (which I call ―Ruminating
Yoda‖) was sent to me by a dear Friend (Jochen Reum) and reminds
me of many of the deeper Wisdoms uttered by this little, green Sage
– among them: ―You must unlearn what you have learned‖, and
―Let go of everything you fear to lose‖, and ―Fear leads to anger.
Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering‖, and ―Always pass on
what you have learned‖, and ―Do or do not – There is no try‖ …
―Every atom in our bodies was once a part of a star.‖ ~ unknown
This nifty fact means nothing unless we see the same source-star in the Hearts of others – and then
go forth to act accordingly; bringing the Light of Peace &/or Joy into their lives, and thereby inspiring
them to shine a similar Light upon the source-star-strangers in their own lives. This is how we come
to See strangers for who they truly are – this is how we finally come to See them as Soulmates.
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