BE SAFE!!!
Saturday June 30, 2012 6:23 pm
I am sitting here
spinning my wheels because I cannot go any further with school work
until I get some feedback from a couple of professors... and, I'm not
holding out hope that will happen this weekend. Regardless, I have a Sunday 11:59 pm deadline and I still have a three hour timed
test, and one power-point presentation to do in one class, and an
annotated bibliography due in another: then, I will be done for this
week and I will be exactly half-way to ending this summer semester.
Before I write another
somewhat aimless and most probably pointless blog, I wanted to
comment on something else. The last time I saw anything on Facebook
was a few days before Christmas, and I spent probably more than two
straight hours on it looking at something. Now though, the only news
I get from that site is if Deb comments about something she read.
Last evening she said there were many reports from people in places
we used to live and they had a terrible storm pass by and a lot of
them were without power. (And being without power in this extreme
heat is really bad!) After she told me I came to my office, closed
and locked my door, then I knelt down and earnestly prayed for those
I love best!!!!!!!
So, if you are someone I
love... I pray you are safe!!! In fact, even if you are reading this
and I don't know, or love you (I guess) I still hope that you're
safe? (Lol) Seriously, I pray that everyone I know, and even those I
don't know, came through it okay?
There is a weekly report
sent to my email every Saturday that I usually delete without
opening. It probably has been a couple of months since I last looked
at it... however, this morning I did. The report is from the tracking
company for my blog and it tells me the number of people who opened
my blog within the last seven days to read... it also tracks the
number of countries besides those in the United States who have
logged on. Last week there were 119 people and four different
countries represented.
So... if you are one of
the fortunate ones to have their power... else, you wouldn't be
reading this (lol) please take some time from your day and pray for
the people in the area of the storms. Please... please... pray that
they will be okay... and if they are without power that their power
will be soon restored!
Even if there had not
been an email comment to me this morning I still would have blogged
today and asked people to pray for my friend(s) and other loved ones
I know. I do this because I know that some of you have covenanted and
prayed with me in the past about other things and it has helped...
that is why I do this. Now, I'll tell the other reason I am writing
today.
Today I received an email
about a blog I wrote the other night when I had reproduced one of
Poe's poems. Because of that I was curious about how many people had
read it that week. Usually it takes about 150 people to read before
even one might respond? There was a time long ago that a lot more
people were reading this blog every week and I would get quite a few
emails. Today... not so much.
Anyway... she said she
wanted to ask me a question and her question was to know if I thought
Poe was wrong to have married his young cousin? Then, she said she
liked the poem... and she also thought it was sad.
I gave her my answer and
I haven't heard back yet... I assume I will though? I suppose it is
really two questions, even though it is framed as one. At least I
think she is asking two... and that is how I gave my answer. She used
the words, “... young (and) cousin...” First, if I read the
family history correctly, this young girl he fell in love with was a
(removed) cousin on the father's side: so, no “blood” would have
been involved. Ethically, morally, I don't know... honestly I
don't... but if they were too have had any children there would have
been no risk for mental or physical handicap because of their
lineage. At least no more so than with any other two people who
marry.
The other answer had to
do with the word she used, “young.” Again, it was a different era
and people did not live as long... so, a lot of girls married quite
young and many times they were wed to a guy who was several years
older and already established in the world.
Of course, not so much in
our own country but in many parts of the world (even today) it is
still a very common practice for girls to marry young and for the
guys to be older. (However, for the happiness of the girl I am sure
they would prefer someone closer to their own age.) But, in other
countries today many of these girls are not given that choice.
Anyway... thinking of Poe
while I am waiting to see if a professor emails me with the
information I need, I will include another of Poe's love poems.
TO HELEN
Helen, thy beauty is to
me
Like those Nicean barks of yore,
That gently, o'er a
perfumed sea,
The weary, wayworn wanderer bore
To his own
native shore.
On desperate seas long wont to roam,
Thy
hyacinth hair, thy classic face,
Thy Naiad airs have brought me
home
To the glory that was Greece
And the grandeur that was
Rome.
Lo! in yon brilliant window-niche
How statue-like I
see thee stand,
The agate lamp within thy hand!
Ah, Psyche,
from the regions which
Are Holy Land!
(Whether Poe's love was
satisfied, as it was with his child-bride Virginia, or forever
unrequited as it was with the object of his affection and the person
for whom he wrote the above poem... I think from reading what Poe
wrote that at least he knew what it was to actually be in love!!!!!!!
But, that's just my opinion. lol)
Because some already
think him odd, I'm a little hesitant to even tell who it was that Poe
was thinking about when he wrote of this “perfect beauty” Helen.
It was his first real love, and that was when Poe was only
fourteen-years-old. Though there were many girls in Poe's life after
her, from that time and forward all of them were always compared to
her... she was, to Poe, the epitome of physical and spiritual beauty.
Her name, in real life,
was Mrs. Stannard... and she was the mother of one of Poe's boyhood
friends. Later in life, and by his own hand Poe described her as,
“... the first, purely ideal love of my soul – Helen Stannard.”
Yep... crazy or not, I
think he understood what truly loving someone meant
THANKFULLY... GOLDFISH ARE HARDY LITTLE FELLAS
Friday June 29, 2012 9:40 pm
The oldest (continuous) thing I've had in my possession is (at least) 53-years-old. It is a fish-bowl that we had goldfish in when we first moved to Parkersburg from Ohio. I've told the story before of how there was only an old stove in the main room of the house and if you strayed more than a few feet from it you would practically freeze.
Our move from the old farmhouse in London was in the wintertime and it was one of those very hard and cold winter seasons. (I really will get to the point of what I am writing about very shortly.)
At that time that particular fish-bowl had goldfish in it. Of course, they are not the same goldfish we have today. If that were the case this might really be an interesting blog? Anyway, the bowl evidently set too far from the stove and one freezing night the bowl completely froze over... with the little guys still in it.
The next morning my dad chipped through about a half-inch of solid ice on the top and the goldfish were fine! After hearing that story I know what you're thinking... "
Hallelujah!" No... that's not what you were thinking? Okay, I'll continue.
The reason I told you that is to show just how sturdy these guys must be. Before I tell you what I did... let me tell you something about myself. From the time I was young I have always loved animals: all kinds. And I have always told everyone that if you are going to have animals you need to take care of them.
I'll give you an example of what I mean. No matter how tired I am when I get home... if the animals need fed or watered or anything else... I will always take care of them before I do something that I might personally need to do. I mean, it only seems fair: don't you think?
So, this week it was on me to do my job and the myriad other things I have to do... and... and... make certain all of the animals are cared for. Pretty simple stuff... right?
So, I dutifully and faithfully fed, walked, and cleaned up after our one cat... and five dogs. HOWEVER, I forgot we also have a few goldfish which sets in one corner of the living-room. That's right... Saturday/Sunday/Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday and until a few minutes ago on this day... Friday: they were not fed! Now, for fish water is not really an option or needed, but food: c'mon!
I didn't realize or remember that we even had fish until I was shopping a few minutes ago and as I passed the frozen food aisle I saw a can of concentrated orange juice and I thought that it looked like the goldfish flakes which come in a similar can. Then I remembered... GOLDFISH!!!
So, I drove home feeling very guilty and expecting to see three floaters on the top of the water, else two dead and partially eaten goldfish which had been cannibalized by the alpha fish in the bowl? (Not that I know for sure if there is an alpha among goldfish: but, it was my first thought and it is my own imagination... so, leave me alone. lol)
With trepidation I entered the living-room and what do you suppose I saw? There were three little goldfish, apparently, no worse off for their forced fast? I even imagine they might have gotten in some serious praying this long week, "please, someone, anyone... feed me!"
After hearing that story about my three goldfish surviving I know what
you're thinking... "
Hallelujah!" No... that's not what you were
thinking?
