Peter Williams is a retired teacher who has had a very

rich life experience, both positive and negative, and he

would like to share his hard-earned values and
understanding with those who are searching for
guidance and support.
Pe t e r R. H. Wi l l i a ms
G E T T I N G A B E T T E R
L I F E
Copyright Peter R. . Williams
!he right of Peter R. . Williams to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with section "" and
"# of the Copyright, $esigns and Patents %ct &'##.
%ll rights reserved. (o part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the
publishers.
%ny person who commits any unauthori)ed act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims
for damages.
% C*P catalogue record for this title is available from the +ritish
,ibrary.
*-+( '"# &#.'/0 /'/ .
www.austinmacauley.com
1irst Published 234&.5
%ustin 6acauley Publishers ,td.
37 Canada -8uare
Canary Wharf
,ondon
9&. 7,+
Printed and bound in :reat +ritain
Introduction
We could be wondering for ever about life on 9arth, and why
we are here, but here we are, trying to make the best of it and
to understand it all.
% Roman philosopher once remarked; <(othing comes
from nothing=. !his seems obvious and true and, if we agree
with this observation, we are agreeing with what it implies >
that there has to be a source, a Creating 6ind that has created
this life that we know.
?ur human minds seem to be in advance of all other
known life-forms, perhaps a larger helping of that 6ind which
has created our universe. %nd when we begin to be aware that
our mind-energy is creative, and that we can control what we
think and imagine, we then begin to realise that we can use our
individual mind-power to express more good and love in our
lives. *n the Christian wisdom, we have this loving
reassurance; @1ear not little flock, for it is your 1atherAs good
pleasure to give you the kingdomA. 2,uke &3;035
!his suggests that there seems to be a 6ind of the
Bniverse which has created and governs everything. !here are
laws governing all life in our universe, both positive and
negative, from atomic forces to orbits, from cell-life to love.
1rom the stardust of a few billion years ago, we now have
planet 9arth and, even more remarkable, on the planet 9arth,
we have life. We humans are part of this life and have learned
that our minds are creative and that our best way forward is to
direct our speech and imagination towards the positive.
Earths Histor !"illions o# ears a$o%
.744 Planet 9arth formed from stardust
0#44 Water now covered most of the planet
3744 1irst bacterial life in the seas
/44 1irst simple plant and creature life in water
744 6any creature and plant species evolve
.74 1irst land plants
.44 1irst amphibians on land
074 1irst reptiles and insects
374 1irst mammals and trees evolve
344 $inosaurs and birds evolve
&74 1lowers appear
/7 Rain forests form
/4 6eteor @fire ballA destroys most 9arth life
74 !ree-living mammals evolve, the @apeA family
0 -tone tools found which date to this time
Earl Humans
6ankindAs ancestors evolved from tree-dwelling apes several
million years ago in %frica. !hey eventually learned to live at
ground level, where the food was more plentiful, and to walk
upright. !hey probably lived in family groups and, to satisfy
their need for food, they found it necessary to keep @moving
onA, as hunter-gatherers.
-everal types of @early manA groups evolved and
eventually one expanded out of %frica. !hat was about three
million years ago. !he next hominid group to leave %frica was
omo 9rectus, and that was about one and a half million years
later. %nother hominid group, the (eanderthals, left %frica
about 044,444 years ago, and the last hominid group to leave
was the more developed omo -apiens, and it is thought that
they left %frica about &34,444 years ago. +ut of these four
hominid species, only one survived > @omo -apiensA 2,atin
for @wise manA5 and these were the ancestors of todayAs human
beings worldwide.
+eing hunter-gatherers meant that humans were forever
moving on, and in time they spread out over most of the world.
!hey were able to survive because they had the ability to
adCust to their environment and weather conditions.
!he next big change for them, in more recent times, was
about &0,444 years ago when 9arthAs weather became a little
warmer. %s the ice and snow retreated northwards, in 9urope
and (orth %merica for example, new land became available to
explore and growing conditions were much improved. 1ood
gathering and hunting became easier, and @moving onA was not
now so important. %nd to feed themselves in the colder winter
months they collected and stored certain foods, and @fenced
offA certain animals. !his was the beginning of farming, and
where there was a good year-round water supply, there was
now no need to keep @moving onA.
%bout six or eight thousand years ago in what we now
know as the 6iddle 9ast, farming and cities became
established along the two main rivers. !his produced a
population increase, but also enough food to feed them. !his
was a more secure way of living, and a new world was born.
