LORD'sDAY extra 5-03-09 What a heavy rain on PV's seventh Brickfest yesterday. Seems no time since our state was swept with wildfires, then tornados and now rain. Nothing very routine weather-wise ever here in Oklahoma. In fact, ours seems to me a duplication of what is being seen across the whole Universe in this IYA2009. If there's one thing new in the global sky search, it's the plasma cosmology that demonstrates electromagnetism to be a force even more prominent than gravity, which The current Standard Model (Big Bang) has been based upon. Lightning, fire and storm are running galore in galaxies out there. Now ANGELFIRE has read that a new Star Trek movie is also to be released May 15, all around the globe. And from what I've read, it's not a sequal but a "prequal" that will begin with the birth of James A.Kirk down in rural Iowa of the early 20th century (later Capt.Kirk of science fiction). All new actors have the same parts as the old series, of which there were 11 versions in sequals. But the movie franchise requires the story to be based on the 1966 original series. Remember how far out that stuff was back then. I wouldn't even watch it, as Gene Roddenberry's TV series that seemed so foolish to me. Yet those fantastic movies that followed, bred a video game craze a decade later. In 1977 the Star Wars game began selling, and kids everywhere were engulfed with playing those far out space videos games i.e. "A long time ago, in a galaxy far away lived a gallant knight and maiden fair." To me they were a silly imitation of Medieval chivilry. Spock is the one I mostly recall. He was not a full human, but half Vulcan, so somewhat antisocial acting. And there was a Villan (or Satan figure) whose name escapes me. Guess I still can't buy into all that balony. But it may again make some big bucks out of Hollywood, according to predictions. Maybe there'll be some connection to IYA2009, but not in my mind. That other movie named BLAST, that I've already mentioned, is not mere fiction as the Star Treks. And our factual Kepler Space Observatory sure isn't bound for any other galaxy. Just getting to a nearby constelation here in the Milkey Way for photography is leap enough right now, because time is running out and all those fantasy time warp predictions still look foolish. In a gravitational Universe things change or disappear in billions of years, while in plasma's electromagnetic sturcture, changes come lightning fast. And since this is a fallen Universe, the Satanic powers in it could bring it to extinction that fast. Our Lord said to His twelve, "I saw Satan fall like lightning." That could be a swift and sudden end possible to a fallen Creation, as I see it. Not that Satan's the lightning. Jesus only use it to illustrate his fast ways of distortion, distraction and disruption. He can disguise himself to look like an angel in public affairs. I saw on OETA's public TV the hugh female gathering Fri. in honor of Sojourner Truth, a black lady of the 19th century who stood firm against slavery. Our new women national leaders were all there in D.C. with the female black caucus. It was a very proper observance that ended with the unveiling of the bust statue of Sojourner. Her name recalled to me how that first landder on Mars that was managed by Donna Shirley reared here in WW (landing in about 1997, as I recall) was named for her. Donna had chosen that name to honor Sojourner Truth, first Black female evangelist in America. She'd escaped from slavery, so I thought Donna was considering our landing on Mars an escape from this Earth only for our existence as humans. SoLong/Shalom, JosephA
ANGELFIRE 5-05-09 By now my readers know that words are the fascination of my mind, especially names. ANGELFIRE has been a name for this column since going into a third millennium. So I use it too, as the writer. Maybe I'll share more on that some day. But I've used "paradox" now and then to describe the awareness gained in seminary down at Dallas way back in the fifties. It's not a Bible term, but does describe how faith and reason both jibe in the Book. There was a surge back then from Europe called Crisis Theology. It sought to weld the religious and scientific views in man's quest for ultimate reality with "paradoxes." One of the slogans I recall said "Life is larger than logic" (aliteration being another delight). Well now in this IYA2009, I'm encountering the word symmetry for explaining this creation that stretches from quarks to galaxy clusters. Symmetry is a sort of balance in the Universe that echoes "heaven and earth" which begins all Scripture. And it derives from an aesthetic perspective, as well as ethical. The loss of it yields asymmetry, which takes away beauty and gracefulness. Thus, creation had an abundance of symmetry from the Creator's hand. But things got out of balance so than a super symmetry of positive and negative developed from it's smallest particles to the largest. I sense the rebellion in Rev.12 of a third of the angels, who were expelled for their ugliness along with their leader, Lucifer. More of that is in Isa.14. So spiritual meaning can be seen even in abstract mathematical calculations, though we only grasp a hint of the latter sort of scientific wisdom. The parousia, or final appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the Bible's fullest symmetry to that subsequent fallen nature described in Gen. as "darkness was upon the face of the deep." It's the completion of our glorious Gospel that Christians affirm. And it's the beauty of a new heaven and earth described in Rev.21 & 22. Elegance in sight, harmony in sound, and even delight in smell are all parts of the heavenly aesthetic fulfillment. just as much as ethical or scientific realities. That's a divine super symmetry in store for those who keep the faith. Woke up this morning with this glad song in my head: "Singing I go along the road, Paising the LORD, Praising the LORD. Singing I go along the road. For Jesus has lifted my load." Hallelujah! SoLong for now/Shalom forever in Christ. JosephA@webtv.net
