Excerpts

• Ben is ruminating in his celestial apartment the evening before his day in court.
• Ben is brought before the Celestial Court of Petitions for examination.
• Ben appears on Boston’s Milk Street, at the site of his birth.
• Ben offers a group of inner-city students a way out of the ‘hood.’

Parables

Modern day parables appear throughout Poor Richard's Lament.

• Ben delivers a homily on leadership at the Waldorf Astoria. (The Parable of the Cosmic Seafarer.)
• Ben delivers a homily on leadership at a soup kitchen. (The Parable of the Seven Hapless Victims.)
• Prescott Barr, a former crack addict, shares a tale of redemption with a recovering addict. (The Parable of Ed and Henry.)