NEEDING A RESPITE!
Thursday June 28, 2012 10:30 pm
I had to take a break...
school is killing me! This week with the dogs, work, school, and the
oppressive heat... it has been a long one. I needed to rest my mind
so I thought I would reproduce for anyone who reads this one of my
very favorite Poe poems.
At 27 Poe had married his
great love... his 13 year-old cousin – Virginia Clemm. And in case
you were wondering: NO, they were not from Tennessee or West
Virginia! Lol The poem was written and released soon after she died.
Poe, according to who you want to believe... was a confirmed
alcoholic, and (or) drug user. His detractors say he was even worse
than that... and his many defenders say he wasn't that bad?
However, if you do
nothing more than read his own letters by his own hand... he
certainly had his demons. Anyway, this is a beautiful and yet
heartbreakingly sad poem ):
Annabel Lee
It was many and many a year ago,
In
a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may
know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with
no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a
child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea:
But we
loved with a love that was more than love -
I and my Annabel
Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her
and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this
kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My
beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her high-born kinsmen came
And
bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this
kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in
heaven,
Went envying her and me -
Yes! that was the reason (as
all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came
out of the cloud one night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel
Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of
those who were older than we -
Of many far wiser than we -
And
neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the
sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful
Annabel Lee;
For the moon never beams without bringing me
dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise
but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And
so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling -my
darling -my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea -
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
Sometimes... I think life is too sad for words. I hope everyone has a good night and a blessed weekend!
I FORGOT TO INCLUDE SOMETHING?
Tuesday June 26, 2012 11:57 am
All of my dogs were taken
care of this morning with the rising of the Sun. That part of me
taking care of them they might not like, because I get 'em up early.
But the rest I think they appreciate: fried egg sandwiches for all
five of them this morning.
After that I have been
steadily working on school work until I had to walk Virgil and Stella
again a few minutes ago. The day is absolutely perfect weather so
far. Later in the afternoon we will have a scorcher, but for now it
is wonderful outside!!! High 70's, gentle breeze, the Sun was warm on
my face and back... but not yet hot. This day seems to hold so much
promise? It's a shame that I will either be inside at home, else at
Ivy Tech this afternoon for an appointment to register for fall
classes.
From yesterday's blog I
wanted to include one very obvious thing I left off my eclectic mix
of odd furnishings in my office. I mean, talk about the
elephant-in-the-room. Have you ever seen something so often that it
seems to almost disappear. An example of that would be if you've been
married for a very long time and this is what often-times happens with your spouse?
I mean, you know that they are there, and they might even be
talking... but you really don't see a thing and all that you hear is
white-noise. Kind of like that. (lol)
Behind my chair as I sit and type I have a safe,
mid size, but very heavy. It is hard to move around and that is why
it sets in one spot... the same spot that it has been in since the
day we moved here. Before that it occupied the same spot (once it was
set down) in all of the different houses we have ever lived in. I
purchased it when the girls were babies so it is about 33 years old.
Several years ago I needed some heavy-duty casters for something I
was building and I took them off of the safe. Now, it can only squat
where it is planted!
Late last night after
posting I had gone to the kitchen to get a cold drink and when I
returned the first thing I saw was the safe... and I thought, how in the world did
I forget to write about something as big and ugly as it is. I am so
used to it being there that I am not even certain if I have opened it
since we moved here. The combination is an easy one to remember
because it can be logged as a telephone number: 944-8366. Although
that is the numbers for the safe and in their proper sequence... that is not the block
sequence you would use to spin the dial and open it up. In reality
though it wouldn't matter if I lost all that is in it. There is
absolutely nothing of monetary value: there is, however, one piece
in it which holds great sentimental value for me.
Late last year I
separated and sorted through all of my old gold, silver coins, and bars that had any real dollar value and I sold them. (Besides, I
never kept those in my safe anyway.) Last night I pulled out my papers
and glanced through what was still in the safe. Among other things
there are rejection letters from story ideas, my passport (in case I
am ever able to enact my great escape), a canceled check, dated 35
years ago in the amount of $225.00. That check was from another of
my failed inventions. $225.00 today is nothing, but for me and back
then it was a lot of money to waste.
There was that one thing I
found which would only be of value to me. It was from another of my failed
tries at inventing something. This time though because of the money I had wasted in trying to get other projects started I thought
I would have a notarized document drawn up... then, I would try to
sell my idea rather than a prototype invention. My dad was a Notary
Public and he signed the papers that were drawn up and affixed his
state seal to them. (That idea, like the others I had were busts but his
signature and seal to me are still important.)
Speaking of my dad... I
didn't mention it on yesterday's blog but not because it was an
oversight. I just didn't include it because to me it was not weird to
have it, like some of the other things I have which obviously are. On
the very top of my bookshelf is a properly folded American flag. This
was the flag soldiers had covered his casket with: after removing it
they had given it to me.
I'll finish with what I
wasn't going to include. Now, though... who cares? (lol) My desk is
a glass and steel frame desk and it has two tiers. Approximately 15
inches in front of me and at about the 1:00 o'clock position sets a
????? One of my granddaughters, Rachel or Hallie (upon first seeing
it) said, “Papaw, it looks like an exploded baby doll head.”
Now, do you see why I was
reluctant to admit having it? One day I was scavenging along the Ohio
river when I saw a white piece of bone (?) half buried in the muck. I
extricated it and upon closer examination I found that I had no idea
on Earth what it was? I couldn't even tell for certain if it was bone
or merely a man-made plastic. It had been in the water for some time
though because algae and some crustaceans were growing on it. Well...
I certainly had my prize for the day! (lol) It has a nice round globe on top and great looking growth(?) protruding from the bottom of it. Pocketing it I headed for
home.
As soon as I got home I
took it into the kitchen for cleaning. When Deb saw it she was
freaked out and wouldn't go near it. The thought crossed my mind to
try and make her touch it... then, if she refused I would chase her
through the house with it in my hand. Then I thought, “I'm probably
too old to be doing that sort of stuff, and if I'm not, well... she is!” Instead of that, I put it in a pot
with some chemicals which I have mixed before that are good for
cleaning things that I find. I brought it to a slow boil while scrubbing it and it ended up
being perfectly bleached.
However, even though it
was now pristine it had coated her pan with a black oily residue that
will not come off. The best advice I gave her that day was that she
probably shouldn't use that cooker again because I wasn't sure... but, it would probably contaminate whatever food was in it? As usual, that
day she was exceedingly happy with me (:
I just realized something as I glanced around the room again. When I die there is not a single thing I have in this room that will be worth anything to anyone else. Really, it's nothing more than just an odd collection of junk. There are a couple of metal jars on one of my shelves and I just looked inside to see what is in them? They are full of small rocks which (over the years) I have collected from various hikes and jaunts through the woods.
My latest addition to this junk room, which now adorns a library shelf is a small red and white plastic cup with a lid. When I got home from work this past Sunday it was sitting on my library table. I opened it and it is full of sand from the beach. Three of my very young granddaughters who just came back from the beach had brought it for me. They knew I didn't get to take Virgil there and I suspect they didn't want me to be disappointed? God bless them!
I put a few grains of sand on the top of Virgil's head and told him that's what we missed out on. (lol) Recently I saw a television commercial that will come in handy to the person who, one day, will be responsible for cleaning out this room. (1-800-GOT-JUNK)
MY OFFICE IS WEIRD
Monday June 25, 2012 10:40 pm
If my office is an
extension of myself... I am truly weird. And, I must admit that it
has to be as I am the one who has collected the odd assortment of
items that I am looking at. The next several days will be more hectic
than usual because I still have school, work, and now, the care of
all the dogs this week. Because of that a smart person would not
waste any of his time just looking at the peculiar things in his
office... then, taking the necessary time to blog about it? But, I
never said I was very bright.
