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– Part 1
So when Mariah found herself tightly connected to Leprechaun Roisin Dubh through her thoughts, she was not happy with this constricting feeling she was having every time she thought her thoughts. She had quiet unhappy thoughts, thoughts coming in as a frumpy frog, coming to visit her through the door of her mind.
In fact she thought she heard a knock on the door, but when she looked straight out, there was no one there. But a big grey green toad hopped passed her before she could slam the door shut. He almost tripped over her foot but recovered himself in his jump forward. He made his way to the opening over the stream the house straddled and disappeared down there. She wished he would stay away from her water source. Mariah mumbled about manipulation and her feathers were ruffled with the frog. She thought she heard a laugh coming up from the household watering hole.
Sometimes Mariah said she would have to do something about her thoughts and other times she would loose it into thinking she had to do something about the person, causing her unhappy thoughts. She liked to say “they are making me mad.”
She had been airing her grievances to any and all who would talk to her, any and all unsuspecting friends from whom she wanted affirmation. There was no straight and narrow lane here for her. The broad and fiery street of complaint seemed easiest, default mode.
She could not get away from her own self and her thoughts and her need to air them. It was a good story and everyone would see it from her angle and agree. If they did not she would go over it from another angle and get an investment from others sooner or later in her affairs. Even the hens had to listen to her. She worried about what kind of eggs they would produce. Perhaps they would stop laying altogether. She had stopped laughing.
And when not airing the thoughts to others, she took a hold of those thoughts and buried them in her gut, a place to grow things, a place of incubation achieved by looking at the grievance from every angle, watering it with tears and with emotions, spinning it one way and then the other. She warmed them with her intense looking, like shining a sun on them and setting them to growing. That looking from every angle brought energy to them and multiplied them in her darkness like a cancer. They were becoming a forest of frightening weeds ready to choke her at any minute. She knew she was backing up the wrong weed but felt powerless to do anything about it. Those weeds invaded her meditation and prayer times too.
So after a great loss of time thinking about all this, Mariah sat into a lonely ditch, suitable for a rest, with her dour outlook, her dark thoughts and her even darker feeling. She felt she might be on her own Aegean stable of roots, created by her personality over the last fifty plus years. She was growing some seeds and they were not of love. More likely the tares and thistles of the ditches in her mind, were growing long and winding roots, connecting to other roots. Maybe she might suffocate in the here and now of the ditch of her own making.
She saw the Druid coming in her direction. The baby hedgehogs were now more grown and were still following him, stopping to forage and running to catch up with him. He was like a little conductor with a hazel wand in his hand talking to them. A bird of two also seemed to be accompanying him. A rush of affection came over her as he came nearer to her. She thought of kissing his feet. She restrained herself.
Thank God he is here, she said, even as she also thought she might hide her complaints from him. When he looked directly into her eyes with his piercing blue ones and asked how she was really doing, she spilled the porridge of her held in heap, out in front of him on the lane. He made a few marks on the mud with his hazel wand and made note of her confession. He set out that she was part of this group because they always reincarnated together. They married each other, they made promises, they had problems, they loved each other and because she had some karma with them. Sometimes they did not want to face these problems from the past, He was putting his own angle on her whole affair.
Past life whippings, a ship-master in the Mediterranean, a less than kind caretaker were all depicted in the mud. A quick laugh was not the right reaction but it escaped her as she adjusted and balanced against the current pain. It brought awareness to the pain of not getting her own way, the pain of being blocked. She was not keen on walking in the shoes of her past lives. His little pictographs caused her to stared and the scenes that went before her eyes were of her sins from other times. To be continued soon ….
Rose continues to work with her body issues. It is the morning and she is sitting very comfortable on her hips and with little notice needed of her body needs. She is reading of ways to use the imagination to work with imagining what the pain needs. Being a little child about it is part of the exercise, as in do what ever occurs to you, what ever you intuit. She can keep the faith in this asking for healing. Spending time in the body at night, going into the painful area is good. This is not just thinking about it in the head. Go in there, see what you find and watch the area of pain change. The imagination has to do something about what it sees in there, especially if it is red etc.
And if you have frogs knocking on your dreams be sure to call me, IM me, or otherwise contact me through this site. I look forward to hearing from you. Love from Rose. | English | NL | 1ba377b037b6c42860237529d32f0f4838a9c0a913fa7032df50d0a6fffbc1a7 |
All We Shall Know
- Author: Ryan, Donal
- ISBN: 9781781620281
- Availability: Not in stock: we’ll order it in
$NZ 36.99 Ex Tax: $NZ 36.99
'Martin Toppy is the son of a famous Traveller and the father of my unborn child. He's seventeen, I'm thirty-three. I was his teacher. I'd have killed myself by now if I was brave enough. I don't think it would hurt the baby. His little heart would stop with mine. He wouldn't feel himself leaving one world of darkness for another, his spirit untangling itself from me.' Melody Shee is alone and in trouble. Her husband doesn't take her news too well. She doesn't want to tell her father yet because he's a good man and this could break him. She's trying to stay in the moment, but the future is looming - larger by the day - while the past won't let her go. What she did to Breedie Flynn all those years ago still haunts her. It's a good thing that she meets Mary Crothery when she does. Mary is a young Traveller woman, and she knows more about Melody than she lets on. She might just save Melody's life. Donal Ryan's new novel is breathtaking, vivid, moving and redemptive. | English | NL | 49e36e196efb3b9002c3d9505f17905f1d845d5c08463e084e17dcf459232bac |
HENNIKER, NH: Jane D. Burton of Henniker, NH died May 15, 2019 at the Hillsboro House Nursing Home.
She was born July 1, 1930 in Concord, NH to the late John E. and Helen F. (Greeley) Davie; she was also predeceased by her husband Robert J. Burton who died in February of 2019.
Jane was a graduate of Concord High School, and started nursing at Margaret Pillsbury and Memorial Hospital; she also graduated from Forsyth Dental School as a dental hygienist. Jane worked 12 years in private practice and 25 years with the State of NH, Health and Human Services (Dental Bureau) with the school systems around New Hampshire.
Upon retirement, she traveled the 50 states, and also visited Canada, and Alaska, and lived half of each year in Florida.
She was survived by her two daughters, Karen Hartt, of NC, and Donna Potter, of Arizona, three grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
Burial will be held at the convenience of the family in the NH Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen, NH.
The Holt-Woodbury Funeral Home & Cremation Service Henniker, NH is assisting the family. | English | NL | c5668d5efbdf6af0bde110d0e0c26eb28870dfa2462912fbfa476ffcf69c4d44 |
Last time, I talked about what wives really want for Valentine’s Day. Now, I’ll turn my attention to husbands. I am no world authority, and I don’t know what every man wants, but I have a good idea of what most of men want.
Your husband is often painfully aware of his weaknesses and mistakes, his failures and slip ups, but even though he has not succeeded in overcoming them, he desperately and quietly wants you to believe in him, to respect him and trust him. (Again.)
You are his last, best hope against all he struggles with in this world.
If he feels like you are there for him, that you truly believe in him, even though he has stumbled, that means everything to him, even if he can’t (or won’t) say it out loud.
For you to be truly pleased with him, and, best of all, to look up to him, that is what he hopes for most.
What if your husband is a Darth Vader, brutish and surly? Or a John Wayne, quiet and withdrawn when it comes to words of love? Those things are hard to look up to, I know. But that is his shell, the shell he uses to protect his pain.
But you know or can know who and what he really is, what is in his heart of hearts. You are the one that can see that and draw that out. Very few can see what you can see.
One other thing he would like is for you not to be hard on him, to focus more on the positive than the negative, to see the good in him more than anything else.
Criticism and negativity are force, or attempts at it. Patience, kindness, and positive words are persuasion. He can’t be forced, but he can be persuaded. And no one can persuade him like you can. He wants to be persuaded that you still believe in him.
That’s what he wants most. It will mean so much to him. | English | NL | f94c1be2e61c70e9de8f14047c8dfb49413a680c87518aa9ed89ada6139035f5 |
Rev. Brian C. Ching, C.S.C.
Director, Old College Undergraduate Seminary; Rector, Basilica of the Sacred Heart
University of Notre Dame
203 Old College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Rev. Brian Ching, C.S.C., currently serves as the Director of Old College Undergraduate Seminary. He is a native of New York City, and graduated from Holy Cross High School, Flushing, NY. Following high school, Father Brian enrolled at the University of Notre Dame and entered Old College his sophomore year. He graduated with a B.A. in Political Science in 2007 and an M.Div. in 2013. He made his Profession of Perpetual Vows in August of 2012 and was ordained a priest at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in 2013. Following his ordination to the priesthood, Father Brian was assigned as Parochial Vicar at St. Joseph Catholic Church, South Bend, Indiana. He then returned to Old College as Director in June of 2015, and was appointed Rector of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in July 2018. | English | NL | f25ea19ad09536a9901f78805d47c7cc3e240e6dd1ed44ce2f3821ed3be3b79f |
11 I know you are pleased with me, for you have not let my enemies triumph over me.
12 You have preserved my life because I am innocent; you have brought me into your presence forever.13 Praise the LORD, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and amen!
In this Psalm, David expresses his thanksgiving after going through desperate situation which he believes was caused by his sin. His thanksgiving corresponds to Jesus comments “Blessed are the merciful” from His Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 5:7 (NLT2) God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
He had been delivered, preserved, blessed, and strengthened by God. God has delivered him and he has recovered from the desperate situation.
His enemies were reveling in his circumstances. Even his best friend had turned against him. This brings to mind Judas’ betrayal of his Friend Jesus.
John 13:18 (NLT2) “I am not saying these things to all of you; I know the ones I have chosen. But this fulfills the Scripture that says, ‘The one who eats my food has turned against me.’
Acts 1:16 (NLT2)16 “Brothers,” he said, “the Scriptures had to be fulfilled concerning Judas, who guided those who arrested Jesus. This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David.
He prayed that God would give him the strength to punish those who took advantage of him, which is certainly different from Jesus’ response to Judas. Jesus washed Judas’ feet as the did the other disciples, and He allowed Judas to confirm His identity with a kiss.
John 13:1-5 (NLT2)1 Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.2 It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.
4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist,5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.
Luke 22:47-48 (NLT2)47 But even as Jesus said this, a crowd approached, led by Judas, one of his twelve disciples. Judas walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss.48 But Jesus said, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”
Wounds from a friend cut deep. David and Jesus have both felt this pain. At the Last Supper Jesus quoted David’s words of Psalm 41:9 “The one who eats my food has turned against me.’” As the Son of God, Jesus intimately knows all people — including their sin and shame — yet he loves them anyway. Jesus’ followers are commanded to love like this. Love is a choice, and in times of hurt and betrayal, it will not be easy. Yet through this act of love for others, Jesus says that the watching world will recognize his followers.
John 13:35 (NLT2)5 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
People know that even their closest friends might abandon them if they knew the truth about their sin. But not Jesus. Jesus loves with a perfect, unconditional love. He never gives up on his people. And through this great love, his followers are redeemed.
Ephesians 1:7 (NLT2) He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. | English | NL | 6e66da17b87544b4a2b16552eb3935d02a73a821c624309986dd5f59f01ebde0 |
The young ice giant has a big problem: he wants to buy fish sticks, but he cannot remember how many and he has nine shopping lists in his basket. So he goes from igloo to igloo and shakes each. In each he listens to the delicious fish sticks bouncing off the igloo walls. When he thinks that the igloo in his hand has the same number of fish sticks as one of his shopping lists, he takes it home.
When he gets home, there are no fish sticks in the igloo. Instead, wild and laughing Eskimo children tumble out of the igloo. Excitedly they shout, "Shake us again! That was great fun!" "This is super", thinks the young ice giant. "Now, I have found some new friends to play with!" And, he promptly forgets all about his shopping lists. | English | NL | b6f82e125e2f0ecac23d6167c48a3b3175d73a0fc2d390c119f7cc3e7fd9f0df |
Gideon O’Riley is rash, selfish, and even cruel.
When Lonnie’s father sees finds them kissing, he demands that Gideon marry Lonnie in order to preserve her virtue.
Forced to marry a man she does not love, Lonnie has to rely on her faith more than ever.
Lonnie proves himself to be more boy than man and soon Lonnie regrets ever meeting him.
Will they ever learn to be happy together?
Can Gideon ever grow up?
And can Lonnie learn to forgive him as much as the Bible says to forgive?
Some blogger friends of mine told me they really enjoyed this book, so I had high expectations for it. In some ways Be Still My Soul met them, in others it failed. First of all, Joanne Bischof has a sweet writing voice. I really liked the lines that Jebediah (a minor character) said on page 218 “Life’s short, Gid…It’s too short to be wastin’ time worrying. Too short to be wastin’ time runnin’.”
Page 337 lent words to what Gideon had been learning throughout the entire book. Now that he knew what it meant to care for others more than himself, he would do everything in his power to see it through.
However, at times I found her writing style somewhat awkward as well. Sometimes sentences would run into each other in a strange way. Or there would be a run on that ought not to be there.
Be Still My Soul had excellent character development. Lonnie was sweet, pretty, and had a lovely, quiet spirit. On the other hand Gideon was an unmitigated scoundrel. He was selfish in every way. His pride was often more important than his wife’s comfort, and he even went so far as to physically abuse her once. He made himself the victim in his own mind so that he wouldn't feel guilt for treating Lonnie so horribly. His insensitivity and self-centeredness proved to be major character flaws time and time again. When I couldn't think of another way that he could hurt poor Lonnie, Gideon found another creative approach to do it. He was a dynamic character, however, and slowly changed throughout the story. At the start of the book, he was quite a despicable, unlikeable character. However, I found myself liking him a little better by the end of the book. His soul had warmed toward the things of God, though there was never any outright conversion. But this is the first book in a trilogy, so there is still time for that.
I felt that some of the minor characters needed more of a voice sometimes. I really liked Jebediah and his wife, Elsie and felt that their part in the story could have been more developed. Sometimes Jebediah just kind of disappeared and the book gave no clue as to where he was. That bewildered me somewhat. I concluded that he must be off working his farm somewhere, but I wasn't quite sure.
The plot was rather simplistic since I was generally sure that everything would turn out all right because books like this usually do. There was some tragedy in the content of the story that was really sad. But I was kind of expecting something sad to happen since the mood of the book set me up for it. I felt as though the emotions in it were realistic as well as the characters. I was a little bored sometimes because the characters at certain points talked about nothing more than clothing and food. However, Be Still My Soul deals with hard subjects such as physical abuse and the death of a child.
I give Be Still My Soul 4 out of 5 stars. It was an enjoyable read, but | English | NL | 3d1ec311194087799bfa4b2298bf3659d769309626ed58f84398c7aa0304df67 |
From Bret Thoman, SFO
On pilgrimages, we often journey to Monteprandone, the birthplace of St. James of the Marches. Although he lived a remarkable life and accomplished many great things, he is not very well known. Katia and I were fortunate to have discovered him because of the O.F.M. provincial minister of the Marches region, Fr. Ferdinando Campana. In the summer of 2004, he took us on a pilgrimage throughout his region, where we saw the incorrupt body of this saint and learned about his life.
Saint James of the Marches was born in 1393 in the hill town of Monteprandone, in the lower part of the Marches region overlooking the Adriatic Sea. His parents were poor, but they loved him very much. They baptized him with the name, Domenico, meaning ‘of the Lord’ (from Latin, Dominus). As a boy, they placed him under the care of his uncle, a priest, who provided for his education. Domenico studied in nearby Offida and Ascoli Piceno and later graduated from the University of Perugia in 1412 with a as a Doctor of civil law…St. James of the Marches (1391-1476) Feast Day: November 28
“Try always to advance more in charity; enlarge your heart with confidence for the divine gifts which the Holy Spirit is anxious to pour into it.” Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
St. James of the Marches was born in Monteprandone in 1393 and died in Naples in 1476. As a youth, he studied law in Perugia (near Assisi) and worked as a judge in Bibbiena (Tuscany). Around 20 years of age, on Good Friday, he felt the desire to give his life to God. He left everything and became a Franciscan friar. For more than 20 years, he preached throughout Italy, Bosnia, and Hungary. He worked tirelessly: he negotiated peace within cities at war; he created Monti di Pietà, a lending institution to poor people to combat usury; he converted many prostitutes; he fought against sorcery, superstition and against dangerous cults that were spreading among uneducated people; with the power of his word and example, he brought thousands of people back to the joy of true faith and love of God. From 2001, his incorrupt body has been conserved in the sanctuary of Monteprandone in a chapel dedicated to him. It was frescoed by A. Cicchi and M. Pesarini, with scenes that depict the virtues of the saint and the vow of the people of Monteprandone during the last war. The stone arch is from 1500. A new bronze urn that conserves the remains of the saint is the work of P. Casentini.