ANGELFIRE 5-08-09 Surely there are other forms of motherhood than just bearing offspring, glorious as that truly is. We get the name "matter," which constitutes this physical universe, from the Latin word for mother e.g. mater. Thus the Latin for "father" is pater, giving us such terms as paternal or patent. Of course it's been millenniums since Latin was the major language of civilization. Yet the those meanings linger on in the European consciousness of today. And materialism was made official ideology in parts of the world overtaken by Communism; then it also seeped clear into capitalism so that our National Day of Prayer in D.C. is again challenged as unConstitutional. The philosophy that underlies such thinking says we don't need any GOD. The physical realm is all of reality and Whatever or Whoever is claimed to exist beyond that must only be superstition. So prayer is repugnant to those of atheistic posture who are sure that no "Father Almighty, CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH" even exists. Of such, the Bible says several times "The fool hath said in his heart 'There is no God.' So we must not allow them to control America, this mother of freedom. And we can't allow mere temporal, earthly concerns to dominate our existence, public or private. Our holy Book affirms again and again that GOD IS and rewards those who seek Him. ANGELFIRE is the word that describes to me those flashes of insight He gives, so often in the middle of night, and frequently as a song; this one at midnight: "In shady green pastures of streams flowing sweet, GOD leads His dear children along. By rivers o'er flowing with currents so deep He leads His children along. Some through the water, some through the flood. Some through the fire, but all through the BLOOD. Some through great sorrows, but GOD gives a song, in the night seasons and all the day long." Now that journey is IYA2009, a vast global exploration of the Universe. But without the Creator it's only an empty void. I think of the world's first female astronomer who died in 1941. It was my first year in high school and I have a faint recollection of her unusual name, Annie Jump Cannon. She was the daughter of a shipbuilder, yet her chief aim in life became cataloging the skk (sailors watch it too). Instead of marriage and family, astronomy consumed her energy until she left for a legacy the categories which begins as "the main stream stars." They are those from fractions of up to multiple times the brightness of our sun (in this Solar System). Yet all are all called dwarf stars if they are less than the sun. Above solar mass=1 are the "giants." Also, the stars fall into color classifications: blue, white, yellow, orange and red. This began within our own galaxy since the telescopes of that time were not able to detect any beyond the Milkey Way. She coined a clever code for recalling each of her eight groups of stars, "Oh What'a Fine Girl You Are, Kiss Me." The first letters list them in her designated order: (O,W,F,G,Y,A,K). I can faintly recall that funny little quote from general science class as it was stirring my interest in asronomy while I was a teen so long ago. Then 1 is for our sun, as the defining unit of "solar mass" of 1, 1.5(one and a half times our sun), then 2 (twice our sun) or even 3 (triple the sun); or less as .75, .5, or down to .25. Then color and brightess i.e. white giant, red dwarf, blue super giant, etc. By now Annie Jump Cannon has become a "mother of the sky" in modern astronomy for the whole world, and there's a monument to her at a famous institute somewhere back East. Seems she lived up to her middle name, Jump, which came from another branch of the family. She never got married but jumped into the sky with all her being, a great first female astronomer. I wrote about another famous woman in my LORD's DAY extra(online), Sojourner Truth. She never had a husband either, but is a black American hero in race relations. Such a brave lady she was. I saw on C-SPAN a special remembrance in D.C. last week when Sojourner's bust statue was unveiled there. Pelosi, Clinton, Michelle Obama and other national woman leaders were all there for a huge Women's Day celebration. The mall grounds were filled with female celebreties from everywhere. recalling their hard won right to vote in our 16th Amendment, and showing sympathy for Black people being equal citizens. They seemed to compare the slave's struggle for emancipation with that sufferage (right to vote) that they gained. And America is indeed the better for both struggles. C.L.J. SoLong/Shalom, JosephA@webtv.net