In a sense I am blogging
because of an assignment I did first thing this morning after I got
in from walking Virgil and Stella for their... ahem, “morning
constitutional.” I write it like that just in case Stella, who is
staring intently at me as I type, has indelicate sensitivities?
Virgil, as a guy could probably care care less than nothing about
what I type... but he is sound asleep by my feet. I suppose I ought
to clarify that I am only joking about Stella & Virgil knowing
what I am typing... especially since I am writing about personal
weirdness. On the other-hand, I try not to give too much thought what
anyone thinks of me anyway. So, for the sake-of-argument, let's say
I'm serious.
It will be a stretch for
me to get in everything this week that I am needing to get done. This
morning at 6:15 I had to let the three (outside) dogs out of their
pens in the garage and allow them to get some exercise before I put
them up in their outdoor runs. For a breakfast snack I gave them
toast, with butter and cheese. It's probably a good thing Deb never
reads anything I write: else, she would hate to know what all they
get to eat whenever I am taking care of them. Although, I think that
is why all of them get excited when they see me! (And girls... or
Preacher, you can't tell her either.)
Virgil and Stella just
had some chicken (boiled) with pasta, rice and peas. There really is
a reason why I just wrote and told what my dogs had for breakfast. It
is just that taking care of all of them is time consuming. So, after
I got in from walking my two inside dogs I sat down to try and get in
one assignment before I had to leave for work... and that is what
prompted me to write this blog.
In this particular class
I had an assignment to take an online personality test and to publish
the results in a discussion board post. The instructions did not say
to do this, but I waited about 30 minutes after taking the test the
first time and I took it again. I just wanted to see (because the
answers and the assessment is subjective) if the results were the
same, or nearly so? In both examples, I, according to them, am in a
2% to 5% group (ENTP). Now, that doesn't necessarily mean 5% in a
good way either. It could be that I am in the bottom-dwelling 5% and
not in any higher echelon group. The score did cause me to wonder
which end of the spectrum I might be at. And that, in turn, caused me
to start looking at the environment which I created: hence, my
office.
Thankfully, I have gotten
rid of a lot of things I had: else, my assortment would even be more
odd. Those who only know me by my writing and have never been to my
house, I want to explain something. If you picture “my office”
please do not imagine it is anything fancy. It is just that there
happened to be an extra room in the back of the house and I converted
it into an office.
The latest addition to my
room is an 80 pound glass and metal conductor by the Lapp Company. It
set for several days (un-bought) in a second-hand store for the
amazing price of only $6.99. Every other (normal) person passing by
only saw an antique electric conductor... worth nothing. Whereas... I
saw “lamp” as soon as I saw it! As of this moment it is now
securely bolted through the inkwell on an antique library table I
picked up at auction a few years ago... for... wait for it... $2.00!
That's right, another man's junk is my treasure! The conductor is the
very same type that you see on huge power plants alongside the
highways. They are able to carry great amounts of current through
them. I do have some normal things I guess: I have a few pictures on
my wall and desk: fairly normal stuff I suppose. My guitar hanging on
the wall, nothing abnormal with that. An old Army cot... again not certifiable items.
I do know that my office would
be a nightmare for any person who is stylish or into themes. Laying
beside my chair is a gold Zero Halliburton briefcase that I won in a
sales contest several years ago. At one time as I attended speaking
engagements and meetings I guess it wasn't out of place for me to
carry it. Today though, I would never have a reason to keep it with
me. I do have a couple of my prized possessions I keep locked in it.
I have an old wooden tea
box on my desk with 8 separate compartments. I have collected many dozens
of pins, coins, and odd pieces of memorabilia to give to the
grandchildren when they are old enough to want to play with the
pieces.
In front of me I have an
even dozen fossils I have found while out searching the local fossil
beds... “shh” don't pass that last bit of information to anyone.
It's sort of funny, but they don't like it when I take pieces with me that I have dug out of the ground.
I have a large piece of
????? I also dug this 94 pound piece of metal... rock... meteorite...
slag... who knows out of the ground several years ago. I don't know
what it is: but I like the looks of it, so it's in my office.
I have two large beaker
bottles sitting atop my book shelf. Imagine an old movie with Boris
Karloff... perhaps, The Bride of Frankenstein? Remember the mad
scientist, Dr. Pretorius and his awesome laboratory. Do you have that
mental picture? Okay, my room looks nothing like that, except I do
have two large beaker bottles I took from an abandoned factory (:
I used to like it
whenever a show would cancel and I was free for a couple of hours
before my next appointment. Many times I would head to old Louisville
and search through the long-abandoned factories that litter
Louisville's west side district. Some of those old building have been
abandoned for 20 years or more. Picture the blighted side of Detroit
after the auto industry began to die... that is old Louisville. Now,
to me what is amazing is that some of them, to this day, still have
old things left behind in them.
A few years ago I was
trekking through one of them and I had passed through what was
apparently an old locker room and dining area. It was huge! In its
heyday this business had employed hundreds of workers. (This same
business is still in operation today but they moved to the Indiana
side of the river.) In the main rooms there was enough ambient light
to see okay... but in the basement area where I was searching, it was
fairly dark. Ahead of me I saw the stairs and I picked up my pace and
stepped on someone! I had seen something on the floor several feet in
front of me but I figured it was just some clothes that years before
had been discarded. It turned out to be some drunk guy and he
screamed at me when I stepped on his leg.
Normally I am not a
person who scares easily... but this really gave me a start! I mean,
a bag of clothes hollering at me! After I realized what had happened
I regained my composure. I laughed about that for several days every
time I thought of the old sot.
Anyway, on that same
scavenger trip and on the fourth floor of that old building is where
I found my two beakers. I have a horse made of leather that sits
beside my Eiffel Tower clock... don't ask. I have an assortment of
staffs for hiking leaning against one wall. One of them was
given to me by a friend and I wouldn't take a thousand dollars for
it. (I used it on my short hike with Virgil on the AT.) I have some
Mickey and Minnie Mouse items sitting in different spots. There is a
dragon on my desk, inches from my keyboard. It sets beside an old
Roman coin in a frame that is from the days when Christ walked the
Earth.
I have a pencil box with
an inscription on it from Ernest Hemingway, “The writer must write
what he has to say. Not speak it.”
I have an hour-glass I
bought several months ago, it was purchased to replace one I had
owned for many years. Beside it is a small juke-box radio/lamp with an eye
pod (sic) dock
I use to listen to music as I sit and type. Across from me is a large
framed picture of me and Virgil. It was given to me as a gift when I
was first published. Several different people had read the book and
in their own hand they wrote their thoughts about it. I have a large
dream catcher on the wall, also given me as a gift from a friend...
it doesn't work ):
On
another wall I have a very old picture by Robert Wood. It depicts
woods exactly like what I would like to find and hike through... they
are pristine! I haven't even talked about my gas pump, Superman mug,
or my several old steins. Anyway... I guess I'm just weird.
The
sad thing is I can't simply be eccentric. I mean, that would have a
certain Je ne sais quoi quality to it. The problem is
if you are quirky or weird you have to be independently wealthy to be
considered eccentric: else, you're just crazy.
So, here I sit... a crazy
guy surrounded by some junk I have collected over the past several
years. Well, I guess I'll quit this foolishness and start working on
an English assignment: UGH
LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO BLAME... ANY VOLUNTEERS?
Sunday June 24, 2012 9:45 pm
Sometimes in the past whenever I have planned to do something that I wanted, it seems to me that I was always “needed” by another and my plans changed. This time, however, what happened was 100% my own fault!
But, it's hardly as much fun for me if I can blame no one else for my woes besides myself (: I keep telling Virgil that I am taking him to the beach... and yes, he knows what I'm saying. (Lol) Against all odds I asked for a week's vacation during one of our blackout periods at work and I was approved! Well, that must surely be some sort of sign... right?
