Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Apokalupsis (part 2) - Where's Waldo?

everystockphoto.com/Where's Waldo

Where's Waldo?

Sound like an exercise in finding this guy with round glasses wearing a stocking cap and a red and white striped shirt - such as this game  - Where's Waldo or in these books -  Waldo Wiki - Where's Waldo?.

*  *  *

But during the12th and 13th centuries, "Where's Waldo?" most likely could have been asked by an inquisitor ferreting out heretics.

And for this post, I will try to answer the question -

Who's Waldo?
Peter Waldo, that is

For the story of the medieval Peter Waldo (1130 - 1217), who became a pain in the side of a politicized Church, check out this snippet of a lecture by Bruce Gore:



(reference:  http://youtu.be/eGy2AY0iaHg )


High Points:

* Peter Waldo was a rich French merchant born in the middle of the 12th century

Peter Waldo was raised a Roman Catholic in Lyon, France.  His family had benefited from the opening of trade to the East a result of the Crusades.  He was part of the rising middle class and its concentration of wealth.  His family was cloth merchants and gave him a comfortable life.  Part of that advantage was that he had an education. 

 [further references: The Dynamics of Christian Mission: History Through a Missiological Perspective - Paul Everett Pierson - Google Books]

* Peter Waldo had three major life changing events in his early thirties

1.  At a garden party, a friend and fellow merchant dropped dead in front of him.  This gave Peter Waldo a sense of mortality as he wondered where his friend ended up.

 2.  A travelling minstrel told the story of St. Alexis, who had heard a sermon on  Jesus' parable of the rich young ruler.  Alexis had sold all his wealth, gave it away, and became a monk, serving the poor. This story got to Peter's conscious as he became aware of his wealth while surrounded by conspicuous poverty. 

 3.  The Pope was about to make an announcement about transubstantiation.  If you denied the doctrine, you would be executed.  Peter saw this as a move away from a moral authority to a coercive authority that seemed so wrong.  It did not make sense to pound people into submission instead of appealing to their heart.

 [further references: The Fourth Lateran Council - Dr. Herb Samworth,  Who Was Peter Waldo?]

* Peter had the New Testament translated into French-Provencal 

Since Peter did not know languages of Greek or Latin, he hired men to translate the New Testament into the local dialect so he could read it.  To translate Holy Scriptures to the vernacular was forbidden during this time.

 [further references:  Waldo Sought a Truer Faith: Medieval History, A Prophet Without Honor - Christian History & Biography - ChristianityTodayLibrary.com]

* Peter sounds like a proto-Lutheran ... one of the first lights of the Reformation

After reading the Bible for himself, Peter was struck by the conspicuous difference of the flavor of the Christian religion as described the New Testament versus the flavor of the religion disseminated by the powers that were at that time.  He was convinced of some great departure from the proper path.  

Peter followed Jesus parable of the rich young ruler; hence he sold his goods, gave them to the poor and adopt a different life.  He went about preaching from his newly translated French Bible to the people of his town the message of the simplicity of the Gospel. 

In his message, he emphasizes faith in Christ and the simplicity of life.  He challenged his peers not to get too obsessed with comfortable living, and not forget the needs of those surrounding them.

[further references: Peter Waldo, Waldensians or Vaudois: The Poor of Lyons]

* Peter questioned authority

At his own peril, Peter questioned the doctrines of Purgatory and transubstantiation, which he could not find in the Bible.  He saw these doctrines as coercive devices (threats) to manipulate the submission and obedience of the people.  The powerful extorted the responses desired by the Church, but bypassed the hearts, the minds, the conscious.

 Peter had called the leadership of the Church at that time was the harlot as in Revelation.  (And he didn't win many friends doing that.  Reference: Rome and the Harlot of Revelation 17 | Roman Catholicism)  Thus he was greeted with mockery, ridicule, dismissal as he preached his message.  This caused a conflict with the Church.  And the archbishop of Lyon moved forces to have Peter arrested and tried for his crimes.

[further references:  Waldenses (religious movement) -- Encyclopedia Britannica]

* Peter's followers, the Waldensians, spread the Gospel in the vernacular

Peter's followers went out two by two preaching the message.  They came to towns like peddlers, tucking in text from the Bible in the vernacular in their wares.