LORD's DAYextra 5-10-09 It's Mother's Day and I'm thinking of Blanche Hightower Hazlitt, my own Muv, who was also born in PV the same as I was. She gave me her grandfather's last name, Allen. He was Charles A. Allen, and I've never learned what that middle A. stood for. But have read his lengthy obituary which showed how prominent a citizen of PV he became after moving here from Altus; as a widower I presume, who also brought his four daughters. Having recently found his grave site in Mt.Olivet, I drive by it sometimes and note that he was born 1841 and died in 1928 (So he must have known about me getting my middle name from him) an also recall that he had been a ranking officer of the Confederate Army, and a leader in the Free Masons after discharge. Both aspects of his career seem so opposite from my views/interests, yet we both were Methodists churchwise. Thus, a halo of mystery seems to be around his grave, which makes me sometimes wonder if his middle name was Angelfire. That way I could be his symmetrical great grandson. His first daughter, Amy, became my dear grandmother Hightower that PV's historic tower recalls for me (as a high tower). H.T. is a proper designation of the Tower, though the H is more personal that Historic for my own meaning. Did you know it was President Woodrow Wilson who declared the first Mother's Day. That was 1916, when both Blanche and Gram were alive so long ago. My mother Mary Blanche would have been just 18 years old back then, still at home with her mother and father, E.G.Hightower, plus the five younger siblings. SoLong, JosephA
ANGELFIRE 5-12-09 PV is truly ahead on the arts now, as shown by the new Star Trek already showing even ahead of the world wide opening set on May 15. I can remember that original which began the "trekkies," those fans of the TV series Star Wars a decade later. My interest in astronomy never drew me into any of that mind blowing far out fabrication. Yet I'm excited about yesterday's launch of the fifth mission to our Hubble space telescope. Hubble has been in orbit since '90, yet was useless the first three years because of a faulty lens. But since '93 it's opened up far wider knowledge of this Universe to all mankind. So here in IYA2009, it's to get a final super/tech touchup that will make it see even a hundred times better. Atlantis should reach it with her crew of seven by the time this ANGELFIRE is in print. Spacewalk teams plan to replace Hubble's batteries and gyroscopes, install two new cameras and try fixing a couple of broken instruments (something never done before and special tools had to be developed). Five space walkers also need to add fresh insulating covers on Hubble's outside, making this a billion dollar mission added onto the ten billion already spent for the world's first space telescope. Before now, it has given us stunning images of the Eagle Nebula, a star forming region 6500 light years away. That seems bordering on Star Trek, I'd say. It's the grand finale for Atlantis, one of the three aging Space Shuttle fleet. And the only other one, Endeavor, is standing-by for rescue if needed in this risky feat. No way could the International Space Station be of help, since it orbits in another direction and Earth would be closer. If all goes right, Atlantis is set to return May 22. Then the old fleet will be retired from service within another year, as NASA readies it's fifth Great Space Observatory (series of a dozen planned for on into the future): the James Webb Telescope, to be launched between 2013 & '14. That Kepler Space Observatory was just ahead of this Hubble mission and it cost half a billion. With the biggest camera ever in space, it's to find Earthlike planets around other stars of this Milky Way galaxy. The one launched before Kepler was to observe "Extreme Space," which would include other galaxies afar, along with giant nebulae that might possibly be viewed from Earth orbit. I recall when observatories were only located atop mountains and away from urban areas. Now that's become true around the globe and you can see some of their views on the Internet. The European Space Agency has built their VLT(Very Large Telescope) down in Chile, since South America has less atmosphere pollution that Europe. But outer space is the clearest place of all and there are more and more out there now. not just for light detection, but also radio wave, x-ray, ultra-violet, infra-red, and even heat. All of the electro-magnetic spectrum from clear across the Universe can be "observed" now with instruments beyond telescopes. What a year from way down here, in IYA2009! C.L.J. "the Bright and Morning Star." (Rev.22:16b) SoLong/Shalom, JosephA@webtv.net