St. James of the Marches is venerated particularly as a strong protector of children. Among the hundreds of miracles done in life and after death, through today, many involve children. The most famous is the one that took place in Brescia where he resuscitated a child who had been dead for three days.
Next to the friary of Monteprandone is a splendid 16th century cloister and cistern. Around the cloister, are 25 frescoes representing episodes from the life of St. James, painted in 1848. Next to the cloister is a museum, which conserves relics of St. James. | English | NL | 1979f97992f8b4865f623bec961b926f827a0508e126d7afa427b6ecec73d899 |
How wonderful is God among his saints: come, let us adore him.
Year: B(II). Psalm week: 4. Liturgical Colour: White.
An ancient tradition, already known in the 2nd century, gives these names to the parents of the Virgin Mary. The cult of St Anna became popular in the 6th century in the East, and in the 10th century in the West, where she is the patron saint of Brittany; Joachim was added a long time later – too often the fate of fathers.
Although the information about Mary’s parents is found in an early apocryphal writing that gives many miraculous and highly-coloured stories about the early life of the Virgin Mary, there is no reason to suppose that such a straightforward fact as her parents’ names should be wrong, since there is nothing to be gained from falsifying it. It does not occur in the Gospels simply because the most reliable evangelists (the only ones whom we have allowed into the Bible) felt they had more important things to talk about.
But what, after all, could be more important than the parents who brought up the Virgin Mary to be the woman she was? At the moment of consenting to the Incarnation she took the most important decision ever taken by any human being, and the fact that she took it is, to a great extent, the work of her parents. The Holy Spirit gave her the strength to take the decision; but her parents’ training gave her the wisdom to choose.
Those of us who have children must seek to bring them up to the best of our ability, to meet challenges that, like Anna and Joachim, we have no way of even imagining.
About the author of the Second Reading in today's Office of Readings:
|Second Reading: Saint John Damascene|
John was born of a Christian family in Damascus in the second half of the seventh century, where his father was a high official under the Umayyad caliph; a post which he inherited. When the Iconoclast movement (seeking to prohibit the veneration of icons) gained acceptance in the Byzantine court, John, being under Muslim rather than Byzantine rule, was able to write effective treatises attacking Iconoclasm and attacking the emperor for supporting it. At about this time he retired to the monastery of Saint Sabas near Jerusalem, where he became a monk and was ordained. He died in the middle of the eighth century.
He wrote many theological treatises in a dangerously clear and accessible style which made the issues understandable even by non-experts. His name was reviled and execrated by the imperial Iconoclast party even after his death. Sometimes known as “the last of the Church Fathers,” he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1883.
White is the colour of heaven. Liturgically, it is used to celebrate feasts of the Lord; Christmas and Easter, the great seasons of the Lord; and the saints. Not that you will always see white in church, because if something more splendid, such as gold, is available, that can and should be used instead. We are, after all, celebrating.
In the earliest centuries all vestments were white – the white of baptismal purity and of the robes worn by the armies of the redeemed in the Apocalypse, washed white in the blood of the Lamb. As the Church grew secure enough to be able to plan her liturgy, she began to use colour so that our sense of sight could deepen our experience of the mysteries of salvation, just as incense recruits our sense of smell and music that of hearing. Over the centuries various schemes of colour for feasts and seasons were worked out, and it is only as late as the 19th century that they were harmonized into their present form.
|Other notes: Father Jacques Hamel (1930 - 2016)|
Jacques Hamel was born on 30 November 1930 in Normandy and ordained priest in 1958. He was martyred by Islamists as he was celebrating Mass at the parish church of St-Etienne-du-Rouvray on 26 July 2016, the first martyr in France since the French Revolution.
|Mid-morning reading (Terce)||1 John 3:23-24 ©|
God’s commandments are these:
that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ
and that we love one another
as he told us to.
Whoever keeps his commandments
lives in God and God lives in him.
We know that he lives in us
by the Spirit that he has given us.
|Noon reading (Sext)||Wisdom 1:1-2 ©|
Love virtue, you who are judges on earth, let honesty prompt your thinking about the Lord, seek him in simplicity of heart; since he is to be found by those who do not put him to the test, he shows himself to those who do not distrust him.
|Afternoon reading (None)||Hebrews 12:1-2 ©|
We should throw off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that clings so easily, and keep running steadily in the race we have started. Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his place at the right of God’s throne. | English | NL | d524c48b20b7b550989f9560c2e7e52eaaf3b08e9d8e5b47fe2a3d5d76ad5666 |
Reasons that Blackjack Remains a Gambling Favorite
Posted by Gordon Forge on November 17, 2018
In many casinos, even with new games being constantly introduced, blackjack remains one of the favorites of many experienced gamblers. If we look at it, blackjack really has a lot of advantages over other casino card or table games. Here are some of them.
In blackjack, you only play against the dealer. Therefore, it’s your strategy against the dealer. You don’t have to worry about other players being better than you are.
You also don’t have to worry about your cards being seen by other players or the dealer when you are playing blackjack.
The blackjack dealer has to abide by the game rules that seeing your cards doesn’t make any difference. Also, only your strategy is at work here. It is next to impossible for a blackjack dealer to make a strategy.
Blackjack rules are also very easy to learn. The key in playing blackjack is to get a sum of 21 for your cards.
There are also several rule variations in blackjack that makes it even more interesting and easier for gambling experts to win in this game.
One of the variations is that there is a rule that the dealer should stand on 17’s. What this means is that every time the blackjack dealer gets a sum of less than 17, he must continue taking cards, also known as making a “hit,” until the total of his cards reaches 17 or even greater.
With this rule in place, it is possible for a blackjack player to win since there is a huge probability that the dealer will get a card that will make his total “bust.” A “bust” means getting a sum greater than 21. Anyone who has a “bust” automatically loses.
Another variation in blackjack is the dealer hits on a soft 17. This is not as common as the first variation, but just like the first, it may also increase the blackjack player’s chances of winning.
A soft 17 means getting a sum of 17 with one of the cards being an ace, which is given a value of eleven. In this variation, when the blackjack dealer gets a soft 17, he has to get another card. Again, this will increase his probability of “busting.”
What’s also nice about blackjack is that if you win with a normal hand, you get an even money return. If you get a blackjack, which is an ace and a card with a value of ten, you get paid a half more than your bet.
Filed under Gambling News | English | NL | 5df3d235d30228a9409532089099dbe7efe8454712929ae620aaa55ce358d5d2 |
Haruto Hoshi was born in 1970 in Kanagawa prefecture. He graduated from the Contemporary Photography Research Institute in 2000. He has published his first book 街の火 (Luminance of Streets) in 2007 and is represented by the Third District Gallery Tokyo. Please also see this extended gallery of his work.
Hoshi’s photo book Luminance of Streets is available in the Japan Exposures bookstore. | English | NL | 89eb227c53ff625868371b994aefb547fabe66a657ac93334be4aaf0f7397190 |
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29). Anyone with multiple kids knows that it's not unusual for a second or third child to do something earlier than their older sibling did. It's not always the case, but it does occur. One of the reasons this happens is probably because younger siblings have a shorter learning curve. They can usually learn how to do something by watching. I've noticed it in our two boys. Micah (2) is attempting things that Asher (6) didn't try until much later. Micah seems to be more adventurous. Case in point: One day recently Micah started calling out to me from the boys' room. I walked in to find Micah perched like a gargoyle on the top bunk of his and Asher's bed. As soon as he saw me, Micah started barking out orders, "You move that chair over here." At this point, a smarter person might have anticipated what chain of events was being set in motion. I didn't. Instead, I asked Micah why as I slid the overstuffed red chair toward the bed. Micah didn't bother to tell me. Instead, as soon as the chair was in range, he simply turned and let himself go into a free fall. I yelped. Micah went into a midair seated position, and executed a flawless landing in the chair. Later that day I was telling Rachel about it. She wasn't surprised by Micah's acrobatics. Apparently, he's been watching his older brother, who, instead of just falling, flings himself off the top bunk like a flying squirrel and lands with a "thunk" in one of the chairs half way across the room. I think it's safe to say that Asher never would have tried that at age two. I also won't be surprised if Micah is our first trip to the ER. Who knows what Ruthie will be trying by the time she's two. All of our lives, we will learn by watching. If you explain something to me, I might eventually get it. But I'll learn much more quickly if I watch you do it. And that right there is what it means to be a disciple. A disciple is someone who learns by watching. We see it in those who follow Jesus throughout his 3 year ministry. They learn by watching him, and then they try it themselves. That's why Jesus' primary call to His followers has less to do with belief and more to do with following. (See that verse on the top of this article.) This morning we're going to start learning from Jesus. We're going to be changed by watching him and, hopefully by learning to act as he acts. We're going to learn what it means to "love God" by watching Jesus' relationship with "the Father." I hope that you learn something today. I hope that it helps you go a little deeper in your relationship with a God who loves you very much. | English | NL | f3777afad4cd12be6c0bca31ec3d6ce4c7b7e102bec6bcbf9c82973985e97824 |
"I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then some one at my side says: 'There, she is gone!'
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when some one at my side says: 'There, she is gone!' there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: 'Here she comes!'
— Henry Van Dyke
I've put this on my blog so I can always find it in the future. A friend sent this poem shortly after Tia was born, and had died during delivery.
It struck me extrmely deeply. Mostly, I think, because our daughter had been born, and our lives had not changed one bit. We couldn't bring her home with us, there were no celebrations, no baby clothes. Everything was supposed to change, and yet we had nothing to show for it.
This poem gave me something to hold on to. The idea that just because I couldn't see my baby anymore, it didn't mean she didn't hadn't existed. I had watched her at leangth until we had to leave.
Tia was gone from my sight. She is just as loved as she was when she was in our arms. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. | English | NL | a90ad3ceb41c6ad7c90be6cd3e48b772899b9f4e1d7495d82482ede1ee1eaed7 |
Nothing is more difficult than when a parent loses a child before their time. For Dean and Caroline Orchard, nothing was more unbearable than when their 13-year-old daughter, Athena, tragically passed away. For weeks, the Orchards grieved the loss of Athena, unable to get used to the idea of a life without her. But when they finally summoned the courage to pack up her things, her father discovered an amazing message she had left behind...
A Sad Christmas
Just before Christmas, when Athena was 12, the family received a shock when she collapsed in their kitchen. After being rushed to hospital in Leicester, UK, the Orchards were given some terrible news: Athena had osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer.
The day wasn't over with the devastating cancer diagnosis. Athena was then rushed into a mammoth seven-and-a-half-hour emergency surgery, in order to have a tumor removed from her upper spine. She would soon have a tough battle ahead of her.
Her Chemo Journey
After the emergency surgery, Athena went through months of grueling chemotherapy, which was targeting the cancer in her spine, shoulders, and head. As she became weak and her hair fell out, Athena remained courageous in the face of her illness.
She Fought Hard, But It Wasn't Enough
Athena and her family never lost hope. She continued to bravely fight the cancer until the very end, even when she could barely get out of bed. Unfortunately, her condition deteriorated fast and she died at home surrounded by her family at age 13.
Her Positive Attitude Never Died
Even though all of her hair fell out and some days left her too unwell to walk, Athena's positive and calm attitude never left her. More evidence of this was discovered shortly after her death when her parents were moving some of her things.
A Secret Message
While moving a mirror that had been leaning up against Athena's bedroom wall, her dad discovered that she had left the family a message. Mr. Orchard, who gave up his job to care for Athena, felt like she was comforting them from beyond the grave.
A Real Surprise
Athena's message, which included life advice and positive sentiments, truly shocked the family. "I couldn't believe it, I saw all this writing, it must have been about 3,000 words. It's so touching. When I first saw it, it just blew me away," said Mr. Orchard.
It Was Difficult To Read
As the first person to discover the message, her father began reading immediately, but he soon had to stop when he was overcome by emotion. "I started reading it but before long I had to stop because it was too much. It was heartbreaking," he explained.
Life Is Precious
It's clear Athena's illness made her realize how precious life truly is. Her message included wisdom beyond her years, such as, "Every day is special, so make the most of it. You could get a life-ending illness tomorrow so make the most of every day."
She Didn't Tell Anyone
It was Athena's intention to surprise her family with the mirror. "She never mentioned it, but it's the kind of thing she'd do. She was a very spiritual person, she'd go on about stuff that I could never understand - she was so clever," her father said.
Her Mother's Heart Aches
Mrs. Orchard, a full-time mother to Athena and her nine siblings, described her daughter as beautiful, athletic, and "the bravest person I know." She also spoke about Athena's intense love for writing and how happy it used to make her.
An Incredible Girl
When it came to how special Athena was, her mother couldn't emphasize it enough: "She was an incredible girl, so bright and so strong, she continually amazed me." She always had a positive attitude, even in the very worst moments of her life.
She Kept Everyone's Spirits Up
"She was always positive, even when she was in hospital she would be looking after me, making sure I ate and telling me not to cry. We knew the cancer was very aggressive?...?she fought it as long as she could but eventually she became too weak to get out of bed," her mother said.
They'll Keep Her Words With Them Forever
Needless to say, the Orchard family will be holding on to Athena's mirror for the rest of their lives. "We're keeping the mirror forever. Just reading her words felt like she was still here with us. She had such an incredible spirit," Mrs. Orchard said.
Her Wisdom Still Comforts Them
Athena wrote: "Happiness depends upon ourselves. Maybe it's not about the happy ending, maybe it's about the story." It is messages like these that have kept her family strong in times when it seems like they'll never recover from their terrible loss.
Trending On CultureHook: | English | NL | 26c57138e1408e113b29e51e825f84c7af2195367c96a1505d909dabe6eb12f5 |
In 1837 a Canadian teenager tripped over while walking back to his parents’ house. The accident did not hurt much, but it made him strangely famous: journals on both sides of the Atlantic reported the case with astonishment, and the story was reproduced in several anthologies of medical curiosities. And it really is extraordinary.
The tale was first reported in 1849, some twelve years after it took place, in a short-lived Canadian publication, the British American Journal of Medical and Physical Science (its founder, Archibald Hall, was evidently not good at snappy titles: in a later incarnation it became known as the British American Journal Devoted to the Advancement of Medical and Physical Sciences in the British-American Provinces).
The story seems so implausible that the editor only agreed to print an account of it after receiving evidence from three reliable witnesses, two of them doctors. The first on the scene was not a medical man but a local dignitary, J.D. McConnell, a senior magistrate. He reports that
In the year 1837, Master James Boyle, a youth of about 18 years of age, had been mowing on the lawn, in the vicinity of his father’s house, in company with his younger brother, and as is the custom, before going to dinner, he had taken the scythe off the snaith, or handle, for the purpose of carrying it, in order to have it sharpened. As he walked homewards, a distance of about a few hundred yards, he happened to step on a log of wood, when his foot slipped, and he fell upon the scythe-blade, which entered his chest under the right armpit and the point appeared under the left. The hapless youth lay still with the deadly instrument in his breast until his brother, who displayed inimitable presence of mind, drew it slowly out, observing with much caution, as he did so, the curvature of the blade. The effusion of blood which followed was not so great as might have been expected, and with his brother’s aid he walked home. There was, to the best or my belief, no spitting of blood. A surgeon was immediately sent for, and such means as his experience dictated were adopted.
Not, in fact, a surgeon, as a postscript explains:
There was no medical man resident in that vicinity when this occurrence took place. Frederick Coffin, a whaler, commonly called ‘Dr Coffin’…
A name which cannot have filled his patients with confidence.
…who generally lends a hand at bleeding, drawing teeth, and other similar services, has been very successful in his attempts at relieving the distressed.
Under his care, the youth continued slowly to improve. A day or two after the accident, it chanced that H.M.S. Sappho put into Gaspe Bay, and I lost no time in making the case known to the surgeon of the ship, Mr. Thompson, who directed Assistant-surgeon Sproule to examine the patient, and to render any assistance that might be practicable, which that gentleman immediately did. I remember his remarking that the absence of bloody expectoration was a favourable symptom. As the accident and its unexpected results appeared to me an inscrutable act of Providence, I deemed it desirable that Dr. Sproule should communicate to me by letter his opinion of the case.