 [further references:  The Christian History of France | Christian Assemblies International]

* Peter took his defense of his message to the Pope

Before he could be arrested, Peter went to Rome for a hearing with the Pope.  He hoped to make his case and convince them of the truth of what he was saying.  And the Pope did convene a gathering so Peter's case could be heard.

 [further references: Peter Waldo Facts]

*  It was a replay of the Book of Acts in the 12th century

Walter Map wrote about this meeting with Peter Waldo.  And he gave his counsel to the Pope.  The Waldensians, followers of Peter Waldo, were likened in his report to the first century apostles with their message and style.

But the Pope was counselled that these Waldensians were a danger.  He had to get rid of them, silence them, eliminate them.  He feared their movement would sweep across Europe like a wildfire, and the powers that be would be destroyed.  This was same response of the Sanhedrin to the Apostles out of the Book of Acts.

 The Third Lateran Council in 1179, Peter Waldo and his followers were condemned as heretics.  But at the time, there was too many of them and they were too wide spread to be totally squashed.

[further references: Champions of Christianity in Search of Truth - Ronald Charles Thompson - Google Books, CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Waldenses]

* The Waldensians survived ... even to this day

Though small in number, the Waldensians were a tiny minority that made life more complicated for a politicized Catholic Church.  Many of them had become become part of the Protestant Movement, but they survive to this day.

[further references:  Peter Waldo and the Waldensians by W. Robert Godfrey | Reformed Theology Articles at Ligonier.org, American Waldensian Church]


For a summary:




Fiction imitates life ...



The historical fiction series - The Forbidden Book and the Upside Down Kingdom - is set in the late 14th century.

Apokalupsis means revelation.

It's a story about rediscovering the Bible during a time when the Church has been politicized and the Bible had been kept from the people.

Hence,

 The Forbidden Book is Revealed

So with this fiction, there is some truth as this scenario has happened before ... like with Peter Waldo.

It's the Darkest Age that reveal the brightest Light.

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

Where the eBook may be purchased:

Info at:  S. K. Smith - Apokalupsis

Amazon.com: Apokalupsis: The Forbidden Book Revealed - eBook in Kindle format

Barnes and Noble:  Apokalupsis - Nook Book as an ePub


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

Previous post on this series:
------
------

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

America's Story (part 14) - I Was a Male War Bride - the real story

IMDB.com/I Was a Male War Bride

One day rummaging through the local thrift store, I picked up an old copy of The 30th Anniversary Reader's Digest Reader (1953).  Perusing its table of contents, this one story caught my attention -

I Was a Male War Bride
condensed from The Baltimore Sunday Sun, September 28, 1947
Henri Rochard.

Many years ago on the late show, I had seen a movie of that same title, but I didn't know it was based on the autobiography of Henri Rochard.
[reference: Henri Rochard :: Traveling Culture - Circuit Chautauqua in the Twentieth Century]

As we are passing another anniversary of VE Day - Victory in Europe, May 8, 1945, marking the beginning of the end of World War Two - let us take a closer look at one of its heroes, this male war bride and the story behind this movie.

-----

The Movie

I Was a Male War Bride (1949) can be classified as a screwball comedy.  Its director Howard Hawks made this genre - the rapid fire dialog, the slapstick comedy of antagonism between a man and a woman who cannot admit their feelings for each other, where in the end love eventually triumphs.  Such is the case in this summary -

In post-World War II Germany, French Army Captain Henri Rochard  (Cary Grant) and American Lieutenant Catherine Gates (Ann Sheridan)  have a history of hating each other.  And their final assignment together portents to be the mother of all misadventures, most at Captain Rochard's expense.  But before their mission is over, they fall in love, marry quickly, then face endless red tape when Rochard tries to immigrate to the U.S. as Lieutenant Gates'  male war bride.

 The trailer gives a taste of the high jinks that ensure from the duo's volatile chemistry:




Turner Classic Movies has a good summary here - I Was a Male War Bride

-----

The real story

Then I read the condensed story about the real Henri Rochard

* His name was not Henri Rochard.

