smithsk

What a Ham I am (Part 5) - Winter in the Rockies

2012-01-29T17:14:00.000-08:00

White Road Black Sky

Work had taken us (me and my OM) many places.

(For non-Hams, OM is lingo for "Old Man" - a guy, a husband in my case.)

This was back in the days when I worked outside the home ... for pay.

One stint was the Rocky Mountain region. We both worked at different sides of town but lived in the country.

Country living did have its advantages - the elbow room, the forests, the friendly neighbors, who were not too close. But there was the downside ... like when we were working in the city ... and the weather would take a turn for the worse ... and there were the nasty road conditions with miles to go before we sleep ...

But there was and still is an old saying in these parts -

If you don't like the weather, just wait a little bit and it will change.

Sometimes for worse ... real fast.

In these environs, we were granted snow days - when officials cancelled school and government offices and businesses dismissed non-essential workers for safety concerns. One time, a snow day was called at the local military bases, yet the school districts had not made that same call for their students. The kids stayed in class. And the big anticipated snow storm did not pan out.

Why does my kid have to go to school and "Rambo" gets the day off?

That was the complaint of one of the callers on a local talk show the next day. Oh, the military would not live this one down! So government and businesses were a little gun shy to a declare a snow day ... which was not necessarily a good thing.

Not long after that "Rambo" call, an Albuquerque Low brought in a ton of snow. Workers were dismissed eventually ... but perhaps a little too late to get home safely before feeling the full fury of the storm.

At that time, I was driving a small car (Toyota Tercel), a 4WD, and thought I was doing real well though I moved quite slowly in the traffic. I finally crept out of town onto a well traveled road passing some major businesses. Only a few more miles to get to my home in the country.

On the more open road, though, the wind was blowing awfully fierce creating white out conditions. I thought I was following the reflectors along the side of the road. But it turned out I was on the wrong side. Then I got stuck ... in my 4WD ... in a snow bank ... in a blizzard. And I did what many other women might have done under these circumstances ...

I cried.

Then this large SUV drove by.

The driver saw me - this woman in distress. He had just dropped a fellow co-worker in the country and was on his way home in town. He picked me up and dropped me off at the edge of town, where I got a room for the night.

I called my OM, who was already home safe. He drove a larger car much like a small SUV (Mitsubishi Montero - which we affectionately called "Monty"), also a 4WD with higher clearance.

Beating me home, OM had been on the air, talking to a Ham with a mobile rig in a big pickup truck trying to find me. He had not heard from me for a while since I had left work. He was glad when I called from the motel and that I was safe. The next day, weather clear, OM picked me up, and eventually we recovered my car - in the large parking lot of one of the big businesses out of town - towed there among many other cars stuck in the snow like mine was.

Why didn't I just call on a cell phone?

This was the 1980s. Cell phones were not yet ubiquitous. What coverage that there was for existing cell phones was extremely limited, such as shown below in this vintage ad:

A mobile ham rig was the thing to have. For you old timers, remember the popularity of CBs, especially in the 1970s? CBers were kind of like Hams, but they didn't have to get a license. (A sore point for serious Hams of that day.)

Fast forward a few years.

When we still worked in town and lived in the country, another storm was forecast to move in one evening. After work, I had a music lesson scheduled, which meant I was coming home later than usual ... about the time the storm was due. This time, OM insisted that I take "Monty" with a 2 meter ham radio rig in it. And I did.

Weather was somewhat decent after work. But after my lesson, conditions changed quickly. The roads were worse than snowy. They were icy ... and most dangerous. But in Monty I was doing fine driving up a main north to south road at the edge of town, which had recently been expanded to a four lanes - two lanes each way with street lights on the dividers.

Why is that car going the wrong way?

That's what I thought when I spotted a pickup truck ahead, stopped in the middle of the two lanes, with lights shining the wrong way - right at me. As I got closer, I saw a woman in the cab with the wheel well of her truck smashed in.

I stopped to assist and learned her story. Her truck had slid on the icy road, spun around a full 180 degrees and struck one of the light poles in the divider between the lanes. She was a little shaken and wanted to get a hold of her husband.

Fortunately, I drove Monty with the 2 meter mobile ham radio rig. I got on the air and called for help. Immediately, I heard the familiar voice of a friend that I knew from the local ham radio club - a Marine Vet (he had fought in the South Pacific during World War Two and knew code really well). Retired and snugly nestled in his man cave, Marine Vet was monitoring the net when he recognzied my voice and call sign.

Meanwhile, my OM was monitoring the net with the ham radio a rig at work and heard me talking with Marine Vet about some accident.

Oh, no! She wrecked my car!

Those were my OM's first thoughts. He broke in, but got quickly up to speed on the situation. And Marine Vet called the woman's husband on the land line and gave our location.

But we were not out of the woods - or should I say - out of the middle of the road, yet.

The truck was still pointed the wrong way - a hazard to all who drove on the ice with reduced visibility. With the smashed wheel well, the woman could not turn the wheels of her truck to move it to the side. So we both huddled inside Monty in a more safe place along the side of the road and waited for her husband.

A Good Samaritan on two wheels?

As the snow was blowing, a most dedicated bicyclist pedaled by us, riding on the snow and ice, much like this guy in the video clip below. But this guy wore the tight black spandex pants with the padding on the seat and was not a bit fazed by the storm. Clearly, bicycling was very serious business to him.

The cyclist stopped at the scene of the accident and heard our tale of the truck and that we were not able to move it out of the middle of the road.

No problem. The man was as skilled at driving a smashed-in truck as he was cycling in a snow storm. Though the bashed in side hindered turning the wheels, he maneuvered the truck off to the side of the road ... something we could not figure out how to do.

Good deed done, this Good Samaritan got back on his mountain bike and pedalled up the road - disappearing into a curtain of snow.

An angel on two wheels?

The Lord works in mysterious ways ...

We waited until the husband came and rescued his wife. Then I drove Monty back home arriving much later than planned.

An eclectic cast of rescuers came together this snowy day. I would not have happened on the scene if I had not been going home later than usual, delayed from taking a music lesson after work. My OM was prescient to insist that I drive his car with the 2 meter rig that day. A retired World War Two Marine Vet happened to be monitoring the net that evening. And an unknown bicyclist happened to come across us, who was willing to help and knew how to drive really well.

And so ends this winter tale of my first emergency use of ham radio by myself.

Question: Any winter tales to share?

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Previous posts in the What a Ham I am series:

What a Ham I am (Part 1) - moving on up! (2011)

What a Ham I am (Part 2) - When lightening strikes (2011)

What a Ham I am (Part 3) - Hams make Contact (2011)

What a Ham I am (Part 4): Have you hugged your Elmer today? (2011)

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Post on similar subject:

Advice for all seasons - Be safe (2011)

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Photo from everystockphoto.com: White Road Black Sky

Anastasis (part 4) - Back to which Bethel?

2012-01-21T13:32:00.000-08:00

Amos

Back to Bethel?

Which one?

Behold, the dayscome, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famineof bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east,they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

Amos 8:11-12
(King James Version)

What has Bethel have to do with this most unusual famine?

Everything.

The point made in the previous post in the Anastasis series, Famine, was that one of God's judgements is silence.

These verses are the theme of Anastasis, the Forbidden Book Concealed - the first book of the trilogy The Forbidden Book and the Upside Down Kingdom .

Here is the back story on these verses and what I have learned researching the prophet, Amos.

Who was Amos?

Not that much is known about him. He was a Jew living in the southern kingdom of Judah and an Old Testament prophet. Before the Lord called him, he was a herdsman and gatherer of sycamore fruit (Amos 7:14).

Where was he from?

Amos was from Tekoa (Amos 1:1), about six miles southeast of Bethlehem, a hilly ridge overlooking the desert wilderness down to the edge of the Dead Sea.

Map: http://bibleatlas.org/tekoa.htm

When did he prophesy?

He prophesied from about 776 – 763 B.C. during the reigns of Jeroboam II, king of Israel, and Uzziah, king of Judah, two years before the earthquake (Amos 1:1). Two hundred years later, Zechariah 14:5 mentions this same earthquake during the time of Amos.

Amos was also a contemporary of Jonah, Hosea, and later Micah.

Where did he preach?

The Lord called Amos to minister in the northern kingdom where he preached at the king’s chapel in Bethel (Amos 7:13).

Some background on Bethel:

Location:

* Bethel is about 12 miles north of Jerusalem.

* Map: http://bibleatlas.org/bethel.htm

Meaning:

* Bethel means "House of God" from the Hebrew word "beth" for "house" and "el" for "God."

* Its original name was Luz for light (Genesis 35:6.)

First mention:

Bethel is first mentioned in Genesis 12:8, after Abram (later known as Abraham) was called out of Ur of the Chaldeans to the land of Canaan.

Significance:

Bethel had become quite significant to Abraham’s grandson Jacob. When Jacob was fleeing from the wrath of his brother Esau, he fell asleep on a stone and had a dream of a ladder, reaching up to heaven with angels ascending and descending on it. (Hence, from here is derived the term "Jacob’s Ladder.")

Above the ladder, the Lord restates the promises made to Abraham and Isaac, to give Jacob the land and bless his descendants. When Jacob awoke quite awed by the vision, he anointed the stone with oil and called the place "Bethel." (Genesis 28:10-18)

Back to Bethel:

Coming back to Bethel had a greater significance twenty years later. Jacob was fleeing the wrath of his relatives, again. He was surrounded - his father-in-law on one side and his brother Esau on the other.

Feeling distressed in this tightening vise of converging enemies, Jacob suffered a fitful, but memorable night. He wrestled with the Angel of the Lord who changed his name to Israel – God wrestler. Then, Jacob found deliverance from his dilemma as his father-in-law’s anger was abated and Esau had long forgiven him (Genesis 32).

After his latest family feuds came to a resolution, Jacob’s sons Simeon and Levi slaughtered the house of Shechem to avenge the rape of their sister. (Genesis 34) With a foul reputation in the land and great fear of retribution for the murders, Jacob returned to Bethel:

And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.

Genesis 35:3
(King James Version)

Jacob built an altar to God as he and his house put away their strange gods, cleaned up their act, and got their hearts right with the God of his fathers. (Genesis 35)

Jacob's return to Bethel is read in the first part of the video clip below:

To this day, "Back to Bethel" is a picture of those who come back to God after leaving Him and getting in the world.

Now, fast forward about one thousand years ...

Jacob, whose name had been changed to Israel, had many descendants. They multiplied to become the great kingdom of Israel and came to a zenith under David and Solomon. (II Samuel 2 – 24; I Kings 1-11; I Chronicles 11 – 29; II Chronicles 1–9)

Under Solomon’s son Rehoboam, a bloodless civil war (a revolt over high taxes) broke out led by Jeroboam I. Israel split in two – the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. (I Kings 12 - 13; II Chronicles 10 - 11)

Judah retained Jerusalem as its capital; Israel’s first capital was Bethel (I Kings 12). Here, Jeroboam I erected two golden calves, one in Dan, the other in Bethel. (I Kings 12:28-29)

Remember the problem the children of Israel had with those golden calves when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and was on the mountain getting the Law? (Exodus 32)

Here is Hollywood's version from The Ten Commandment (1956) :

You would think after all that drama Moses had finished off those golden calves and their worship.

Those golden calves made a big comeback … back at Bethel.

The leader of the rebellion, Jeroboam I had put up the golden calves and instituted his own priests (as the Levites were the ones under the Law of Moses) for political reasons. He did this to keep the people from going back to Jerusalem to worship and getting any ideas about reuniting with the southern kingdom. (I Kings 12:27) This act is often referred to as the sin of Jeroboam (I Kings 13:32-34)

Back to the Bethel? ... Not!

Instead of putting away idols, like the house of Jacob did in Genesis, these children of Israel were putting up idols and worshipping them, from Jeroboam I to Jeroboam II. Instead of coming back to God, like Jacob had done, they were turning their backs on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Bethel was a place where those, though very religious, were far from God.

During Amos’s time:

When Jeroboam II was on the throne, the northern kingdom was at its zenith. Bethel was the center of culture and of organized religion. Judaism was in apostasy as the worship the golden calf was reinstituted, where Amaziah was the priest at Bethel (Amos 7:10).

The king’s chapel at the king’s court was the center of golden calf worship. (Amos 7:13)

The Message of Amos:

In the northern kingdom, Amos first launches into the sins and God’s judgment of their neighboring kingdoms –Syria, Philistia, Phoenicia, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. (Amos 1:3 – 2:3) The people didn’t mind that, especially hearing about someone else’s sins. And they didn’t seem to mind that much when he started in the sins of the southern kingdom of Judah (Amos 2:4 - 5)

Then, Amos launched into the sins of Israel - Immorality, Blasphemy, Iniquity– past, present, future. (Amos 2:4 – 6:4). They didn’t like it.

The priest at Bethel, Amaziah deliberately misquoted Amos to King Jeroboam to stir up more trouble. (Amos 7:10 - 11) Then, the priest of the golden calf derided Amos and told him to go away. (Amos 7:12 - 13)

At the time, Amos’s warnings of judgment seemed ridiculous as the northern kingdom under Jeroboam II was the zenith of its power (II Kings 14:23 – 27). But fifty years later, the northern kingdom would be destroyed by the Assyrians, carried into captivity about 740 BC. (II Kings 17)

And hence the ten tribes in the north have become known as "the ten lost tribes of Israel."

