Ampersand Gazette #84

Welcome to the Ampersand Gazette, a metaphysical take on some of the news of the day. If you know others like us, who want to create a world that includes and works for everyone, please feel free to share this newsletter. The sign-up is here. And now, on with the latest …  

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Truths to Remember in a Time of Lies

The brickbats are meant to knock us senseless. Blow after blow, they bludgeon us. Who could possibly keep them straight?

They urge us to pay no attention to the charlatans behind the curtain who are yanking the safety net from beneath our feet, ignoring the rule of law, dismantling American democracy brick by brick, lining their pockets by driving the planet into ruin. We need not know what’s happening behind the curtain, they assure us. The wizard will tell us all we need to know.

I’ve been keeping a running list of truths I don’t want to lose sight of while a fake wizard and his grossly unqualified team speak lie after brazen lie to the people who elected him and to the rest of us, too.

To wit: [Here Ms. Renkl listed ten facts about recent events in U.S. governance; I will explain. Read on.]

Truth matters. Rewriting American history will not change American history. A law is still a law, even when a felon continues to flout the law. The truth is still the truth, even if you fire people working to combat your lies. Americans have always understood, if imperfectly at times, that truth matters.

We must tell the truth ourselves. As unrelentingly as we can and in as many contexts as we can, we have no choice but to keep telling the truth until we have drowned out all the lies. Because the truth will always matter. 

Excerpted from an Opinion Essay by Margaret Renkl in The New York Times
Truths to Remember in a Time of Lies
March 3, 2025 

I debated whether to keep Ms. Renkl’s list of facts and decided to delete it because I want to address Truth, not facts. If you want to compare your list with hers, it’s all there in black and white in the Times archive, just click on the article link above. 

Truth is one of the first concepts one encounters when embarking upon the study of metaphysics. The way it’s pronounced in those circles, you can hear the capital T. 

It took me a surprisingly long time to understand that when a metaphysician says Truth, she means nothing to do with the facts of any matter. Nothing. In most metaphysics, facts are irrelevant. 

Truth is what exists behind the facts or inside of the facts, but the facts themselves, what most of us would call reality, are neither here nor there. They’re simply the symptoms masking the Truth. 

Let’s take it out of the realm of the political, and apply this facts and Truth business to one human body. Say I’m starting on a case of the sniffles. My throat is scratchy, I’m a little feverish, the sneezing is on its way, coughing, too. You and I would probably both diagnose this as a cold or the flu. On the level of facts, we would be correct.  

But what about on the level of Truth? Well, a human body is designed to be healthy, made for it. That body has an immune system which has already gone to bat at the first sniffle. If bodies are made to be healthy, then that is Truth about bodies, all bodies. 

You see the difference, I’m sure. In some circles, scientific prayer is called Knowing the Truth, or, Treatment. In treating these sniffly facts, we remember the Truth. Oh right, bodies are designed to be healthy.  

There’s a wonderful story told about one of my metaphysical heroes, Emmet Fox. He had a lecture ministry in Carnegie Hall every Wednesday night for years. Well, one week, he got himself good and twisted up with laryngitis. Lecturing did not look like it would be part of his immediate future. What did he do? 

He went to Carnegie Hall, and croaked into the microphone. “Well, this works or it doesn’t. You must know the Truth for me or there will be no lecture. Let us pray.” A sold-out auditorium did exactly as instructed and five minutes later, Mr. Fox gave his lecture in full voice. 

Truth v. facts. Margaret Renkl is right. No matter what, Truth matters. Especially in the face of repeated denials of it. 

Historian Timothy Snyder says in his book On Tyranny, “Sometimes people ask this question [What is truth?] because they wish to do nothing.” That’s exactly what Pilate wanted to do in the Christian Passion story. And it might be what you or I want to do at any given moment. 

Regardless, no matter the facts, in the face of the facts that we like or we don’t, I’m with Vaclav Havel, “If the main pillar of the system is living a lie, then it is not surprising that the fundamental threat to it is living in truth.” 

So look at the facts all you want, Belovèd, moan about them if you want, rant, rage, rave, and at the last, get still, know the Truth. Someone very wise once said not ‘the truth will make you free,’ although it’s misquoted that way all the time. What he said was, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  

What Truth do you want to know for yourself, your loved ones, your community, your nation, and our world? Stay with that. 