Henri Rochard was his pen name.  His real name was Roger Henri Charlier

* He was not a French Army Captain, but a Belgian Army Major

The real Henri Rochard was a native of Antwerp, Belgium.  A broadly educated man, he had planned to be a college professor. But he was called into service  as  an anti-aircraft artillery officer when the Axis Powers invaded the Low Countries.  He served until the surrender of ex-King Leopold, then joined the underground resistance.

* He was a POW

Major Rochard's work for the Allies landed him in German prison camps for five months. But since then, among many honors, he got a commission in the army after the liberation of Belgium and a commendation from SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force). 

* He was a representative at the German War Crimes Trials

Because of his ability to speak several languages, the real Henri Rochard served as a liaison officer for the Belgian Government at the Nuremberg and Dachau War Crimes trials.  For his service there, he got a special commendation by President Truman.

* His bride was an American Army nurse

While at the war crimes trials, the real Henri Rochard was accidentally hit by a car, which landed him in a U.S. Army hospital.  It was there he met Catherine - a U.S. Army nurse.  Upon release from the hospital, Major Rochard was discharged from the Belgian Army and returned to Nuremberg as a civilian employee of the U.S. War Department.  But Cupid had struck and Catherine and Henri became engaged. They had planned to get married and leave for the United States as soon as possible.
[references:  I Was a Male War Bride, The Baltimore Sunday Sun, September 28, 1947 and Henri Rochard]

* Up to this point, the real Henri Rochard is so much different than the movie.  Right?

 But there is nothing like government red tape that creates a real life screwball comedy.

Much of the movie did get the flavor the confusion, the frustration, the problems, the waiting, that are stranger than fiction.  (Though the real Henri Rochard did not dress in drag like Cary Grant.)

First, Henri needed permission from the U.S. Army Headquarters to marry Catherine, like they were her father, only more demanding with paperwork.  This took a few months.  Then came the inquiries at the nearest U.S. Consulate regarding his conditions to enter the country.  That took another four months to get an answer.  It was then Henri learned he could be admitted to the U.S. under Public Law 271 - 1945 War Brides Act.

This was when the real trouble began.

The bureaucracy could not deal with a male spouse of a female Army officer.  But through the muck, Henri Rochard wrote -

A long war of attrition with Army regulations, a change of sex - and finally victory and the U.S.A at last.

And in the end the real Henri Rochard - Dr. Roger Henri Charlier - did become an American citizen - a writer, speaker, international consultant.

Movie Remake?

I would like to hear more of the real Henri Rochard - the multilingual scholar, the Belgian anti-aircraft officer making a last stand against Hitler, the underground resistance fighter, the POW, the liaison and representative at the World War Two war crimes trials.  He seems most interesting.

As for government red tape, haven't many of us have shared some of these same frustrations of dealing with a government bureaucracy or large institution that is too big too fail?  (That could be a subject for another blog.)

Some things never change.

And it is heroes and immigrants like Henri Rochard that are part of the America's  Story.

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


America's Story (part 13) - The Enola Gay (2013)

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

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

PC Watch (part 3) - Too Weak to Live with Freedom?

Wikipedia/Free Speech Wall

The above picture is of the  Freedom of Speech Wall in Charlottesville, VA. Permanently inscribed on one segment of the wall is this text from the Bill of Rights, Amendment I:

 Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
[reference:  Bill of Rights Transcript Text]
Free Speech vs PC

My motivation for this thread - PC Watch - is a reaction to the disturbing trend to silence free speech.

You may have heard the recent controversies in the news.  Someone says something offensive or has expressed an opinion - even one expressed or acted upon many years ago - that does not line up with the prevailing PC - Political Correctness.  What ensues is an orchestrated campaign of personal destruction to censor, boycott, or run a person out of his/her job. (This could be a subjects for many posts.)

That strikes me as wrong, wrong, wrong!

I agree inciting violence and harassment should not be tolerated and not be exempt.  But now, it seems, we are to never speak anything to offend anyone - especially those with a powerful grievance lobby.

What has happened to Freedom of Speech in the America I grew up in?

Are some groups not strong enough to hear diverse opinion; therefore anything that offends them must be silenced?  Hence, the obvious question is ...

Are we too weak to live with freedom?

Alan Charles Kors who is s a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania makes this case:






Below is a list of some of the points made in the clip above.