So, I began planning. Five days on a beach in North Carolina... I can hardly wait!!! I Googled and found several interesting places I wanted to go while I was there with him. I began by telling Deb that I was going there and would be back home by the sixth day. In the back of my mind I knew that summer semester was going to be starting, but really, how hard could that be?
Four days into school and about 35 hours already on the computer and I knew that a week away would be impossible. So, I changed it to three days at Daytona and one day at Gatlinburg on the way back home. There is only a difference of a few miles from my house to the beach in North Carolina, and Daytona Beach in Florida. But, from here to Daytona it is all Interstate and I can travel much faster... so, it seemed a better choice. The biggest negative was I had to wait until after five o'clock pm to take Virgil to the beach with me as they had restrictions that the beach in North Carolina did not. But, it still seemed doable?
Nine days into school and in one class I was barely hanging onto a “B” (at 80.11) and I saw the handwriting on the wall. So, I said, “DEFINITELY, I am still taking him somewhere with me! So, I decided on a quick drive to Gatlinburg and I would be back in two days!
June 16... the day we were supposed to leave. I still had about 10-12 hours left on the computer in two classes and I had an 11:59 pm Sunday deadline ): We were done... DRAT!!! Now, all that I do is I keep telling him how sorry I am that I screwed up and didn't get to take him again this year.
The problem is I can't keep telling him “next year” because how many next year's do any of us know that we have?
The good news is he still seems to love me, regardless the fact that I keep lying to him: albeit, even if I don't ever mean to do that.
SHOULD I OR SHOULDN'T I?
Sunday June 17, 1:27 am
A few minutes ago I finished uploading my last paper for this week on a very boring peer-reviewed article I had for an assignment. The only thing left for this week is a lock-down test that we are allowed 2 hours and fifty minutes to complete. I am hoping that only means there is a lot of writing involved and not that there are a trillion questions on it. (I am planning to take that test tomorrow afternoon.)
Now, for the main point of this morning's blog. Until now I have never removed a single blog after I had posted one: even though some I probably should have never written, or at least taken them down after I considered more carefully.
Although I have written a few dozen that I had no intention of ever posting. Those were either a practice in futility or good for my soul... I guess the jury is still out on that thought? Unless you are a late night, or early morning person... this is one post that might last no longer than whatever hours I will sleep until I am supposed to be awake.
It isn't that this one is particularly bad, or any more stupid than many others I have written. It is just that it allows a little more insight into the crazy thoughts which endlessly tumble through my disturbed mind.
Thursday morning I was working and I had a work companion tell me that she has never seen me upset... even while dealing with contentious people? I grinned while she was saying that to me and she said, "See, that's what I mean, you smile all the time, and even while talking to the worst people."
I told her that I had a "secret" and I might share it with her some day? I don't know if it was some sort of a test, trial, or just a happy accident, but the very next person I saw was extremely upset! In fact, she was so angry I think she was having difficulty trying to find the right words to describe her feelings. (Apparently she had not been able to find anyone to help her?)
As I approached: this person said to me... and I quote, "I'm so mad... I'm... I'm, getting bent!" (Those were her
exact words.) As I usually do I began to smile and say the right words to try and placate her and to finally make the sale. With that little story in mind, I think I will let all of you know my
secret and what I told my co-worker that I might let her in on one day?
Here is my secret: the reason I am able to smile and say "all the right things" even to the worst people, is that my words I am speaking and my thoughts in my head are going in opposite directions, and at the very same second.
All the time I am finding out what this lady needs by asking questions... my mind had been captured by her description that she is, "bent." Though I never gave voice to the thought, instantly I knew what had caused her to be "bent": hence, the reason I was smiling.
In my mind I am imagining trying to (patiently) explain to her exactly why she is bent? "Ma'am, (I'm thinking) the reason you are bent is that you are grossly overweight, and this has caused you to be somewhat bow-legged. In addition, your back muscles are too weak to support your ponderous stomach, therefore, you tip a little forward at the waist and it gives you that
bent feeling."
I really don't know what else to say. It is just that things like that help me through my day (:
FOURTEEN IS A MAGICAL NUMBER
Friday June 15, 2012 11:45 pm
I write a lot about not
sleeping for long periods of time and how it doesn't bother me? I
think mostly that is true when it is just my body that gets tired.
But, now I think because (all kidding aside) I really have been
applying myself and doing the best I can to both get in all of the
assignments on time and score the best grades I am capable... I think right now I am mentally tired as well.
After a long day and late
night yesterday, I awoke and went to work (at 6:00 am) on about three
hours sleep. After I got home I showered, dressed in shorts and
tee-shirt and (almost) non-stop I worked eight and one-half hours on
school work sitting at my computer.
This morning I awoke
early and have been almost all day sitting here and typing. I'm not
done with all of the assignments yet, but, I wanted to take a break
and finish this 14th part on Christ's Second Coming. It is
now getting late again: I guess I wanted you to know that in case this blog makes no
sense whatsoever. Of course, to most people trying to set any type of
a hard date when Christ will return seems preposterous. So, just in
case this blog is even less lucid than others I have written in the
past... well, give me a break as I'm trying to come up with excuses so you will cut me
some slack? lol
(I will pick up at the
point I left off on part 13 of my blog.) In verse nine we read: “And
Enos lived 90 years, and begat Cainan. This makes 325 years from
Creation. (235 + 90)
In verse 12 we read: “And
Cainan lived 70 years, and begat Mahalaleel.” We are now at 395
years.
Verse 15 reads: “And
Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared.” Now... we
are at 460 years.
Verse 18 speaks of
Jared's firstborn: “And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years,
and he begat Enoch.” We are now at 622 years from the first day of
Creation.
In verse 21 we learn of
Methuselah, which is Enoch's first child: “And Enoch lived sixty
and five years, and begat Methuselah.” We are now at 687 years.
Now, Methuselah does not have a child until he is 187 years old.
Verse 25: “And
Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech.
874 years has now passed since Creation.
Lamech, Methuselah's son
has his own son when he is 182 years old: “And Lamech lived an
hundred and eighty and two years, and begat a son.” (verse 28) We
have now passed 1,000 years and we are at 1.056 years since Creation.
Who was the son Lamech
had? Verse 29: “And he called his name Noah, saying. This same
shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because
of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.”
Noah was considerably
older than the men who came before when he had his firstborn son...
verse 32: “And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begat
Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” (Of course, Japheth was born first and
Shem was the second son born and Ham was the youngest of the three
boys.) There have now passed 1,556 years since “God created the
heaven and the earth.”
The Bible is also very
clear on the date of the Great Flood. Genesis 7:11: “In the six
hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth
day of the month, (May 17) the same day were all the fountains of the
great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. We know
Noah's age when he had his first son and we know 100 years passed
from that time until the Great Flood... so we know that the year of
the Flood upon the Earth was 1,656 years from Creation! Right?
Well... maybe? Let me explain.
For the most part, anyone
who is curious and has just a few minutes to read that portion of
Genesis in the Bible can come up with the dates I just gave... that
part is simple. But, what seems to have escaped most observers and
the main reason we can not be 100% certain of the number of years
from Creation to the Great Flood is because the Bible does not tell
us how many months had passed after each man turned another year
older before they had their own sons.
Two of the great Bible
scholars I have read extensively are Bishop Ussher and John
Lightfoot! Yet, even those two seemed to miss the obvious. Let me
illustrate. Let's suppose Creation began with me... I mean it did,
right? Seriously though, here would be my time-line:
Birth: day one of
Creation... my, I feel awfully important!
19 years (+ one-half
month passes) and I have a child!
19 years (+ 10 more
months pass) and I have another child!
If the Bible were
recording the two daughters who were born to me it would only state I
was 19 years old. Therefore, 19 years from Creation would have
passed... right? No, the correct answer would be 19 years + 11 months
have passed... for I would be 20 years old in less than a month after
my second daughter was born.