The Forbidden Book Concealed?

In the time frame of this historical fiction - the late 14th century - the Bible has been suppressed - especially in the common language of the people. There is a Famine in the land ... a spiritual famine of the Bread of Life ... for many years.

With the pending of the Forbidden Book, will the people long to go back to Bethel? And if so, which one?

* The Bethel of repenting and turning back to the God?

* The Bethel of idolatry?

Come and find out.

Whatever course a man or woman chooses in whatever age ....

Even the Dark Ages could not extinguish the Light.

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The site where free sample chapters can be downloaded and where this eBook can be bought and delivered via wireless:

* Amazon.com (for Kindle)

* Barnes and Noble (Nook)

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For previous posts in this series:

Anastasis (part 3) - Famine (2012)

Anastasis (part 2) - standing up (2011)

Anastasis (part 1) - The Forbidden Book Concealed (2011)

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For posts on similar subjects:

Easter - The Sign of the Prophet Jonah (2011)

Memorize this! (2011)

Beverly Hillbillies and Amos - country folk in the big city (2010)

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Photo from Wikipedia Commons: Amos, the prophet

America's Story (part 5) - Amazing Grace

2012-01-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

January 16, 2012 marks Martin Luther King Day.

This relatively recent federal holiday celebrates the achievements of its namesake, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , as an influential American civil rights leader. And rightly so. Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech given at the Lincoln Memorial, August 28, 1963 is one the top speeches in America's story.

And I can still remember, as a young school girl, that terrible day in April of 1968 when Dr. King was assassinated and the nation went into mourning.

In the tumultuous 1960s, We Shall Overcome was the anthem of the southern civil rights anthem. Yet, Amazing Grace, one of the most beloved songs in American history, was also used by Civil Rights marchers at that time.

In the clip below, Pastor Wintley Phipps gives the moving story behind Amazing Grace. The lyrics were written by a former slave ship captain, John Newton. The composer of the melody is unknown, but bears the fingerprints of a West African sorrow chant.

For history of the song Amazing Grace, here is the timeline.

In the 18th century, the United States of America declared her independence from Great Britain, fought a long war for freedom, and won. Among the founding documents, Thomas Jefferson wrote these words, often quoted in the cause of civil rights:

We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

(from the Declaration of Independence)

Yet ironically, after the American Revolution, Great Britain was ahead of the United States in some areas of civil rights.

The story of William Wilberforce and the prime minister William Pitt, the younger struggle to abolish slavery is told in Amazing Grace (2006):

The Amazing Grace story and America's struggle for civil rights can be summed up here: American Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights: A Timeline in Context

If we had only learned from England ... at least on this issue ... we may have averted the Civil War and the deep wounds that have divided our nation. Yet, in our history (as well as others), Amazing Grace speaks to our souls as shown in the clip -

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost and now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

* It was used as a requiem by the Cherokee Indians on The Trail of Tears (1838)

* It was sung on both sides of the American Civil War (1861-1865)

* It was sung during gatherings of the Civil Rights movement (1950s, 1960s)

* It was sung for comfort after September 11 (2001)

And the song will endure for ages to come ....

In the world of science fiction, Amazing Grace made it to the 23rd century, such as in this scene from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), after Captain Kirk delivers his eulogy for Mr. Spock:

Spock's Funeral
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan— MOVIECLIPS.com

The impact of Amazing Grace and the struggle for Civil Rights ... to right the wrongs ... are part of America's Story, which is

to be continued ...

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For other posts in the America's Story series:

America's Story (part 1) - The Speech that redefined us, November 19, 1863 (2011)

America's Story (part 2) - Savages! (2011)

America's Story (part 3) - Over There - 1917, 1941 (2011)

America's Story (part 4) - Christmas 1944, when we said NUTS to the enemy (2011)

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For other posts on Civil Rights:

July 1776 & July 1863 (2009)

MLK, Malcolm X & Epiphany (2010)

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Photo from Wikipedia Commons: I Have a Dream

Anastasis (part 3) - Famine

2012-01-05T19:32:00.000-08:00

Famine

It is a terrible scourge on any living thing.

And the scarcity of food has many causes.

Some natural.

Crop failure due to drought, depleted soil, insect invasions, plant diseases, hail storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, freezes, freak acts of nature ...

Some man made.

Poor agricultural practices. Overpopulation. Genocide. Wars. Bureaucratic screw ups. Ignorance. Numerous types of blunders and human error ...

Famine has been felt on all continents at different times throughout our history. In its wake are the ravages of malnutrition, starvation, illness, and death.

It's still the F word.

Yet, the Old Testament prophet Amos spoke of a most unusual famine.

Not one of bread, alone ...

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

Amos 8:11,12
(King James Version)

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What's the story on this?

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had given Israel His Holy Word. But during 8th century BC, the children of Israel had rejected their Covenant. As evidence of their apostasy, the Israelites in the Northern Kingdom had resurrected the worship of the golden calf (Amos 3:13, 14 and note that Bethel was the site of the golden calf. ) and rejected the words of Amos – God’s prophet.

In the verses above, God speaking through Amos, His prophet, was telling the Northern Kingdom they would no longer have the privilege of hearing His Word.

One of God’s judgments is silence.

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These verses from Amos 8:11,12 were chosen as the theme of the first book of the trilogy:

The Forbidden Book and the Upside Down Kingdom

Anastasis - The Forbidden Book Concealed

Anastasis

The setting of this historical fiction is in the tiny kingdom of Opulentia, anno Domini 1375. Opulentia seems to be at her zenith, but is in great danger of being overthrown by greedy men and from collapsing from within.

The people outwardly had turned to God during the Great Plague of anno Domini 1349 - known today as the Black Death. But instead of giving praise to God, credit was given to a dead saint, which turned out to be almost as profitable as the kingdom's famous mines.

The Shrine of St. Barbara, which commemorated the Great Miracle of the Passover of the Great Plague, draws many pilgrims and further enriches the Church with their offerings. Likewise, the magnificent Cathedral of Our Lady of the Mines receives visitors throughout Christendom.

The established Church at this time is wealthy, but spiritually wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Corruption has infiltrated the Church of the Middle Ages like a cancer. The business of saving souls has evolved to the big business of selling souls.

Below is a clip of what the spiritual condition may have been like, such as this scene set before the Protestant Reformation:

Like Amos had prophesied to the Northern Kingdom, Opulentia suffers from a famine of the Word of God. The Bible has been withheld from the common people and forbidden to read for hundreds of years.Sadly, the Gospel has become lost in the Church.

Yet, there still was a small voice – like Amos – which could ignite a revival and truly bring the people Back to Bethel ... which is the subject of the next post in this series.

Even the Dark Ages could not extinquish the Light.

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For more information on the eBook

Anastasis - The Forbidden Book Concealed

Barnes and Noble

amazon

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Previous posts on the Anastasis series:

Anastasis (part 1) - The Forbidden Book Concealed (2011)

Anastasis (part 2) - standing up (2011)

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Previous posts of this subject:

The King James Bible: 1611 - 2011 (2011)

Halloween 1517 (2009)

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Photo from Wikipedia Commons: Irish potato famine

New Years 2012 - the Good worth fighting for!

2011-12-29T20:16:00.000-08:00

Baseball. Apple pie. The American dream.

Those were the days? ....

As I flip the calender to a New Year - 2012 - I reflect on growing up in a seemingly more innocent America and I get nostalgic with a tinge of sadness. Many songs express these feelings, as one of my favorites made popular in 1968 - Those Were the Days - sung in this video clip below.

Those were the the days, my friend.

We thought they would never end ...

Not so long again, October 2011, I wrote a blog: America in Decline?! The news has been (and still is) bad for so long that it has affected the national psyche. Even global tweets in twitter show we are depressed: Is Twitter Showing We're Depressed?

And I find myself getting older, but not wiser?

How did that happen?

Let's go back to the "Good Ol' Days" - 1983

I wrote a poem some 30 years ago, which I had posted more recently on my web page: here. Back then, I had been a little then depressed - it was raining - and I was between jobs. In 1983, the country was still in a deep recession as we were just starting to pull out of a national malaise. And I had written this poem to express my feelings - looking back to my more optimistic school days,

Lamenting the "Good Ol' Days"

The past is gone
The future dim
We lament
What could have been!

As the rain
Blows in wind
We yearn the sun
That could have been!

Time wears away
As the rain
That pounds and drips
Against the pane ...

What could have been!
Dare we say --
Will be the 'morrow
Which is today?

(C) 1983 by S. K. Smith

But after 1983 came ...

1984

It was an ominous sounding year with the ring of disaster thanks to George Orwell's novel - 1984. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU. Yet in 1984, the national spirits and the economy took off. It would not be an exaggeration that in 1984, it was - Morning, again, in America.

Now at the doorstep is ...

2012

Like 1984, 2012 sounds like an ominous year. Some ancient prophesies predict a year of disasters. According to the Mayan calender - December 21, 2012 will be the "End of Time" (Also, reference: 2012 Mayan Predictions ) And there was the 2008 disaster movie - 2012 Doomsday.

2012 has become the new Y2K (2000).

The Future dim?

We survived Y2K - whose predicted disasters did not live up to the hype. With the turn of the new Millennium, The Lord of the Rings trilogy made it to the big screen in its latest version, starting in 2001. After the unpredicted disaster of 9/11, the story offered hope for the future as the protagonists faced and overcome overwhelming evil. One of my favorite speeches comes near the end of the second movie in the trilogy - The Two Towers (2002):

Looking back to stories in the past gives me hope for the future. There have been many dark days in our history. Like in the Lord of the Ring trilogy, the real life hero and heroines had many chances to turn back, but they did not. All were hanging on to the hope that there was some good in this world worth fighting for.

These stories still inspire me and we have their stories easily accessible to review in many forms of media. Here is a sample of some of those stories - with video links:

* The Revolutionary War

During the dark days when the "Glorious Cause of America" seemed lost, George Washington never gave up: George Washington insights

* The War of 1812

During the Battle of Baltimore and the fierce British bombardment of Fort McHenry, it looked like the United States would lose its "Second War of Independence." Great Britain had offered us an easy out if we took down our colors and surrendered. But we did not. Then enemy gave it everything they got. Against the odds, we prevailed. This battle inspired Francis Scott Key who wrote the words that became our national anthem: The Star Spangled Banner Story

* The Civil War

During those very dark days, it seemed the United States would dissolve, especially after the terrible losses such as at the Battle of Gettysburg. But Abraham Lincoln reminded us of the good that was worth fighting for: The Gettysburg Address

* World War Two:

During the dark days as Europe was succumbing to Hitler's juggernaut, Sir Winston Churchill reminded his people and allies as the United States that Christian civilization was worth fighting for: Their Finest Hour Speech

* The Cold War

During these dark days, it seemed communism was gobbling up the free world, imprisoning millions under dictatorial regimes behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains. Yet, Ronald Reagan reminded us that freedom was worth fighting for: A Time for Choosing

As in the stories above there is still Good in this world and ...

it is worth fighting for!

This 2012,

Fight the good fight of faith ...

1 Timothy 6:12
(King James Version)

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Previous New Year's posts:

New Year's Lessons from Gilligan's Island (2010)

Eucatastrophe for 2010? (2010)

New Year's Resolutions and Blue Monday - the cure (2009)

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Photo from Wikipedia Commons: Americana

America's Story (part 4) - Christmas 1944, when we said NUTS to the enemy

2011-12-17T20:09:00.000-08:00

Anthony McAuliffe

December 1944

World War Two was in overdrive. The major powers were slugging it out about the world - in Europe, Africa, and in the Pacific for 5 long years already- since 1939.

The United States had entered the fray when the US Congress had declared war on Japan (December 8, 1941) for attacking Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941).

Then on December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy had declared war on the United States. We were in the war for the long haul.

Early December 1944, we had thought the war, at least in Europe, would be over in a few weeks and we'd be home for Christmas.

But Adolf Hitler had other plans and fought back with everything he got.

The European Theater - the Battle of the Bulge

Starting in December 16, 1944, Hitler had launched a surprise counter-offensive, the largest one in the war, against the Western Front. Its purpose was to drive a wedge between British and American armies and capture the Port of Antwerp to get the Allies to negotiate a peace.

The German offensive,
December 16-25, 1944

It would be known as the Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944 - January 25, 1945). And the legendary General George S. Patton was key to frustrate the Germans in this offensive.

(For an interesting analysis of the the Battle of Bulge, check out: HOW HITLER CAUGHT US NAPPING – DICK MORRIS TV: HISTORY VIDEO! )

In December, 1944, Major General Maxwell D. Taylor, commander of the 101th Airborne, was attending a conference in the United States when the German army attacked. Acting in command was Brigadier General McAuliffe - who had showed his mettle when he parachuted in Normandy on D-Day.

During the German counter-attack, the 101th Airborne was called to defend the critical road junction at Bastogne, Belgium at all costs. Here the Germans surrounded the 101th in what would be known as the Seige of Bastogne.

This scene from Band of Brothers (2001) in the forest near Foy, a village near Bastogne, gives a glimpse of what the Allies were up against:

On December 22, 1944, the German commander, General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz sent the following ultimatum for immediate surrender to General McAuliffe at Bastogne.

That morning, General McAuliffe delivered his written answer -

To the German Commander,

Nuts!

The American Commander.