The Be$innin$s o# Western &i'ilisation
1arming and @cityA life continued to evolve in the 6iddle 9ast
and brought with it a sense of security and better social
control. +y 0,444 +C citi)ens in these new urban states obeyed
those in authority, paid taxes for necessary public services, and
worshipped their local -un-god.
?ne of these early city states was Br, in what is now
southern *ra8. *ts -un god was %n, and his wife, the 6oon,
was called (anna. !hey had their own temple where they
could stay when they visited 9arth and this was looked after by
priests. !he people understood that %n, the -un god, was very
busy every day, so all their prayers were to (anna, and the
priests would accept any offerings. *t was successful city-states
like Br that set successful patterns for other developing city-
states to follow.
!o the West of Br, in (orth %frica, along the more
isolated River (ile, many cities evolved from earlier tribal
settlements and became a River Dingdom and a $elta
Dingdom. %bout 0,444 +C they became one kingdom, ruled
over by Ding (armer. e controlled the army, officials and the
priests.
6any various gods were worshipped along the length of
the River (ile but they were all variations of the -un god and
his family > the 6oon and the -tars. !he gods were depicted
as humans but with creature heads, so that they could be
recognised. !hey would assist well-behaved citi)ens and
would punish wrongdoers. *n this way, through the priesthood,
the king could control social behaviour.
%nother very effective means of controlling personal
behaviour was in teaching the people that death was not the
end of life, but the beginning of a new everlasting life, so
something to look forward to, and that their good behaviour
would be rewarded in their eternal life > but their wrong-doing
would mean punishment.
9ventually the kings claimed to be the sons of the -un god.
!hey taught that all the gods were about four or five times the
si)e of the average human, so it then became a tradition to
build houses, temples, tombs and statues, @god-si)edA. !he title
@DingA changed to @PharaohA > @the big houseA. !he huge
temples built for a particular god were not for human use, apart
from the Pharaoh himself, but were built to please particular
gods who, of course, would reward the Pharaoh in his
@afterlifeA.
1or the people, small local temples were built for
particular gods, and worshippers were expected to bring
offerings, which would probably pay for the priestsA services.
9ach temple would have a wood or stone effigy of a particular
god, but it was not designed to be seen, but was walled up and
had a door that only the priest-in-charge could use to give it a
daily wash and to occasionally change its gown.
?ne of the early 9gyptian religions was about the god
?siris. e came down to 9arth with his brother -eth and sister
*sis to help the people. +ut things did not go smoothly. -eth
became Cealous of his brother and killed him. e cut up the
body and scattered it over the length of 9gypt. !he goddess
*sis was distressed by her brotherAs death and asked the dog-
headed god of funerals, %nubis, to help her find the body.
%nubis collected all the body parts and put them together and
even brought ?siris back to life. !hen *sis, miraculously, used
?siris to get herself pregnant before he returned to the sky to
be in charge of the @after-lifeA. *sis brought up her son on her
own and was depicted as a loving, ideal mother holding her
child in her arms.
When her child, orus, was old enough, he returned to the
sky to become the new -un god. is father, ?siris, remained a
very popular god and four thousand years later could still be
recognised by his depiction > an older man, wearing a long
sleeved gown and a very high domed pointed hat, and carrying
a shepherdAs crook 2still @recognisableA today in the dress of
some western religions5.
%bout three thousand years ago, the Pharaoh was often
depicted having the -un in the sky behind his head. !his
probably was to show that the @1ather -unA was backing the
Pharaoh in the way he was governing. ,ater, artists saw this
sun-circle as a ring of light around the head, and the @haloA was
born.
,ife for ordinary people in 9gypt, from around 0,444 +C
to &,444 +C would have been mostly routine seasonal work
and basic family life. $ependent upon the River (ile and
trapped between surrounding deserts, there would have been
very little in the way of expectations or change. +ut their
?siris religion gave them hope of better things to come >
everlasting life, in the sky, with the gods, and every good thing
provided. %nd all they needed to do to 8ualify for this luxury
was to live a good life. !hey understood that they could take
their most pri)ed possession, or possessions, with them to their
grave. *n the third millennium +C, it could have been a flint
blade or carved statue and, later on, ivory carvings or a @second
headA carving which guaranteed everlasting life. *n the second
millennium it became popular to have carvings of slaves doing
such things as bread-making or weaving, and to take with them
more valuable articles made of glass or metals. %nd in the next
millennium the whole of their earthly wealth went along with
their body into their tomb. %nd by this time too a mummified
body was the accepted practice because it was thought that this
@loving careA would greatly influence their status in their
@afterlifeA.