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I, Human

Fall of 1986. Sitting with my thesis director, the poet James Dickey, campus was lively with classes convening and dismissing, but the darkness pooling outside made me feel we were isolated, marooned together in a place where words were life-or-death matters.

I remember that particular meeting because of one ill-chosen word. In a poem that was otherwise finished, a single adjective was clearly wrong. We batted alternatives back and forth across the desk, but none was right. I was determined to find the word that belonged there, the one that clicked into place like the halves of a locket.

Hours later, sometime around 10 o’clock, the right word came to me, popping up out of the depths while my mind was occupied with something else. It was so apt, and I was so exultant, that I went straight to the kitchen, opened the phone book, and looked up Mr. Dickey’s number. When he answered, I said, “‘Pale.’ The word is ‘pale.’”

Mr. Dickey was overjoyed about that word, every bit as jubilant as I was. If only for a moment, the world made a kind of sense it hadn’t made before.

A flurry of “A.I. assistants” has suddenly colonized my inboxes and Word documents and texts. This month they appeared out of nowhere, like a swarm of fruit flies around an overripe banana. Everything I type now is thick with hovering robots suggesting unwelcome robot words.

In this brave new world, the search for a word like “pale” has been outsourced to a robot that will never suggest such a word. The yoking of unlikely adjective and noun is still, for now, the province of poets.

I have spent hours trying to kill these ghosts in my machine. I can sometimes adjust my settings to disable the A.I. assistant, but the next software update turns it right back on again. In some cases, I can’t turn it off at all. The robots are relentless.

But letting a robot structure your argument, or flatten your style by removing the quirky elements, is dangerous. It’s a streamlined way to flatten the human mind, to homogenize human thought. We know who we are, at least in part, by finding the words—messy, imprecise, unexpected—to tell others, and ourselves, how we see the world.

Who was it who first said, “I don’t know what I think until I see what I write”? Google’s robot doesn’t know who actually said it, but almost anybody who writes, whatever they write, will tell you it’s true.

In “I, Robot,” the 2004 film loosely inspired by Isaac Asimov’s classic sci-fi novel of the same name, one robot is unlike all the others of its model. It has feelings. It learns to recognize human nuance, to solve problems with human creativity. And with those attributes comes the questions inevitably raised by being human.

Somewhere in my house there is a bound copy of the master’s thesis I spent two years writing. I remember very little about that poetry collection. But I remember one poem in which the word “pale” figured prominently. And what I learned in struggling to find it has lasted through nearly four decades. The search for the right word to fill the right place can occupy a lifetime. And, I’m convinced, make a self along the way.

Excerpted from an Opinion Essay by Margaret Renkl in The New York Times
“I, Human”
February 24, 2025 

There’s been an awful lot of chicken-littling in the world over AI. Artificial intelligence. I’m very grateful to be able to say that I have no AI robots making suggestions to me like Ms. Renkl has. I do have a query about it, though. 

Have we forgotten what AI stands for? It’s become such a commonplace that I haven’t heard anyone ask what it stands for lately, have you? 

But it’s artificial intelligence. Artificial. The word comes via Old French, from Latin artificium, based on ars- meaning art, and facere meaning to make. So when something is artificial, it’s art that’s been made. Interestingly, the definition of artifice has come to mean meant to deceive. 

This is what I think is at the core of our objection to AI. It’s not that it’s intelligent, which comes to us via Latin as well from roots meaning to choose between. Each of us has our own brand of intelligence, and usually, we know the limitations of our own intelligence. So it’s perfectly possible that this artificial intelligence can choose between things better than we can. 

I remember years ago standing in a grocery store in Santa Fe in front of the brands that fix clogged drains, and having a complete and utter meltdown. I didn’t know what kind of pipes were in my house. There were seven thousand different brands (a slight exaggeration), and I had no clue as to how to choose. 

If Artoo had been there to say, choose this one, I would have bowed to his superior intelligence immediately. What actually happened was the store manager, whom I knew, came upon me mid-dilemma, and picked the one that would work. And it did. 

I have no plumbing intelligence whatsoever, and I don’t want any, thanks.