The verbal exchange is shown in the clip below from Battleground (1949) :

(For a longer clip - I could not embed this one - check out: The Siege of Bastogne. And for the text of the German ultimatum and American response: "NUTS!" Revisited)

Help was on the way!

Enter General George S. Patton and the Third Army.

Though caught by surprise, General Eisenhower saw an opportunity in the German counter-attack. It was easier to defeat the Germans when they were on the offensive. General Patton made the claim that he could have two divisions to counterattack in Bastogne in 48 hours.

At the time, Patton's army was in the northeast of France. And the troops made good on that claim as the Third Army turned 90 degrees left and in 48 hours had linked with the defenders of Bastogne - a move that surprised General Eisenhower. (Reference: Battle of the Bulge)

And here is Patton's famous weather prayer that Christmas 1944, shown in this clip from Patton (1970), requested that December of 1944. (For the rest of the story, Patton's Weather Prayer.)

A Weather Prayer
Patton— MOVIECLIPS.com

That December 26, 1944, Patton's Third Army broke through the German lines and entered Bastogne, relieving the valiant defenders and ultimately pushing the Germans east across the Rhine.

Against overwhelming odds, the Americans held Bastonge and prevailed that Christmas of 1944 and after.

And General McAuliffe's - NUTS - at Bastonge and General Patton's gutsy leadership during the Battle of the Bulge in World War Two are part of America's Story

which is to be continued ...

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Previous posts in this series:

America's Story (part 3) - Over There - 1917, 1941 (2011)

America's Story (part 2) - Savages! (2011)

America's Story (part 1) - The Speech that redefined us, November 19, 1863 (2011)

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Previous posts on the World War 2:

A kiss immortalized in August 14, 1945 (2010)

Remembering D-Day - June 6, 1944 (2010)

Pearl Harbor Day, 1941 - World War Two Soldiers Remembered (2009)

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Previous Christmas posts:

The King James Bible: 1611 - 2011 (2011)

Random Acts of Christmas (2010)

Remember Ebenezer Scrooge? (2010)

Christmas 1776 - the gift of freedom (2009)

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Photo from Wikipedia Commons: Anthony McAuliffe, map of the Battle of the Bulge

The King James Bible: 1611 - 2011

2011-12-10T18:20:00.000-08:00

This year, 2011, has marked the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.

Check out this article:

Happy 400th Birthday To The King James Bible -- The Most Influential Book In The English Language

The headline of this article is no hyperbola.

From a literature standpoint - this translation is one of the greatest piece of literature in the English language. (reference: Why the King James Bible Endures)

From a scholarly standpoint - the bar was set very high in making this translation. (reference: An enduring legacy)

From a cultural standpoint - no other book has influenced so much of the English speaking world, such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, .... (reference: King James Bible - Influence)

From an American standpoint - this version had a great influence in many of the American founding documents and laws. (reference: Concurrent Resolution (House & Senate) Recognizing the 400th Anniversary of the KJV)

The story of how this translation came about is rich in historical twists and players - saints, sinners, martyrs, persecutors. (For further reading, check out: English Bible History)

And now for the video clips highlighting the King James Bible ....

The History.

Below is a short video (one of many good ones) that captures the high points:

The influence on the English Language.

This cartoon version presents quite succinctly and humorously the influence of the King James Bible on our language and culture:

The influence in Music.

Many sacred pieces take their lyrics from the King James Bible, such as the musical masterpiece, Handel's Messiah. During this Advent/Christmas season, what more appropriate example of a song from this masterpiece than this one:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
(King James Version)

The source of many Idioms.

Below is a tribute to the King's English, as the narrator easily pours from his lips so many of the idioms that have become part of our every day speech:

The King James Version in outer space?

Who would have even imagined that in 1611! Yet it happened. One of the most unforgettable Christmas Eve's was in 1968 when the crew of Apollo 8, while circling the moon, read to the world these words from Genesis in the King James Version:

P. S.
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.
Genesis 1:31
(King James Version)

Happy 400th Birthday KJV, which
Praises the King of King and Lord of Lords!

Merry Christmas
And God bless us all on the good old Earth!

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Holiday eCards from Dayspring.com:

Hanukkah:

Messianic Hanukkah Greeting

General Hanukkah Greeting

Christmas:

Love Came Down

Silent Night

Unto us a Son is Given

The Father's Hands

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Previous Christmas posts:

Random Acts of Christmas (2010)

Remember Ebenezer Scrooge? (2010)

Christmas 1776 - the gift of freedom (2009)

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Photo from Wiki Commons: King James' Bible, 1611

America's Story (part 3) - Over There - 1917, 1941

2011-12-03T19:02:00.000-08:00

George M. Cohan (1878 - 1942) - entertainer, singer, dancer, composer, actor ...

George Michael Cohan is an American icon as he wrote many patriotic songs, such as Give My Regards to Broadway, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Over There, You're a Grand Old Flag, which are played in this video clip below:

And James Cagney played this song-and-dance man in the musical Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), which was made during a time when the United States had recently entered into World War Two.

The importance of music, especially in arousing passions and lifting spirits, is keenly felt during troubled times such as war ... especially a world war.

April 6, 1917

As newspaper headlines that day broadcast that the United States had declared war on Germany, one man, George M. Cohan started humming a tune, which he would compose a song and set to lyrics -Over There. (reference: Story behind the Lyrics) And during World War One, Over There inspired young men to go and fight overseas as well as consoled those on the home front who were concerned for their loved ones - over there.

This story behind the lyrics is shown in this scene from Yankee Doodle Dandy: Over There
(It's worth a look, but I was not able to embed it, since its source on YouTube has disabled that feature.)

So we went over there in 1917. And we came back when it was over, over there. That is till the winds of wars inflamed the world again, and the United Stated was about to enter World War Two.

In this clip of the final scenes from Yankee Doodle Dandy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt presents George M. Cohan the Congressional Medal of Honor for his work on patriotic songs, such as Over There - which had inspired the nation, as shown in this clip: Yankee Doodle Dandy Finale
(Again, I was not allowed to embed this one.)

And this scene of the James Cagney's tap dancing down the stairs was completely ad libbed. (reference: IMDb trivia)

In reality, George M. Cohan was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1936 by the US Congress - not the Congressional Medal of Honor, but this fiction made for a good Hollywood story ending to complete the circle of Over There and the life of this composer, whose songs were so important during two world wars. (reference: House History, George M. Cohan)

And after December 7, 1941 - Pearl Harbor Day

we did go Over There ... Again ... 70 years ago.

George M. Cohan's legend and patriot songs are part of America's Story, which is

to be continued ...

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Previous posts in this series:

America's Story (part 2) - Savages! (2011)

America's Story (part 1) - The Speech that redefined us, November 19, 1863 (2011)

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Previous posts on the World Wars:

World War 1:

Veteran's Day 2011 - final homecoming of the WWI vets (2011)

Veterans Day - World War One Soldiers Remembered (2009)

World War 2:

A kiss immortalized in August 14, 1945 (2010)

Remembering D-Day - June 6, 1944 (2010)

Pearl Harbor Day, 1941 - World War Two Soldiers Remembered (2009)

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Photo from Wikipedia Commons: Over There

Anastasis (part 2) - standing up

2011-11-26T17:00:00.000-08:00

Anastasis.

Ana .... say what? Did I mistype and really mean Anastasia?

No. I meant anastasis. And it's Greek.

What does it mean? And in English please.

Here comes the technical stuff, first, then the music.

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Anastasis (Gk., ‘resurrection’). The term is used both of the resurrection of Christ and of that of mankind in general. (from E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Anastasis." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 24 Nov. 2011)

And from Vine's Expository Dictionary, anastasis denotes a raising up or rising ( from ana - "up" and hestimi - "to cause to stand.") ... hence, a standing up. In Strong's concordance, anastasis translates as resurrection (reference: Greek Word Study) and is used in the New Testament 42 times (reference: Search God's Word)

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About resurrection in the Bible ....

Chronologically, the first mention of the resurrection may be in the Book of Job, as many scholars conclude this to be the oldest book written in the Bible, most likely during the time of the patriarchs (reference Apologetics Press.) During his trials, made worse by the miserable comfort of his friends, Job makes this great statement of faith in the resurrection:

²⁵For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

²⁶And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

Job 19:25-26
King James Version

And Job's words were put to music some 3000 years later in Handel's Messiah: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth

The last phrase of the song comes the New Testament:

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

1 Corinthians 15:20
King James Version

The following verses expound on the resurrection, not only of Christ, but for all those who have trusted in Him:

²¹For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

²²For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:21-22
King James Version

And Handel put those words to music, too: Since by Man Came Death

And the word in the Greek used for resurrection in these verses above is anastasis. (reference: The New Testament Greek Lexicon)

Standing up is a theme throughout the first book of this trilogy - Anastasis: The Forbidden Book Concealed. And it was no accident that the heroine is Anastasia - whose name means resurrection.

The setting of this story is in a fictional tiny kingdom (in continental Europe) during a time when the ecclesiastic powers in high places control the people by keeping their minds and spirits enslaved in the darkness of dead religion. Hence, the Light of the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is concealed.

Yet ...

Even the Dark Ages could not extinguish the Light.

And the age old struggle between darkness and light continues ....

You must read it to see how it plays out.

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The site where free sample chapters can be downloaded and where this eBook can be bought and delivered via wireless:

* Amazon.com (for Kindle)

* Barnes and Noble (Nook)

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Previous post in this series:

Anastasis (part 1) - The Forbidden Book Concealed (2011)

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Previous posts on the resurrection:

Easter - The Sign of the Prophet Jonah (2011)

Earth Shaking Easter - a wake up call (2010)

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photo from everystockphoto.com: Happy Easter

America's Story (part 2) - Savages!

2011-11-19T19:59:00.000-08:00

November, many of us Americans may reflect on Thanksgiving.

It is the quintessential American holiday. English pilgrims, seeking religious freedom, boarded the Mayflower at Plymouth, England to go west - crossing the Atlantic. And they landed at Cape Cod (Massachusetts) on Plymouth Rock in 1620.

Half did not survive the winter. But with the providential help of Squanto from the Wampanoag tribe, the pilgrims cultivated the land and forged an alliance with the Native Americans - one that would last for more than 50 years.

In 1621, the pilgrims celebrated the harvest with a feast - considered America's first Thanksgiving - where they invited their Native American allies. Two very different cultures - for a time - were a peace.

But 13 years before the Mayflower ...

In 1607, English people settled near Tidewater, Virginia (future birth place of George Washington) in Jamestown.

John Smith, who had become known as a troublemaker, was put in irons during most of the voyage to America. Most ironic for his countrymen, the lock box when opened in the New World revealed that John Smith was to be one of the seven leaders chosen by the Virginia Company, whom King James I had granted the charter to colonize Virginia. Later, John Smith was elected as the president of the colony. He really showed them.

Among John Smith's adventures, which he recorded later in 1624, was that he and two English companions had been ambushed by the Native American Indians and held captive for two months. Powhatan, the chief, had condemned John Smith to be clubbed to death, whereas the chief's daughter Pocahontas thwarted the plan - throwing herself between Smith and his attackers, causing her father to relent. Though many doubt this exact story - there were no other corroborating accounts, the Pocahontas legend lived on to this day in American and Native American folklore.

Pocahontas was later kidnapped, then married an English tobacco farmer John Rolfe, and they had a child, Thomas. She died in England in 1617, but her descendants include relatives of American presidents. Among them are Thomas Jefferson's son-in-law, Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., and Edith Wilson, the wife of President Woodrow Wilson.

In the late 20th century, the legend of John Smith and Pocahontas - wouldn't you know - was made into a feature length Disney cartoon -

Pocahontas.

Based on some true historic events, this kid's movie took much artist license, such as a gorgeous Native American Indian princess with a cute raccoon sidekick regularly conversing with Grandmother Willow, a tree, for sage advice. Yet, the legend was a good yarn and Disney often places great truths in its movies so us big kids as well as the young ones can digest them.

The following video clip dramatizes the reaction of the capture of John Smith and his pending execution:

They are not like us!

This worldview (both of the English and Native Americans in the clip) is the justification for much of the conflict in this world as well as the rationalization for other bad behavior. Xenophobia often runs the gamut from simply shunning a classmate who is different to the outright genocide of a people .

In William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, the differences between people - not like us, yet much like us - is eloquently put in Shylock's speech from Act 3, Scene 1

I am a Jew.
Hath not a Jew eyes?
hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?
fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means,warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is?
If you prick us, do we not bleed?
if you tickle us, do we not laugh?
if you poison us, do we not die?

And in this video clip, the legendary Pocahontas has the solution ....

Love.

The God revealed in the Bible - both Old Testament and New Testament - is a God of love.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He did not pick one of the Ten. But He quoted from the Law of Moses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

³⁵ One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22 (NIV)

Talking about these same verses from the Law of Moses on a different occasion, a man asked Jesus - “And who is my neighbor?”

This was the lead into the story of the Good Samaritan ... someone, who in the eyes of the Jews of that day was despised because - he was not like them. As for those who are familiar with this story know, the despised person of the "wrong" religion, a "half breed" race of Jew and pagan, helped the man in need, a victim of assault and robbery, while the victim's own countrymen (a priest, a Levite) chose not to get involved.

At the end of the parable, Jesus asks -

³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Luke 10 (NIV)

The story of Pocahontas is one of the triumph of love and mercy shown to those who are not like us. She is truly a role model and a great heroine.