This is Dr Sproule’s assessment of Master Boyle’s injuries:
The point of the scythe, it appears, entered the axilla, or armpit, between the third and fourth ribs of the right side, passing horizontally through the chest, and coming out through the corresponding ribs of the opposite side, making a small opening compared to that by which it entered—accounted for, no doubt, by the point alone coming out. The wound of the right side appears to have been about 2 or 3 inches long, that on the left about one.
Considering the situation of the wound, and the instrument by which it was made, I consider it a most miraculous escape, which I can only account for by saying that the back of the blade was directed towards the large blood-vessels, and thereby protected them. Had the edge been otherwise directed, I have no doubt but that the consequences would have been immediately fatal.
‘Miraculous’ is not too strong a word. The blade evidently missed the heart and lungs (though there are a few cases on record of blades or musket balls passing straight through the lungs without significant trauma). What is most surprising is that one would expect a blade taking this route through the chest to puncture the pleura, the sac surrounding the lungs. If this had happened, the boy would have suffered a collapsed lung (pneumothorax), which would have produced pretty obvious symptoms. It is somewhat mysterious that he avoided this outcome.*
It only remains to add, that Master James Boyle is, at present, a robust and vigorous man, and without any local complaint. His pursuit is chiefly that of his father, a whaler, and his domicile is up the south-west branch of Gaspe Bay, in the district of Gaspe, Lower Canada.
A very lucky young man.
*A contemporary analysis of the case by an unnamed doctor suggests that he did in fact suffer a pneumothorax:
My supposition is, that, when the scythe entered the breast, the right lung instantly collapsed, and the back of the blade glided harmlessly over its surface. Its further passage through the mediastinum into the left cavity was probably effected at the moment of separation, and when the left lung was so far reduced in size as to offer a partial resistance to the point of the instrument, and thus a comparatively small wound was the result. The absorption, as well as the secretion of gases by serous membranes sometimes proceeds rapidly, from which we may infer that, so long as the scythe remained fixed, there was no new admission of air, and thus the right lung soon recovered, in part at least, its functions. Upon the withdrawal of the blade, the further exclusion of air was probably secured by the external cut forming a valve. | English | NL | fb337464e85860b3ead8600eeb28e5866c6dc2bb14362ee11f4171cf0cf6e026 |
“Whilst many schools ‘bin’ correspondence about competitions and grant awards, Richard could see the benefits to the school in making applications. The pupils enjoy taking part in competitions – and produce excellent work to submit to the awarding bodies. The school has received high profile recognition as a result,” commented Julia.
In 2008, the school was judged as ‘outstanding’ and this was a reflection of how Richard refined the staff and pupil mentoring system. In 1990, with great enthusiasm, Richard applied to become one of the schools to take part in both the ‘Comenius’ (European) and International schools project. Since that time these projects have enabled over 100 staff to have experienced an exchange of cultural experiences and education ideas in a foreign country.
In terms of becoming a sustainable school, Richard took a unique ‘hi-tech’ approach. As well as the many practical changes the school adopted (recycling, re-using push taps and light sensors) there is an energy monitoring system recording daily gas, water and electricity consumption.
Richard’s interest in ICT has led to an 18-year (and ongoing) relationship with national company, RM, testing educational hardware and software products before they reach the marketing stage. Richard took the bold step of inviting the probation service to undertake a two-year project with offenders to renovate and improve the environmental facilities at the school. The project was so successful it now acts as a case study for others to follow.
Having spent 40 years in the education sector, starting as a class teacher in 1972, Richard became head of Hagbourne C of E Primary School in 1989. It was not long before the number of pupils increased to capacity and today there is a waiting list which is testimony to the high regard the school is held in the community. His dedication as a head teacher, colleague and mentor is reflected in the various achievements that the school has recorded in areas such as sport, technology and in creating an eco school.
Richard has looked at ways of improving and enhancing the school buildings and grounds over the years. The benefits for the children and staff are apparent both in terms of physical changes (e.g. improvements to staff rooms and library rooms) and also in terms of spiritual wellbeing (e.g. a sensory garden, a tranquillity dome, woodland and wildlife areas). There is also a covered swimming pool with new changing rooms which have community access at certain times.
It has been a priority for Richard to work with all age groups, giving the children a chance to get to know him and for him to get to know all the children in his care. The children Richard worked with were inspired by his enthusiasm and staff are now always prepared to go the extra mile to ensure successful outcomes for pupils. | English | NL | 18b13a472a47c2879ee368c65052c448f510744ffe6699426a208730d1d3dc62 |
F. B. Hole.
THE EPISTLE OF JUDE bears a very strong resemblance to 2 Peter 2:1 - 3:14, which lies upon the surface and must be apparent to every reader. Both refer to very evil men, who come in amongst the saints, and both unmask their true character. Both quote Old Testament examples by way of illustration and warning; and amongst the examples both mention the angels that sinned, and Sodom and Gomorrah. Both remind us that even holy angels would not assume authority as these men do. Both quote the case of Balaam. Both use a succession of very vigorous and graphic similes to impress us with their terrible evil and sin. And both turn to account what they have to say about the evil, by using it to urge the saints on to that which is good.
Yet with all these resemblances there is an underlying difference which we must endeavour to seize. In Peter the men in question are distinctly false teachers, who themselves are going to destruction, and who influence for evil and drag with them to destruction unstable souls who, by making a profession of Christianity, have left behind them in an outward way the corruptions of the heathen world. In Jude the evil men are not spoken of as teachers in the same definite way, but the position of antagonism they take is even more pronounced. They are marked by regular apostasy, and in keeping with this the angels who await judgment are spoken of not merely as sinning, but as not keeping their first estate; that is, in other words, apostatizing. Jude therefore seems to contemplate a state of things just a degree worse than that which Peter contemplates.
The Apostle Paul also warns us as to the character of the last days in 2 Timothy 3:1 - 4:5; giving instructions to the servant of God in view of that which he predicts. The words used differ very slightly. Paul, and Peter also, speak of "the last days." Jude speaks of "the last time." John also in his first Epistle speaks of "the last time ;" only there it is more accurately, "the last hour," and a somewhat different sense is attached to the word, for they were in the last hour when he wrote. No fresh "hour" was going to intervene between the time of his writing and the coming of the Lord, which will take place when the Antichrist has appeared. Already many lesser antichrists had appeared as forerunners of the great one to come. Each of the other inspired writers, Paul, Peter and Jude, looks on to the coming of the Lord as the final sweeping away of the evil.
Jude addresses himself to the "called" ones; that is, to those who are genuinely the called people of God, and that without distinction. He does not write to the saints composing any particular assembly nor to Jewish believers as distinct from Gentile ones: all saints are before him. He views them in a twofold way: first in relation to God the Father, and then in relation to Jesus Christ. The word "beloved" seems to be better attested than "sanctified." They, and we, are "beloved in God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ."
How very beautiful is this note! — the first that is struck in this Epistle. The saints universally are addressed, as called out from the world. All are beloved in God the Father, as begotten of Him; and as under the mighty hand of Jesus Christ all are preserved. The true saints of God are the objects of Divine love, and in spite of all the evil which may invade the Christian circle they will be preserved to the end. Moreover, mercy and peace and love are to be multiplied to such, though evils multiply around them. What encouragement there is in all this! How assuring and how fortifying! In the strength of it we can proceed to consider the evils that are exposed and predicted.
Jude had purposed to write a treatise concerning "the common salvation," but found himself turned aside from that design to write this short Epistle exhorting rather to the defence of the faith. This is a remarkable confession and quite unique. The "common salvation," that is, the salvation in which we all participate, is indeed an inexhaustible theme, and it may well be that on another occasion Jude fulfilled his original purpose, though not in an inspired way. As a matter of fact an inspired exposition of that salvation was already available in Paul's Epistle to the Romans, and in the inspired Word God does not repeat Himself. There was, however, still a niche in Scripture which required to be filled, so Jude's original thought was set aside and he was honoured of God in being pressed into the service of filling it.
It was now needful that those called of God should be exhorted to contend for the faith. It was given only to the Apostles to authoritatively expound the faith, and commit it to the inspired Writings. It was given to few, comparatively speaking, to be pastors and teachers and give instruction in the faith. How likely then that the mass of believers should jump to the conclusion that the defence of the faith and contention for it was also the business of but a few. Hence the need for this word of exhortation. Is it not extraordinary and reprehensible that with this exhortation before us there should today be so many who consider that contending for the faith is no concern of theirs, and would like to relegate it to a few who have high scholastic qualifications or some kind of official status?
The faith is unspeakably precious. It embodies all we know of God in Christ. If it goes, everything goes, as far as we are concerned. Hence it must be held in its integrity at all costs, and not only held passively but contended for actively. The faith has been "once delivered to the saints." There are three things in that statement which need to be carefully noted.
First, the faith has been delivered, not discovered. It is not something which has been worked out by men and added to bit by bit, as the "sciences" have been, but something handed over by God through His Holy Spirit. The sciences have been built up by observation and experiment and reasoning. The faith has been revealed of God that our faith may receive it.
Second, the faith has been once delivered; that is, once for all. The delivery of it took some little time. It "began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by them that heard Him." However, by the time that Jude wrote, the delivery of it was finished: the circle of revealed truth had been completed in the Apostolic writings. The men of science are always awaiting fresh discoveries: they have very little that is certain, and settled beyond all question. We have a faith delivered once for all. God has spoken. His Word has been committed to writing, and we await no further revelation. It cannot be amended, though it may be rejected. We receive it, desiring help of God that we may increasingly understand it.
Third, it has been delivered to the saints. It was not delivered to the Apostles and prophets, but delivered through them to the saints. The saints consequently are its custodians, and not merely prominent or gifted men amongst the saints. This is a fact of deep importance. The faith addresses itself to the faith of every one of us. Each of us is to receive it and understand it, and each of us is to be set for its maintenance and to contend for it as may be necessary. In the light of this one can see how disastrous has been the idea that it was right to have in the church a special class of men officially appointed, whether as priests or ministers, to whom all such things belong. It has been a master-stroke of the adversary, for where that idea has prevailed the great mass of saints have been put out of action in the conflict of faith, and kept in a state of spiritual infancy.
Every true believer then should contend for the faith, and contend earnestly as having a vital interest in it. Details of how we should contend are not stated by Jude in this short Epistle. Elsewhere we find that we must avoid all carnal weapons, and that our spirit should be that of the meek and lowly Jesus whom we serve (see 2 Cor. 10:4; 2 Tim. 2:24, 25). Jude does give us instruction as to how we should fortify ourselves in the faith which must be preliminary to contending for it. But that comes toward the end of the Epistle.
With verse 4 there begins his exposure of the state of things that was developing, which made his message so urgent. Men of a very depraved type had crept in unawares — ungodly, turning the grace of God into utter license, and denying the great Master whom they professed to serve. In reading John's first Epistle we saw how there were antichrists who "went out," whilst the men of whom Jude speaks "crept in." The former were apparently men of a high class type, intelligent and philosophic, who took their departure when their notions were refused. The latter were anything but high class, men of a dissolute type, who used the grace of God as a cloke to cover up their sin.
We sometimes hear people today objecting to the doctrines of grace on the ground that they may be abused. The answer to that is that they have been abused, and the abuse was in full swing before the first century had reached its end; and that the Scriptures tell us of the way they were abused, but that, instead of recommending us to drop the doctrines of grace, they urge us to contend for them!
In verses 5-7, we have three cases cited, which show how the irrevocable judgment of God lies upon the kind of evil that these ungodly men were committing. In the case of Israel it was plain and thorough unbelief, and the unbelievers were destroyed in spite of the fact that at the outset they participated in many privileges. In the case of the angels, their sin was in one word, apostasy. They totally abandoned their original place and state. That is apostasy: and for any creature to do that, whether angel or man, is to be hopelessly doomed. Sodom and her sister cities gave themselves up to utter license, breaking through boundaries that God had set, and their judgment is eternal. Three awful warnings!
Now the men that Jude was denouncing were marked by similar things. They defiled themselves by fleshly sins, and at the same time were characterized by an arrogant refusal of authority. This leads up to the remarkable verse about the contention between Michael the archangel and the devil. What Jude cites is quite unrecorded in the Old Testament. The devil, though now fallen, was once a high dignity in the angelic realm, and until he is finally dispossessed by God his dignity is to be respected. Even so high an angelic dignity as Michael respected it. He did not take it upon himself to rebuke him, but left the Lord to do it.
In passing let us learn from this not to do ourselves what even Michael shrank from doing. How often we may hear people speak of Satan in a very light and mocking way, and we may have done it ourselves. Let us not do it again. Satan is a spirit being, who once held a leading place, if not the leading place, in the angelic hierarchy. Though fallen, he still wields immense power, which we cannot afford to despise. Yet, under the sheltering power of our Lord we need not fear him.
Verse 10 contains a very trenchant indictment. Men who are ignorant as well as arrogant usually fall to abusing what they do not understand. These men not only did this but they also corrupted themselves in things of nature which they did understand. The New Translation is rather striking here, "But what even, as the irrational animals, they understand by mere nature, in these things they corrupt themselves." Things spiritual they rail at: in things natural they corrupt themselves. Truly a terrible indictment!
Now the course of these men, and more particularly perhaps of the evil that characterized them, and which would be perpetuated in their successors, is graphically sketched in verse 11. Again three cases are cited from the Old Testament, which exactly set the position before us. In this matter there is nothing new under the sun. Again and again evil takes the same forms, runs the same course, and comes to the same end. Jude does not mince his words. These men and their successors have nothing but woe before them.
The beginning of their course is a going in the way of Cain. This is a way of self-will in the things of God. Cain was the first to take that way, and his name is left upon it. He would approach God, and this in itself was good: but he would do it in his own way, and not in God's way. Now, by His action in clothing our first parents with coats of skins, God had indicated that death was His way, and Abel's faith had seized this. Cain had no faith, only his own thoughts. Why should not God be satisfied with the way that seemed right to Cain? He would take his own way in self-will.
These men trod the way of Cain, and it is still immensely popular. Multitudes there are who prefer their own thoughts to God's Word. Why should not God be pleased with their efforts and their approach? As long as they recognize Him, may they not draw near and worship Him as they please? At any rate that is what they intend to do. Alas, still they go in the way of Cain; and there is a woe at the end of it.
To "run greedily after the error of Balaam for reward" is the next step. This is sheer self-seeking in the things of God. Religion of a sort is indulged in, and it becomes a profitable business. Balaam was a spiritist medium, who adopted so much as was profitable to him of the true knowledge of God. That was the error that Balaam practised. The error that he taught, and by which he ensnared many of Israel and brought them under the judgment of God, was that of sinful alliance with the idolatrous world. And in all that he practised and taught the one thing before him was money-making — the love of reward.
Our Epistle speaks of "the way of Cain" and "the error of Balaam;" it is in 2 Peter that we read of "the way of Balaam." But in both Epistles the thought connected with him is the same, for in Peter we find him described as loving "the wages of unrighteousness." His course there is described as "madness." Alas! his madness has had many followers from the day in which Jude wrote to our own. The evil men that Jude was exposing "ran greedily" after his error, and we believe those two words are still applicable to very many. It is a striking fact that Balaam and his evil teaching appear in the Lord's address to the church at Pergamos (Revelation 2), inasmuch as that church sets forth prophetically the epoch when the church accepted the patronage of the world, and the corruptions of the Roman system began.
In that system we see religion as a money-making power carried to its highest pitch. Years ago in Spain we saw a paper in which it was pointed out that all the supposed benefits which Rome offered from birth to death cost money; that in fact there was nothing without it. Moreover after death it was still money, money, for there was purgatory to be shortened. The title of the paper, translated into English, was "The religion of money." The history of Rome through the ages furnishes us also with many and terrible examples of men who have turned the grace of God into lasciviousness, just as Jude says. Many other forms of error have a strong strain of money-making in them, though not perhaps to the same extent.