Princeton in the early 1960s:

* Professors (though mostly left leaning) did not see their task as producing clones in the classroom

* Diverse set of readings were given to students

* Students were told *not* to write what professor had wanted to hear  (can you imagine that now?!)

* The following groups coexisted at Princeton in the early 1960s and were not censored:
   - Gay Liberation
   - Campus Crusade for Christ
   - Maoists
   - New Age Leftists
   - Campus Republicans
   - Socialists

* Students were free to argue among themselves and offend others

* Students learned to talk to each other and humanize each other - and hence change minds

* The answer to horrible speech was bearing witness to your beliefs (hence more speech)

The fallout today of Political Correctness:

* Today we are paying a terrible price for the "comfort" of not offending anyone

* Double standards evolved when enforcing exemptions of free speech on some groups, but not others

Some conclusions:

* Due process of law should protect freedoms for all - especially those whose expressions are seen as "abhorrent"

* We are either all equally free or we are not free

* There is cause for optimism as long as we hold this belief in our spirit -

It's a Free Country!!!

Any thoughts? 

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

Reference of reading assignment for Princeton students as mentioned in the video clip above  -

Road to Serfdom:  The Illustrated Road to Serfdom

YouTube - http://youtu.be/mkz9AQhQFNY

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

Previous post in this series:

 PC Watch (part 1) - Political Correctness (2013)

 PC Watch (part 2) - The South Park Offense (2013)
----------
----------

Photo from:  Wikipedia/Free Speech Wall
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Pray4America (part 13) - Apollo 13 Reflections and Prayer

Wikipedia/Apollo 13

This is my 13th post for this thread.  So  the number 13 will be the theme of this post.

Apollo 13 ...   April 13 ....

After the successes of Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 that had landed men on the moon, three would be a charm for Apollo 13, even if its number can be considered unlucky.

But on April 13, 1970 (according to the reckoning of standard time zones in the US), this unlucky malfunction happened, as dramatizes in the following movie clip:




For a listing of significant events of this ill-fated flight, check out:  Apollo 13 Timeline

But like in many times of distress in our nation's history, our leaders have called for prayer, not only in times of peril like Apollo 13, but also for prayers of divine protection, such as the historic Apollo 11 moon landing.

Below is a clip about prayer during the Apollo missions:


Apollo 13 has been called the "successful failure."   The world had watched this drama unfold on live TV from a nearly fatal catastrophe in space to a nail-biting rescue, where nobody died.
[reference:  Apollo 13 - The Successful Failure ]  

(It was also the makings of a great movie of its namesake - Apollo 13 (1995).)
  
 That said, there is not always deliverance in this life.  As for the space program, we have had the tragedies of Apollo 1,  Challenger, and Columbia, which remind us of our mortality.  (And this is a topic for another post.)

Yet, in times of trouble, many Americans as well as those throughout the world looked to the heavens - to the Creator - for help.

 ---------

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
He sent out his word and healed them;
he rescued them from the grave.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

 Psalm 107:19-21 (NIV)   

 --------- 

And for our present perils, here is a prayer for deliverance:
Heavenly Father -

During crises and grave danger in the past, we have called on You, Lord God, for help.  And gracious Lord, You have answered us and changed the course of history.  May we never forget Your mercy during these times as well as Your goodness during peace and prosperity.

Forgive us for living like practical atheists, like You don’t exist.  While shutting You out of our daily lives, we sometimes only come to You as a magic wand of deliverance, especially from the peril caused by our disobedience.

May we repent of our unbelief and for treating You like an idol.  May we recognize our need as we do not live by bread alone, but by every word the proceeds from Your mouth.  And though the grass withers and the flower fades, Your Word  abides forever.  

We ask for your deliverance for our heroes, home and abroad, in their distress – as You did during the perils of Apollo 13.  May we daily walk with You and be Your instruments for healing in our land.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen
---------


 May we remember our Creator in the good times as well as the crises as we continue to ...

Pray for America

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


Pray4America (part 12) - George Washington's Knee-Mails (2014)

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

Photo from: Wikipedia/Apollo 13
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Thursday, March 20, 2014

LOL (part 2) - International Talk Like William Shatner Day

everystockphoto.com/Where's Captain Kirk?
 LOL - Laughing Out Loud - is a look at the lighter side of life.  And in a few days, we can find an excuse to do just that.