No, I don’t think it’s the intelligence part that gets us, or certainly not those of us who consider ourselves creative. It’s the artificial part. That’s what sticks in the craw. Because AI could probably have come up with billions of words to fit in Ms. Renkl’s poem, but she certainly couldn’t have put into AI “find the word that belongs in my poem, the one that clicks into place like the halves of a locket.”

If you’ve ever worn a locket, you know exactly what she means.

I don’t mean to add yet another good reason to pooh-pooh AI. That’s not the point. The point is this: even if AI could have found pale for Ms. Renkl, we are the better for knowing that she found it—in her depths, doing something entirely different. She had what she needed within her all along. She just had to make the request, and wait for the built-in brain wiring to deliver it.

From there, it’s not a big leap to: You have within you what you need, too, Belovèd. Always. Yes, even choosing drain-clearing products. Here’s how you do it:

Ask, wait, take delivery. What are you waiting for?

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A bonus that I couldn’t resist … 

A Clearer Picture of Covid’s Lasting Effects on the Body
Five years on, scientists are starting to understand
how the virus can lead to long-term,
sometimes invisible changes. 

If you want a one-word answer to the question, What’s wrong with us? Click here. It’s the best metaphysical answer I’ve heard in a long, long time. In a word:  

Inflammation. 

Other words for inflammation are: swelling, puffiness, redness, rawness, hotness, heat, burning, smarting, stinging, soreness, pain, painfulness, tenderness, sensitivity, infection, festering, eruption, suppuration. 

The list above is related to physical inflammation found in the human body, but what about these equivalencies, too? Wildfires, domestic violence, road rage, competition, global warming, heat waves, heat index (high humidity), rudeness, intolerance, cruelty, abuse, cursing, hate, prejudice, rejection, intolerance. 

Here’s the work: Deal with your own inflammation.  

Where are you inflamed? Chill it down. Make peace. Go easy. Be kind. If you can give it to yourself, you’ll be able to give it to others. And if enough of us do this, maybe there won’t be anything wrong with us at all. 

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Here’s a universal affirmation. It works every time, for everyone, always and forever …  

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And in publishing news …  

 Still need a WordPress Wizard, but … Oops, plot twist! I asked a friend to pray for me to get digital clarity, and dang! A whole lot came clear really quickly. It’s so true, prayer works. The upshot is that I need to clear up everything in my digital presentation because things are different these days from how they were. Quite exciting, and I’m going deliberately slowly, so I hear each piece of guidance, and take the action required.  

First step, complete. I spoke to my retiring web designer and mistress, and within less than forty minutes, she walked me into clarity. #1 decision: No WordPress. It’s open source and can really get messy—I’m not that interested in html. I’m looking for a SquareSpace template, and will begin much sooner for that choice. Phew. 

 The Mex In-Betweens are up on Amazon as ebooks and paperbacks. If you’re a Mex fan, you’ll enjoy the backstories. If you’re not yet, these thirteen short stories are a way to ease into all ten supernatural musical mysteries. Remember that the first book, Oklahoma! Hex, is permafree, or should be. Amazon messed with the price again! So far it’s been 16 days, and I have not heard Word One from KDP. I am now in conversation with high-level customer service teams.  

 As of this writing, I am already over 50,000 words into Impending Decision, Book Five of The Boots & Boas Romances, the saga of attorney Jamie Jenkins and his about-to-graduate-from-law-school paralegal, Jayne Jordyn Jewell. In addition, since the rest of the series—its titles and storylines—fell full-blown into my mind, my guidance is serving up snippets of ideas for each of the books. This is a whole new way of working for Boots & Boas. 

 I fell into Jaq Direct, the final book of The Subversive Lovelies, my speculative fiction series, on the same day as Impending Decision, so I am at last writing two fiction books, in two completely different worlds, at the same time. For Jaq, I’m over 55,000 words so far. Jaq is set in 1907; Jayne is set in late 2020. I’ve set up two separated writing blocs in my daily schedule to manage it, and am averaging between 2,500 and 3,000 words per day. 

 I still haven’t gotten to the Besieged edits, no matter that they’re calling to me. I am, however, continuing my research into the 1980s HIV/AIDS experience. I have fallen over article after article that analyzes what happened during that time to a whole demographic of people that no one bothered to care for. It’s heartbreaking, and a huge warning given both COVID, and the potential for bird flu.  