And the legend of John Smith and Pocahontas as well as the first American Thanksgiving are part of America's Story, which is

to be continued ...

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Previous post in the America's Story series:

America's Story (part 1) - The Speech that redefined us, November 19, 1863 (2011)

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Another Thanksgiving post:

Timeless Thanksgiving (2009)

... and some great Thanksgiving eCards from DaySpring.com:

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect

Blessings of freedom

The first Thanksgivng

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Other posts on Disney films:

(In my opinion, the Disney version of Mary Poppins, when the kid stuff of magic and silly songs was stripped away, had a serious message about the importance of fathers in the lives of their children. And as you see I blogged much about it.)

Mary Poppins (Part 1) - from 1910 to 2010

Mary Poppins (Part 2) - It's a Wonderful Life?

Mary Poppins (Part 3) - Take your kids to work day?

Mary Poppins (Part 4) - Go Fly a Kite!

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Photo from:

Wikipedia Commons: Pocahontas saves Smith

America's Story (part 1) - The Speech that redefined us, November 19, 1863

2011-11-12T09:58:00.000-08:00

One hundred fifty years ago, Civil War broke out in the United States. In my opinion, this war was the worst war in our 235 + year history. It divided us as a people on many issues - slavery only one of them. The casualties - including both the Union and Confederate soldiers - were the greatest of any of our wars - even the American casualties during World War II - the worst war of the 20th century.

The video scene below from Cold Mountain (2003) and extended lyrics from When Johnny Comes Marching Home give a sense of the intensity of the fighting during the Civil War:

The turning point in favor of the Union, some historians believe, was the Battle of Gettysburg. The causalities for both the Union and the Confederates was 51,000 in this one battle alone over three days of fighting (July 1 to July 3, 1863). Compare these causalities to the 58,000 deaths over 20 years in the Vietnam War (1955- 1975). Gettysburg was a terrible battle.

On November 19, 1863 - almost 150 years ago - Abraham Lincoln read a few words at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He spoke for only two minutes. But these few words redefined us as a people and became a balm to begin healing the wounds that had so grievously divided us.

Many voices have re-read this speech since then. The version below, eloquently read by Johnny Cash, displays iconic images in American history spanning four centuries - 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st.

Some rank this speech as one of the greatest speeches in American history, if not in the top ten of the greatest historic speeches of all time ... and we are still talking about. And this speech was first given by the 16th president of the United States on November 19, 1863.

The Gettysburg Address is part of America's Story, which is

to be continued ...

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Previous posts on similar subjects:

America in Decline?! (2011)

3 birthdays, 3 presidents, 3 centuries, 3 defining wars ... (2011)

Memorial Day - Do we know how much they suffered? (2010)

July 1776 & July 1863 (2009)

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Photo from:

Wikipedia Commons: Battle of Gettysburg

Veteran's Day 2011 - final homecoming of the WWI vets

2011-11-06T16:36:00.000-08:00

It happened almost a hundred years ago - the Great War, the World War - now known as World War One, as there would be more than one great world war in the 20th century. For many of us, our great grandparents, grandparents, and even parents may have fought in this war. To all of us still living, the Great War seems like ancient history.

Volumes were written about this war, which H.G. Wells called - "The War That Will End War." For a summary, below is a brief history of the First World War:

The "armistice" to end the war took effect on November 11, 1918 - at the 11th hour of 11th day of 11th month. And became known as - Armistice Day ... later Veteran's Day.

.... 11/11/11 ....

But this year - 2011 - marks a milestone as the the last of the World War One veterans have passed away.

Frank Buckles

The last living U.S. World War I veteran, Frank Buckles, passed away in February this year at the age of 110 - his story. He served in both World Wars. During WW1, he was an ambulance driver. In WW2, he was a POW, captured by the Japanese.

Rest in peace and we are grateful for your service to our country

Claude 'Chuckles' Choules

The last of the front line World War One veterans, Claude 'Chuckles' Choules, passed away in May this year, also at the age of 110 - his story He also served in both World Wars. In WW1, he was a sailor in the Australian Royal Navy; WW2 a demolitions officer in Australia .

May you rest peacefully as your countrymen are grateful for your service to your country as well as your service to all your allies.

For all Veterans, Thank You!

May you all enjoy the Veterans' Homecoming:

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Ecards for Veterans Day -

* Veteran's Day prayer

* Making a difference

* The service of veterans

* Veteran's Day blessing

* Honor is Due

* Never Forget

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Previous post on Veterans Day:

Veterans Day - World War One Soldiers Remembered (2009)

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Related posts:

3 birthdays, 3 presidents, 3 centuries, 3 defining wars ... (2011)

A kiss immortalized in August 14, 1945 (2010)

The Story Behind the Star Spangled Banner (2010)

Remembering D-Day - June 6, 1944 (2010)

Welcome Home, Troops! (2010)

Christmas 1776 - the gift of freedom (2009)

Pearl Harbor Day, 1941 - World War Two Soldiers Remembered (2009)

July 1776 & July 1863 (2009)

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Photos from:

everystockphoto.com: great-grandfather in WWI military uniform

wikipedia commons: @

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Anastasis (part 1) - The Forbidden Book Concealed

2011-11-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to introduce the first book in the Christian historical fantasy series,The Forbidden Book and the Upside Down Kingdom:

Anastasis - The Forbidden Book Concealed

What happens when ...

Providence moves a Bishop, a Queen, and a Lord to shine the Light revealed in the Forbidden Book in the Dark Ages?

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In anno Domini 1375, Queen Anastasia reigned in the rich little kingdom of Opulentia. And her favorite courtier, Lord Adryan Crippen had the world within easy grasp - his handsome looks, exalted position, and the heart of the Queen. Then Adryan’s dreams evaporated as the enemy within attempted to destroy him.

Yet Providence put Adryan in hiding within St. Luke’s Infirmary where the elderly Bishop Sinjin labored on a translation of the Forbidden Book. When a conspiracy to usurp the throne comes to light, will the Bishop and Adryan be able to save the Queen? Will the Bishop fulfill his calling to shine the Light revealed in the Forbidden Book into the spiritual darkness of the age?

Anastasis. Will the fallen stand up, again?

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Even the Dark Ages could not extinguish the Light ...

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Now available at:

Barnes and Noble

amazon.com

Also check out:

* AuthorsDen

* smithsk.com

Question: What does Anastasis mean? And why it is important in the New Testament?

ZAMM (part 4) - Ghosts

2011-10-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

Part 4 of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZAMM):

Ghosts?

It's almost Halloween, and this holiday is a good lead in to write about ghosts.

In the physical and metaphysical journey described in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the author Robert Pirsig, his son Chris, and riding companions rest after a few days on the road as they head into the Dakotas.

Coming out of the Red River Valley, the riders have a scare as they go through a thunder and lightening storm while exposed to the elements on bikes. Instead of camping, the group opts for a motel. Signing in, one of the riders comments to the author-

You look like you have seen a ghost.

Then thirteen year old Chris asks his father about ghosts, saying one of his Native American Indian friends at YMCA camp believed in ghosts.

The author, Robert Pirsig, a rational college professor with a very high I. Q. (170), scoffs at this absurd notion. But Chris continues badgering his dad, commenting with what his friend believes -

... when people have not been buried right, their ghosts come back to haunt you.

And Chris does not let this subject go as they all settle in for the night. Finally, the author admits knowing someone, who was chasing ghosts all his life. He found the ghost. And he gave him a good thrashing.

The ghost had a name - Phaedrus.

Phaedrus is the title character in Plato's dialog between Socrates and Phaedrus, which includes a discussion about madness. And from here on, the author refers to his old self in the third person as Phaedrus.

Part of the treatment for mental illness used to include Shock Therapy. The author may have gone through an experience, such as this one shown in the video below, when he had been hospitalized for insanity in the early 1960s.

The treatment should have buried Pirsig's old self, but the ghost of Phaedrus - the old personality that should have been erased in the shock therapy - comes back to haunt him.

On that haunting thought, the staple of Halloween lore is that ghosts do come back to haunt us. But most of us have encounters with ghosts of another kind - the ghosts of an unpleasant past. Toxic parent or guardian? Unkind relatives? Bad relationships? Abusive bosses? Bullies of all kinds? Traumatic events?

Even when the offending persons are gone from our life or the situation seems resolved, that critical voice in our heads resurrects them ... like a ...ghost?

St. Paul wrestled his old self - even after he had literary his "come to Jesus" moment on the Road to Damascus. After he had became a new creation, he writes of the death and burial of his old self:

⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Romans 6
(New International Version)

With his own strength, Paul had tried to give his old self a good thrashing and it did not work. He found out that the dead indeed do come back to haunt him - as they are not buried right. Later in the same letter, Paul writes:

¹⁸ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
...
²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?
Romans 7
(New International Version)

So Paul, figuratively, had to get out the crucifix to put the stake in the heart of his old self and free himself from the law of sin and death:

¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set youfree from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8
(New International Version)

Chris's Native American friend had it right - but may I reword it, again?

When our old nature is not buried right, it comes back to haunt us.

And what beats life back in our old nature is the heart.

⁹ The heart is deceitful
above all things and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
Jeremiah 17
(New International Version)

Only Christ can set us free from the old nature and the bondage of sin and death. And He can put a stake in the heart of the old self, ....

by giving us a new heart.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51
(New International Version)

May we all bury our dead right - so their ghosts do not come back to haunt us - and may we move beyond Halloween to celebrate - All Saints Day!

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For previous articles in this series:

ZAMM (part 1) - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

ZAMM (part 2) - Journey through Life

ZAMM (part 3) - Chautauqua, then and now

Photo from everystockphoto.com: Grave Ghosts, MJ In Da House?, Vampire Killing Kit, Love for Paint

What a Ham I am (Part 4): Have you hugged your Elmer today?

2011-10-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

Elmer!

Back in the days when I worked outside the home for pay, my job took me to offices with no windows behind closed doors. These secure modules lay beyond the ken of public scrutiny and of the regular policing of an on-site manager. In such environs, the workplace morphed into a cross between a Snake Pit and Never Neverland. And if you were not in clique, you might as well just hang it up.

One of my friends was a target of the office bullies in such an environ. His "cooler" co-workers called him, Elmer, mainly for his resemblance to Elmer Fudd. And it was an insult wrapped in the cloak of a jest. All of us who have watched Bugs Bunny cartoons know that Elmer Fudd was not all that bright. He could not even outsmart a rabbit.

Oh, what wonderful co-workers we were to each other back then!

I told his coworkers, they really paid my friend a high compliment calling him Elmer. An Elmer was a wise person, a mentor, who helps novices and the experienced - like them perhaps? I still wonder if that comment went over their heads.

That's what an Elmer really means in the world of ham radio - the Luke Skywalker's Obi-Wan Kenobi. And Elmers helped me get to the next level.

To get a license or upgrade, an Elmer is good thing to have

In an earlier blog, I wrote how after 25 years as a tech plus, I finally made the plunge and took the test and graduated to general. Check out: What a Ham I am (Part 1) - moving on up!

There are many tools to prepare a hobbyist to learn the material and study for the test to qualify for the license. One resource is this question pool, online courtesy of the ARRL, which lists the questions and the answers for the various tests.

Some taking the test said they printed out question pool and all the answers and read them over a few times immediately before the test so they had the right choices memorized.

But did they understand what they were reading?

No doubt some did. And some were very good hams. But I suspect some knew how to black out the right letter in the multiple choice form, but did not know ham radio from green eggs and ham.

That's why Elmers are so important as they help us less experienced get to the next levels - knowing more than just picking the right choices on the test. They can get the right equipment configured to get on the air within the bounds set by the FCC.

There are different levels of knowledge.

And all these levels are in the hobby.

First - rote learning.

It's one level of understanding - how we learn to read and write. Memorization. We can pick the right boxes, but may have no understanding what it means.

It's a quantum leap from picking the right answers on a pencil paper test to understanding the principles behind it.

Next - understanding of the theory.

This is where I am at. In school, I liked Electricity and Magnetism (EM) and ham radio depends on it. Here is a sample of my EM - The Scotsman who beat Einstein

In my post above, I actually did something like the derivation in my article for homework, but I classify myself as a bad ham. I am really not all that practical.

Final - getting it to work right

It is another quantum leap from understanding the principles of EM to having the practical wisdom of getting a station on the air and working properly within the realm of physics and the FCC requirements.

This is why Elmers are so needed. My OM is one of them. He has not only the theory down, but the practical wisdom to make it happen, such as described in these articles: Tech Talk.

"Elmers" are important in many aspects of life beyond a hobby. And they have the wisdom not found in a text book and can pass down lessons learned to the next generation. As for me, I would not be in this hobby without an Elmer.

So have you hugged your Elmer today?

(OMs may express your appreciation to your OM Elmer(s) in other ways.)

I need to hug mine - my OM - and it is good that I am his XYL.

Pssst! For the secret code for - OM/XYL - check out Ham Speak

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Previous Posts of this series:

What a Ham I am (Part 1) - moving on up!

What a Ham I am (Part 2) - When lightening strikes

What a Ham I am (Part 3) - Hams make Contact

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Photos from everystockphoto.com: Dr. Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov

America in Decline?!

2011-10-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

Recent polls , such as this one, America's Best Days - Rasmussen Reports™, indicate many believe that America is in decline. And our president has seemed to have embraced this narrative in this news article: Obama Calls America “Soft,” Offers To Whip Nation Into Shape.