There are ten generations
listed:
Adam/Seth/Enos/Cainan/Mahalaleel/Jared/Enoch/Methuselah/Lamech/and
Noah. The only way Bible scholars could be correct to say that 1,656
years had passed from Creation to the Great Flood is if all ten men
had their own children within 35 days of their most recent birthdays,
and I much doubt that was the case. (10 x 35 = 350 days which is less
than one lunar year.)
Also, if each of the ten
men who were recorded in the Bible had their children just one day
shy of their next birthday, that would add nine more years to the
calendar and bring it to the year 1,665. (Again though, I doubt that
scenario as well.)
Because the Bible does
not record individually months which passed, the most accurate answer
would be 1,656 years (+ 1 to 9 more years) passed from Creation to
the Great Flood. That is the reason that preachers who try to be too
exacting with numbers will always fail because the Bible did not
record all of the necessary information which would be needed in
order to get an exact date. Therefore, from the beginning of time
until the Great Flood was upon the whole Earth was between the
dates: May 17, 1,665 to 1,656 BC.
Because of the given time
line in the Bible, Lightfoot, Ussher and many others place Creation
at 4,004 BC. That is 1,656 years from Creation to the Flood and 2,348
years from the Great Flood until the birth of Christ. So, they say:
1,656 + 2,348 = 4,004. Then, if you add those years to the years
after the birth of Christ you would have … 4,004 + 2,012 = 6,016
years from Creation until this year. Because they did not take into
account the men's ages... not only in years but adding the months,
the actual time we have been on Earth lies somewhere between 6,016 to
6,025 years from Creation!
Before continuing I will
give you some other important time lines that can be gleaned from the
Bible.
God's call to Abraham was
1,921 years before Christ was born.
The children of Israel
fled Egypt 1,491 years before Jesus was born.
The temple, in Jerusalem,
was founded 1,012 years before Christ's birth.
Finally, for this brief
list, the start of the Babylonian captivity was 586 years before
Jesus was born on Earth.
What follows this
paragraph is copied from a Web page that I am hoping you can access directly from
my blog. I only included this because there are some interesting
facts. In Revelation chapter 8:10-11 the Bible declares, “And the
third angel sounded and there fell a great star from heaven, burning
as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and
upon the fountains of waters: And the name of the star is called
Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many
men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis
99942 Apophis,
previously known by its provisional designation
2004 MN4)
is a near-Earth asteroid that caused a brief period of concern
in December 2004 because initial observations indicated a small
probability (up to 2.7%) that it would strike the Earth in 2029.
Additional observations provided improved predictions that eliminated
the possibility of an impact on Earth or the Moon in 2029.
However, a possibility remained that during the 2029
close encounter with Earth, Apophis would pass through a
gravitational keyhole, a precise region in space no more than about a
half-mile wide, that would set up a future impact on April 13, 2036.
This possibility kept the asteroid at Level 1 on the Torino impact
hazard scale until August 2006, when the probability that Apophis
will pass through the keyhole was determined to be very small.
Apophis broke the record for the highest level on
the Torino Scale, being, for only a short time, a level 4, before it
was lowered. Its diameter is approximately 270 meters (885 ft). As of
October 7, 2009 the probability of an April 13, 2036 impact is
considered to be 1 in 250,000. Of objects not recently observed,
there are 7 asteroids with a more notable Palermo Technical Impact
Hazard Scale than Apophis.
Apophis is named after the ancient enemy of the
sun-god Ra. Apep was the Uncreator, an evil serpent that dwells in
the eternal darkness of the Duat (earth's middle) and tries to
swallow Ra during his nightly passage.
Another danger of a large
space rock hitting our Earth is what is called an “impact winter”,
that is a period of extended cold weather brought on by dust and
particles shrouding the Earth and blocking the Sun. A rock the size
of Apophis hitting the Earth is estimated to have the same effect as
65,000 nuclear warheads striking the Earth at the same time.
The verse following in
Revelation which describes the impact of Wormwood striking the Earth
tells of the third part of the Sun, the Moon and the stars being
darkened. (v. 12) “And the fourth angel sounded , and the third
part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the
third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened,
and the day shone not for the third part of it, and the night
likewise.”
Keep in mind what I have
written before in this series. Those prophets of God who saw visions
tried to describe in the language of their own day what they were
seeing. They didn't use terms like, “impact winter.” All that
John knew was that after this “star” fell to the Earth, the Sun
and the Moon were not giving their same light. Why? It is because of
the great cloud of dust which will be picked up and carried high into
our atmosphere.
Also, before I give you
all a date … lol I want to explain one other thing. I'm not basing
His soon return on the rock I am telling you about which might, or
might not hit the Earth in 2,029? I am saying that based on all ten
signs and the fact that this approaching asteroid coincides very well
with the time I think He will return? Ready, here goes.
The flyby(?) of Apophis
over the Earth is expected to happen on April 13, 2,029. If I am even
close to being right, then that would mean the Rapture will have
taken place 3 and ½ years before... as Wormwood will strike the
Earth midway through the Great Tribulation. Therefore, I think the
Rapture will happen in October 2,025.
Which of course would
mean that I would miss my 70th birthday. What a crying
shame, I was sort of looking forward to that party!
I still have another 2
pages of notes I was going to include but the honest truth is I am
just tired of typing. In a nutshell they had to do with the Jewish
homeland from 1948 until 2,025... and that is another perfect
time-line fit.
Also the age of the Earth
(6,016-6,025) is another great fit. God created everything in six
literal days and rested on the 7th. We are told that with
the Lord “... a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as
a day.” Therefore, mankind has had six days (6,000 years) to labor
and the seventh day, or the 7,000 year will be a day of rest. (The
millennial reign of Christ for 1,000 years on Earth will fulfill that
as well.)
If I am right we have a
little more than 13 years from today. The Lord began His public
ministry on Earth when he was thirty years old and He preached for 3
and ½ years on the Earth. That also fits well into the idea of six
“days” being six thousand years. If Apophus is the Wormwood John
described, then it striking in 2,029 puts the middle of the Great
Tribulation at 6,030 years from the beginning of time.
One more thing. Don't
imagine that we have that much time and put something off... I
honestly do not know. The Lord could return before I post this. Or,
he might not return in the lifetime of anyone who reads this? Either
way though, He is coming back! If I die before 2,025, and you are
still alive in November of that year and the Lord hasn't returned...
well, you can just record one more thing that you know for certain I
was wrong about during my lifetime! And, if I am counting correctly that would bring the total things I have been wrong about to... two! (:
One last thing... I
promise. In 2,025 If I am not still around and you are: eat a piece of cake
for me on November 12... for it's what I would have done if I could.
Make it either a piece of chocolate or carrot cake: my two favorites!
If it is chocolate make sure the icing matches... and if it's carrot
cake, well I especially like sour cream frosting. To those I love and
all of my friends... have a good night!
13 OF 14 ON THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
Tuesday June 12, 2012 10:04 pm
I thought I would make
one more post (with this the 13th one) and that will prepare the next post, which will be last one for this series on the Second Coming of Christ.
Before I do that I will
give a brief update on my first week of being graded. So far... in
one class I have an A with nothing missed. Another class with 4 tests
taken, 5 writing assignments and a slew of articles submitted for
peer-review in the Discussion Board... out of a possible 295 points,
I have scored 292. So far, so good. Now, for the class that I
thought I would be okay in and perhaps even excel? Ready? If I drop
just one more point I will be at a “C.” That's right boys and
girls... I am at the very bottom of a “B.” HAHAHAHAHAHA!
While still a young man I
was actually bored with school work because it wasn't very
challenging? I could miss school at will... hardly ever crack a book
and still pass all of the exams rather easily. Today... right now, I am
trying as hard as I can to keep up: yet, by next Sunday in that one
class I might be no better than a “C” student!