 The Taber’s Medical Dictionary arrived at long last! I can’t believe it hadn’t been revised in 30 years. Has the medical world learned nothing in the interim? This means the tiny courses go back on my plate. The first four courses will be Body, Heart, Mind, Spirit chakra teachings. Each is a dive into one aspect of learning how to have Exponential Energy—something we all need right now.  

Lauren Grace, my soul sister in Australia, has my visit with her live as a full-length episode on her award-winning Afterlight Podcast. Here’s what she says about it: 

Restore Your Energy and Reclaim Your Power with Dr. Susan Corso 

In this episode of The Afterlight Podcast with Lauren Grace, we dive into energy leaks and how to restore yourself to exponential energy with special guest Dr. Susan Corso.

✨ Using the chakras to gain clarity and heal
✨ Releasing the past & transforming rage
✨ The power of prayer & energy work
✨ Tapping into your energy system & reclaiming your power to choose

And so much more... If you’re ready to heal, recharge, and step into your full potential, this episode is for you! Listen now! 

She also has two mini-episodes from that same chat which will go live in March and April. March’s episode goes lives Tuesday, March 25, 2025. Exploring the Emotion of Rage with Dr. Susan Corso. I’ll keep you posted for April.  

 Between Impending Decision, the fifth book of The Boots & Boas Romances, Jaq Direct, the final book in The Subversive Lovelies speculative fiction series, The Gazette, IWRITEWHATSYOURSUPERPOWER.COM, and a secret card project up my sleeve, and the tiny courses plus, you know, life, things are rich and full.    

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 My review request this issue is … if you love speculative fiction, would you please read Jezebel Rising—the permafree book that starts my Subversive Lovelies? If you love it, would you leave a stellar review? I need THREE MORE reviews of four stars and above to do one of my special series promotions … please. This will take you right there. 

Reviews really are the engine that powers the career of an indie author. 

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Tony Amato is my favorite editor for lots of reasons, aside from the fact that I married him. He has a bucket of talents that serves authors and their books in a way unlike any other editor I know, or know of, or have ever worked with. May I encourage you to reach out if you need book-husbanding? Seriously, I know a guy. 

Now more than ever the whole world needs your creative input. Really, if it’s about books—you name it, he’s done it. Like I said, if you need anything in your writing life, Tony Amato is the person. Find him here.  

P. S. Tony Amato, as you know, my favorite editor, has a new substack. He’s writing about writing and he’s sharing some of his own fiction. Subscribe here. 

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The Age of Grievance by Frank Bruni 

from the blurb … From bestselling author and longtime New York Times columnist Frank Bruni comes a lucid, powerful examination of the ways in which grievance has come to define our current culture and politics, on both the right and left.
The twists and turns of American politics are unpredictable, but the tone is a troubling given. It’s one of grievance. More and more Americans are convinced that they’re losing because somebody else is winning. More and more tally their slights, measure their misfortune, and assign particular people responsibility for it. The blame game has become the country’s most popular sport and victimhood its most fashionable garb.
Grievance needn’t be bad. It has done enormous good. The United States is a nation born of grievance, and across the nearly two hundred and fifty years of our existence as a country, grievance has been the engine of morally urgent change.
How did we get here? What does it say about us, and where does it leave us? The Age of Grievance examines these critical questions and charts a path forward. 

I’m a Frank Bruni fan. I like his writing even if I don’t always agree with him. Reading this book, while supremely well done, was hard. I get enough grievance just reading the news; I don’t need a special book to underscore what’s all around me. 

However, Mr. Bruni does not stop at grievance; he proposes an unexpected solution—for everything, and I concur, the man is right. If we take his recommendation seriously, we can overturn grievance in the best possible way. I won’t spoil his punchline. Read it, if you want to know or, if you don’t want to read it, and still want to know, email me and I’ll tell you. 

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Are you waiting for a sign?
How about this one? 

Are you letting the news imprison you?

A lot of us are, but … 

What if the door really is wide open,

and what if you really can get out of prison?
And what if it all hinges on
your choice? 

Instead of using your Free Won’t
consider Free Will …
namely, what you do want
rather than what you don’t. 

Then … 

MAKE A CHOICE. 

I am, without doubt, certain that And is the secret to all we desire.
Let’s commit to practicing And ever more diligently, shall we? 

Until next time,
Be Ampersand.  

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