There is merit to this conclusion as all great nations of the past have gone into decline and litter the dust bin of history.

To quote Will Durant:

A great civilization is not conquered from without

until it has destroyed itself within.

America sliding down into the abyss?

In our short 235 year history, our decline looked imminent as we faced many daunting trials - even those of our own making. Here are a few of them.

The Civil War, 150 years ago, ripped our country apart and divided us as a people. It ended with the greatest number of American casualities to this day (even World War II) if we factor in both the Union and the Confederates. Shortly after the end of the war, one of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated, then his successor Andrew Johnson was impeached.

The stock market crash of 1929 triggered the Great Depression marked by the misery of massive unemployment, banking crises, long bread lines, record foreclosures. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s seemed like a judgment of biblical proportion. World War Two pulled us out the economic depression, but at a terrible price, sucking us into a horrific war that tore our world apart. Holocausts. Genocides. Over 70 million deaths by some estimates.

The Cold War threatened Mutual Assured Destruction as Communism spread across the globe. Better Red than Dead? Half of Europe went behind the Iron Curtain, most of Asia, the Bamboo Curtain. The Vietnam War ripped the country apart, again, as the counterculture challenged the establishment.

After Vietnam came to an ignoble end, the malaise of the Carter years ushered an era of energy shortages, high inflation, the national humiliation of the Iran Hostage Crisis. When Reagan took office, the country was in a deep recession with high inflation and we seemed dispirited as a people.

Shining City upon a Hill?

Many times in our history, it looked like it we were tailspinning into a downward spiral of permanent decline. Many doubted we would or even could recover during our difficult days. Yet, these words in Reagan's Final Address to nation offer some steps we can take to pull out of a nose dive.

And the wisdom of Solomon offers this prescription to reverse a decline, if we are willing:

Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin condemns any people.

Proverbs 14:34

New International Version (NIV)

Washington and Lincoln leave us with this encouragement: Our faithful heritage

Question: Any thoughts on reversing the decline?

Picture from everystockphoto.com: Torn Flag

ZAMM (part 3) - Chautauqua, then and now

2011-09-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

Part 3 of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZAMM):

I have considered Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as one of my favorite books of all time - next to the Bible.

During a motorcycle trip from Minnesota to the West Coast, the narrator ascends to the heights of esoteric philosophy down to the practical wisdom of motorcycle maintenance.

Instead of asking the tired question - What's new?

He asks - What's best?

After re-reading the book this summer, I chose to blog about many of the ideas presented in this inquiry into values. Here is one of them.

Chautauqua.

That is one of the words that Pirsig grapples with to capture the physical, metaphysical, and spiritual journey he has laid out in his work.

The term originated in 1874. In western New York, the shores of Chautauqua Lake became the meeting place to educate Sunday School teachers during the summer break. These meetings blossomed into a national movement of adult education. The concept took legs as traveling tent-shows popped up across the country where people could hear popular talks and exchange ideas.

Theodore Roosevelt called this meeting

"the most American thing in America."

(check out - What was Chautauqua.)

The Death of Chautauqua?

The movement roared into the 20th century, but lost steam by the 1930s as radio, movies, then later TV pushed it aside. How more so has the mass media in the 21st century crowded out deep and personal discussions where we have in addition to radio, TV, movies, all of the modern marvels of the 24/7 cable news cycle, internet, various types social media, various gadgets such as smart phones, iPads, etc.

As Pirsig rues in his "Chautauqua " - though the stream of information runs broader and faster, it doesn't seem to run very deep.

Prequel to Chautauqua

Let's go back to the world's best seller of all times - the Bible, which records an earlier form of Chautauqua.

The Law of Moses prescribed a day off for rest (Exodus 20:8-11) offering an opportunity to slow down from the tyranny of the immediate and meditate on the spiritual and deeper meaning of life. And this tradition has been Christianized and carried on well into the 20th century as many denominations have set aside Sundays as the "Lord's Day" for worship and spiritual reflection. In the past, most businesses were closed. People slowed down - at least for a day - to be with family and rest from their usual labors.

Yet our fast paced 21st century sophistication can be likened to St. Paul's encounter in Athens with the intelligentsia of the first century, who hung out with itching ears to hear the latest things. (Acts 17:16-34)

What's new?

The philosophers wanted to know when they heard of Paul's preaching of some new foreign gods. And Paul told them ....

What's best!

He declared unto them the Unknown God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures and preached the Gospel. Then the listeners scoffed when they heard of the resurrection. They were already jaded and ready to move on to the next new thing - but not the best thing.

Resurrection of Chautauqua

In spite of our fickleness and appetite for instant gratification, the Chautauqua movement lives on in the place it all began. Here is their website for talks in this fast and fickle 21st century - Chautauqua Institution. Below is a short video about the movement that has carried on for more than 135 years.

21st century vitual Chautauqua

Though many may not visit the Chautauqua Institution, we have the tools to create right one where we are at. The internet can be a magnificent tool when the keyboard meets the hands of those with a heart ready for learning.

Access to the internet can be one of the greatest tools for democratization on the planet. We can search for the best teachers who put themselves out there in cyberspace. Websites, blogs, social media can draw us into the discussion like many of these topics discussed in the original Chautauqua movement and so many more topics opened up in this amazing age.

How broad, wide, and deep we wish to go? What do we wish to learn? It's up to us. And that can be a challenging, yet magnificent thing.

Question: What sites are a source for your private Chautauqua?

More articles in this series:

ZAMM (part 1) - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

ZAMM (part 2) - Journey through Life

Photo from Wikipedia: Chautauqua Stamp

September 11, 2001 - A Survivor's Faith

2011-09-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

September 11, 2001.

Has it been 10 years?

Remember those images?

And many of us remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we first heard the news of these terrorist attacks on American soil. That day in 2001 was as shocking to us baby boomers as when some of us had heard that President Kennedy had been shot in 1963. Or that morning when the space shuttle Challenger had exploded in 1985.

That day - September 11, 2001 - and following ...

American flags went up everywhere in my neighborhood. One of the most famous images - Raising of the Flag at Ground Zero - appeared in all types of media. Politics as usual took a holiday as Democrats and Republicans seemed united for a change. The scheduled blood drive in my area for September 13 was so flush of volunteers that the attendants had to turn people away. We - the people - were all pulling together to get through this.

Prayer services ...

Back in 2001 ...

Houses of worship filled up in the following days. In New York City at citywide prayer service at Yankee Stadium on September 23, 2001, Mayor Rudy Giuliani delivered the following message: Archives of Rudolph W. Giuliani, 107th Mayor. (For the full service, check out - New York City Prayer Service - C-SPAN Video Library.)

Tributes and prayers were offered around the world: World reaction to 9/11 In London, England, the Archbishop of Canterbury at St. Paul's Cathedral held a memorial service, attended by the Royal Family: Battle Hymn of the Republic - London 2001

And now in 2011 ...

On this 10th anniversary, there will be many prayer services throughout the country - such as this one at the Washington National Cathedral: A Call for Compassion. One church in New York City, planted two blocks from Ground Zero shortly after the 9/11 attacks, will participate in a live webcast with the Saddleback Church on the West Coast: Rick Warren: 9/11 National Prayer Day Planned 2 Blocks From Ground Zero

Yet, no clergy or formal prayers will be allowed at Ground Zero ...

As of date of this post, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will not allow any clergy to offer formal prayers at the 10th anniversary of September 11. The mayor's spokesperson gave the rationale that the focus will be on the families of the thousands who have died.

Many have expressed dismay at such a decision as in this CNN article: 9/11 Ceremony won't include clergy or formal prayers. Though many have blogged about it and expressed their outrage, none of us can see the mayor's heart and discern his inner motives. Yet, the fiat's of a mayor cannot suppress the expression of faith, especially those who have survived this attack.

Grace abounded and still abounds at Ground Zero

Here is a story of one of the survivors of the attacks on the World Trade Center - the Dawn Robinson Story. It is one of faith and prayer and triumph.

Through the Eyes of a Survivor:

Part 1

Part 2

Dawn Robinson's story demonstrates how the urgency of immediate deadlines can quickly become irrelevant when suddenly faced with eternity.

We all are only here a short time, even if we live a natural life and die from old age. Even Moses, who lived well over 100 years, thought so. After wandering 40 years in the wilderness, seeing his generation pass away, Moses reflected on his experience with this perspective of human mortality:

¹⁰The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

¹¹Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.

¹²So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Psalm 90 (King James Version)

This Septemeber 11th -

May we never forget.

May we keep the faith.

Related posts:

from 2010: Dancing on Top of the World Trade Center

from 2009: One Tuesday in September, eight years ago ...

Photo from Wiki-Commons: National Park Service 9-11 Statue of Liberty and WTC fire

ZAMM (part 2) - Journey through Life

2011-08-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

Part 2 of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZAMM)

Remember board games? Long before computers, video games, etc. You may remember this one ...

The Game of Life

The Game of Life was invented in the 19th century by Milton Bradley. A hundred years later, TV personality Art Linkletter became its spokesman in the 1960s and helped to make the game popular, again. (It was one of my favorites when I was a kid.)

In this 3 D board game, all the participants start out on a level playing field - one tiny plastic car inserted with one man (a blue peg) or woman (a pink peg). The car and its occupants (spouse, kids picked up along the way) jump along the wiggly line of squares on the board, following a path of twists and turns until you come to the end of road.

Along this Life's journey,the spin of the wheel and a few choices determines your career and salary, the inevitability of getting married, and possible expansion of the family. You go through good times with windfalls of cash. And there's the bad times of negative cash flow - taxes, payoffs to a fellow player who is wreaking revenge on you, helping a relative down on his luck.

Life reaches its climax at the Day of Reckoning. In the end, you will give an accounting of your worldly goods. Do you have enough cash to win? If not,you may opt to go for broke - putting all your assets on the wheel and giving it a spin. If fate has it and your number come up,you win the game. Hooray! If not, you end up on the poor farm waiting for the others in the game to finish. In that case, the most fortunate - with piles of cash - retire to Millionaire's Acres.

End game?

In this version of Life, the end game is the one with the most money wins. (That's if he/she doesn't get lucky at the spin of the wheel - kind of like winning the lottery.) And I saw a bumper sticker expressing this world view once: The one who dies with the most toys wins.

But what does the Good Book say? To paraphrase Job - You can't take it with you. (reference Job 1:20-21)

The Journey of Life

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance describes a journey. The author, Robert Pirsig, with his son (and another couple who travel with them part of the way) embark on a trip riding motorcycles, starting in Minnesota. Their odyssey takes them through the badlands of the Dakotas, the varied landscapes of Montana and Idaho, and down the West Coast - many times on the road less traveled.

The experience of the motorcycle allows them to connect with their environment otherwise missed in the artificial bubble of a car. These travelers sense changes in the landscape and climate as well as the attitude of the people about them.

During this journey, the author has flashbacks of his old life, the one in which he went insane. His former self had been erased in a mental institution -- almost. From this background he tells his story - his journey and lessons he has learned and observed on the rocky road of his search for the meaning of values ... and even grasping for an attribute of the Divine perhaps?

Good News for our journey

Many philosophers describe life as a journey, like Robert Pirsig in his watershed book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Is the accumulation of material goods all there is? Where are we? Where have we been? Where are we going?

Yet, we are not totally left without a compass. The Real Game of Life comes with a Divine road map. Here is a sampling of the squares we may land on as mapped out by the Good Book.

Start of our journey:    We are all born into this imperfect world.

Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
Job 5:7 (King James Version)

First leg of the journey:    During childhood, the development of our talents may need guidance and encouragement.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6 (King James Version)

New territory:    We need a GPS from above to guide us, especially when we are young and starting out life outside the home.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7 (King James Version)

Warnings:    We need to discern the dangers in the road, ahead.

My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
Proverbs 1:10 (King James Version)

Alternate route:    Some of us may choose to get married and not go through our journey alone.

Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.
Proverbs 18:22 (King James Version)

End of the road:    Near the end of life, we need assurance.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4 (King James Version)

Exit sign and off-ramp:  The final exit comes when we leave the road of this life and step into eternity.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Psalm 23:6 (King James Version)

Travel log: It is being written in our lives every second. Many have shared their experiences to guide others on their journey in the real game of life. Many have blogged about it and offered wonderful advice. May the travel logs of others, who have mapped their way, help us to make wise choices along our path and avoid the dangers in the road ahead.

Question: Any words of wisdom learned from your life's journey?

Check out: ZAMM (part 1) - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Photo: everystockphoto.com: The Game of Life

eReaders (Part 3) - PDFs cute and EZ

2011-08-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

Most anyone who regularly uses the computer and peruses various types of files must have encountered documents in the PDF format.

And you need a special reader, such as an Adobe Reader, to look at it.

The PDF contents - text, graphics, format - display much like a picture on your screen.

Compared with other formats - various word docs (PC or mac), rich texts, plain texts, xml, html, etc. - the PDF has its good points ... and also has its ... erm ... features.

The upside of PDFs

raison d'etre

PDFs - Portable Document Formats - were a standard created so that the content of a file could be displayed in a form that would look the same regardless of its medium.

This solution has worked for various platforms and browsers - which can seem fickle when they display non-PDF material on the monitor. Likewise, for printers that can go rogue, PDF inputs deliver the expected output on the printed page. What you see is what you get.