Years ago I used to enjoy
watching a show called “Branded.” It starred Chuck Connors and he
was drummed out of the service because of a charge of cowardice under
fire. Of course, the viewers all knew the charges were groundless,
yet he never could clear his name. The opening scene was always the
same. A superior officer with an apparently very sharp sword cutting
away the buttons from his shirt. (I guess this act signified that he
was branded?)
In much the same manner I
am now expecting a visit from Ms Rudolph or someone like her
demanding I return any and all paperwork from her organization which
would show I am a member. Instead of a saber she would probably have sharp
scissors in her hand as she turns my hard earned certificates into
confetti. All the while shaking her head and looking woefully
disappointed. I would probably be red-faced and stammering, “But, but... I tried my best, does that count for nothing?”
Because I apparently lack
the needed skills in mathematics I have decided to introduce my own
equation and name it after me. It is:
(RJ=Stoopud²)
Eat
your heart out Diophantus! Move over Einstein... there's a new math
whiz on the block and I am now starring in my very own equations!
Although I think it's great fun (really) to learn my own
limitations... if I really do dummy any of my classes to a “C” …
I'm not sure I will think that is as funny as I do right now as I sit
here and poke fun of myself. Lol
Alright,
after this post... and most probably by the week-end I will type the 14th
and last blog on this series that I have been working on.
Now, for the point of my next blog. There are a few books in the Old Testament with several verses that
recorded there was going to be the Son of God born into the world.
And, of course, we know that event took place 2,000 years ago. I am
only wanting to make the point that a very small number of books and
verses in the Bible spoke of His first Advent... and yet, that came
to pass. By comparison, in the New Testament I found that 17 of the
27 books and 93 verses foretells His Second Coming! And, I am not
stating or even implying that I found all of them. That list is just
the ones that I searched and found in my own studies. Perhaps there
are many more verses and books that I did not find?
I
am going to type just one more paragraph to show how I am going to make
the case for the time-line of the history of the Earth. Then, in my next
blog I will continue with this list and also show some “clues” from the Bible and try to make a
case as to why I believe we are nearing the very end-of-time.
Genesis
5:3: “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son
in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth...”
So far we have 130 years from Creation. (verse 6) “And Seth lived
an hundred and five years, and begat Enos.” Now, we are in year
235. (130 for Adam and 105 for Seth)
FINALLY... THREE QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Sunday June 10, 2012 9:27 pm
For this week all of my school work is complete... whew! However, it starts all over tomorrow: UGH!
The only part I now have left to type is my thoughts on the approximate time of the start to the end of the world, and that is the Rapture of the church. As I can, and between work, downloads for school... and of course I mustn't forget spending time with my little man... Virgil. I will try to get my last post done on this subject as soon as possible and upload it as well
Whenever I am reading
(even a fictional book) I always imagine what the characters are
going through. I try to envision their surroundings, thoughts, course
of actions, etc. And sometimes I carry with me what I have read my
entire lifetime. As I am typing this I am remembering a book I read
when I was no more than 20 years old and at that time I identified
with one of the main characters. I could tell he was about to make a
terrible and forever life-changing mistake.
As I was slowly turning
the page to see what happened I was hoping he wouldn't be that
dumb... but he was! I remember thinking, “You fool!” I never once
dreamed then that I would actually live something in my own life
which was very similar. The reason I told you that is two-fold.
First: In the spirit of being honest sometimes I just can't help
myself! And whenever I think of something as I am typing I include
it. (lol) Secondly: and the more important reason is that I also do
the same thing whenever I am reading the Bible. That is... I try to
picture what is happening to these people during the time the Bible
is recording their acts. With that background, I want to talk to you
about Noah and the Ark.
I know that from
experiences I have had even in my day as I have tried to witness to
people that it is not much different than it was in the days of Noah.
And that is the heart of man has always had doubt and there have
always been scoffers. I know this for a fact because Noah preached
many years during the entire time the Ark was being built, and he
apparently didn't have a single convert!
In your mind what do you
see whenever you think of the Ark being built? I know it would have
been started in an area where there would be plenty of trees for
harvesting. And he certainly didn't have to worry about an ocean to
launch his boat because God was going to provide a beach front
everywhere on Earth.
We don't know a lot about
Noah other than he was “a just man and perfect in his generations,
and Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9b.) I also imagine his
testimony was real: for his wife, his three sons, and their wives all
believed him enough to board the Ark. In my mind I picture as the
months drew down to weeks, and then to days... the crowds began
growing exponentially. This Ark being built was not done in a vacuum,
and crowds love to mock. Honestly, I know myself that I love to laugh
so if I had lived at that time I know for certain I would have been
there laughing along with the rest of the people, at least until the
time the old man entered the boat for the last time.
Of course the Bible
nowhere states how many years it took to build the Ark, but it was no
small challenge and it might well have been decades. Noah is first
mentioned in Genesis 5:32 and he is 500 years old at that time and
when he enters the Ark it is his 600th year. So, a period
of no more than 100 years the boat was being prepared. (Now, how many
scoffers do you think this huge boat being built on dry land over an
extended period of time would have drawn?)
As the time began to grow
short... perhaps the strangest sight for all of the believers,
(besides this huge boat and Noah's crazy ramblings about “rain”
going to fall) was the steady advance of animals that had been
showing up for several days now, and they had been coming from all
directions. And some of them were even walking up the gangplank and
boarding this crazy contraption.
(Keep in mind that it was
not until AFTER the Great Flood that animals and people had any fear
of each other. All creatures... man and beast (before the Flood) were
vegetarian (Genesis 1:29-31). Then, for the first time after the
Great Flood man was given permission to kill and eat certain types of
animals.)
Genesis 7:15-16: “And
they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh,
wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male
and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the lord shut
him in.” (AND THE LORD SHUT HIM IN)
Now that was the part
that for a long time I could not grasp the significance of the act: I
mean, Noah and his sons were all physically capable men, yet, they
did not close the door after they were safely inside... God did! The
Bible also declares that on the “selfsame day” that Noah and his
family entered the Ark that, “... the same day were all the
fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were
opened.” I now want to try and explain the two scenes in my mind I
have from this great and terrible day! First, what those on the
outside were seeing.
I imagine it was a great
carnival atmosphere outside the boat as Noah had been warning people
time was growing shorter. Perhaps thousands had gathered just to see
this crazy old man exit the boat after nothing bad happened.
Then, with baited breath
by some and probably many jeers and snide remarks by others who
shouted toward Noah's back as he entered the gangplank for the last
time... something strange happened? Of its own accord this massive
gangplank began to lift off the ground and within seconds the door
was tightly sealed... then it happened.
The ground began to shake
and suddenly something started happening which had never before been
seen... rain began to fall. But not just rain, it was a deluge! (The
windows of heaven were opened.)
I think men and women began to run gathering their families. I think
that in any crisis if you are with people you love more than life
itself, then “home” always sounds safe. I think that is what was
on everyone's mind, get home and fast! I bet they did not run ten
feet in the direction of home before they realized home was not a
safe place at all. The only safety was the Ark, which was now sealed.
In voices that because of
fear had great strength and they began to outshout the storm and to
plead and beg Noah to open the door and let them in.. perhaps they
were telling him they were sorry and they hadn't meant to make fun?
Many who couldn't swim, and small children along with the aged were
already succumbing to the waters: animals, men, women, and children
were beginning to drown. There were bodies floating everywhere. A
great many trees in the nearby woods had been harvested for the
building of the Ark, but maybe some of the young men who were
stronger might have started running in the direction of what trees
remained. Maybe they thought that the old man was only partly right
and though this water was bad, surely it couldn't reach them in the
high branches? Outside there was wails and crying, and death...
everywhere!
