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

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

 
 
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

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 you free 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?

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?!

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

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

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:

¹⁰ The 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.

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

¹² So 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