One of the features of eReaders - such as Kindle and Nook, as well as others - is the ability to download and display documents in the ubiquitous PDF format. I have downloaded many articles and books as PDFs and have enjoyed the convenience of reading them at my leisure on my Nook. But PDFs have not been without their problems.

The downside of PDFs

It's always something!

Generally, PDFs are not as easy to handle on my Nook as the ePub format. Especially if they are big files. Some of my downloaded PDFs are downright nasty. Though they display their goodies on my PC, these PDFs deliver nothing but big X's (instead of the text and pictures) when side loaded on my Nook.

What to do?

I did two things. I googled the problem for answers, and I also called a friend with a Nook.

Googling

Google is so handy for picking the shared memory of the internet. Other have been there, done that. And they are more than happy to tell the cyber world all about it. As a result of googling, I came to some forums of those who had the same PDF problem. They had a cute solution. Literally.

CutePDF

There really is a free program - CutePDF. (Here is one place I found it: CutePDF Writer.) What is required is a Windows application that is able to print. Well, I had those things. So I downloaded the freeware and gave this cute solution a try.

After the installation of CutePDF on my windows based PC, here are the steps I did to convert my problem PDF files:

* Select the problem PDF file
* Print the file, but choose the printer output - CutePDF Writer, which will result in some messages during the conversion that the file is being flattened. (If it is a large file, the conversion may take some time.)
* A "Save As" dialog box pops up allowing to save the CutePDF output to a filename of choice and location on the desktop
* Use this CutePDF as the import to the Nook

When the deed was done, I side loaded the converted PDF to my Nook - voila!

I could see the goods. Best of all this cute solution was free.

As for my second solution ....

I called a friend

My friend said it was EZ - literally.

And there was an app for that :

ezPDF

(Here is some info: ezPDF Reader)

For my Nook, I purchased the ezPDF Reader through my Barnes and Noble account. The store delivered the app to my Nook, like any eBook I had purchased through them. The app cost at the time $.99, but was worth every 99 pennies - plus tax.

This video describes ezPDF app quite well:

Now, I can open any PDF on my Nook that I have tried so far, even the offending PDFs. The app works well and has a page turning feature among others described in the video above that are not provided by cutePDF.

Downside, it's not free (but close to it - a plus). And I have to open up the ezPDF app first, then look for my specific PDF file to read the document with ezPDF.

Otherwise, the ezPDF app does provide tools, which are similar to those that work on ePubs. And I'm sure future apps will get even better.

Question: Any advice in managing your PDFs on your eReaders?

photo form everystockphoto.com: eReader Comparison

What a Ham I am (Part 3) - Hams make Contact

2011-08-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

Since I was kid, I have loved science and was fascinated by good science fiction stories.

1960s

In early grade school, my first love was Fireball XL5 during the age of the Space Race. Venus, the woman doctor and romantic interest of pilot Steve Zodiac, was my role model.

Then, as I approached junior high, along came Star Trek. In the original series, the men were men (if they were not space aliens) and women wore very, very short skorts. (Hey, this was the 1960s.) And Mr. Spock was far-out, in many ways.

1970s .... 1980s

My college years, though, left little time for TV and little money for movies. But during this time, the first of the Star Wars movies made its debut in 1977. And there were the endless reruns of the original Star Trek, followed by the first of many Star Trek movies. And don't get me started on Star Trek - the Next Generation and its many other incarnations and movie sequels ....

1990s

Then came the 1990s, the other turn of the century. The year 1997 was memorable in science fiction. Carl Sagan's book Contact was made into a movie. Though the movie deviated some from the book, the story on the big screen still told a good yarn and brought forth the long running discussion of science versus faith.

Hams make Contact?

The opening scene of Contact was awesome. We (especially hams) never know where our electromagnetic emissions will end up as they spread out across the universe. In the final seconds of the clip below, ham radio sparked the love of science and exploration in a little girl.

Those familiar with the movie know that this little girl would grow up to become Dr. Ellie Arroway, the protagonist of the story. And she was a ham. Another role model,

21st Century?

Now, we live in an age dominated by the Internet, cell phones, and numerous gadgets that tap into cyberspace. Ham radio may seem so last millennium. But as we have seen in the news, systems get hacked, systems go down. Meanwhile, amateur radio communications still work in spite of attacks or disasters. Ham radio is not only a fun hobby, but a skill that can be so important to communicate with each other during emergencies when our higher tech systems fail.

Hams - the Next Generation

Like in the story of Ellie Arroway, hams need to continue to inspire children to love science and explore. Not only that, ham skills need to be passed on to - Hams - the Next Generation.

Who knows? Hams may be sorely needed during troubled days and the next big national emergency.

Question: Any movies or shows inspire you to pursue your hobby?

Photo from Wiki Commons: Very Large Array

ZAMM (part 1) - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

2011-07-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

Kulturbarer.

Robert Pirsig used this word to describe Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. After 121 rejections, an editor was willing to take a chance on it.  Pirsig's book was first published in 1974 and it quickly and unexpectedly became a best seller - and it still is.

This Swedish word kulturbarer translates as "culture bearer." Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a culture-bearing book in the 20th century much in the way Uncle Tom's Cabin was a culture bearer for the 19th century.

In my blogger profile, I have listed Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - next the Bible - as one of my favorite books of all time.   This book has given me the tools to see the universe through a different filter of the mind. Pirsig relates some difficult philosophies in the form of a story - which makes these concepts easier for the reader to digest and ruminate upon.

Written in the 1970s, the book came out when our culture was in flux. The Vietnam War came to an ignoble end; the counter culture of the 1960s was giving way to disillusionment; the first of many energy crises hit the country; Watergate lead to the only resignation of one of our presidents. The ugly Gotham of the 20th century left many - perhaps as expressed by the counter culture - feeling disconnected. Our values as a society and the certainty of our vision of the universe had been shaken.

Like orthodox Christians believe God is a Trinity - Father, Son, Holy Ghost - so we humans are also trinity - body, mind, spirit. And the title of this book captures the essence of a trinity as well.

Zen - the spiritual aspect, the caring about what we are doing
Art - the romantic, the artistic, the craftsmanship
Motorcycle Maintenance - the technology, the logical, the hard science

All three are connected in the totality of our being - who we are, what we are doing, and how we are going about life.

Below is a book review uploaded by AtlasRider on YouTube - given while riding - most appropriately - a motorcycle.

But this short review does not do the work justice.

In following posts about Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (I'll call ZAMM for short), I plan to expand the discussion into the 21st century.

Question: Have you read the book? If so, any thoughts?

Photo from Barnes & Noble:   Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

eReaders (Part 2) - Calibre

2011-07-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

Before I settled on a dedicated eReader, I had read eBooks exclusively from my laptop.

It was fine when I was home at my computer, but my laptop wasn't always easy or convenient to take with me, even in different parts of the house. (Which is why I bought the Nook.)

The 21st century has brought us many technological wonders, especially in the media and its various presentations of written material.

As for computer displays, its various software, browsers, operating systems, etc. dictate how the material looks to the consumer and it isn't always consistent. This "feature" has prompted many clever solutions.

Formats, formats, formats ....

PDFs

PDFs (portable document formats) have been a solution for a long time.

Upsides:

* PDFs are totally consistent in displaying the format.
* Also, one of the positives it that many PDF readers are free - such as the Adobe Reader Xs - and the software can be easily downloaded.

Downsides:

* PDFs can be less flexible in resizing.
* The material is difficult or impossible to reorganize to the reader's desires.

The consistency, the universal availability of readers makes for the popular PDF format.

Other eReader formats

Speaking of free stuff ...

Major eBook retailers allow free download of their software to entice you to read and hopefully buy their wares.

Here are some examples big ones:

* Amazon - Kindle for PC

* Barnes & Noble - nook for PC

* Mobipocket - Mobipocker Reader

And this does not begin to cover the many ePub (electronic publication) formats that are out there - some eReaders for sale, some for free.

With all these different formats, a librarian would be handy to manage this new media.

So enter ....

Calibre

A friend had recommended Calibre - a free software reading system - which allows me to manage, convert, and load files onto my eReader of choice (NOOK). For its website and download information on Calibre - click here.

I've downloaded Calibre and used it many times for such tasks as ...

* Managing the PDFs and ePubs I've downloaded on my PC
* Converting various formats to ePub, PDF, or format of my choice, which it supports
* Using the Calibre eReader for easy viewing of various works
* Editing the metadata about the author(s), publisher(s), and related information of the works
* Side loading files to my Nook, while keeping the works on my PC
* Exercising the option to load eBooks I've purchased onto Calibre

The demo on the link explains it quite well: Demo

I am pleased at this solution, which allows me to read the books, articles, files of various formats and export them to Nook.

It's about choice.

And best of all ... it's free.

Question: Have you tried this? If so, what do you think?

Photo from: Calibre

There's Something about Lilacs ...

2011-06-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

We have had crazy weather this year. Spring was very wet - wetter than usual. The river was high and flooded in some areas.

As a result of the heavy rains, flowers and plants in the garden seemed to be a month behind their usual blooming or sprouting schedule.

Behind our house, lilac bushes line the irrigation ditch. They, too, were late bloomers, just opening up the first weeks of June.

The second week of June the lilacs peaked in their glory. And they were worth the wait. They were pleasantly fragrant and the purple hues were most intense, especially in the light of the setting sun.

My elderly mother-in-law, also, anticipated the blooming of the lilacs after a rainy season.

Second Saturday in June, we picked mother up at her residence for many errands. Across the street from her in an alley was a luscious clump of lilac bushes. From her place in the front car seat, I was able to pull down the branches so she could touch the bouquet of purple lilacs, see them up close, and smell them without plucking them from the bush. They were wonderful and lifted her spirits.

As made our way home that afternoon, I saw a sign for a wedding in a our neighborhood. It was June. It was Saturday. Very popular time for weddings.

Then we saw an unfamiliar SUV was parked near our driveway. Some unexpected visitors?

Behind our house by the long row of blossoming lilacs was the newlywed couple - the groom in his three-piece suit, the bride in a lovely long white dress. The photographer was busily snapping pictures of the newlyweds in front of our gorgeous lilac greenery and blossoms of various purple shades and white blooms.

We waved and wished them well. They had been celebrating their wedding just up the block from us when the lilacs behind our house got their attention. And the photographer immortalized this great event in their lives with the backdrop of these late bloomers.

Whether newlywed or in your nineties ...

There's something about lilacs.

Can't you just smell them?

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

Genesis 1:31 (NIV)

Photo from Wiki commons: Lilacs

Kittens in my bushes!

2011-06-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

First week of May, I was finishing breakfast, sipping my coffee. A lovely day.

The curtain was drawn to a view of the our mini-forest near the front door.

Three Douglas firs, one blue spruce, three juniper bushes all with low hanging branches - the perfect environs for the black birds to make their nests and for the bunnies to live.

Some fuzzy blobs on the ground near the low lying branches got my attention. Some birds bouncing around perhaps? No. I looked closer.

Kittens.

Three of the them. What were they doing there? They had just slipped out of my mini-forest.

I hollered to my dear husband.

There's kittens in our bushes!

We watched them, wondering how they got there. The little ones looked lost. Two kittens stuck together and were off exploring the strange world out there. One was shy and lagged behind in the cover of the trees. Then the two brave ones wandered into the street. Not good. These kittens knew nothing about the perils of cars.

The two made it across the road. It had little traffic since it was a dead end. At least the kittens did not try to cross the road in front. I have seen hockey moms driving their SUVs while talking on cell phones imperilling the pesky mule deer sassily meandering into the road.

Across the street, the kittens upset some of the birds, then they returned to their sibling and their familiar home in the bushes. We saw no momma cat around that day. Undoubtedly, the little ones were hungry and were looking for their next meal. So we left out some water and beat up an egg, setting the bowls near the bushes and low hanging branches.

A brave one came out sniffing. What's this? Food!

Her other two litter mates got the idea. Later, that day we got them some wet cat food. They took an instant liking to it. We had them hooked - on the path from feral to domesticated. Within a few days, the three little kittens were eating on the porch and moved their sleeping quarters from the bushes to the safety of our garage.

Their personalities were evident from the get go.

The brave and most obnoxious one. This one soon dashed into the house when I opened the door as if it were some game. She had no qualms seeing me as a tree - climbing up my leg (good thing I wore pants) and jumping onto my shoulder.

The cautious and sweet one. This one was wary, more polite, and would allow us to handle her, but never imposed herself on you.

The scaredy one. This one did not like to be touched. When I did catch him, he growled and squirmed. But he came around - just out of reach - and joined his siblings in the eating and the sleeping.

Though different, the three stuck together. As they napped, they all piled on each other for warmth as well as giving each other moral support in this big strange world.

But we could not keep them.

My dear husband is quite allergic to cats. None of our neighbors wanted them. The local shelter was full. Yet, these kittens were so vulnerable and to turn them out into the street would be the death of them.

What to do with three little kittens? The answer came in a flyer from a drug store.

Our local spay and neuter task force and cat rescue sponsored an event at the county fairgrounds to fix pets, barn cats, and feral cats and help place them through adoption. So we took care of the tiny fur balls for two and half weeks before the event. They got used to humans, hooked on Kitten Chow, and began to learn the concept of a litter box.