Finally there is the gainsaying of Korah, the details of which are given to us in Numbers 16. Korah's sin was self-assertion in the things of God, and it brought upon him swift destruction. Cain lived many a year after he took his self-willed way. Balaam lived for sufficient time to do much havoc in Israel by his error, and for a time at least his self-seeking seemed to be profitable. But the self-assertion of Korah was met by rapid and drastic judgment.
This is the third and final stage in the progress of the evil that fills Christendom today. We believe that we speak soberly when we say that terrible examples of it abound on every hand. Never were men more confident of themselves and of their powers in matters of religion. Korah asserted himself as against Moses and Aaron: today men who call themselves Christians are quite prepared to assert themselves against Christ. "Jesus Christ" say they, "thought this and said that. But we know better now as belonging to this enlightened age." A very sinister sign! Judgment cannot now be long delayed.
Let us, who love the Lord Jesus Christ, see to it that in everything we are subject to His will, that we seek His glory and not our own, and that instead of asserting ourselves we assert His rights. Thus we shall be pleasing to Him.
If verse 11 sketches for us the development and end of the evil leading to apostasy, we come back in verses 12 and 13 to the men who embodied the evil in Jude's day, and there is a further exposure of their character in a series of graphic figures, the meaning of which we must attempt to seize.
They were "spots" in the love-feasts of these early Christians. It appears that the word translated thus has the meaning of a jagged rock especially one with the sea washing over it. So these evil men who had crept in unawares, and who now were boldly taking their place in the social life of the believers, were a terrible menace, just as is the sunken rock which endangers the ships. To feed themselves was their passion, not to feed the flock. Jude warns us of their true nature so that we may avoid them.
Then, changing the figure, they are like clouds borne along on the winds, yet without water. In the land where Jude wrote the clouds were welcome as giving promise of rain. So these men had the appearance of bringing refreshment to God's weary heritage; but they had nothing to give, being themselves impelled by Satan's power, of which the wind is a figure.
Then again they are like trees "whose fruit withers," or, "autumnal trees." Now it is in the autumn that we expect to find fruit on the trees; but they are without fruit. These men are marked by promise without performance, for they are twice dead — first by nature and then as coming under the judgment of God. In speaking of them as rooted up, Jude no doubt views them prophetically as having come under judgment.
They are also like waves of the sea raging and foaming, for they were uncontrolled save by the power of Satan; and it was their own shame that they displayed. The word, we are told is in the plural "shames"; and means the things which were a shame to them, and not that they felt any shame in them. Probably they did not, but gloried in them.
Fifthly, they were like wandering stars or meteors, in that their light was soon to be quenched in the blackness of darkness for ever. This again speaks of judgment, and brings us back to the point we reached at the end of verses 11 and 12. We all know the speed with which the meteor sweeps across the heavens and burns out into darkness. Thus it would be with them. They had no steady light to give.
We find then that the last words of each of the three verses (11, 12, 13) indicate judgment; and now in verses 14 and 15 Jude tells us plainly how the judgment will fall upon these apostates. It will be by direct intervention of the Lord, appearing in His glory, which had been predicted even from the days of Enoch.
All the information that Scripture affords as to this remarkable man is found in very few words, yet those words are full of significance. Genesis v. tells us of the exalted character of his life, walking with God for no less than three hundred years. It tells us also of his glorious finish, translated into God's presence. Hebrews 11 tells us of his faith, the power of both his life and his translation. In Jude we discover that he was a prophet, and, as far as we know, the earliest of all the prophets.
The first prophet spoke of the closing scenes as regards man's day, when the Lord will come with myriads of His holy ones for the execution of judgment. His words make it very evident that when He does come man's iniquity will have reached its climax, and be so open and flagrant that judgment by conviction and execution is inevitable. The repetition of the word ungodly in verse 15 is very striking. It will be a case of ungodly men doing and saying the most ungodly things in very ungodly fashion. At His coming the Lord will convict them, bringing home their guilt to them so that they have to acknowledge it: then He will execute judgment upon them.
From the very earliest times then it has been a revealed truth that the Lord Himself will appear to deal with man's unblushing evil; though not until New Testament times did it appear that the Lord Jesus is the Jehovah who is to come. He will not come because the Gospel has prepared the world to receive Him, as so many still think. He will come to cleanse the earth by judgment, attended by His saints. Other scriptures inform us who these saints are, and how they reach the heavens in order to come forth with Him. The Gospel will have accomplished its appointed work in gathering saints out of the world for heaven. Then judgment will take its course.
We have further description, and exposure of these men who crept in unawares, in verses 16 to 19. It is really very remarkable how the Spirit of God labours to make their character clear to us so that we may be able to identify them. They are said to be murmurers and complainers; that is, unsatisfied persons with grievances; the reason of it all lying not in those against whom they have the grievance, but in their own lusts. Their lusts so dominate them that nothing would satisfy them. They talk great things — about themselves no doubt — and they love grandiose language, while at the same time they fawn upon and flatter influential people in order to get something out of them for their own benefit. What a contemptible picture all this presents to us!
Jude also bids us remember the things that had been said by the Apostles of the Lord before he wrote this Epistle. It is in 2 Peter 3:3 that we read about mockers coming in the last time walking after their own lusts, but evidently the other Apostles had testified to the same effect. The men that Jude had in view were of that stamp: they were sensual or natural men, not having the Spirit. To have the Spirit is the infallible mark of really belonging to Christ. Jude describes them also as "they who separate themselves." It is very much open to question whether the word "themselves" is really in the original, and the R.V. puts it simply "who make separations." The Holy Spirit is the power of unity. These men without the Spirit were the fomenters of disunity. With this word Jude's description of them comes to an end.
A darker picture of ungodliness it would be impossible to conceive. The description begins with the turning of the grace of God into lasciviousness, and the denying of the only Master and Lord. It ends with the making of divisions, as being utterly destitute of the Spirit of God. Yet they had crept in among the saints unawares. Still God would find them out, and as apostates they will perish.
Now Jude does not only enlighten us as to the evil; he uses it as an incentive to the diligent pursuit of what is good, as far as we are concerned. In verse 20 he again appeals to the true saints of God, and he indicates what is to mark them in the presence of all these difficulties. His instructions fall naturally under four heads.
First, we are to build ourselves up on our most holy faith. Note the wording carefully. It does not say that we are to build up the faith. We have already seen in the Epistle that the faith is committed to us as a perfect and completed thing. It needs no building up: we can add nothing to it. It is we who need the building up. We may have received the faith, and taken our stand upon it in faith. That is the right and true beginning, but we must not stop at that point; we need to be built up on it so that it becomes our very life. We can never be too fully instructed in it or too solidly established on it. Jude speaks of it as "most holy." We have not got today a most holy place as Israel had of old: we have instead a most holy faith. It is not to be trespassed upon or tampered with. None shall do so with impunity. Only fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
Let us recall at this point that the main burden of the Epistle is that we should earnestly contend for the faith. Our being built up on it is undoubtedly a prerequisite for this. Some folk, who love a fight for its own sake, would rush into conflict on behalf of a cause which they understand but imperfectly, if at all. But this is not to be the way of the called ones who are beloved in God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ. The faith must be the basis on which we are built up before it becomes the banner for which we fight. And the more we are really built up on it, the more we shall be morally and spiritually equipped to enter into the conflict.
In the second place there must be this "praying in the Holy Ghost." Not, "to the Holy Ghost," as though we were to conceive of Him as an Object of faith, outside ourselves. It is "in" Him that we are to pray. Now prayer is the expression of dependence upon God, who is outside ourselves. We are very dependent, and we are to know it, and confess it practically in prayer. In this we shall be the very opposite of the ungodly men whom Jude has described to us. They feel themselves to be entirely sufficient to themselves, and because of it they despise dominion and are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
Our prayers however are to be in the Spirit; that is, we are to pray as those who are controlled by the indwelling Spirit, and who consequently ask for the things that are according to His mind. Prayer, which springs from the Holy Spirit acting in the hearts of the saints, is sure to be both fervent and effectual.
In the third place we are to keep ourselves in the love of God. In the consciousness and warmth and power of it we are to dwell. We are persuaded of course with Paul that nothing "shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:39). His love has a firm hold on us, and He will never let us go. But we are also to have a firm hold upon it in the quiet recesses of our hearts. We are to be bathed in it, just like a bucket or other vessel which has been flung into the ocean. Then it is in the ocean, and the ocean is in it. So if we keep ourselves in the love of God, the love of God will be in us, imparting its beautiful character to our lives.
Again let us remind ourselves that this is said to saints who are exhorted to contend earnestly for the faith. In the warmth of contention nothing is easier than to get irritated, and even to lose one's temper. If we keep ourselves in the love of God, our spirits are lifted above irritations that proceed from awkward or evil men and their reasonings. A believer may find himself entangled in controversy with men who are far more than a match for him on the intellectual plane, but if he is himself well built up on the faith, and if praying in the Spirit, he keeps himself in the love of God, he will not come off second best in the conflict. He may not convince his opponents, but any bystanders will be aware that they have witnessed something greater than mere intellectualism.
In the fourth place, we are to be looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. There is much that we have today, but there is more to follow. We are people with a prospect. The evil men may multiply around us and the full apostasy may approach, but we have a wonderful outlook and great expectations in the coming of the Lord. We look for His coming into the air, according to 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, when He will receive His saints to Himself. This great action of His is described as mercy. We do not deserve it, any more than we deserved to be forgiven or redeemed. But we are going to get it, simply on the ground of mercy. It will be an act of mercy, crowning all the other acts of mercy that have characterised His dealing with us. And it will land us to eternal life in its fullest sense. We shall then not only have the life, but also be in the scenes where that life has its home and expands to the fullest extent.
But the exhortation is that we keep actively looking for this wonderful consummation. We are not to set our expectations upon improvement either in world or church. We are not even looking for revivals — though God may in His mercy grant something of that sort, and if He does we shall rejoice and thank Him. No, we are looking for the coming of the Lord; and the more brightly that hope burns within our breasts the more shall we rightly sustain the conflict for the faith.
Judes' four exhortations, then, concern respectively, the faith, the Holy Spirit, the love of God, and the coming mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. In regard to these we are to be building up, praying, keeping ourselves, and looking. These exhortations are very personal, appealing to each who loves the Lord.
In verses 22 and 23 we get further exhortations as to our attitude towards two different classes of people; designated as "some" and "others." These are neither the evil man denounced in the Epistle, nor the God-fearing saints to whom the Epistle is addressed.
The "some" of verse 22 appear to be people who have to some extent been affected or ensnared by the evil men. Such must be carefully distinguished and treated with compassion. The "others" contemplated in verse 23, have evidently become more deeply involved in the evil and contaminated by it. Even these however are to be saved if possible, though the one who would rescue them must set about it in a spirit far removed from self-confidence. He must fear the fire that threatens to devour them, and hate the flesh that has defiled them. Only if he goes about it in that spirit will he escape being burnt or defiled himself, and so be able to rescue them.
This is a very important word for us, for we are naturally very inclined to treat alike all who are in any way implicated in such ungodly things. We may discern the evil and feel most strongly against it and so be very ready to lump all together, the misled with the misleaders, leaving them in their defilement with nothing before them but the fire. This must not be. We must remember the word, "making a difference."
When we come to verses 24 and 25, how delightful is the contrast with all that has preceded! We come out from the darkness of human wickedness and apostasy, and even from the contentions and efforts of true saints in the presence of the evil, into the clear light of the power and glory of God. Our eyes are lifted to "Him that is able to keep you from falling." Here, and here only, is real rest for the heart.
We are to contend for the faith, building up ourselves on it, and we are to labour to rescue others from defilement and doom, but we can find no repose in ourselves or our efforts. We may have grace to keep ourselves in the love of God, at least in some degree, yet we can only find rest in the fact that He is able to keep us from falling, and present us faultless before the presence of His glory.
Since He is able, we have only ourselves to blame for any tumbles we get on the way. Yet though we may tumble we shall not ultimately fall. We shall be presented in the presence of His glory when forth it shines, and not even the light of that glory shall discover a fault in us. How amazing! How excellent! What a triumph for the grace and power of God!
Nothing remains but to bow in the presence of that Saviour-God, through the Lord Jesus, and ascribe to Him glory, majesty, dominion and power, both now and to all ages. Amen. | English | NL | a5cbe074167fcdac5fd0df56b141056a5c8b7ca4939a9d2f7d3556094b3077e2 |
1[1-5] Solomon, David’s son, was strengthened in his lands, and Yahweh God was with him, and made him very well known. Solomon ruled all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the ancestors’ houses. So Solomon and all the assembly went to the high place that was at Gibeon because that was the Place of Worship of God, which Moses, the follower of Yahweh, had made out in the countryside. But David had brought the Chest of God up from Kiriath Jearim to the place that David had prepared for it because he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem. Besides this, the bronze altar Bezalel of Uri, of Hur, had made was there before the tent of Yahweh; and Solomon and the assembly went to it.
[6-10] Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before Yahweh, which was at the Place of Worship, and offered 1,000 burnt offerings on it. That night God appeared to Solomon, saying to him, “Ask whatever you want and I’ll give it to you.” So Solomon said to God, “You’ve shown great loving kindness to David my father, and have made me ruler in his place. Now, Yahweh God, let your promise to David, my father, come to pass because you’ve made me ruler over a people like the dust of the earth in number. Now give me wisdom and knowledge, so that I may go out and come in before this people. Who can judge so many of Your people?”
[11 -12] Then God said to Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you haven’t asked for riches, wealth, or honor, nor for the life of those who hate you, neither still have you asked for long life; but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people, over whom I’ve made you ruler; I’ll give you wisdom and knowledge; and I’ll also give you riches, wealth, and honor, more than any of the rulers have had who have come before you; neither will there be any after you like this.”
[13-17] So Solomon came from the high place at Gibeon, from the Place of Worship to Jerusalem and ruled over Israel. Solomon gathered war vehicles and horse riders; and he had 1,400 war vehicles, and 12,000 horse riders, that he placed in their cities, and with the ruler at Jerusalem. The ruler brought silver and gold to Jerusalem, as common as stones, and he made cedars to be as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland. The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt from Kue; the ruler’s sales people purchased them from Kue. They brought up out of Egypt a war vehicle for 600 pieces of silver, and a horse for 150; and sold them to all the rulers of the Hittites, and the rulers of Syria.
2[1 -10] Solomon planned to build a house for the Name of Yahweh, and a house for himself. Solomon counted out 71,000 workers, and 81,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 overseers. Solomon sent word to Huram the ruler of Tyre, saying, “As you dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build him a house in which to live, even so deal with me. See, I’m about to build a house for the Name of Yahweh my God, to dedicate it to God, and to burn incense of sweet spices in worship, and for the continual showbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Seventh Days, and on the new moons, and on the set celebrations of Yahweh our God. This is a law forever to Israel. The house which I build must be great because our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to build a house for God, seeing heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t hold God in? Who am I then, that I should build a house for God, except to burn incense to God in worship? So send me anyone skillful to work in gold, silver, brass, iron, purple, crimson, and blue, and who knows how to engrave all kinds of carvings, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father, gave. Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon because I know that Your workers know how to cut wood in Lebanon; and see, my workers will be with your workers, to prepare me much wood because the house which I’m about to build will be very great and wonderful. See, I’ll give to your workers, the cutters who cut wood, 20,000 measures of beaten wheat, and 20,000 measures of barley, and 120,000 gallons of wine, and 120,000 gallons of oil.
[11-16] Then Huram, the ruler of Tyre, answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, “Because Yahweh loves the people of God, God has made you ruler over them.” Huram continued, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who has given to David, the ruler, a wise son, gifted with good judgment and understanding, who can build a house for Yahweh, and a house for himself. Now I’ve sent a skillful worker, gifted with understanding, Huram-abi, the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan; and his father was from Tyre. He’s skillful in the working of gold, silver, brass, iron, stone, wood, purple, blue, fine linen, and in crimson, also to engrave any kind of carving, and to make anything; that there may be a place given to him with your skilled workers, and with the skilled workers of David your father. So the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which you’ve spoken of, send it to these workers; and we’ll cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as you’ll need; and we’ll bring it to you in floats by sea to Joppa (modern Tel Aviv-Yafo, or also known as Tel Aviv-Jaffa); and you’ll carry it up to Jerusalem.”
[17-18] Solomon counted all the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, after the numbering with which David his father had counted them; and they were found to be 153,600. He set 70,000 of them to be workers, and 80,000 who were stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 overseers to set the people to work.