ANGELFIRE 5-15-09 All has gone well thus far 350 miles out at our HST (Hubble Space Telescope) where seven astronauts have restored it to even more powerful viewing. Hubble was the name of a guy from a small town in MO who first played professional basketball on a Chicago team, then became a lawyer, and finally learned astronomy. Edwin Powell Hubble died in 1953 as the world famous American astronomer. He was the first to identify another galaxy outside our own Milky Way. That was in 1929, when he also told us the Universe was expanding. Thus he fathered modern cosmology and TSM(TheStandardModel) or Big Bang theory. Now in IYA2009, there is also plasma cosmology added into the mix that Hubble set before us. It was based on gravity as the basic force in all creation, whereas plasma theory holds up electro-magnetism as equally or even more important. Thus, the HST will now play a major role with it's additional data from far out space. Edwin Hubble referred to that first galaxy he found as a "nebula." But Star Wars later taught the public to call them "galaxies." And the HST has shown more, that they exist in various clusters. Instead of being simply overwhelmed with such vastness, IYA2009's motto states: The Universe, Yours to Explore. And as we bring the more recent findings from the microcosm of sub-atomic physics together with the Creator's astronomic macrocosm, there are wonders galore to dazzle and baffle our minds, even traversing the laws of basic physics. Likewise, go local events such as the election count right here in PV, which ended in a "count down" tie vote of 3-2-1-(blast off?) . That brought to my mind all the launches we've watched since the space age began. It makes me feel that PV has also reached such a moment in it's history. Not magic, but GOD's direction, is what we seek, as we pray for Pauls Valley. "Not by might, nor by power, but by Thy Spirit " says LORD (through His prophet Joel). Until Christ returns, we continue to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness here in this county seat town. It's had a Godly sheriff that we sure hate to loose, but trust the new one will likewise fill Sheriff Roady's shoes. And we rejoice in the downtown street renewal that's so conspicuously taking place. So may the right man win the toss as the other accepts his loss. That's a ryme but better that you just sing with me now this Scripture song: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto you. Hallelu, hallelujah." (Mt.6:33) Right on and Straight Ahead PV, JosephA@webtv.net
LORD'a DAY 5-17-09 I watched the address Obama gave at Notre Dame a while ago and must agree that it was a smooth performance. Every kind of appeal drew great applause from the audience. Yet it drew me to the official Catholic postiton against abortion, despite his approach. If we try to find agreement on that issue, how can any of the Ten Commandments not be modified for the sake of dialogue. I can recall that same slyness that slipped into the strong Methodist piety of former times, so that we're too liberal now to take firm positions. Satan seems to gain ground in so much open minded discussion. A book that was loaned to my is "The Protestant's Guide to Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy." I keep reading it because it uses Scripture as a place to find answers. The author is Kerby Rials, an A/G missionary who spent 15 years in Russia. Pastor Clay Shannon, who loaned it to me, said he's met the author and found him an inspiration. So I"ve been given indefinite loan of the book. Had tried to learn more about Rials on the Internet, but even his book is not there. Sometimes I feel that things this good are shunned by worldly dominated sources i.e. Google.com, which is supposed to cover everything. But Rials holds to an Evangelical Protestant position, which doesn't sell as well in the secular world. Just the same, I've loved to read it again and again here in my eighties. Seem to be finally "getting it all together" in this IYA2009, even spiritually as well as scientifically. When I can't find the info needed on Google, I look up to a far greater Source and gain higher insight. Praise GOD from Whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen, and LORD bless the ministry of Kirby Riles where ever he is now. Shalom, JA
ANGELFIRE 5-19-09 If you saw my onlinw LORD's DAY, then you know I've been reading a book pastor Clay Shannon loaned me, The Protestant's Guide to Catholicism & Eastern Orthodoxy by Kirby Rials. The author was an A/G missionary for 15 years in Russia, where Orthodoxy had extended north from Constantinople many centuries ago. His book has greatly appealed to me. It wasn't an evangelistic nor missionary thrust that first carried the faith to Russia, but an aesthetic appeal which gained it an official place in Russia and other Eastern nations. Instead of winning individuals, acceptance was first by the Czar. Thus, all Russians became "converted" along with their leader. He had sent his officials to inquire down at the New Rome (Byzantium), and they came back saying it had been a trip to heaven. They were captivated by all the oriental beauty and glory shown to them. So Russia became a "Christian" nation from the TOP DOWN (much as it became Communist in modern times). Evangelical Protestants just cannot abide that sort of religion. Yet it shows the power of art to impact history. We believe that beholding the divine glory of Christ gives humanity the repentance that leads to a change of heart. That's because we see man's fallen condition from which he must be saved by a personal belief in the Gospel. Yet we too know how the great arts can convey heavenly awareness by aesthetic appeal. Though we Evangelicals stress inner feeling and emotion in our faith, they count seeing heavenly light as being most important. Beholding it is the supreme vision. I opened Scripture