Inside the Ark I think it
was completely different. I believe there would be a hushed awe...
even the animals were silent. There is something about death that
does this.
Several years ago we
raised dogs. If you do that and if you have a lot of dogs, there will
be death. Our high number at the same time on our yard was 33 dogs.
Normally whenever I would go onto the yard there was a great
cacophony of sound: barks, yips, shrieks... the dogs were all excited
and vying for my attention. I had two acres and there was a place in
the bottom end of the property that we were not doing anything with.
Anytime a dog would die, I had to carry him through the middle of the
runs I had built which were on opposite sides of the yard. Not once
did I ever carry a dog who had died where any of the other dogs could
see what I carried. I always wrapped them before burial. Yet, as soon
as I approached the back yard to walk to the end of the property to
dig a hole and bury the dog... I was met with stony silence. Somehow
they knew? And it wasn't because of any smells. I never waited to
take care of the hard part of burying an animal when something bad
happened, I did it immediately.
As I passed by some of
the dogs would quickly turn away and go back out of sight, and into
their houses. A few would lay down and put their chin on their
outstretched paws and quietly watch me as I passed. But, always they
were very quiet. I think that is how it was on the Ark that first
day. Even the animals knew a lot of dying was happening outside the
walls of the Ark.
I don't even know if Noah
and his sons stood near their wives? Each was probably lost in their
own thoughts trying to understand what was happening outdoors. They
could still hear some terrified screams, so they knew some had not
yet perished. They might have heard people who were no longer begging
for their own lives... but please, would Noah open the door and save
their young children... their little babies... please!
A window was built high
on the side and it ran around the boat. I imagine Noah scrambling up
the scaffolding to the third story parapet and trying to peer out. I
think the image of people who could swim holding children just out of
the water, and begging for his help seared his mind.
Now, He was a preacher of
righteousness and he had for many years warned them of the coming
judgment. But, I think he thought to himself... was he really so very
different than those outside? He was just a man after all.
I think at some point
Noah fled to the door and began to push with all his might: the
screams and what he saw was too much... he was going to save who he
could. In my mind I can hear him screaming for his three boys to lend
their strength to the door: it must be stuck. But you see, it was God
who shut the door and if Noah had with him an army of capable men to
help, the door would not have budged a single inch. Soon, the only
sounds coming from outside were the sounds of an end-of-the-world
storm: all people, animals... everything was now dead!
Noah and his family was
on the Ark just a few days more than one year, and that is a lot of
time to just think. Maybe he hadn't done enough? Maybe if he could
have somehow warned people a little better, with more urgency?
Maybe... maybe... what might have been... if only... all of these
seeming possibilities of how things might have turned out better?
All I know for certain is
that once Noah and his family were safely on the other side of the
Great Flood that Noah planted a vineyard, then he harvested the fruit
and he made alcoholic drinks with this fruit. After that he drank
himself into a state of drunkenness! The Bible says nothing more
about Noah and drinking after that episode. But we do know he lived
350 years after the Great Flood and maybe he never could get those
awful images from his mind and he often repeated this act?
I had earlier said that
all three things I would answer would tie together. God shutting the
door, Noah becoming drunk... and every saved person's biggest regret
as the “snatching away” (Rapture) is happening.
I found my answer one day
while reading a very familiar passage in the Bible. Revelation
3:7-8a: “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write;
These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the
key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and
no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an
open door, and no man can shut it...” (HE THAT OPENETH AND NO MAN
SHUTTETH, AND SHUTTETH, AN NO MAN OPENETH)
Noah and the Ark, while
not a true archetype of the Rapture... because Noah and his family
who had found grace (Genesis 6:8: “But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord.”) had to ride out the storm on Earth, while those in
the Rapture will be carried safely away before the Earth is laid
desolate. Incidentally, the grace Noah found is the same grace that
is available to all who want it today. Simply put, it is “unmerited
favor.” Christ did all of the redemptive work... your part is only
to believe and accept.
You see the regret all
who are saved and are taken in the Rapture will be the same angst
Noah felt. Did he do enough to try and see people safely on board the
Ark. Have you done enough to try and see your friends, work
companions, loved ones saved... have you done enough? Have I?
Although I would not try and speak for you, my own answer is a
resounding, “NO!”
Maybe for mere seconds as
the Rapture is happening there will be great joy, perhaps even a
feeling of vindication? But, even though for those who are saved
“time” as we now know it will no longer be in use after the
Rapture. Yet, I think no more than what we would now call mere
seconds will have passed before we might be sending our prayers to
God for another day. “Please Lord... just one more day: an hour
Lord... please, there is someone I love and need to talk with. Lord,
just time for one phone call... please!”
As I sit here and type he
has not yet closed the mercy door he has left open to all of us. That
is to be saved or tell another person how to be born-again. But,
believe this... as it was in the days of Noah... when God shuts the
door man has no strength to open it!
And at the Rapture that
door is forever shut... now is your only opportunity! It's sort of
funny, but I hear some Christian's getting all worked up because some
agnostic is threatening to do this or that and somehow forever harm
Christianity? What a joke! All men, lost or otherwise have little
strength. Some agnostic will get the ear of some local judge and a
Gospel opportunity will be shut... then across town three more
opportunities will open for the Gospel to be preached. Russia will
close its borders to preachers and at the same time China will open
theirs. It happens all day and every day all around this globe.
All
of the Voltaire's, O'Hare's, Hawkings's in the world (if their
numbers were ten thousand times ten thousand) could not close the
open door of the inviting Gospel until the Rapture comes to pass. At
that time though, the open door of God's mercy will be shut. Because,
remember: It is God who will be closing that door!!!
ALMOST THERE
Sunday June, 10, 2012 2:49 pm
I had to take a break from school work for a little while so I thought I would post the answer to the three questions I began all of this with. But, I didn't quite make it that far: hence the title... ALMOST THERE.
I have finished all school assignments for the week, except one entire chapter to read, one 35 power point slide presentation, and then another 50 minute timed test. I finished the other one about 90 minutes ago and I desperately needed a break from thinking, (lol) so I started on this blog. (I wrote the last part of that sentence for my new 'best-friend' ........!) She thinks I am sooooo dumb! I love it!!!
I will tell you though I used to think I liked
learning? At least until last Monday evening and I started these
classes... I have to tell you that learning is overrated! Instead of
trying my best on my placement exam I now wish I had completely made
a mess of it and last night instead of staying up most of the night
studying and typing papers I could have been reading, “Run Spot
run! (Unless you are about my age that probably won't mean anything
to you.) And for math perhaps I would be doing my two times two
tables? (lol) So, even though I am already over any excitement I
might have had about school... I still like learning truth from the
Bible. And that is what this blog is going to be about: telling
(three) true things I learned from God's Word.
One of the things I love
about the Bible is that there are no “extra” words in it just for
the sake of adding words. However, there are hundreds and hundreds of
small phrases or words that are somewhere in a verse, and it is as if
they were an afterthought? It is those words and phrases I find most
intriguing, because I know they are there by Divine insight and each
one poses some mystery that is just begging to be solved.
I suppose I like that so
much because I find I am constantly doing that in my own writings.
There are many phrases, sentences, certain spacings, etc. which I
write that I could state better... and I know how to do that. Yet, I
sometimes write this way because it holds something special to me
that I alone might see. And I see it, not because I am especially
bright, I'm not: just ask ….....! (She is a recent letter writer to
me and she thinks I am plenty stupid! Lol)
*******
I don't even tell people
why I write like this
and there is a valid reason for that. I would hope
not to go from only a person some might believe
is somewhat strange (or probably weird)
to becoming certifiable? (My mind's eye) I am running
(outside) one day and looking behind I
see a few men chasing me, and they have these
impossibly
large nets... and they have one quest,
it is to bag me, like
what is done to capture
butterflies!