3[1-5] Then Solomon began to build the Place of Worship of Yahweh at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh appeared to David his father, which he built in the place that David had set aside, in the threshing floor of Ornan, the Jebusite. He began to build on the 2nd day of the second month (Ziv, Iyar, Apr-May), in the 4th year of his rule. Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for the building of the House of God. The first measure by feet was 90’x 30’. The porch that was before the house, its length, according to the width of the house was 30’, and the height 180’; and he overlaid the inside with pure gold. He made a ceiling for the greater house with fir wood, which he overlaid with fine gold, and decorated it with palm trees and chains.
[6-13] He decorated the house with precious stones for beauty; and the gold was gold of Parvaim. He overlaid the house, the posts, the doorways, the walls, and the doors with gold; and engraved cherubim (angelic winged creatures) on the walls. He made the Most Holy Place; its length equal to the width of the house was 30’, and its width 30’; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to 45,000 lbs. The weight of the nails was equal to about the weight of 50 gold coins. He overlaid the upper rooms with gold. In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of carved work; and they overlaid them with gold. The wings of the cherubim were 30’ long; the wing of one cherub was 7 ½’, reaching to the wall of the room; and the other wing was also 7 ½’, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. The wing of the other cherub was 7 ½’, reaching to the wall of the room; and the other wing was 7 ½’ also, joining to the wing of the other cherub. All together, the wings of these cherubim spread 30’; and they stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the room.
[14-17] He made the veil of blue, purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and decorated it with cherubim. Also he made in front of the house two pillars of 52 ½’ high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was 7 ½’. He made chains in the inner sanctuary, and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made 100 pomegranates, and put them on the chains. He put the pillars up before the Place of Worship, one on each side; and called the name of the one on the right hand Jachin, and the name of the one on the left Boaz.
4[1-5] Then he made an altar of brass, 30’ long by 30’ wide, and 15’ high. Also he made the molten sea of 15’ from brim to brim, round; and it was 7 ½’ high; and it was 45’ around it. Under it were sculptures of cows, which surrounded the sea at15’ all around it. The cows were in two rows, when it was cast. It stood on 12 cows, three each looking toward the north, west, south, and east; and the sea was set above them, and all their hinds were inward. It was 3” thick; and the brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily; it held 18,000 gallons. He also made ten bowls, and put five on each side, to wash in them; they washed the things that were used for the burnt offering in them; but the sea was for the preachers to wash in.
[7-10] He made the ten lampstands of gold according to the rule about them; and he set them in the Place of Worship, five on each side. He made also ten tables, and placed them in the Place of Worship, five on each side. He made 100 bowls of gold. Also he made the court of the preachers, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid all the doors with brass. He set the sea on the right side of the house in the southeast corner.
[11-16] Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work that he did for ruler Solomon in the House of God; the two pillars, the bowls, and the two capitals which were on the top of the pillars, and the two lattices to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars, and the 400 pomegranates for the two lattices; two rows of pomegranates for each lattice, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars. He also made the bases, and he made the bowls on the bases; one sea, and the 12 cows under it. The pots also, the shovels, and the forks, and all the tools, Huram-abi made for ruler Solomon for the Place of Worship of Yahweh of bright brass.
[17-22] Solomon had them cast in the field of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. So Solomon made all these pots, so many, the weight of all the brass couldn’t be found out. Solomon made all the pots that were in the House of God, the golden altar also, the tables with the showbread on them; and the lampstands with their lamps, to burn according to the rule before the inner sanctuary, of pure gold; the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs were of pure gold; and the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons, and the fire pans were of pure gold; and as for the entry of the house, the inner doors for the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall of the Place of Worship were of gold.
5[1-5] So all the work that Solomon did for the Place of Worship of Yahweh was finished. Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, all the silver and gold, and all the pots, and put them in the treasuries of the House of God. Then Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the family groups, the leaders of the ancestors’ houses of the people of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the Chest of the promised agreement of Yahweh out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the people of Israel gathered themselves to the ruler at the celebration, which was in the 7th month (Tishri, Sept.-Oct.). All the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the Chest; and they brought up the Chest, and the Place of Worship, and all the holy pots that were in the Tent; all these the preachers, the Levites, brought up.
[6-10] King Solomon and all the people of Israel, that were gathered to him were before the Chest, sacrificing sheep and cows, so many that they couldn’t be counted. The preachers brought in the Chest of the promised agreement of Yahweh to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim (angelic winged creatures). They spread out their wings over the place of the Chest, and covered the Chest and its poles from above. The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Chest before the inner sanctuary; but they weren’t seen outside; and there it is to today. There wasn’t anything in the Chest except the two tables which Moses put there at Horeb when Yahweh made an agreement with the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt.
[11-14] When the preachers had come out of the holy place, (for all the preachers who were there had dedicated themselves, and didn’t keep their divisions; also the Levites who were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brothers, clothed in fine linen with cymbals and lyres and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them 120 preachers sounding horns;) The horn players and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Yahweh; and when they raised their voices with the horns and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Yahweh, sang, God is good, whose loving kindness lasts forever; then the House of God was filled with a cloud, the Place of Worship of Yahweh, so that the preachers couldn’t stand to minister because the cloud of the glory of Yahweh filled the House of God.
6[1 -6] Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said, ‘I will live in the thick darkness.’ But I’ve built a House of God, and a place for Yahweh to live in forever.” The ruler turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel stood up. He said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel who said to David my father, and has done it, saying, ‘Since the day that I brought forth My people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the family groups of Israel to build a house in, that My Name would be there; neither chose I anyone to be head over My people Israel; but I’ve chosen Jerusalem, that My Name would be there; and have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
[7-11] Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the Name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. But Yahweh said to David my father, ‘Even though it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you did well that it was in your heart; but you won’t build the house; your son who will come from your body, he’ll build the house for My Name.’ Yahweh has done what was said because I sit in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the House for the Name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. There I have set the Chest, in which is the Promised Agreement of Yahweh which God made with the people of Israel.”
[12-16] He stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands (for Solomon had made a bronze scaffold, 7 ½ ‘ x 7 ½ ‘, and 4 ½ ‘ high, and had set it in the middle of the court; and he stood on it, and kneeled down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven; ) and he said, “Yahweh, God of Israel, there’s no God like You, in heaven, or on earth; who keeps the Promised Agreement and shows loving kindness to Your workers who walk before You with all their heart; who have kept with Your worker David my father what You promised him; yes, You said with Your mouth, and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is today. So now, Yahweh, God of Israel, keep with Your worker David my father what You’ve promised him, saying, ‘There won’t fail to be someone in My sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children be careful to keep their way, to walk in My law as you’ve walked before Me.’
[17-21] So now, Yahweh, God of Israel, let Your word be done which You said to Your worker David. But will God truly live with human beings on the earth? See, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain You; how much less this house which I’ve built! Still, You have honored the prayer of Your worker, and my prayer, Yahweh my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your worker prays before You; that Your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place where You’ve said that You’d put Your Name; to listen to the prayer which Your worker will pray toward this place. Listen to the requests of Your worker, and of Your people Israel when they’ pray toward this place; yes, hear from Your place in heaven; and when You hear, forgive us.
[22-25] If anyone sins against their neighbor, and an oath is put on them to cause them to make a promise, and they come and make a promises before Your altar in this house; then hear from heaven, and act, and judge Your workers, bringing justice on the sinful, to bring their way on their own head; and justifying the good, to give them according to their goodness. If Your people Israel be fought down before the enemy, because they’ve sinned against You, and will turn back and call on Your Name, and pray before You in this house; then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which You gave to them and to their ancestors.
[26 -33] When the sky is shut up, and there’s no rain, because they’ve sinned against You; if they pray toward this place, and call on Your Name, and turn from their sin when You trouble them; then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your workers, and of Your people Israel when You teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land, which You’ve given to Your people for an inheritance. If there’s a lack of food in the land, if there’s disease, if there’s blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there’s; whatever prayer is prayed by any person, or by all Your people Israel, who will each know their own trial and their own sorrow, and will spread out their hands toward this house; then hear from Your home in heaven and forgive, and give to everyone according to their ways, whose heart You know; (for You and You only know the hearts of the people;) that they may respect You, to walk in Your ways, so long as they live in the land which You gave to our ancestors. Besides this, about the foreigner who isn’t of Your people Israel, when they come from a far country for Your great Name’s sake, and Your strong hand, and Your outstretched arm; when they come and pray toward this house; then hear from Your home in heaven, and do what the foreigner asks of You; that all the peoples of the earth may know Your Name, and respect You, as does Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I’ve built is called by Your Name.
[34-39] If Your people go out to fight against their enemies, by whatever way You send them, and they pray to You toward this city which You’ve chosen, and the house which I’ve built for Your Name; then hear from heaven their prayer and their request, and take their case. If they sin against You (for there’s no one who doesn’t sin), and You’re angry with them, and give them to the enemy, so that they carry them away prisoner to a land far off or near; still if they’ll repent themselves in the land where they’ve been carried prisoner, and turn back, and pray to You in the land where they’ve been taken, saying, ‘We’ve sinned, We’ve done wrong, and have acted evil;’ if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land where they’ve been taken, where they’ve been carried prisoner, and pray toward their land, which You gave to their ancestors, and the city which You’ve chosen, and toward the house which I’ve built for Your Name; then hear from heaven, even from where You are, their prayer and their requests, and take their case, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.
[40-42] Now, my God, let, I beg You, Your eyes be open, and let Your ears pay attention, to the prayer that is made in this place. So now, come up, Yahweh God, into Your resting place, You, and the Chest of Your strength; let Your preachers, Yahweh God, be clothed with Your saving grace, and let Your saints be happy in goodness. Yahweh God, don’t turn away the face of Your anointed; remember Your loving kindnesses to David Your worker.”
7[1-5] Now when Solomon had finished praying, the fire came down from heaven, and burnt up the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the brightness of Yahweh’s glory filled the house. The preachers couldn’t go into the Place of Worship of Yahweh, because the brightness of Yahweh filled God’s house. All the people of Israel looked on when the fire came down, and the glory of Yahweh was on the house; and they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped, and gave thanks to Yahweh, saying, God is good whose loving kindness lasts forever. Then the ruler and all the people offered sacrifices before Yahweh.
[5-8] King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 cows, and 120,000 sheep. So the ruler and all the people dedicated the House of God. The preachers stood, according to their offices; the Levites also with instruments of music of Yahweh, which David the ruler had made to give thanks to Yahweh, whose loving kindness lasts forever, when David praised God by their ministry; and the preachers sounded horns before them; and all Israel stood. Besides this, Solomon made the middle of the court holy that was before the Place of Worship of Yahweh because there he offered the burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar, which Solomon had made wasn’t able to hold the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the fat. So Solomon held the celebration at that time seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the River of Egypt.
[9-11] On the 8th day they held a solemn assembly because they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the celebration seven days. On the 23rd day of the 7th month (Tishri Sept.-Oct.) he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad hearted for the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David and Solomon, and to Israel God’s people. So Solomon finished the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and the ruler’s house; and whatever came into Solomon’s heart to make in the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and in his own house, he finished well.
[12-16] Then Yahweh appeared to Solomon by night, saying to him, “I’ve heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself for a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the sky so that there’s no rain, or if I tell the locust to destroy the land, or if I send disease among My people; If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves, and pray, and turn to Me, and turn from their sinful ways; then I’ll hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. Now my eyes will see and my ears will hear the prayer that is made in this place. For now I’ve chosen and made this house holy, that My Name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there continually.
[17-22] As for you, if you’ll walk before me as David your father walked, and do like what I’ve told you, and will keep My laws and My rules; then I’ll set up the throne of your land, as I promised David your father, saying, There won’t fail you someone to be ruler in Israel. But if you turn away from My laws and My words which I’ve set before you, and go and serve false gods, and worship them; then I’ll pluck the people up by the roots out of My land which I’ve given them; and this house, which I’ve made holy for My Name I’ll put out of My sight, and I’ll make it a saying and a mockery among all peoples. This house, which is so high, everyone who passes by it will be shocked, and say, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this land and this house?’ And they’ll answer, ‘Because they left Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and took hold of other gods, worshiping them and serving them; so God has brought all this evil on them.’”
8[1-6] At the end of 20 years, in which Solomon had built the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and his own house, the cities which Huram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them, and made the people of Israel to live there. Solomon went to Hamath Zobah, and was strong against it. He built Tadmor in the countryside, and all the storage cities, which he built in Hamath. He also built Beth Horon, the upper and the lower, protected cities, with walls, gates, and bars; and Baalath, and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his war vehicles, and the cities for his horse riders, and whatever Solomon wanted to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
[7-11] As for all the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who weren’t of Israel; of their children who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel didn’t kill, Solomon made them workers and taxed them to today. But of the people of Israel, Solomon didn’t make any workers for his work; but they were soldiers, and leader of his captains, and rulers of his war vehicles and of his horse riders. These were the head officers of Solomon, 250 who ruled over the people. Solomon brought the daughter of the Ruler of Egypt out of the city of David to the house that he had built for her because he said, “My wife won’t live in the house of David ruler of Israel, because the places are holy, where the Chest of Yahweh has come.”
[12 -15] Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to Yahweh on the altar of Yahweh, which he had built before the porch, as the duty of everyday required, offering according to the word of Moses, on the Seventh Days, on the new moons, and on the set celebrations, three times in the year, even in the celebration of bread made without yeast, and in the celebration of weeks, and in the Celebration of Booths. He set, according to the rule of David his father, the divisions of the preachers to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise, and to minister before the preachers, as the duty of everyday required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate as David the follower of God had told him. They didn’t change the word of the ruler to the preachers and Levites in any way, or change anything about the treasures.
[16-18] Now all the work of Solomon was done from the day of the foundation of the Place of Worship of Yahweh until it was finished. So the Place of Worship of Yahweh was finished. Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber, and to Eloth, on the seashore in the land of Edom (Arab nations). Huram sent him by the hands of his workers ships, and workers who had knowledge of the sea; and they came with the workers of Solomon to Ophir, and picked up from there 33,750 lbs of gold, and brought them to ruler Solomon.
9[1-4] When the Ruler of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great train of camels that had spices, and much gold, and precious stones; and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him of what was in her heart. Solomon answered all her questions; and Solomon didn’t keep any secrets from her. When the Ruler of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, the food on the table, the seating of the servants, the attendance of his ministers and their clothing, his cup bearers and their clothing also, and the grand steps by which he went up to the Place of Worship of Yahweh; there was no more spirit in her.
[5-9] She said to the ruler, “It was true what I heard in my own land about your acts, and your wisdom. But I didn’t believe their words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and see, the half of the greatness of your wisdom wasn’t told me; you’re more famous than what I had heard. Happy are your people and Your workers, who stand continually before you, and hear your wisdom. Blessed be Yahweh, your God, who was pleased to set you on the throne, to be ruler for Yahweh, your God; because your God loved Israel, to set them up forever, so God made you ruler over them, to do justice and goodness.” She gave the ruler 9,000 lbs of gold, and many spices and precious stones; nor was there any spice like the ruler of Sheba gave to the ruler Solomon.
[10-12] The workers also of Huram and of Solomon, who brought the gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees, and precious stones. The ruler made of the algum trees porches for the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and for the ruler’s house, and harps and lyres for the singers; and there were none seen like this ever before in the land of Judah. King Solomon gave to the ruler of Sheba everything she wanted, whatever she asked for, Besides this, what she had brought the ruler. So she went back to her own land, she and her workers.
[13-19] Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 49, 950 lbs (666 talents) of gold, Besides this, what the traders and sales peoples brought; and all the rulers of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. King Solomon made 200 shields of beaten gold with 600 gold coins going into each shield. He also made 300 smaller shields of beaten gold with 300 gold coins going into each one; and the ruler put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. Besides this, the ruler made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and armrests on either side of the seat, and two lions standing beside them. There were 12 lions that stood on each side of the six steps; there wasn’t anything like it made in any country before.
[20-24] All ruler Solomon’s drinking cups were of gold, and all the dishes of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver wasn’t of any value in the days of Solomon. For the ruler had ships that went to Tarshish with the workers of Huram; the ships of Tarshish came once every three years, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. So ruler Solomon was greater than all the rulers of the earth in riches and wisdom. All the rulers of the earth went to Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. They brought their tax money, pots of silver and gold, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules, a set rate year by year.