to Acts 9 this morning and read about Saul of Tarsus being blinded by that Light on his way to Damascus. Then his sight was restored by the Lord Jesus through a believer there in Damascus. Ananias. Later, using his other name of Paul, he himself recounts that conversion to Jewish leaders (Acts 22). I used to sing a songs of contrast: "Go'in down life's crooked road, lot of things I never know'd. I felt that my heart strings were made of twine. Had no will power to get from the hole that I'm in yet. Should have read that detour sign! Detour, there's a muddy road ahead, Detour, paid no mind to what it said. Detour, all these bitter things that bind, I should have read that detour sign." (then this opposite one that adds symmetry) Once I was happy, living in sin. I wouldn't let the dear Savior in, Now I've repented, seeking the right. Praise the Lord, I saw the Light. I saw the Light, I saw the Light. No more darkness, sorrow or night. Praise the Lord, I saw the Light!! Songs are another art form to ANGELFIRE and that's how we feel GOD means for music to be employed in this ungodly world of asymetry, ugliness, distortion and defamation. It's why our houses of worship can properly employ holy architecture to contrast by their splendor and appear majestic, even awesome. It was a cathedral which those Russians visited, St.Sophia of Instanbul, (as I recall), that so entranced them with Eastern Orthodoxy worship. They returned to Moscow and thereafter, their huge nation came into the faith as a Russian Orthodox Church. It's quite true that art can be perverted, and so often is. Yet it can and should be created to glorify the KING, and not to yield mere sophistication nor become a cause of snobbery, as has sometimes happened. Each of our lives can be a masterpiece in His gallery. Now sing this little song with me: I'll be true Lord Jesus, I'll be true. I'll be true Lord Jesus, I'll be true. There's a race that must be run, there's a victory to be won. Every hour, by Your power, I'll be true. C.L.J. SoLong/Shalom, JosephA@webtv.net
ANGELFIRE 5-22-09 IT WAS ELEVEN MONTHS AGO TODAY THAT MY BELOVED SISTER DIED OF PNEUMONIA AFTER BEING ON CHEMO UNTIL SHE HAD NO IMMUNITY. So you can be assure that I feel sympathy for that mother who has fled her home with a ten year old son from MDs are requiring him to take it. Now she's being seen as an outlaw hiding out in CALIF. or elsewhere, as her husband urges her to come back home to Minnesota. You can read about my sister Jane Oden's lost battle for life by going to /index100.html added onto Angelfire.com/or/hazlitt.
I see that the Space Shuttle's landing has been delayed. Come back safe now, Atlantis, after such a successful mission already accomplished! One of the art forms ANGELFIRE uses so often is song, because I have a heart full of them that come to my mind now and then. They just sing themselves in this head as I confer with the Lord Jesus about living His Way. He was a descendant of David, "sweet singer of Israel," but His "songs" were short stories instead. As parables, we've cherished them and kept each recorded in the four Gospels. Mt.13 tells of the very first one He told to a multitude, the parable of a sower. When His own twelve disciples didn't 'get it' and asked, He told a shorter one of weeds among the wheat, which He then explained (vs.36-43): "the one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the angels are the reapers. Just as the weeds are collected and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all evil-doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire...Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father." Some might try to call that good or bad luck, which is an unbiblical term. Jesus always spoke of Satan as an enemy. He even said the devil has his own children. So that leaves us the choice if we listen, which parent we are claiming. If it's Satan, we have to repent and seek GOD as our Father (through Christ the Son). The carnal mind pretends to include everyone, but that's not the real Way to heaven. There are lost souls that must be won by divine grace. And others are just children of the devil who await final destruction at the harvest, which is our Lord's return. After writing this, I see the delay of Atlantis with our seven astronauts as a parable. It shows that though the main mission has been so successful, earth's uncontrolled weather down here can still delay coming back. Just so, our new awareness of electro-magnetism throughout the Universe makes us realize how much of it seems unpredictable. Yet astronomy is making it comprehensible nevertheless via particle physics. Quarks, gluons, fermions, baryons, etc. may be names for the angels that are in control. And "luck" (or chance) is really the name for our enemy. We should say "Thank GOD" instead of "what a lucky break." Now pray with me for the safe return of those seven astronauts. And let's sing about it too, as we await a landing: "Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace." C.L.J. SoLong & Shalom, JosephA@webtv.net