The day came to roundup the kittens. It was tough, for I'm sure they felt betrayed as we had snatched them from the dinner bowl - only way we could get the scaredy one. They were all very quiet during our ride into town. They entered the queue of many other kitties waiting in their carriers to be fixed. We filled out much paperwork, left a donation, and left the kittens in the hands of cat rescue.

The story had a happy ending.

Cat rescue followed up with a phone call. They found the three little kittens a home. A lady, who had just lost her cat, took in all three. May they live long and be spoiled rotten!

Thanks be to the kind hearted people who offered their helping hand and continue to do so in the rescue of God's creatures. You made a difference in the lives of these little ones.

I love these words from Francis of Assisi:

If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.

Photo from everystockphoto: gray kittens

What a Ham I am (Part 2) - When lightening strikes

2011-05-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

In the first post of this series, I blogged that after more than 25 years as Tech, I moved up to General: Part 1 - moving on up

During the previous 25 years, I had my moments on the air, especially when living out in the country. OM had been very into designing and putting up antennas. Outside the city, OM put up a tower, many antennas, in a ham friendly environment with no covenants and little RF interference.

Loss of jobs, new jobs took us cross country and back. In the silent years, we dwelt in densely populated areas. Covenants. Transmission lines all about. Much RF interference. Tight spaces. Definitely not ham friendly. OM, the dedicated ham and antenna engineer he is, made due and was clever with some of his urban camouflage (fodder for another post?).

Finally, we took an early retirement in a small town in fly-over country. Little RF interference, much more elbow room, ham friendly. OM's first antenna went up last summer in 2010. It was like the good old days. We were in a more rural environs with a beautiful view of the mountains.

Yet, that summer of 2010 had its share of thunderstorms. One in particular was brewing over the mountains in the west. I sat watching the light show from my dining room window. The thunder was getting louder. The lightening flashes closer. Oh my gosh! It was coming right for us!

Crash!

Lightening struck. It vaporized the wires of my OM's antenna. The flood of current surged into the house - taking out random appliances.

Goodbye - TV, DVD, toaster, garage door openers, pellet stove motor, electric lights, an ether net port. It spared the refrig, stove, microwave, fans. (At least I had the sense to unplug my computer. It was OK.) Most ironically, our Dirt Devil hand vacuum - which had been on its last legs - as it was recharging on the wall got a rejuvenating jolt. Now, our Dirt Devil has new life and holds a charge much better, sucking with more "oomph" than it has in a long time.

When all the damage was assessed and we settled with insurance, the final outcome was not so bad. We did get new stuff. New garage door openers. A better TV and DVD player. But OM was antenna-less. At least for a while.

This year, OM has erected a non-resonating dipole with a lightening rod on the very top. Since May, in our part of the country, the weather has been stormy - high winds, thunder rumblings - the wires on the antenna pole are down. In calmer weather, the wires should be up in the air and we should be on the air.

Meanwhile, OM has been fiddling with radio. Well, .... Field Day is coming.

Yikes! As I have been typing this another thunderstorm is coming in. Time to unplug the computer ...

Question: Any lightening stories you wish to share?

----------------------------------------

Glossary for hamspeak:

Ham - Amateur Radio Operator
RF - radio frequency
OM - "Old Man" - A guy, no matter what his age - much like the British term - "old boy" (In my case, my dear husband)

More references: hamspeak

----------------------------------

Animated gif from Wiki Commons: Lightening Sequence

eReaders (Part 1) - Nook

2011-05-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

For years, I've been reading from a computer- whether for work on a desktop and for pleasure on my laptop. Daily, I infosnack on various blogs, news, fun stuff, serious stuff, just stuff. And no doubt will continue to do so. I have software to read PDFs, ePub formats, and the Kindle format.

Yet, I did want a compact reader dedicated to reading . Also, I won't have to haul about hard cover books, paperback, magazine - it's all contained and organized in a small eReader.

Michael Hyatt, the Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers, has a very good post on this: The Kindle, Nook, iPad, and Reader Compared. He has a spread sheet which he breaks it out various features and catalogues them.

The iPads and the like look very cool and do so many things in addition to eReader. Yet , it would be another computer to maintain. For me, it was between Kindle and Nooks.

The Kindle is very appealing, easy on the eyes, light weight, good buy for the money. Comments indicate owners love it.

Yet, I have some friends, bibliophiles, who are into gadget and they were sold of the Nook. The wide range of formats it supports, the color features, the large number of eBooks at Barnes and Noble. Though one downside is that the Nook does not take Kindle, the ePub format, which is far more pervasive.

I chose the Nook. Here is their blurb:

My dear husband got the regular Nook - as shown below.

So far, so good. Between the two of us - regular, color - we got it covered.

FYI: I have no financial interest in promoting Nooks, just the desire to spread the info around.

Question: What, if any, eReaders have won you over?

Photo from Wikipedia Commons: Nook

A Royal Inspiration

2011-05-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

An estimated two billion people were expected to see the royal wedding, April 29, 2011. Some have questioned those figures (pbs.com). But maybe they are not so far off if you factor in the record breaking online audience (pcmag.com). It was quite a show! A real life fairy tale played out on the world stage as a commoner, Kate Middleton, married a prince, Prince William, second in-line to the British throne.

In the preceding days and after, much has been written and commented about this wedding. Some have made a profit from it. Some were most fascinated and watched to vicariously experience a royal event. Some have "dissed" the wedding with snarkiness. Who cares about an anachronistic monarchy? Wasn't it thirty years ago that Prince William's father, Prince Charles, married Lady Diana Spencer - only this fairy tale ended in disillusion and tragedy?

As Americans, should we care about the royals and Great Britain? (Especially considering our history with a not-so-well-liked monarch, King George III.)

Yes.
(In my humble opinion.)

Great Britain has been one of the best American allies. What is good for Great Britain is good for the United States. Frankly, I'm still inspired by their great leaders - William Wilberforce and William Pitt, the younger (whose story of abolishing slavery is told in Amazing Grace (2006) ), Sir Winston Churchill during World War II, and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during the Cold War.

This May 8, we come up to the 66th anniversary of VE day, Victory in Europe (life.com), the beginning of the end of World War II. And recently, in theaters was the story of an inspirational British monarch, King George VI - The King's Speech (2010) - who reigned during this time.

Prince William's great grandfather, the second son of George V, had a speech impediment, which he worked hard to overcome. He unexpectedly ascended to the throne when his older brother, Edward VIII, abdicated. The climax and most moving scene came when the King gave his first wartime speech to his subjects as they entered into World War II in September of 1939. (Below is the real speech from George VI taken from americanrhetoric.com which also has its transcript.)

During those dark days, Londoners in particular felt the fury of Hitler's Luftwaffe - as the capital city was bombed mercilessly to demoralize the population in the terror known as the London Blitz. King George VI, his wife Queen Elizabeth, and the princesses (Elizabeth and Margaret) stayed in the Buckingham Palace (which was also bombed) and chose not to flee to safer environs of the countryside where many of the kingdom's children were urged to go.

The King and Queen walked through London during the Blitz (bridgemanart.com). The future Queen Elizabeth II also put on the uniform and got her hands dirty during the war. She served as a driver and mechanic as shown here in this Life photo.

So why should I care about the British Royal family and their recent wedding?

Much like our presidents, (one of the best in recent times was Ronald Reagan, in my humble opinion), they can inspire people to do not only extraordinary things, but most important - the right thing.

King George VI's speeches to his people during the Second World War were backed up by his actions. He stood with his people as they experienced attacks by the enemy on native soil. The most intense were from September 1940 to May 1941, the first attacks lasting for 57 consecutive days. The King gave the people the courage to stand up to Hitler and his "supermen." And ultimately, the people of Great Britain and their allies did prevail.

My thoughts and prayers are that Prince William follow the steps of his great grandfather. George VI's words are still relevant today in the War on Terror and our uncertain times as they were during the events leading up to World War Two.

" There may be dark days ahead, and war can no longer be confined to the battlefield. But we can only do the right as we see the right, and reverently commit our cause to God.

"If one and all we keep resolutely faithful to it, ready for whateverer service or sacrifice it may demand, then, with God's help, we shall prevail."

George VI - September 3, 1939

This coming National Day of Prayer on May 5, 2011 is held at a time which may portend that dark day are ahead. May our leaders point (as George VI) that our help is in God and that we reverently commit our cause to Him. And with God's help we shall prevail.

Photo from Wikipedia: The royal family on the balcony

What a Ham I am (Part 1) - moving on up!

2011-04-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what the occasion was. I believe it was in the year 2000 and we were selling our house. One of the lookie loos meandered into our loft above our living room area.

My dear husband had claimed the loft as his space, marking it with his computer, plaques, books, etc. The lookie loo - a guy - pointed to our framed set of Ham radio licenses, his and hers, on the wall. He grinned at me.

"I did that to my wife, too."

That told me I was not alone. Men, who are avid Hams, often like to get their wives or significant others involved with their hobby. And I was one of them - one of the fraternity (and sorority) of Hams.

And what really are Hams in the context of geekdom? Ham is slang for amateur radio operators. Here is an introduction from a really, really old video:

Back in the 1980s, when my husband "did that to me, too" - talked me into getting a Ham radio license - there had been five levels of Hams as defined by the FCC: Novice, Tech, General, Advanced, Extra. Later a sixth was added - Tech Plus. All had required some level of code proficiently.

That is Morse code, such as : Di di di dah dah dah dit di dit .... (That is the universal HELP signal - SOS) At this time, most us Novices had to bang out code on a paddle or key. For the entire alphabet check out the video below:

As a Novice, we only had air privileges with Morse code and limited band frequencies on which to broadcast. I recall, in the early 1980s, listening to a cassette tape to practice up on code to pass at the 5 words per minute requirement for Novices. And in that tape was this gem:

"Jonathan Livingston Buzzard keeps quiet except when flying over my shack."

This was special in that it used every letter in the English alphabet. And it was cute, in that the novella, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, which had been a big hit in the 1970s, was still fresh in our memories. But when I started to copy "Jonathan ..." I knew the rest of this old buzzard was coming right for me, which kind of defeated the point of the code practice.

A few years later, with much encouragement from my husband - who would go on to get his Extra class license, I moved up to Tech Plus. That meant that I had passed the test on the written level for General class (the class above Tech), but did not take the code test to pass for General.

Then the code requirement for General was 13 words per minute. And I just was not ready for it. So I sat fat and happy for the next 25 years as a Tech Plus, which was good enough for normal purposes. And though my dear husband reminded me I had opportunities to convert to General, I just did not do it.

I am a very bad Ham.

The amateur radio licensing rules had evolved much in the last 30 years. Now, there are only three levels: Tech, General, Extra. Novice was dropped. So was Advanced. Yet, Novice, Tech Plus, and Advanced are still grandfathered in. No code is required. Yippee!

Finally, this April 16, 2011, I studied up and passed the General level!

Will I be on the air soon?

That will be a subject for another post. And Field Day is coming.

73s

and for you non-hams that means - best wishes.

Photo from Wikipedia Commons: International amateur radio symbol

Easter - The Sign of the Prophet Jonah

2011-04-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

What a big fish story!

How often do to we hear that - especially when we think someone is exaggerating, really telling a whopper - and that ain't no Burger King (R) hamburger.

One of the biggest fish stories ever - as some may consider - is the story of Jonah.

This prodigal prophet ran when the Lord told him to preach those hated Ninevites. I don't blame him. Those Ninevites were not very nice. And that was an understatement.

While Jonah took the next boat for Tarshish - the opposite direction of Nineveh, a big storm hit. The sailors cast lots, and the lots pointed to Jonah as the cause of their distress.

Jonah confessed and to save the ship cast himself into the sea. The sea calmed. The sailors feared the Lord and offered sacrifices.

Meanwhile,the Lord prepared a big fish to swallow up Jonah. And he was in the belly of that fish for three days and three night. (Jonah 1)

Was God through with him? The Good Lord gave him a second chance.

And now for the rest of the story. ...

Inside the belly of the fish, Jonah prayed "from deep in the realm of the dead" (it seems he died in the fish) and the Lord commanded the fish to vomit Jonah out on dry land. (Jonah 2)

Then, the Lord came to Jonah (very much alive) the second time and called him, again, to preach to the Ninevites. This time Jonah obeyed - sparking the biggest revival recorded in the Old Testament. All of the Ninevites from the king on down believed God and repented in sackcloth and ashes. And the Good Lord spared them. (Jonah 3)

Instead of rejoicing, Jonah was quite bummed out about it all and sulked. He revealed the real reason that he had run from the Lord: He knew the Good Lord was compassionate and merciful and would forgive the Ninevites if they repented after hearing his message.

But the Lord had a good talk with him. The God of Israel was also the God of the Gentiles, and He was concerned for the Ninevites, the little children, and the animals. (Jonah 4)

As echoed by the Prophet Ezekiel:

As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD,
I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked,
but rather that they turn from their ways and live.

Ezekiel 33:11
(NIV)

That is quite a fish story!

What does that have to do with Easter?

Everything.

The Lord Jesus believed the big fish story. When His critics were hounding for a sign, He said these words:

A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign!
But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish,
so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. ...

Matthew 12: 39 - 41
(NIV)

Jonah did not survived in the fish. He died. The belly of the fish was "the realm of the dead" (Jonah 2:1-2). Yet, Jonah was spit out very much alive (Jonah 2:10) on the third day (Jonah 1:17).

Likewise, Jesus died and was buried and - like Jonah - rose from the dead on the third day.