Maurice LaMarche has declared March 22nd  as -

 *International Talk like William Shatner Day *

 [reference:  William Shatner: Talk like him on his 80th birthday - CBS News (2011) ]

And on that day, William Shatner, perhaps best know as Captain Kirk on Star Trek, will celebrate his 82nd birthday.

In the video clip below, Mr. LaMarche explains the inspiration behind this special day -





Star Trek has been an inspiration for 50 years.  Therefore, the actor who played this intrepid star ship captain - Captain Kirk - deserves to have his day!

And on this day, I would venture Mr. Spock would wish us all to -

  Live Long and Prosper!

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

Previous Post in this series:

LOL (part 1) - Olympic dreaming on such a winter's day (2014)

 For a link to Facebook:  

International William Shatner Day


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

Photo from:  everystockphoto.com/Where's Captain Kirk?
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Biblia Files (part 4) - Holy Hyperlinks

Wikipedia/Christ driving the Traders from the Temple

For bloggers, hyperlinks are our friends.  They can link the reader to another page with more information about a key phrase or give a reference for a point made.

Before the internet and electronic documents, books had a way of doing that.  They were called footnotes and end-notes.  Not only that, this technique was and is still used in the spoken word. In the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln had made reference to the proposition that all men are created equal - a spoken "hyperlink" to the Declaration of Independence.

Jesus used this technique, too.

And as we are in the season of Lent, here is a great example of one of these Holy Hyperlinks that Jesus used in throwing out the money changers in the Temple.

12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. 
He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.
13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[a] 
but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’[b]”

Matthew 21:12-13 (NIV)

Below is the clip, dramatizing the scene:


Let's take a look at these phrases Jesus cited:

‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[a] ...

The reference [a] is a link to Isaiah 56:1-8.  These verses speak of including the foreigners - the Gentiles - in worship of the one God in the Holy Temple.

 ‘a den of robbers.’[b]

The reference [b]  is a link to Jeremiah 7:1-29.  These verses speak of a call for reform in a religion that was "breaking bad" as noted among many things for its oppression of foreigners.

So in two short phrases, Jesus said much to those who understood the writings of the prophets in the Old Testament.

* Smart Jesus. *

And seeing this example gives me pause to see Scripture in a new way - it's Holy Hyperlinks - which fill in so much more to tell the rest of the story.

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

Recent posts in this series:

Biblia Files (part 1) - Thru the Bible (2013)

Biblia Files (part 2) - What is the Bible Basically About? (2013)

Biblia Files (part 3) - Gideon - weakness, warts and all (2013)

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

Photo from:  Wikipedia/Christ driving the Traders from the Temple
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Science 101 (part 4) - Cosmos Continued ...

Wikipedia/Thomas Digges map
About 35 years ago, Carl Sagan launched the Cosmos (1980) series.  His thirteen episodes brought the wonders of science into our mainstream culture.  And with his books and series, Sagan connected many scientific concepts with the arts and the spiritual.  As noted in my ZAMM (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance) series,  I believe Robert Pirsig would be pleased to see this connection of the spiritual, the artistic, and scientific.
[reference:  Cosmos: A Personal Voyage - Watch Free Documentary Online]

Below is a clip of Carl Sagan, remixed, extolling the wonder of discovery and our connection with the universe:


Since the passing of Carl Sagan in 1996, a new star has risen, astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson.  And he has carried on the passion of bringing science to the general public, such as contributing to the PBS series - Nova - ScienceNow.
[reference: Neil deGrasse Tyson]
  
Here is a sound bite of his perspective of the Cosmos:



Since Cosmos first aired in 1980, there has been an explosion of new discoveries.  And Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson takes off where Carl Sagan had left off last century ... last millennium.  On March 9, 2014, National Geographic is planning to start - Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey (2014).

Below is one of the trailers. a lead in by Carl Sagan:


Let's have Dr. Sagan have the last word as the new Cosmos continues:

Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us — 
there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, 
a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, 
of falling from a height. 
We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.



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

Previous posts in this series:

Science 101 (part 1) - Vernal Equinox  (2013)

 Science 101 (part 2) - The Sound of Music? (2013)

Science 101 (part 3) - From Galileo to Apollo (2013)


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

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)