The Teacher

EXTRAS - Note From the Author, Pass it On, Acknowledgements, About the Author

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

Now that you've read, The Teacher, you may have a sense that the storyline was not pure fiction. Much of the plot was inspired by characters and themes in pop culture, as in Twilight's vampires or Hunger Games' strong female role model, Katniss Everdeen. Mixed into the fictional narrative, however, were biblical facts as well, the influences of spiritual insights brought to my attention as the manuscript was being developed.

Always curious about cutting-edge ideas and open minded enough to entertain the possibility that they might represent important truths, several years ago I was listening to Coast to Coast AM radio during a broadcast when Benjamin Crème was being interviewed. After reviewing his Share International website, reading several of his books and the Share International monthly magazine, I was fascinated by what seemed like a body of inspired spiritual knowledge taking what we've all been traditionally taught to a new enlightened level—that a Teacher for our age has arrived to show us how to achieve Peace and the Promise of a Good Life for all through the application of global Justice and Sharing.

Without trying to become an expert in this esoteric tradition, I was able to adapt the information into the fictional setting for, The Teacher. While conducting related research I found that the Baha'i Faith also spreads the Good News that humanity can unify around a sense of global community and a belief in one Creator for all, with Justice also being a critical factor in their formula for success.

The Teacher was designed to open the reader's mind to spiritual possibilities in general, but specifically that God has, or will soon, send a World Teacher to lead us toward Unity and away from strife and division based on religious differences and economic disparity. Clearly the holy man who conceived of the Baha'i Faith, Bahá'u'lláh, was cut from the same sacred cloth as Jesus, Mohammad, Buddha, and other enlightened beings sent throughout time to encourage us to seek a higher plane of spiritual existence. The Unitarians and their cousins, the Unitarian Universalists, are two other religions with similar beliefs.

I do encourage any reader of The Teacher to explore this material more closely to see if it represents a body of truth that will work to expand your spiritual horizons.

PASS IT ON!!

The Teacher was written to serve the Good News of God's Love by providing a literary faith-building and outreach tool for teens and adults. By design, the story will raise questions of faith and practice. Wrestle with them and your faith will grow.

After you've read The Teacher, pass it on! Don't let the book spend the rest of its life on a shelf. Use it to share your Faith with others who may still be searching for a spiritual foundation to their lives.

The heart of God's Wisdom can be found in the principle of Love. To begin sharing your faith, simply reach out to others by wrapping them in a loving, nurturing, supportive, unconditional relationship and if they are genuinely seeking, God will do the rest.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Teacher came together first and foremost as a Gift from God's providence as skilled and dedicated believers were drawn to contribute their varied and exceptional abilities to the overall writing, production, publication, and marketing of the book—all functioning as ministry partners in this literary tool to support spiritual enlightenment outreach efforts in America and worldwide.

Special thanks to Kim Carson, who graciously allowed a section of her book, Essence of Life, and her biography, Hotlined from Heaven, to be the basis of one of The Teacher's characters.

Sean Truskowski provided the original poetry found in Part I of the book and Madison Dillard was an invaluable coauthor and contributing editor during the shaping of Part I, Unchained, as she served to authenticate Fallon as a high school student and Christian.

Thanks also to author Ben DeVries, whose book, A Delicate Fade, provided a central struggling character around which Holden Harwell was modeled. The Pastor Ben character was shaped by an experienced youth pastor whose wish it is not to be personally recognized for his considerable literary contributions to the early chapters.

The Share International organization provided the material about Maitreya, around which my fictional story was constructed. They believe that Maitreya is a Teacher sent by God for our age to lead us into a new enlightened era where Peace and Promise for all can be achieved through the global application of Justice and Sharing.

As you read the book I hope you found yourself searching your soul for the Light we all need to establish and grow a working, enlightened, authentic faith in a world desperately in need of coming together as a common family honoring a universal Creator.

Beyond these recognized contributors, the success of The Teacher will be the result of the prayers of countless individuals who believed in and supported this effort by purchasing copies of the book to read and recommend to others.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RL Morton's principle editor has been an educator, is a publisher and author living in the Midwest. Near the end of 30 years of professional experience writing, editing, and or producing over 40 books for a group of Midwestern writers, he began a five-year project to write the novels Maitreya and its sequel Hereafter, both fictionalizing information about Maitreya provided by the Share International organization and now combined in, The Teacher.