ANGELFIRE 5-26-09 North Korea is making trouble again, just as it always will with that power crazy dictator. After exploding an Hiroshima sized atomic bomb Monday at a place way up north, they've tested several delivery missiles again. Kilju is the name of that location of the test, and sure enough sounds like "killed you" to me. Even Russia has become upset with N.Korea, as well as China. So U.N. opposition must be unanimous by now on getting them to stop. Resolutions have no effect on dictatorships which seldom hear or heed what they don't want. Even China now has become concerned with wider world affairs than themselves. And India proved she's a democracy last week in their election, by voting for more economic freedom. It was the biggest vote in human history and an encouragement to business oriented globalism. But N.Korea continues to be a thorn in the side of international affairs. It just won't go away, much like Iran. Thus, the nuclear danger on this planet Earth continues to haunt us. No wonder rescuing our Hubble Space Telescope has seemed such a blessing to the whole of mankind. With the Atlantis Shuttle Craft now home and it's crew safe, we can breath again. Still, it's landing was delayed two days and finally made in CA instead of FL. Hubble is better equipped than even to probe deep outer space and another such, the James Webb Space Telescope, will soon be launched for even deeper looking into "extreme space." That search isn't just into distance but all past time as well. Deep space is where the expanding Universe has left it's record. So we'll be able to look back nearly to creation with the Webb version. It's named after the second head of NASA, who was replaced by a diredtor that was willing to consider Hubble a lost cause. But he quit and the present director got NASA back on track (also to save ten billion bucks already invested). I hope the HST can be a sign for our economy too, since it's been going through a similar ordeal. Maybe we as a nation, will finally behold the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; then acknowledge Him anew by reaffirming our national motto: "In GOD we trust" as we await the return of His son the Savior. "C.L.J." (Rev.22:20) can also be our daily prayer. SoLong/Shalom, JosephA@webtv.net
ANGELFIRE 5-29-09 What a fine photo we saw of Sheriff Bill Roady at his retirement reception. We all wish the best for he and his wife. I got to visit briefly with Steven Brooks, who is to take that important Garvin county post. He seems a lot like Sheriff Roady to me. Now graduation season has been upon us, a glorious time even though finding jobs will be difficult for the grads and going on to college ever more expensive. Things are so tough in the economy that those who don't even graduate from high school will likely have to work for the lowest wages, if they find jobs at all. Of course there are exceptions to the rule. But our educators play a major role in our lives. ANGELFIRE recalls teachers who did so much for me at various levels of study: at Lee Elementary where I began, and PV Hi where I graduated in '44. Then at OU in '49, and Perkins Seminary in '53. R.E.Carleton was my intellectual teacher model until '44. But a Navy recruiter had come to talk with several of us about a new study called "electronics." I asked him "What's that?" and he said "You'll find out. It's going to change the world." So I enlisted and became an Electronic Technician 3/C. Electronics was new and very exciting back then. Radar was the top secret equipment we learned to mainain at schooling on Navy Pier in Chicago. After training, WW II was just ending so I got to choose between getting a discharge or going to Bikini atoll for atomic bomb testings. I took the first choice and enrolled at OU, to graduate in '49, where I'd attended monthly Naval reserve meetings preparing for a training cruise down to Gitmo right after graduation. That was 60 years ago and though we only spent a day at Guantanamo Bay, I still recall the ugliness of that infamous place. Even back then we thought it rivalled Devil's Island, which was on down along side of S.America. So now Gitmo is INFAMOUS all over the globe while we seem to be stuck with it. How glad I was to spend only a day there as part of that training cruise. Five or six dozen of us were crammed tightly aboard a destroyer and had to wiggle into our close together bunks for sleep. Yet it felt better than staying on Gitmo as we sailed on south of Cuba to Kingston Jamaica, then back to New Orleans. I hadn't been to seminary yet, but gained a feeling that there really is a hell; an awareness I've never lost! Probably because that cruise came right after my graduation from OU (with a BA in psychology). Rev.20:10 tells of that everlasting pit: "The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Then again in verse 15, "And anyone not found written in the Book of Life, was cast into the lake of fire." Even if Gitmo gets closed up, and I hope it can be, there is a four letter place never ever to be closed that's prepared for the devil and his angels. Our task as Christians is to get more names into that Book of Life before Christ appears in the last Day for the final judgement. Then He will take the whole body of believers/church as His Bride forever. There will be a marriage feast of the Lamb that is pure and holy. Thus marriage, first instituted by the Creator, is to signify a mystical union which exists between Christ and His church (engagement) until ultimately consummated (married). SoLong/Shalom, JosephA@webtv.net