I
guess that once trapped
in a net there would not be any use crying out and saying, “Je ne
suis pas fou!” (I am not crazy) I mean, just the fact that I might
repeatedly say that sort of belies that truth... don't you think? As
I haven't a single time tried speaking in the French language. So, by
using such a phrase would (by itself) be crazy! I hope that once
wrestled to the the ground I would just submit and allow them to
dress me in that nice white coat with the impossibly long arms! (At
least it has some neat buckles on it.)
*******
(I used the last two
paragraphs to express what I mean by saying I write things that I
alone might see?)
Again though, I only see
certain things in what I have written because I know what I am
looking for. I think that is the way it is with God. He records a lot
of mystery in His Book, and it is there for us to see as well... but,
we have to know how to look for it.
Knowing that there are no
superfluous words with God is another reason I could never understand
the way certain modern preachers think nothing of adding, updating,
and (or) deleting words from the Bible. Of course, they do this in
the guise of making it easier to read? They treat God's Word and
words as if they were only man's words, and they change them at will!
(Of course this is mostly done to suit their own belief and their own
man-made doctrines.)
And what is also
upsetting is that some of these same men would think it profane to
try and modernize writings from men of the past like Shakespeare,
Sophocles, and many others. To them it is fine to change the Word of
God... but, by no means should a single word of Homer, or any other
larger-than-life writer be changed! (I guess that shows where their
heart really is... don't you think?)
If your pastor is
well-read, and... if you want to find out if (in private,
regardless his public stance) he is really a non-believer in the Word
of God: here is a way to test him. Tell him you recently saw an
article where some were trying to update all of Shakespeare's works
to make them easier to understand. See what he says. You will find
right away that most of these pretenders hold well-known writing's of
ordinary men to be sacrosanct, and therefore should not be tampered
with. Of course, that means that all men who hold such views are
placing all such writing's of classic literature far above that of
the Word of God!
With the thought in mind
that EVERY word God recorded in His Book is important... I will now
tell the two things from the story of Noah and the Ark that for many
years I never understood. First, why did God shut the door?
Perish the thought... but I have rested enough and I must now return to preparing to take another test. "Why, God, why..." did I ever think I might like going back to school when I didn't like it the first time around? Maybe ........ is really onto something and I am stoopid! I mean stupit... I mean stoopit. There, that's better.
TIDYING UP
Saturday June 9, 2012 7:41 am
Last evening, after I
finished posting my blog about a couple of emails I had gotten I
worked for about an hour on my time-line for end-time events... and
then I remembered something else. Because the post about the
approximate time I believe Jesus will return will wrap up this short
series: first I wanted to answer the three questions I had posted on my April 18 blog ... TIME.
(After I write that blog then I will finish writing my thoughts on an end-time date.)
The only problem though
was by the time I thought of that I was getting sleepy and I didn't
have the heart to start typing anything else. Neither do I have the
time this morning to actually answer the three questions because I
have to go to work. But I thought for any who reads this and did not
see the first post about the three questions... I do have the time to
state what the three questions are that I will be answering.
First: Why did God shut
the door of the Ark, and not Noah?
Secondly: One of Noah's
first recorded acts after he and his family were safely on the other
side of the Great Flood was to drink (alcohol) until he was very
drunk. Why did Noah do that?
Thirdly: What will be
every believer's biggest regret as the Rapture is happening?
Even though those three
events, at first blush, might not seem related... really they are.
And I didn't see that until just a few years ago while reading a
familiar verse in Revelation. As I was reading it I then (finally)
knew why God shut the Ark's door. (It might seem like a small thing
to some people but it had always puzzled me why a physically capable
man like Noah had not done that himself?)
As the persons emails to
me yesterday attempted to point out, I might not be “qualified”
to speak about the Bible and its teachings... apparently that should
be some priests job! (What a joke!!!) But, capable or not I do have
the answer to the above three questions and I will try to make that
post and answer those questions soon.
This evening as soon as I
am home I have to do a lot of reading from the book Criminology Today
– Frank Schmalleger. My assignment is the first two chapters – 51
pages, then I have to take two (50 minute timed) tests in
order to finish the work I have to have done by tomorrow. I think I
will be up most of the night ):
I hope everyone has a
nice weekend!!!
2 EMAILS TODAY
Friday June 8, 2012 9:23 pm
She
began her first email questioning how I could “know” that what I
was writing was true? I politely emailed her and honestly said that
no one can “know” with certainty, and (at best) what I was
writing were educated guesses based on the Bible and history. (I
suppose that the word “educated” I used struck some nerve or
other because her next email was nastier and she asked for my
“credentials” as it related to religion?) I thought about that
before I answered her and said that I have none... yet, not being
credentialed does not mean that it is impossible to excel at any
given field. Then I told her a story: it was about about one of my
very favorite... and least favorite presidents.
Example:
R.R. (Ronald Reagan)
who was most notably an actor and public speaker in Hollywood: the
land of make believe. Yet, he is on my short list of the five best
presidents this country has ever known. Even those who are on the
other side of the aisle give him his due for his accomplishments and
restoring America to a super-power in the world again. After the
Carter fiasco, this nation had to have someone like him. The reason I
told her that was he was not a person in the political arena with
gravitas and great political acumen... yet, the world has not seen a
better leader in the last 150 years of its history!
Another example: I can not think of
any president (besides Carter) who has done more harm to America than
the man we presently have in office. Yet, he (supposedly) has all of
the qualifications to be a world-leader? Why then does he repeatedly
fall flat in politics as a leader of this nation? Even those who want
to prop him up are hard pressed to find anything that is better in
this country today than it was when he took office.
What about you?-
I (for one) couldn't
care less what “credentials” any person has as long as they can
get the job done. I know a lot of boys and men who might imagine they
had a father who was brilliant... and they might believe that only
because they loved their dad and that is how they thought of him. I
am no different than any who feel that way with (perhaps) one
exception... my dad really was brilliant! It isn't hero worship on my
part to say he was bright: it was obvious to any person when they met
him. Yet, I don't think he even finished high-school?
She made a point...
still it has never
mattered to me what sheepskin hangs on a wall. The only thing which I
have ever taken into account is whether or not a person can do what
they claim they can. I too would be more impressed with a person who
was dedicated enough to go to school and get their degree than
someone who would not. Yet, I would never imagine that such a person
with an earned degree would necessarily be any more qualified to do a
particular work.
She
said she would just love to
see my face one day after my prediction of the date that He will
return and (if) it doesn't happen? Two things: it is still somewhat distant into the future when I think He will return, and I most
probably won't be alive? So, depending on how long I might have
been dead, (and knowing what happens to corpses in decomposition) it
is I who would like to see her face after seeing me in that state!
lol
I
emailed and said it appeared you are apparently upset at the thought
of His return... is it because either you, or someone you love is not
saved? That was in my last email to her and I haven't heard anything
on that last thought. Of course it could also be that she jumped on
Camping's recent bandwagon and perhaps she gave away a fortune
believing it was all going to end? I suppose the reasons for her
anger could be myriad... but, she is certainly upset.
I cannot imagine why
anyone would be very
angry while imagining that
Christ is going to return to the Earth... unless they are lost. I
have a relative who is saved and doesn't like to think about His
return, at least until she has a baby? That I might understand,
sadness perhaps... but certainly no anger at the thought.
Such
harsh words for simple posts seemed too much!
I mean... I don't mind
criticism and I enjoy debate: but there must be some underlying
problem that is making her afraid at the very thought of the Second
Coming! I guess I am not very much looking forward to facing Him at
the Judgment Seat of Christ. But, I still want to see Him return and
claim all those He died and redeemed to Himself.
In my
postscript I sent her the following symbol ): And I told her how
she could turn that frown into a (: Do you think that might be why
she has not emailed me again? lol
I really was polite to her and I closed
with - Yours truly, Robin