[25-31] Solomon had 4,000 stalls of horses and war vehicles, and 12,000 riders that he had in the war vehicle cities and with the ruler at Jerusalem. He ruled over all the rulers from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. The ruler made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones and cedars as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland. They brought horses for Solomon out of Egypt, and out of all lands. Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from the first to the last, are written in The History of Nathan the Preacher, and in The Preaching of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in The Visions of Iddo the Preacher about Jeroboam of Nebat. Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years. Solomon died and was buried with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father; and Rehoboam his son ruled in his place.
10[1-5 Rehoboam went to Shechem because all Israel had come to Shechem to make him ruler. When Jeroboam of Nebat heard it, (for he was in Egypt, where he had run away from the ruler Solomon), he came back from Egypt. They sent and called him; and Jeroboam and all Israel came, and they said to Rehoboam, “Your father made our service very hard; So now make that very hard service of your father, and the hard jobs he put on us, lighter, and we’ll serve you. So he said to them, Come back to me after three days” and the people left.
[6-11] King Rehoboam counseled with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he still lived, saying, “What answer can you give me to say to these people?” They said to him, “If you’re kind to these people, and do what they want, and speak kindly to them, then they’ll be your workers forever.” But he didn’t take the advice of the old men which they had given him, and counseled with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. He said to them, “What answer can you give me that we may say to these people, who have said to me, ‘Make the service that your father put on us lighter?’” The young men who had grown up with him said to him, “You should tell the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our service hard, but make it lighter to us;’ you should say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s penis. Now while my father put on you a hard service, I’ll add more to your service; my father punished you with whips, but I’ll punish you with scorpions.’”
[12-19] So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the ruler had said, “Come back to me the third day.” The ruler answered them roughly; and he refused the advice of the old men, saying to them what the young men had said, “My father made your service hard, but I’ll add to it; my father punished you with whips, but I’ll punish you with scorpions.” So the ruler didn’t listen to the people because it was brought about of God that Yahweh would prove the word which was said by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam of Nebat. When all Israel saw that the ruler didn’t listen to them, the people answered him, saying, “What part do we have in David? nor do we have any part in the son of Jesse; everyone to your tents, Israel; now see to your own house, David.” So all Israel went to their tents. But as for the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam ruled over them. Then ruler Rehoboam sent Hadoram who was over their workers; and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. Ruler Rehoboam quickly got into his war vehicle, and ran to Jerusalem. So Israel rebelled against the house of David to today.
11[1 -4] When Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he gathered the people of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 of the best soldiers, who were warriors, to fight against Israel, to take the country back for Rehoboam. But the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah, the follower of God, saying, “Speak to Rehoboam, son of Solomon, ruler of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, Yahweh says, You won’t go up, nor fight against your family members; everyone go back home because this thing is of Me. So they listened to the words of Yahweh, and didn’t fight against Jeroboam.
[5-13] Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah. He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, all protected cities. He protected the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of food, and oil and wine. He put shields and spears in every city, and made them very strong. Judah and Benjamin belonged to him. The preachers and the Levites who were in all Israel came to him out of all their borders.
[14-17] The Levites left their borders and their homes, and came to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons threw them out so that they couldn’t do the preacher’s office for Yahweh; and he set up his own preachers for the places of false worship, and for the false gods, and the golden calves which he had made. After them, out of all the family groups of Israel, those that set their hearts to worship Yahweh, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors. So they strengthened the land of Judah, and made Rehoboam of Solomon strong for three years because they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.
[18 -23] Rehoboam took a wife, Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth, son of David and Abihail, the daughter of Eliab, son of Jesse; and she had Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. After her he took Maacah, the daughter of Absalom; and she had Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. Rehoboam loved Maacah, the daughter of Absalom, more than all his other wives and his mistresses; (for he took 18 wives, and 60 mistresses, and had 28 sons and 60 daughters.) Rehoboam made Abijah, of Maacah, to be leader, even the head of his family because he thought to make him ruler. He dealt wisely, and put all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, in every protected city; and he gave them much food. He searched for them many wives.
12[1-4] When Rehoboam had set up his country and he was strong, he stopped following the law of Yahweh, and all Israel with him. In the 5th year of ruler Rehoboam, Shishak, ruler of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem because they had sinned against Yahweh, with 1200 war vehicles, 60,000 riders, and so many people they couldn’t be counted, who came with him out of Egypt; the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians. He took the protected cities which belonged to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.
[5-8] Now Shemaiah, the preacher, came to Rehoboam, and to the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, saying to them, “Yahweh says, You’ve left Me, so I have also left you in the hand of Shishak.” Then the leaders of Israel and the ruler humbled themselves and said, “Yahweh is good.” When Yahweh saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah, saying, “They’ve humbled themselves, so I won’t destroy them; but I’ll give them some victory, and My anger won’t be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. But they’ll be his workers, that they may know the difference between My service, and the service of the nations.
[9-12] So Shishak ruler of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away all the treasures of the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and all the treasures of the ruler’s house; he also took away the shields of gold which Solomon had made. Ruler Rehoboam made in their place shields of brass, and put them in the hands of the leaders of the guard, who kept the door of the ruler’s house. As often as the ruler went into the Place of Worship of Yahweh, the guard came and had them, and brought them back into the guard room. When he humbled himself, the anger of Yahweh turned from him, so as not to destroy him altogether; and everything went well in Judah.
[13-16] So Ruler Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and ruled. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled 17 years in Jerusalem, the city which Yahweh had chosen out of all the family groups of Israel, where God’s Name was. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. He did what was evil, because he didn’t set his heart to worship Yahweh Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are written in the histories of Shemaiah, the preacher, and of Iddo, the preacher, which lists the genealogies. There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. Rehoboam died, and was buried in the city of David; and Abijah his son ruled in his place.
13[1-5] In the 18th year of ruler Jeroboam, Abijah began to rule over Judah. He ruled three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. Abijah joined battle with a troop of brave soldiers, 400,000 of the best soldiers; and Jeroboam got ready to fight against him with 800,000 soldiers, who were strong experienced soldiers. Abijah stood up on MountZemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel! Ought you not to know that Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave the rule of Israel to David forever, even to him and his descendants by an agreement of salt?”
[6 -12] Still Jeroboam of Nebat, the worker of Solomon, son of David, went up, and rebelled against his leader. There were worthless men gathered to him, evil people, who strengthened themselves against Rehoboam, son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and immature, and couldn’t resist them. “Now you think to withstand the rule of Yahweh in the hand of the descendants of David; and you’re a great number, and there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for false gods. Haven’t you driven out the preachers of Yahweh, the descendants of Aaron, and the Levites, and made preachers like those of other lands? so that whoever comes to dedicate them self with a young bull and seven rams, the same may be a preacher of those who are no gods. But as for us, Yahweh is our God, and we haven’t left worshiping God; and we have preachers ministering to Yahweh, the descendants of Aaron, and the Levites in their work; and they burn to Yahweh every morning and evening burnt offerings and sweet incense; the showbread also they set in order on the pure table; and the lampstand of gold with its lamps, to burn every evening because we keep the charge of Yahweh our God; but you’ve left worshiping God. See, God is with us at our head, whose preacher’s horns will sound an alarm against you. People of Israel, don’t fight against Yahweh, the God of your ancestors because you won’t do well.”
[13-22 ] But Jeroboam sent an ambush to come up behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. When Judah looked back, the battle was in front and back of them; and they cried to Yahweh, and the preachers sounded the horns. Then the people of Judah gave a shout; and as the people of Judah shouted, God fought Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. The people of Israel ran before Judah; and God put them into their power. Abijah and his people killed them with a great slaughter; so 500,000 of the best soldiers of Israel died. So the people of Israel were brought under control at that time, and the people of Judah were strong, because they depended on Yahweh, the God of their ancestors. Abijah chased after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with its outskirts, Jeshanah with its outskirts, and Ephron with its outskirts. Jeroboam didn’t recover strength again in the days of Abijah; and Yahweh fought him, and he died. But Abijah grew strong, and took to himself 14 wives, and had 22 sons and 16 daughters. The rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and sayings, are written in the Book of the preacher Iddo.
14[1-5] So Abijah died, and was buried in the city of David; and Asa his son ruled in his place. In his days the land was peaceful ten years. Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of Yahweh God because he took away the foreign altars, and the places of false worship, and broke down the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherim (wooden idol representing a fertility god), and told Judah to worship Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, and to follow the law and the Word of God. Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the places of false worship and the sun gods; and his rule was peaceful.
[6-7] He built protected cities in Judah because the land was peaceful, and no war was fought in those years, because Yahweh had given him rest. Asa said to Judah, “Let us build these cities, and build walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars; the land is still before us, because we’ve served Yahweh our God; we’ve served God, who has given us rest on every side.” So they built the cities and did well. Asa had 300,000 armed troops out of Judah; and 280,000 out of Benjamin; all these were strong experienced soldiers.
[9-11] Then Zerah the Ethiopian came against them with a troop of a million soldiers, and 300 war vehicles; and he came to Mareshah. Then Asa went out to meet him, and they got ready for battle in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. Asa cried to Yahweh God, saying, “Yahweh, there’s no one Besides this, You to help, between the strong and those who have no strength; help us, Yahweh our God because we depend on You, and in Your Name do we fight against this great number. Yahweh, You’re our God; don’t let a human being triumph against You.”
[12-15] So Yahweh fought the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians ran. Asa and the people who were with him chased them to Gerar; and so many of the Ethiopians fell that they couldn’t recover and were destroyed before Yahweh and before the people of God; and they carried away very many valuables. They fought all the cities around Gerar because the fear of Yahweh came on them; and they took all the cities because there was much stuff in them. They took also the holds of livestock, and carried away many sheep and camels, and went back to Jerusalem.
15[1-7] The Spirit of God came on Azariah, son of Oded; and he went out to meet Asa, saying to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; Yahweh is with you while you’re with God; and if you look for God, you’ll find God; but if you leave God, God will leave you. Now for a long season Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching preacher, and without law; But when, in their trouble, they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and searched for God, they found God. In those times there was no peace to those who went out, nor to those who came in; but great troubles were on all the people of the lands. They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city because God troubled them with all kinds of disasters. But be strong, and don’t quit because your work will be rewarded.”
[8-10] When Asa heard these words, and the preaching of Oded the preacher, he took courage, and put away the horrible false gods out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill country of Ephraim; and he repaired the altar of Yahweh, that was before the porch of Yahweh. He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who stayed with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon because many came to him out of Israel when they saw that Yahweh God was with him. So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month (Sivan, May-June), in the 15th year of the rule of Asa.
[11-15] They sacrificed to Yahweh in that day, of the stuff which they had brought, 700 cows and 7,000 sheep. They made a promised agreement to worship Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and with all their soul; and that whoever wouldn’t worship Yahweh, the God of Israel, would be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. They sealed the promise to Yahweh with a loud voice of shouting, and with horns and cornets. All Judah was happy with the promise because they had made the promise with all their heart, and searched for God with all their soul; who was found of them; and Yahweh gave them rest all around.
[16-19] Also Maacah, the mother of Asa, the ruler, was removed from being queen, because she had made an Asherah (poles or trees used for the false worship of Astarte, Canaanite goddess of fortune and happiness, the supposed consort of Baal); and Asa cut down her false god, and made it ash, burning it at the Kidron River. But all the places of false worship weren’t taken out of Israel, though Asa’s heart was perfect all his days. He brought into the House of God the things that he and his father had dedicated, the silver, gold, and pots. There was no more war until the 35th year of the rule of Asa.
16[1-5] In the 36th year of the rule of Asa, Baasha ruler of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, so that he wouldn’t let anyone go out or come in to Asa ruler of Judah. Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the Place of Worship of Yahweh and of the ruler’s house, and sent to Ben Hadad ruler of Syria, who lived at Damascus, saying, “We have an agreement between us, as there was between my father and your father. See, I’ve sent you silver and gold; go, break your agreement with Baasha ruler of Israel, so that he’ll go away from me. So Ben Hadad listened to ruler Asa, and sent the captains of his troops against the cities of Israel; and they fought Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. When Baasha heard it, he stopped building Ramah, and let the work stop.
[6-9] Then Asa the ruler took all Judah; and they carried away the stones and wood of Ramah, with which Baasha had built; and he built Geba and Mizpah with it. At that time, Hanani, the preacher, came to Asa ruler of Judah, saying to him, “Because you’ve depended on the ruler of Syria, and haven’t depended on Yahweh your God, so the troops of the ruler of Syria will escape out of your power. Weren’t the Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge troop, with very many war vehicles and riders? Still, because you did depend on Yahweh, God handed them over to you. For Yahweh looks back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show up strong in behalf of those whose hearts completely trust in God. In this you’ve done wrong, so from here on out you’ll have wars.”
[10-14] Then Asa was angry with the preacher, and put him in prison because he was very angry with him because of this thing. Asa abused some of the people at the same time. See, the acts of Asa, from the first to the last, are all written in the book of the rulers of Judah and Israel. In the 39th year of his rule Asa was diseased in his feet; his foot disease was terrible, but he still didn’t trust in Yahweh, but only the doctors. Asa died in the 41st year of his rule. They buried him in his own grave, which he had cut out for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was full of perfumed oils mixed with various kinds of spices; and they made a very great burning for him.
17[1-6] Jehoshaphat, his son, ruled in his place, and strengthened himself against Israel. He placed troops in all the protected cities of Judah, and put protected cities in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa, his father, had taken. Yahweh was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the ways of his ancestor David, and didn’t worship the false Baal gods, but worshiped the God of his father, and followed him, and not the ways of Israel. So Yahweh let him rule; and all Judah brought Jehoshaphat tax money; and he had great riches and honor. His heart was set in the ways of Yahweh; and he also took away the places of false worship and the Asherim (wooden idol representing a fertility god) out of Judah.
[7-9] Also in the 3rd year of his rule he sent his leaders Ben Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah; and with them Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, the Levites; and also with them Elishama and Jehoram, the preachers. They taught in Judah, having the Book of the law of Yahweh with them; and they went throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.
[10-13] The fear of Yahweh fell on all the countries of the lands that were around Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat. Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and silver for tax money; the Arabians also brought him flocks, 7,700 rams, and 7,700 male goats. Jehoshaphat grew very powerful and built towers in Judah and storage cities. He had many buildings in the cities of Judah; and many strong experienced soldiers in Jerusalem.
[14 -19] This was their number according to their ancestors’ houses; Of Judah, the captains of thousands; Captain Adnah, and 300,000 strong experienced soldiers; next to him Captain Jehohanan, and 280,000; next to him Amasiah of Zichri, who willingly offered himself to Yahweh; and with him 200,000 strong experienced soldiers. Of Benjamin; Eliada, a very brave soldier, and 200,000 armed soldiers; and next to him Jehozabad and 180,000 ready for war. These were those who served the ruler, besides those whom the ruler put in the protected cities throughout all Judah.
18[1-5] Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor; and he joined forces with Ahab. After a few years, he went down to see Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cows for him, and for the people who were with him, and got him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead. Ahab, ruler of Israel, said to Jehoshaphat, ruler of Judah, “Will you go with me to Ramoth Gilead?” He answered him, “I’m as you are, and my people as your people; and we’ll go with you to war.” Jehoshaphat said to the ruler of Israel, “Please ask first for the word of Yahweh.” Then the ruler of Israel gathered 400 preachers together, saying to them, “Will we go to Ramoth Gilead to fight or not?” They said, “Go up and God will put it into the power of the ruler.”
[6-8] But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there a preacher of Yahweh here Besides this, them, that we may ask of him?” The ruler of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There’s still one more by whom we may ask of Yahweh; but I hate him because he never says anything good about me, but always foretells evil. He is Micaiah of Imla.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Don’t say that.” Then the ruler of Israel called an officer, saying, “Get Micaiah of Imla quickly.
[9-13] Now the ruler of Israel and Jehoshaphat the ruler of Judah sat each on his throne, clothed in their robes, and they were sitting in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the preachers were speaking before them. Zedekiah of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, saying, “Yahweh says, With these you’ll push the Syrians, until they’re all gone.” All the preachers said, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead, and you’ll do well because Yahweh will put it into the power of the ruler.” Then the messenger who went to call Micaiah said to him, “See, the words of the preachers foretell good to the ruler with one mouth; so let your words be like theirs, and say good things to him.” But Micaiah said, “As Yahweh lives, what my God says, that I’ll speak.”
