At age 91, I do a lot of reflecting about the 9 decades in which I have been around and about.
I constantly ponder the meaning of the fact that most of my reflections are about stupid things I have done and people I have hurt because my sense of commonsense and compassion has lapsed too often.
I try to make up for it, not just by striving to right those wrongs, but by making sure I don’t do them again and by concentrating on achieving better things for humanity right now that avoid my errors of the past.
While I am very active as Chair of ACTS, a charity that gives direct financial aid to people in crisis situations, and as Chair of the Everald Compton Charitable Trust that funds good causes such as dementia research, I also spend time helping to get new civic projects underway and endeavouring to mould public opinion on politics, religion, money, values and ethics.
I do a lot of public speaking on these issues but my main thrust is through my personal website and its links to Twitter and Facebook.
This week I decided that my website needed a facelift as it is looked as if it was as old as me. So with the experienced help of a good mate, Dylan Bell, who has huge computer skills that I don’t have, I revived the masthead by removing it and showing –
*The Railway Station and Pub at Linville where I was born and bred.
*A recent portrait of me.
*A photo taken at Government House Brisbane last year when I received an Order of Australia for a second time.
*The covers of my four books currently on sale –
CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN – my account of the world history of my era.
A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET – the story of a man with a terminal illness who makes the last three months of his life the greatest and best.
DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS – a dynamic account of how the nation of Australia was founded in 1901 without its Constitution mentioning the heritage of Indigenous People.
THE MAN ON THE TWENTY DOLLAR NOTES. – the gripping drama of how John Flynn created The Flying Doctor, the Pedal Radio and the School of the Air.
In 2024, I will add another one to my website – WALKING WITH THE GREAT SPIRIT – a challenging and meaningful account of the rise and decline of Christianity in my lifetime, with 50 chapters describing people who were giants of the faith as well as a few of those who sought to destroy it.
So my website is an important statement as to who I am – a boy from the bush who has tried to make a difference and will continue to do so until the day I die.
People who visit my website usually go on to read what I say on Twitter and Facebook.
12000 have registered to follow me on Twitter and 5000 on Facebook. Many of those share my social media posts on to their own followers who do likewise and statistics show that at least 100,000 people read what I say every day and many respond with comments. This enables me to help keep politicians on the ball as most of them have chosen to read what I say from time to time.
May I say as an aside that there are too many people who abuse me on social media so I instantly block them and move on, We all should debate. There must be no hate.
So, who am I and what am I trying to achieve?
I am a person who firmly believes that the world is run by those who turn up.
So I turn up and I create, challenge, debate, share and care while trying to practice a bit of humility.
But I know I can do better, much better, and I plan to keep trying.
Cheers
Everald
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