*n 9gypt in the first millennium +C there were big social
changes brought about by advancing civilisations in
surrounding kingdoms. !ravel and trade now became much
more common and with them came new values, more wealth,
new ideas. %t the end of this millennium, 9gypt had a :reek
head of state and eventually became part of the Roman
9mpire.
%round this time, two to three thousand years ago, there
was great social advancement and exchange of ideas and
values. 1or example, had :reek travellers in seventh and sixth
century +C been impressed by the stone temples built for the
9gyptian godsE %nd had this style influenced :reek
architectureE *t would seem that tried and tested superior ideas
like this were willingly adopted by other countries. ?ne
9gyptian religious practice that attracted a lot of attention was
the secret cult of the ?siris religion. !his cult taught that
controlled imaginative thinking was creative and so gave its
followers greater advantages and more control of their lives.
!his cult was readily accepted over time by many surrounding
kingdoms and they made it their own by introducing it into
their society as the teachings of a new local god. *n -yria there
was %donis, in !urkey there was %ttis, in *taly there was
+acchus, and in Persia there was 6ithra, who later became the
new Roman god 6ithras. %ll these gods had a similar
background. ,ike the original ?siris, they were sons of the
1ather :od, the -un, who lived for ever in the sky. %nd like
?siris they seemed to have suffered an early death, then
resurrected so that they could return back to !he 1ather in the
sky. %nd they seemed to have had a miraculous birth and an
ideal mother like *sis.
*n :reece those sharing this cult decided that it was best
not to have a new Public god and have the teachings available
to anyone, but to have a secret cult open only to selected
followers so that the teachings could not be misused. !hey
chose an established drinking and partying god, $ionysus, but
he had had a special experience > he had been @born againA.
is story was that his father, the chief god Feus, had stupidly
killed his mother with his brightness and Cust before she died
she gave birth, prematurely to baby $ionysus. 1ather Feus cut
open his leg, put the still alive baby inside and stitched it up.
-ome months later Feus cut open his leg and out popped baby
$ionysus, alive and well, having been @born againA. !o the
:reek followers of this new cultAs teachings, being @born
againA better described the positive, practical results of this
cultAs teachings and they did not need a new god.
*n the first millennium +C, the whole of humanity
throughout the world still thought that life was controlled by
particular gods and goddesses and that the supreme god, the
1ather of all, was the -un in his everlasting kingdom in the
sky.
!hese various gods were the product of early human
development and this knowledge was passed down, generation
to generation, through stories.
*n :reece at this time, their history was shared through
their story-telling, and their behaviour was strongly controlled
by their god stories. +ut things were to change in :reek
society when reading and writing were introduced and old god
stories became less important. -cience and mathematics,
music, poetry and drama, geography, current affairs and
history now became part of their social life.
% new god appeared at this time, who controlled the
essential water supply, together with healing, prophecy, music,
drama, archery and the concerns of youth. !his was %pollo,
the son of the chief god Feus, the -un.
%pollo was always portrayed as a handsome young man
with long hair, no beard, and preferred to wear a longer more
feminine gown. e was chiefly known as a healer, but also
known as a poet and a musician.
%t the end of this last millennium +C when Rome finally
took over control of the whole of the 6iddle 9ast, they
accepted and @borrowedA most of :reeceAs more modern,
superior social values and made them their own. !his included
most of the :reek gods and goddesses and they gave them new
Roman names. 1or example, Feus became Gupiter, %thena
became 6inerva, 9ros became Cupid, %res became 6ars,
Poseidon became (eptune, and so on. +ut there was one :reek
god, so modem and respected, admired and loved, they felt
they could not change his name > and that was %pollo.
*n the great Roman civilisation of two thousand years ago,
the people worshipped and followed the teachings and begged
help from various popular gods. *n the first century %$ there
appeared stories of a new god, Gesus, who had recently visited
9arth and had taught great wisdom and truth. !his wisdom was
presented to the people in the traditional form of that time and
was for all to hear and to benefit those who could accept it.
-o letAs have a look at GesusA wisdom.