[14 -22] When he had come to the ruler, the ruler said to him, “Micaiah, will we go to Ramoth Gilead to fight, or not?” He said, “Go up, and do well; and they’ll be given to you.” Then the ruler said to him, “How many times must I tell you to say to me nothing but the truth in the name of Yahweh?” So he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd; and Yahweh said, ‘These have no leader; let everyone go home in peace.’” The ruler of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he wouldn’t foretell anything good about me, but only evil?” Micaiah said, “So listen to the word of Yahweh; I saw Yahweh sitting on a throne, and all the troops of heaven standing on each side of God. Yahweh said, ‘Who will trick Ahab ruler of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ One said one thing, and another said something else. Then a spirit came, and stood before Yahweh, saying, ‘I’ll trick him.’ Yahweh said to him, ‘How?’ He said, ‘I’ll go and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his preachers.’ He said, ‘You’ll trick him, and triumph also; go, and do it.’ So now, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of your preachers; and Yahweh has foretold evil for you.”
[23-29] Then Zedekiah of Chenaanah came and hit Micaiah on the cheek saying, “When did the Spirit of Yahweh go from me to speak to you?” Micaiah said, “See, you’ll see on the day when you go into an inner room to hide yourself.” The ruler of Israel said, “Take Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the ruler’s son; and say, “The ruler says, ‘Put this man in prison, and feed him with the bread and water of trouble, until I return in peace.” So Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, Yahweh hasn’t spoken by me. Hear, you people, all of you.” So the ruler of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the ruler of Judah, went up to Ramoth Gilead. The ruler of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I’ll disguise myself, and go into the battle; but you put on your robes. So the ruler of Israel disguised himself; and they went into the battle.
[30-34] Now the ruler of Syria had told the captains of his war vehicles, Fight neither with small nor great, but only with the ruler of Israel. When the leaders of the war vehicles saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It’s the ruler of Israel. So they turned around to fight against him; but Jehoshaphat cried out, and Yahweh helped him; and God moved them to leave from him. When the leaders of the war vehicles saw that it wasn’t the ruler of Israel, they stopped chasing him. Then a certain man drew his weapon by chance, and hit the ruler of Israel between the joints of the armor. So he said to the driver of the war vehicle, “Turn around, and carry me out of the troops because I’m severely wounded. The battle grew harder that day; but the ruler of Israel stayed in his war vehicle fighting against the Syrians until evening; and about sundown, he died.
19[1-3] Jehoshaphat, the ruler of Judah, went back to his house in peace to Jerusalem. Jehu of Hanani the preacher went out to meet him, saying to ruler Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the sinful, and love those who hate Yahweh? Yahweh is angry at you for this. But there are good things found in you, in that you’ve put away the Asheroth (Astarte, Canaanite goddess of fortune and happiness, the supposed consort of Baal) out of the land, and have set your heart to worship God.
[4-7] So Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors. He set judges in the land throughout all the protected cities of Judah, city by city, saying to the judges, “Think about what you do because you don’t judge for human beings, but for Yahweh, who is with you in the judgment. So now, show respect to Yahweh; be careful and do it because there’s no sin with Yahweh our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes.”
[8-11] Besides this, Jehoshaphat put the Levites, the preachers, and the heads of the ancestors’ houses of Israel, for the judgment of Yahweh, and for settling disagreements in Jerusalem. So they went back to Jerusalem. He told them, “You’ll do this in respect of Yahweh, faithfully, and with a good conscious.” Whenever any disagreement comes to you from your family who live in their cities, between blood kin, between the law and the Word of God, laws and rules, you’ll warn them, that they not be guilty towards Yahweh, and so let anger come on you and on your family; do this, and you won’t be guilty. See, Amariah the leading preacher is over you in all matters of Yahweh; and Zebadiah of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all the ruler’s matters; also the Levites will be officers before you. Do this bravely, and may Yahweh be with the good.
20[1-4] After this, the people of Moab and Ammon, and others Besides this, the Ammonites with them, came against Jehoshaphat to fight. Then some people came who told Jehoshaphat, “A great number of people are coming against you from beyond the sea from Syria; and see, they’re in Hazazon Tamar,” (which is En Gedi). Jehoshaphat was afraid, and prayed to Yahweh; and he called for all Judah to go without food to pray to God. The people of Judah gathered together, to ask for help from Yahweh; they came to pray to Yahweh out of all the cities of Judah.
[5-12] Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the Place of Worship of Yahweh, before the new court; and he said, “Yahweh, God of our ancestors, aren’t You God in heaven? and aren’t You ruler over all the rulers of the nations? and in Your hand is power and strength, so that no one is able to withstand you. Didn’t You, our God, drive out the people of this land before Your people Israel, and give it to the descendants of Abraham, Your friend, forever? They lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your Name, saying, ‘If evil comes on us, either war, judgment, disease, or famine, we’ll turn to this house, and come before You, (for Your Name is in this house), and cry to You in our trouble, and You’ll hear and save us. Now, see, the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom You wouldn’t let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and didn’t destroy them; see, how they reward us, to come to throw us out of Your possession, which You’ve given us to inherit. Our God, Won’t You judge them? We have no strength against this great army that comes against us; nor do we know what to do; but our eyes are on You.”
[13-17] All Judah stood before Yahweh, with their babies, their wives, and their children. Then the Spirit of Yahweh came on Jahaziel of Zechariah, of Benaiah, of Jeiel, of Mattaniah, the Levite, of the descendants of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly; and he said, “Listen you people, all Judah, and you people of Jerusalem, and you, ruler Jehoshaphat; Yahweh says to you, Don’t be scared, nor be worried about this great army because the battle isn’t yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them; see, they come up by the rise of Ziz; and you’ll find them at the end of the valley, before the countryside of Jeruel. You won’t need to fight in this battle; set yourselves in order, stand still, and see the saving grace of Yahweh with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; don’t be scared, nor be troubled; tomorrow, go out against them because Yahweh is with you.”
[18-22] Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the people of Jerusalem fell down before Yahweh, worshipping Yahweh. The Levites, of the people of the Kohathites and of the people of the Korahites, stood up to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel with a very loud voice. They got up early in the morning, and went to the countryside of Tekoa; and as they came, Jehoshaphat stood saying, “Hear me, Judah, and you people of Jerusalem; believe in Yahweh your God, so you’ll be set up; believe his preachers, so you’ll do well.” When he had talked with the people, he set up those who would sing to Yahweh, and give praise in their holy clothes, as they went out before the troops, and say, “Give thanks to Yahweh whose loving kindness lasts forever.” When they began to sing and to praise, Yahweh sent soldiers against the people of Ammon, Moab, and MountSeir, who had come against Judah; and they were overcome.
[23-26] For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the people of Mount Seir, and completely destroyed them; and when they had finished killing the people of Seir, they destroyed one another. When Judah came to the place overlooking the countryside, they looked at the troops and they were dead bodies fallen on the ground, and no one escaped. When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the stuff on them, they found great riches and precious stones on the dead bodies, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they spent three days taking the stuff, it was so much. On the fourth day they gathered themselves in the valley of Beracah, where they blessed Yahweh; so the name of that place was called The valley of Beracah to today.
[27-30] Then everyone went back, all those of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with great happiness because Yahweh had let them celebrate over their enemies. They came to Jerusalem with lyres, harps, and horns to the Place of Worship of Yahweh. The fear of God was on all the realms of the countries when they heard that Yahweh fought against the enemies of Israel. So the rule of Jehoshaphat was peaceful, whose God had given him rest all around.
[31-34] When Jehoshaphat ruled over Judah, he was 35 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled 25 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. He walked in the way of Asa his father, and didn’t turn aside from it, doing what was right in the eyes of Yahweh. But the places of false worship weren’t taken away; nor as yet had the people set their hearts to worship the God of their ancestors. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from the first to the last, are written in The History of Jehu of Hanani, which is discussed in the book of The Rulers of Israel.
[35-37] After this, Jehoshaphat, ruler of Judah, joined up with Ahaziah, ruler of Israel, who was very evil; he joined with him to make ships to go to Tarshish; and they made the ships in Ezion Geber. Then Eliezer of Dodavahu of Mareshah preached against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you’ve joined up with Ahaziah, Yahweh has destroyed your works.” The ships were broken, so that they weren’t able to go to Tarshish.
21[1-4] Jehoshaphat died and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. Jehoram his son ruled in his place. He had brothers, the descendants of Jehoshaphat; Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the descendants of Jehoshaphat, ruler of Israel. Their father gave them great gifts of silver and gold, and of precious things, with protected cities in Judah; but he gave rule to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. Now when Jehoram ruled over the countries of his father, and had strengthened himself, he killed all his family, and also various leaders of Israel.
[5-7] Jehoram was 32 years old when he began to rule; and he ruled eight years in Jerusalem. He walked in the way of the rulers of Israel, as did the house of Ahab because he had the daughter of Ahab as wife; and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh. But Yahweh wouldn’t destroy the house of David, because of the promised agreement God had made with David, and as God had promised to give a light to him and to his children always.
[8-11] In his days Edom revolted from the control of Judah, and made a ruler over themselves. Then Jehoram crossed over with his captains and all his war vehicles; and he went up by night, fighting the Edomites who surrounded him, along with the captains of the war vehicles. So Edom revolted from under the control of Judah to today; then Libnah revolted at the same time from his control, because he had left Yahweh, the God of his ancestors. Besides that, he made places of false worship in the mountains of Judah, and made the people of Jerusalem become sexually unfaithful, and led Judah astray.
[12-15] There came a letter to him from Elijah, the preacher, saying, “Yahweh, the God of David, your ancestor, says, ‘Because you haven’t walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, nor in the ways of Asa ruler of Judah, but have walked in the way of the rulers of Israel, and have made Judah and the people of Jerusalem to be sexually unfaithful, like the house of Ahab did, and also have killed your family of your father’s house, who were better than yourself; see, Yahweh will punish your people with a horrible disease, along with your wives and children, and all your stuff; and you’ll be very sick by an intestinal disease, until your bowels fall out because of the sickness, a little each day.’”
[16-20] Then Yahweh stirred up the spirit of the Philistines against Jehoram, and of the Arabians who are beside the Ethiopians; and they came up against Judah, and broke into it, and carried away all the stuff that was found in the ruler’s house, and his son’s also, and his wives; so that there wasn’t a son left him, except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons. After all this, Yahweh punished him with an incurable intestinal disease in his bowels. At the end of two years, his bowels fell out because of his sickness, and he died in great pain. His people made no burning for him, like the burning of his ancestors. He was 32 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled in Jerusalem eight years; and he died without being missed; and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the graves of the rulers.
22[1-5] The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, ruler in his place because the troop of soldiers who came with the Arabians to the camp had killed all the oldest. So Ahaziah of Jehoram ruler of Judah ruled. Ahaziah was 42 years old when he began to rule; and he ruled one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab because his mother taught him to do evil. He did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as did the house of Ahab because they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction. He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram, son of Ahab, ruler of Israel, to war against Hazael, ruler of Syria, at Ramoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram.
[6 -9] He went back to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds which they had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael, ruler of Syria. Azariah, son of Jehoram, ruler of Judah, went down to see Jehoram, son of Ahab, in Jezreel, because he was sick. Now the destruction of Ahaziah was of God, in that he went to Joram because when he had come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu of Nimshi, whom Yahweh had anointed to put an end to the house of Ahab. When Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the leaders of Judah, and the descendants of the brothers of Ahaziah, ministering to Ahaziah, and killed them. He searched for Ahaziah, and they caught him (now he was hiding in Samaria), and they brought him to Jehu, who killed him; and they buried him, for they said, “He is of Jehoshaphat, who worshiped Yahweh with all his heart.” The house of Ahaziah had no one left in power to rule the nation.
[10-12] Now when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she went up and killed all the royal descendants of the house of Judah. But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the ruler, took Joash, son of Ahaziah, and hid him away from among the ruler’s sons who were killed, and put him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of ruler Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada, the preacher (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah, so that she didn’t kill him. He was hid in the House of God with them six years; and Athaliah ruled over the land.
23[1-7] In the 7th year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and made an agreement with the captains of hundreds, Azariah, son of Jeroham, and Ishmael, of Jehohanan, and Azariah, of Obed, and Maaseiah, of Adaiah, and Elishaphat, of Zichri. They went around in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the heads of ancestors’ houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. All the assembly made an agreement with the ruler in the House of God. He said to them, “See, the ruler’s son will rule, as Yahweh has said about the descendants of David. This is what you’ll do; a third part of you, who come in on the Seventh Day, of the preachers and of the Levites, will be doorkeepers of the doorways; and a third part will be at the ruler’s house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation; and all the people will be in the courts of the Place of Worship of Yahweh. But let no one come into the Place of Worship of Yahweh, except the preachers, and those who minister of the Levites; they’ll come in, for they’re holy; but all the people will keep the charge of Yahweh. The Levites will surround the ruler all around, everyone with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes into the house, let them be killed; and be with the ruler when he comes in, and when he goes out.”
[8 -11] So the Levites and all Judah did what Jehoiada the preacher told them; and they took all those who were to come in, along with those who were to go out, on the Seventh Day, because Jehoiada, the preacher, didn’t dismiss the shift. Jehoiada, the preacher, gave to the captains of hundreds all the weapons of war that had been ruler David’s, which were in the House of God. He set up all the people with their weapons in hand, from the right side to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, and all around the ruler. Then they brought out the ruler’s son, and put the crown on him, and gave him the Word of God, and made him ruler; and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him; and said, “Long live the ruler.”
[12-15] When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the ruler, she came to the people into the Place of Worship of Yahweh; and she looked, and saw that the ruler stood by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the horns by the ruler; and all the people of the land were happy, and blew horns; the singers also played on instruments of music, and led the singing of praise. Then Athaliah tore her clothes, crying, Treason! treason! Jehoiada, the preacher, brought out the captains of hundreds, who were set over the troops, saying to them, “Bring her outside between the troops; and kill whoever follows her,” because the preacher said, “Don’t kill her in the Place of Worship of Yahweh.” So they made way for her; and she went to the entrance of the horse gate to the ruler’s house; and they killed her there.
[16-21] Jehoiada made an agreement between himself, and all the people, and the ruler, that they should be Yahweh’s people. All the people went to the place of Baal worship, and tore it down, and broke the altars and idols in pieces, and killed Mattan, the preacher of Baal before the altars. Jehoiada set the officers of the Place of Worship of Yahweh under the hand of the preachers, the Levites, whom David had put in the Place of Worship of Yahweh, to offer the burnt offerings of Yahweh, as it’s written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, according to the order of David. He set the doorkeepers at the gates of the Place of Worship of Yahweh, so that no one who was unfit in any way could go in. He took the captains of hundreds, and the leaders, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the ruler from the Place of Worship of Yahweh; and they came through the upper gate to the ruler’s house, and set the ruler on the throne to rule the land. So all the people of the land were happy, and the city was peaceful because they had killed Athaliah.
24[1 -5] Joash was seven years old when he began to rule; and he ruled 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah, of Beersheba. Joash did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh all the days of Jehoiada, the preacher. Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he had children. After this, Joash thought to repair the Place of Worship of Yahweh. He gathered together the preachers and the Levites, saying to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year; and see that you do it quickly.” But the Levites didn’t hurry.
[6 -10] The ruler called for Jehoiada, the leading preacher, saying to him, “Why haven’t you required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and Jerusalem the tax of Moses, the follower of Yahweh, and of the assembly of Israel, for the House of God?” For the descendants of Athaliah, that sinful woman, had broken up the House of God; and also they had given all the dedicated things of the Place of Worship of Yahweh to the false Baal gods. So the ruler told them to make a chest, and set it outside at the gate of the Place of Worship of Yahweh. They made an announcement throughout all Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in for Yahweh the tax that Moses, the follower of God, put on Israel in the countryside. All the leaders and people were happy, and brought it in, and threw it into the chest, until they had collected it.
[11-14] Whenever the chest was brought to the ruler’s officers by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was a lot of money, the ruler’s secretary and the leading preacher’s officer came and emptied the chest, and brought it back to its place again. They did this day by day, and gathered a good bit of money. The ruler and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work for the Place of Worship of Yahweh; and they hired stone builders, woodworkers, and also those who worked in iron and brass to repair it. So the workers did the work, and the repairs were done as they were able, and they put up the House of God like it was before, and strengthened it. When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the ruler and Jehoiada, of which were made pots for the Place of Worship of Yahweh, the tools with which to minister and to make offerings, and spoons, and pots of gold and silver. They offered burnt offerings in the Place of Worship of Yahweh continually all the days of Jehoiada.