The Book of Jonah is a critical book in the Old Testament in that it teaches the Resurrection.

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.
Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ...

1 Corinthians 15:2-4
(NIV)

According to the Scriptures, dying and rising on the third day is the Sign of the Prophet Jonah.

The Resurrection is the Crux of Easter and the Gospel.

And what does the Lord requires of us in the 21st century AD? The same as the Ninevites in the 7th century BC. He asks that we believe Him. God is rich in mercy. (Ephesian 2:4)

To all my readers - have a Blessed Easter, this anno Domini (in the year of our Lord) 2011.

Question: Do you have any unusual Easter stories?

Photo from Wikipedia: Jonah and the Whale

For want of a thermistor the Moon was lost .... 41 years ago

2011-04-10T02:00:00.000-07:00

For Want of a Nail

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

So says an old proverb - small actions have huge consequences as they did 41 years ago ...

On April 12, 1970, the third planned mission to the moon was launched.

The Crew of Apollo 13

James A. Lovell, Mission Commander - command module pilot of Apollo 8, back-up commander for Apollo 11
John L. Swigert, Jr., Command Module Pilot
Fred W. Haise, Lunar Module Pilot

After Apollo 11 - the mission which put Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, Apollo 12 repeated this marvellous feat. By the time Apollo 13 was schedule to fly, most observers were bored with this space travel going to the moon thing. The mission started out as a real yawner.

Until April 13, 1970, Commander Lovell said the following that has since become a catch phrase.

"Houston, we have a problem ..."

An explosion had crippled the service module (for the accident report, click here). A real life drama played out before the eyes of the world the next few days. And Ron Howard made a great movie about it in 1995: Apollo 13

Apollo 13 has been known as NASA's Successful Failure and I witnessed it happen in real time - 40 years ago.

Question: If you are over 40, do you recall Apollo 13 in real time?

Picture form Wiki Commons: Apollo 13 Insignia

Kindle? Nook? Whatever?

2011-04-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

As we blast into the second decade of the 21st century, eReaders and eBooks are popping up all over.

I have read a few eBooks via my computer. Here I can download PDFs and look at them with the Adobe reader. And the PC software to read Kindles and other types of ePubs can be downloaded for free. That makes sampling the goodies easier as various eBook sites display their wares.

When my tax rebate comes, this Baby Boomer is about to make the plunge and break the bonds of my PC to get a dedicated eReader.

Now, the conundrum. What to buy and get the most enjoyment and bang for the buck?

iPad?

At first, iPad sounds like it's the the most flexible as it can read most anything.

But it's really another computer. It's relatively expensive, if it's sole purpose is to be an eReader. And I already got a laptop and I'm not a mac person.

Kindle?

The new Kindles look most appealing. The price is reasonable. The reader very light. I read some good review on readability and battery life.

But it is only in black and white and limited to Kindle formats and does not read other forms of ePubs. (Except for PDFs)

Nook?

I'm leaning very heavily for a color Nook. It does color, obviously. It supports ePub formats and PDF. Barnes & Noble supply the largest selection of eBooks.

Unfortunately, they don't do Kindle.

Oh, well. You can't have everything.

Question for eReader aficionados: Which do you prefer?

Picture from everystockphoto.com: Amazon Kindle & Sony eBook

Lots - Lady, Luck, Lessons

2011-03-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

Lots:

God's dice always have a lucky roll.
Sophocles

This March 20, 2011 not only hails the first day of Spring, but also closes with an ancient Hebrew holiday which celebrates the Providence - the casting of lots.

The holiday is the Feast of Lots - Purim.

By Jewish reckoning, it begins this year at sunset on March 19th and ends at sunset March 20th. In some places of the world, the holiday starts the last night of Winter and ends the first day with Spring.

... weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Psalm 30:5
(King James Version)

The entire story is found in the Book of Esther. Also it is told wonderfully here - The Feast of Purim. Both are a good read with a beautiful heroine, heroes, evil villains, court intrigue, and a thriller with a plot twist. Most remarkable - it's true.

Instead of merely retelling it - and there are so many good links, such as the one above, that do that - I have drawn out a few points as to this marvellous story of God's Providence.

Here are three rolls of the loaded dice:

1st roll: The Lady

In the Old Testament, who was the greatest deliverer?

* Moses when he delivered the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt?
* Joshua who fought the Battle of Jericho?
* Gideon and his small band that delivered his people from the Midianites during the time of the Judges?
* David who defeated the Philistines?

If you go strictly by the numbers, it was a woman - Esther.

After 70 years of captivity, the prophets had decreed that Jewish people return to the land. Perhaps as many as 60,000 did so. Their story is told in Ezra and Nehemiah and two of the "minor" prophets - Haggai and Zechariah.

Yet, most disobeyed and stayed in the Persian Empire. The Book of Esther tells what happened to this majority, who did not go back to Israel. Again, it's the same old sad story of anti-semitism.

Moses and Joshua had delivered an estimated million in the Exodus from Egypt. But Esther, perhaps, delivered her tens of millions, for it has been estimated that several million Jews lived in the Persian Empire during this time.

This was no small feat. By modern standards, it would be as if Esther had stopped Adolf Hitler and prevented the Holocaust. And it was not mistake that during the Holocaust the Jews had called Adolf Hitler a modern day Haman after the villain in the Book of Esther.

For comparison and contrast, reference: Haman and Hitler

2rd roll: "Luck"

* Was it "luck" that the king of Persia put away his wife and through a beauty contest picked Esther as his new queen?
* Was it "luck" Esther when exercised nepotism, so her next of kin Mordecai rose to a prominent position within the kingdom and had the queen's ear?
* Was it "luck" when Haman hatched his "final solution" to exterminate the Jews that Mordecai said to Esther:

... and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Esther 4:14
(King James Version)

The story is filled with many such lucky coincidences - such that Haman's plot was exposed and Mordecai and his Jewish countrymen found favor with the king and issued the support to stop it.

Sophocles was right. God does load the dice.

3rd roll: Lessons

The Book of Esther is unique in many ways. It's one of the two books in Protestant Bible named after a woman. It is the only book which has no direct mention of God or prayer.

In spite of that, the hand of God is clearly seen, He is alluded to as deliverance coming, prayer is implied with fasting. In a pagan court, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was still there in the shadows watching over his own - even those who were deliberately out of His expressed will. (Reference: George Campbell Morgan)

The story today still speaks to me. It gives me hope for this godless world that seems to have gone mad, and the name of God only used as a curse word.

The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Psalm 121:7&8
(King James Version)

Question: Have you had any "lucky" coincidences, which have brought you deliverance?

Picture from Wikipedia Commons: Historical dice

Barbie ought to be in pictures - and she is

2011-03-07T20:50:00.000-08:00

Since my retirement, I've rediscovered libraries. A great thing - especially now when they lend out videos and DVDs.

Lately, I've been nurturing my inner child and catching up on the old Disney movies and classics. Pursuing the library, a pink DVD came into view. Barbie (TM).

As a baby boomer, I was perhaps the first generation to grow up with Barbie (TM). She was the "perfect" girl next door with a figure to die for and a fantastic life limited by our imagination.

This fashion doll became a hit and a billion dollar franchise was born. More than 50 years later, she is still going strong. Barbie dolls, all her friends, accessories, clothes, cars, houses, pets, ... Just check out Walmart. Since 2001 thanks to computer animation, she has starred in many movies.

I checked out one of these available Barbie DVDs - Rapunzel. (I had just seen the latest Disney princess movie, Tangled, in the 3D in the movie theatre and wondered how this version would compare.)

I was skeptical, but figured if the Barbie movie was so sweet that it would make me gag, not much was lost, except for some time. So much for prejudice. I was pleasantly surprised. I actually liked the animated movie... very much ... even better than many Disney movies.

So I checked out more. The Nutcracker - as in the Tchaikovsky ballet. The Princess and the Pauper (based loosely on Mark Twain's - The Prince and the Pauper.) The Magic of Pegasus. The background music was terrific, classical music (like Beethoven) performed by such renowned groups as the London Symphony Orchestra.

It seems so many cartoons out there aren't so uplifting. Just check out the prime time animation on TV on Sunday night. They may be a hit in the ratings, but the humor and the story lines often appeal to the basest in human nature. Yet, the sample of Barbie stories I viewed reinforced good character and family values.

With a strong female in the leading role, the plots did not fall into the male bashing trap of misandry as in so many comedies. Each story reinforced a positive message so lacking in these seemingly sophisticated, cynical times.

I saw the heroine far from the helpless damsel in distress in Victorian fairy tales. She consistently showed courage, perseverance, initiative, and many positive characteristics: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The fruits of the Spirit.

Barbie's inner beauty outshone her perfect 10 "Barbie doll" figure. So, move over Disney, you have some serious competition here.

Photo from Wikipedia: Barbie Fashion Model

Memorize this!

2011-02-24T21:55:00.000-08:00

I am thinking therefore I exist.
Rene Descartes

This week my woman's group finished Jennifer Rothschild's study - Me, Myself, and Lies - a "thought closet makeover."

Our thoughts ... self talk ... not only prove our "existence" - as the French philosopher Descartes concluded, but define who we are.

The links above give much more information on the Jennifer Rothschild's series, and I plan to blog more about some of these lessons in later posts.

As we raced to the finish line in this study, I was challenged by the leader of my group to memorize this ...

Psalm 103

My old negative self-talk would say: "I'm not good a memorizing anymore."

So I am putting myself out there or should I say, I'm putting Psalm 103 out there in many ways on this blog.

* Audio.

* The Written Word.

* Visual

"I can do it."

That's what I need to say to myself. So here we go ...

Memorize this!

Audio: Read by Max McLean

Written:

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul:
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name.

2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits:

3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
who healeth all thy diseases;

4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things;
so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment
for all that are oppressed.

7 He made known his ways unto Moses,
his acts unto the children of Israel.

8 The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and plenteous in mercy.

9 He will not always chide:
neither will he keep his anger for ever.

10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins;
nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

11 For as the heaven is high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

13 Like as a father pitieth his children,
so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

14 For he knoweth our frame;
he remembereth that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are as grass:
as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone;
and the place thereof shall know it no more.

17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
upon them that fear him,
and his righteousness unto children's children;

18 To such as keep his covenant,
and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens;
and his kingdom ruleth over all.

20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels,
that excel in strength,
that do his commandments,
hearkening unto the voice of his word.

21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts;
ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

22 Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion:
bless the LORD, O my soul.

(King James Version)

Visual:

These following weeks, I ask for your help and encouragement. And ask me how I'm doing.

Do you have any favorites which you have memorized and say to yourself?

Picture from Wikipedia: Thought bubble

3 birthdays, 3 presidents, 3 centuries, 3 defining wars ...

2011-02-03T07:20:00.000-08:00

February is one short month long on holidays from the sublime (President's Day, St. Valentine's Day) to the ridiculous (Groundhog Day). And since 1926, February has been designated Black History Month.

Three outstanding American Presidents have birthdays this month - one from each century during a defining war in American history:

18th century - the American Revolution:

George Washington was our first president under the Constitution, chief among our founders as well as a great general leading the Continental Army in the American Revolution. He was born in colonial Virginia on February 22, 1732.

Volumes have been written about George Washington, but this video clip gives a good summary: George Washington insights by historian David McCullough

And remember it was King George III of England - of all people - after the Revolution who said that George Washington was the greatest man in the world. (Check it out in the video clip above.)

19th century - the Civil War:

Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in Kentucky on February 12, 1809.

He assumed the office of presidency during a very difficult and divisive time - breakout of the Civil War. Lincoln kept the union together and signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 to abolish slavery.

Again, volumes are written about Lincoln- but students summed up the high points of his life quite cleverly in this rap: Abraham Lincoln Rap

Whereas Thomas Jefferson defined us with these words from the Declaration of Independence -

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Lincoln redefined our nation by the pivotal speech: The Gettysburg Address -

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
...

"that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

(entire text: here)

20th century - the Cold War:

February 6th marks the centennial of Ronald Reagan, born in Illinois in the year 1911.

Reagan assumed the office of presidency during a deep recession, reeling from the stagflation of the 1970s, double digit interest rates, national malaise. His administration sparked an economic recovery that was the longest peacetime expansion up to that point in history.

The following 1984 campaign ad sums up Reagan's eternal optimism: It's morning in America again. Much has been and will be written about Ronald Reagan, but some high points are captured in this video clip: Reagan Tribute

Most important, at the end of the 20th century, Ronald Reagan's leadership helped to accelerate the end of the Cold War. He articulated with moral clarity the reasons to win the Cold War in this clip: Ronald Reagan - We Must Fight Speech. Not long after Reagan left office the Soviet Union broke apart and the Berlin Wall came tumbling down.

21st century - The War on Terrorism and ???

We have our challenges in the new millennium which began with September 11, 2001. In its wake came the War on Terrorism, economic woes and the continuing slide down the slippery slope of spiritual apostasy, moral awfulness, political anarchy ...

In the future, we can draw on the inspiration from the last three centuries and three great presidents - Washington, Lincoln, Reagan - who had birthdays this month. As we face our defining moments may we have the vision of moral clarity and the will to never give up.

And most of all ....

Remember who we are!

Question: This President's Day, which of the former presidents inspire you and why?

Pictures from Wikipeida commons: Happy Birthday; Washington; Lincoln; Reagan; WTC