[15-18] But Jehoiada grew old and was at the end of his days, and he died; He was 130 years old when he died. They buried him in the city of David among the rulers, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and God’s House. Now after the death of Jehoiada, the leaders of Judah came, and pledged allegiance to the ruler. Then the ruler listened to them. They left the Place of Worship of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, and served the Asherim (wooden idol representing a fertility god) and the other false gods; and anger came on Judah and Jerusalem for their guiltiness.
[19-22] Still God sent preachers to them, to bring them back to Yahweh; and they testified against them; but they wouldn’t listen. Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, the preacher; and he stood above the people, saying to them, “God says, “Why do you disobey the words of Yahweh, so that you can’t do well? Because you’ve left Yahweh, God has also left you.” They came together against him, and stoned him with stones at the word of the ruler in the court of the Place of Worship of Yahweh. Joash, the ruler, didn’t remember the kindness which Jehoiada, his father, had done to him, but killed his sons. When Zechariah died, he said, “Yahweh will look on it, and punish it.”
[23-27] At the end of the year, the troops of the Syrians came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the leaders from among the people, and sent all their stuff to the ruler of Damascus. The troops of the Syrians came with a small troop; and Yahweh gave a very great troop into their power, because they had left Yahweh, the God of their ancestors. So they executed judgment on Joash. When they had left from him (for they left him very sick), his own workers came together against him for the blood of the descendants of Jehoiada, the preacher, and killed him on his bed, and he died; and they buried him in the city of David, but they didn’t bury him in the graves of the rulers. These are those who came together against him; Zabad, of Shimeath, the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad, of Shimrith, the Moabitess. Now about his sons, and all the great acts he did, and the rebuilding of the House of God, they’re written in the words of the Book of the Rulers. Amaziah his son ruled in his place.
25[1- 4] Amaziah was 25 years old when he began to rule; and he ruled 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan, of Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, but not with a good conscious. Now when the he was given rule, he killed his workers who had killed the ruler his father. But he didn’t put their children to death, but did like what’s written in the law in the book of Moses, as Yahweh told them, saying, “The fathers won’t die for the children, neither will the children die for the fathers; but everyone will die for his own sin.”
[5-9] Besides this, Amaziah gathered Judah together, and ordered them according to their ancestors’ houses, under captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, even all Judah and Benjamin; and he counted them from 20 years old and up, and found that there were 300,000 of the best soldiers, able to go to war, who could handle weapons. He hired also 100,000 strong experienced soldiers out of Israel for 7,500 lbs of silver. But a follower of God came to him, saying, “O ruler, don’t let the troops of Israel go with you because Yahweh isn’t with Israel, that is, with the people of Ephraim. But if you go, do so bravely, be strong for the battle; but God will throw you down before the enemy because God has power to help, and to throw down.” So Amaziah said to the follower of God, “But what will we do for the 7,500 lbs which I’ve given to the troops of Israel?” The follower of God answered, “Yahweh is able to give you much more than this.”
[10-13] Then Amaziah separated them, that is, the troops that had come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again; so they were very angry at Judah, and they went back home in great anger. But Amaziah took courage, and led his people out, and went to the Valley of Salt, and fought 10,000 of the people of Seir. The people of Judah carried away alive another 10,000 and brought them to the top of a cliff, and threw them down from the top of the rock, so that they all were broken in pieces. But the people of the troops whom Amaziah sent back, wouldn’t let go with him to fight, attacked the cities of Judah, from Samaria all the way to Beth Horon, and fought 3,000 of them and took their stuff.
[14-16] Now after Amaziah had come from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought the gods of the people of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed himself down before them, and burned incense to them. So Yahweh was angry at Amaziah, and he sent to him a preacher, who said to him, “Why have you worshiped the gods of the people, which haven’t saved their own people out of your hand?” As he talked with him, the ruler said to him, “Have we made you part of the ruler’s counsel? Stop! Why should you be killed?” Then the preacher left, saying, “I know that God has decided to destroy you, because you’ve done this, and haven’t listened to my counsel.”
[17-20] Then Amaziah, ruler of Judah, took advice, and sent to Joash, of Jehoahaz of Jehu, ruler of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” Joash, ruler of Israel, sent to Amaziah, ruler of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife;’ and a wild animal passed by that was in Lebanon, and stomped down the thistle. You say, ‘See, you’ve fought Edom; and your heart lifts you up to brag; stay at home now; why should you butt in and get hurt, that you should fall, even you, and Judah with you?’” But Amaziah wouldn’t listen because it was of God, who wanted to give them into the control of their enemies, because he had worshiped the gods of Edom.
[21-24] So Joash, ruler of Israel, went up; and he and Amaziah, ruler of Judah, looked one another in the face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. Judah was defeated by Israel; and they ran everyone back home. Joash, ruler of Israel, took Amaziah, ruler of Judah, of Joash, of Jehoahaz, at Beth Shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem 600’ from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate. He took all the gold, silver, all the pots that were found in the House of God with Obed-Edom, the treasures of the ruler’s house, and some hostages, and went back to Samaria.
[25-28] Amaziah, of Joash, ruler of Judah, lived after the death of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, ruler of Israel, 15 years. Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from the first to the last, are written in the book of The Rulers of Judah and Israel? Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following Yahweh they came together against him in Jerusalem; and he ran to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and killed him there. They brought him on horses, and buried him with his ancestors in the city of Judah.
26[1-5] All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was 16 years old, and made him ruler in the place of his father Amaziah. He built Eloth, and gave it back to Judah, after the ruler had died. Uzziah was 16 years old when he began to rule; and he ruled 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jechiliah, of Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, like what his father Amaziah had done. He chose to worship God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the vision of God; and as long as he worshiped Yahweh, God made him to do well.
[6 -10] He came and fought against the Philistines, and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod; and he built cities in the country of Ashdod, and among the Philistines. God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur Baal, and the Meunim. The Ammonites gave tax money to Uzziah, whose name spread all the way to the entrance of Egypt because he grew very strong. Besides this, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and protected them. He built towers in the countryside, and dug out many wells because he had a lot of livestock; in the lowland also, and in the field; and he had farmers and vineyard keepers in the mountains and in the gardens because he loved farming.
[11-15] Besides this, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, who went out to war by troops, according to their count made by Jeiel, the secretary, and Maaseiah, the officer, under the command of Hananiah, one of the ruler’s captains. The whole number of the heads of the ancestors’ houses, all the strong experienced soldiers was 2,600. Under their control was an army of 307,500, who went to war with strong power, to help the ruler against the enemy. Uzziah made weapons for all the troops, along with helmets and armor. He made in Jerusalem war machines (catapults), invented by skilled workers, to be on the towers and on the corners with which to shoot many times and throw great stones. His name spread everywhere because he was wonderfully helped, until he was strong.
[16 -19] But when he was strong, his heart was proud, so that he acted wrongly, and he sinned against Yahweh God because he went into the Place of Worship of Yahweh to burn incense on the altar of incense. Azariah, the preacher, went in after him, and with him 80 preachers of Yahweh, who were soldiers; and they stood up to Uzziah, the ruler, saying to him, “It isn’t for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but only the preachers, the descendants of Aaron, who are dedicated to burn incense; go out of the sanctuary because you’ve sinned; nor will you be honored by Yahweh God for this. Then Uzziah was angry; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense; and while he was angry with the preachers, a severe skin disease broke out on his forehead in front of the preachers in the Place of Worship of Yahweh, beside the altar of incense.
[20 -23] Azariah, the leading preacher, and all the preachers looked at him and saw that he was leprous on his forehead, and they threw him out quickly from there; yes, he himself hurried to go out also, because Yahweh had punished him. So Uzziah, the ruler, was a leper to the day of his death, and lived in a separate house being a leper, because he couldn’t go into the Place of Worship of Yahweh; and Jotham his son ruled over the ruler’s house, judging the people of the land. Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from the first to the last, Isaiah, the preacher, of Amoz, wrote. So Uzziah died; and they buried him with his ancestors in the field of burial, which belonged to the rulers, because they said, “He had a severe skin disease;” and Jotham, his son, ruled in his place.
27[1-5] Jotham was 25 years old when he began to rule; and he ruled 16 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok. He did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, like what his father Uzziah had done; but he didn’t go into the Place of Worship of Yahweh. The people still did wrongly. He built the upper gate of the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and he built much of the wall of Ophel. Besides this, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and in the forests he built protected cities and towers. He fought also with the ruler of the people of Ammon, and was strong against them. The people of Ammon gave him taxes the same year of 7,500 lbs of silver, and 10,000 measures of wheat, and 10,000 of barley. The people of Ammon gave him this much, and in the second and third year also.
[6-8] So Jotham became strong, because he kept the way of Yahweh God. Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all his wars and ways are written in The Book of the Rulers of Israel and Judah. He was 25 years old when he began to rule, and ruled 16 years in Jerusalem. Jotham died, and they buried him in the city of David; and Ahaz, his son, ruled in his place.
28[1-5] Ahaz was 20 years old when he began to rule; and he ruled 16 years in Jerusalem; and he didn’t do what was right in the eyes of Yahweh like David his ancestor; but he walked in the ways of the rulers of Israel, and made also false Baal gods. Besides this, he burnt incense in the valley of Hinnom (a place of false worship and human sacrifice outside the western wall of Jerusalem), and sacrificed his children in the fire, according to the horrible sins of the nations whom Yahweh had thrown out before the people of Israel. He sacrificed and burnt incense in the places of false worship, and on the hills, and under the evergreen trees. So Yahweh God put him into the power of the ruler of Syria; and they fought him, and carried away a great number of prisoners, and brought them to Damascus. He was also put into the power of the ruler of Israel, who slaughtered a great many of them.
[6 -11] Pekah, of Remaliah, killed in Judah 120,000 in one day, all of them good soldiers; because they had stopped worshipping Yahweh, the God of their ancestors. Zichri, a strong soldier of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah, the ruler’s son, Azrikam, ruler of the house, and Elkanah, who was next to the ruler. The people of Israel carried away 200,000 women and children prisoners of their people, and also took much stuff away from them, and brought it to Samaria. But a preacher of Yahweh was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out to meet the troops that came to Samaria, saying to them, “See, because Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah, he has handed them over to you, and you’ve killed them in great anger, which is known in heaven. Now you plan to keep the people of Judah and Jerusalem for workers and servants to you; but aren’t there sins of your own against Yahweh your God? So hear me now, and send back those that you’ve taken prisoner of your family or Yahweh will be very angry with you.”
[12-15] Then some of the heads of the people of Ephraim, Azariah, of Johanan, Berechiah, of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah, of Shallum, and Amasa, of Hadlai, stood up against those who came from the war, saying to them, “You won’t bring the prisoners here because your plan will bring a sin against Yahweh on us, to add to our sins and guilt, and our guilt is great already, and God is very angry at Israel. So the soldiers left the prisoners and all the stuff with the leaders and all the assembly of people. Those who were mentioned by name took the prisoners, and clothed all who were naked with the stuff they’d taken, and put shoes on them, and gave them food and water, and anointed them with oil, and carried all the weak ones on donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their family; then they went back to Samaria.
[16 -19] At that time, ruler Ahaz sent to the rulers of Assyria to help him. The Edomites had come again and fought Judah, and carried away more prisoners. The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland, and the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its outskirts, Timnah with its outskirts, and Gimzo also with its outskirts; and they lived there. Yahweh brought Judah low because of Ahaz, ruler of Israel, who had done horribly in Judah, and sinned greatly against Yahweh.
[20 -23] Tilgath Pileser, ruler of Assyria, came to him, and troubled him, but didn’t help him. Ahaz took part of the valuables out of the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and out of the house of the ruler and of the leaders, and gave it to the ruler of Assyria; but it didn’t help him. In the time of his trouble, he sinned even more against Yahweh, this same ruler, Ahaz. He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had defeated him; and he said, “Because the gods of the rulers of Syria helped them, I’ll sacrifice to them, so they’ll help me.” But they destroyed him, and all Israel.
[24-27] Ahaz gathered together the pots of the House of God and cut them in pieces, and shut the doors of the Place of Worship of Yahweh; and he made altars in every part of Jerusalem. In every city of Judah he made places of false worship to burn incense to other gods, and made Yahweh, the God of his ancestors, very angry. Now the rest of his acts and ways, from the first to the last, are written in The Book of the Rulers of Judah and Israel.[Ahaz died, and they buried him in Jerusalem, but they didn’t bring him into the graves of the rulers of Israel; and Hezekiah, his son, ruled in his place.
29[1 -3] Hezekiah began to rule when he was 25 years old; and he ruled 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, like what David his ancestor had done. In the first year of his rule (715 BC), in the first month (Nissan, Mar-April), he opened the doors of the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and repaired them.
[4-11] He brought in the preachers and the Levites, and gathered them together into the wide open space on the east, saying to them, “Listen to me, you Levites; now dedicate yourselves and make the Place of Worship of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, holy and carry anything filthy out of the holy place. Our ancestors have sinned, and done what was evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and haven’t worshipped God, and have turned away from the House of God. Also they’ve shut up the doors of the porch, put out the lamps, and haven’t burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. So Yahweh is angry at Judah and Jerusalem, who has let us be tossed back and forth, to be a shock, and a mockery, as you see with your eyes. See, our ancestors have fallen in war, and our wives and children have been taken prisoner for this. Now it’s in my heart to make an agreement with Yahweh, the God of Israel, whose anger may be turned away from us. My children, don’t neglect this now because Yahweh has chosen you to stand and minister before God, and that you should be ministers of God, and burn incense.”
[12 -16] Then the Levites got up, Mahath, of Amasai, and Joel, of Azariah, of the descendants of the Kohathites; and of the descendants of Merari, Kish, of Abdi, and Azariah, of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah, of Zimmah, and Eden, of Joah; and of the descendants of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the descendants of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; and of the descendants of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the descendants of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. They gathered their people, and dedicated themselves, and went in, at the word of the ruler by the words of Yahweh, to cleanse the Place of Worship of Yahweh. The preachers went in to the inner part of the Place of Worship of Yahweh to cleanse it, and brought out everything unfit that they found in it into the court. The Levites took it all out to the KidronRiver.
[17 -19] Now they began on the 1st day of the first month (Nissan, Mar-April) to dedicate, and on the 8th day of the month they came to the porch of Yahweh; and they dedicated the Place of Worship of Yahweh in eight days; and on the 16th day of the first month they finished. Then they went in to Hezekiah, the ruler, within the ruler’s house, saying, “We’ve cleansed all the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and the altar of burnt offering with all its tools, and the table of showbread with all its tools. Besides this, all the pots which ruler Ahaz threw away in his rule when he sinned, have we cleaned and dedicated; and they’re before the altar of Yahweh.
[20-24] Then Hezekiah, the ruler, got up early and gathered the leaders of the city, and went up to the Place of Worship of Yahweh. They brought seven cattle, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the nation and for the sanctuary and for Judah. He told the preachers, the descendants of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of Yahweh. So they killed the cattle, and the preachers took the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar; then they killed the rams, and sprinkled their blood on the altar; then they also killed the lambs, and sprinkled their blood on the altar. They brought the male goats for the sin offering before the ruler and the assembly and they laid their hands on them. The preachers killed them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to ask forgiveness for all Israel because the ruler had told them that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
[25 -29] He set the Levites in the Place of Worship of Yahweh with cymbals, lyres, and harps, according to the word of David, and of Gad, the ruler’s preacher, and Nathan, the preacher, because the word was of Yahweh by his preachers. The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the preachers with the horns. Hezekiah told them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song of Yahweh began also, and the horns, together with the instruments of David, ruler of Israel. All the assembly worshiped God, the singers sang, and the horn players sounded until the burnt offering was finished. When they had finished offering, the ruler and all who were there with him bowed themselves and worshiped God.
[30-36] Besides this, Hezekiah, the ruler, and the leaders told the Levites to sing praises to Yahweh with the words of David, and of Asaph, the preacher. They sang praises with great happiness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped. Then Hezekiah said, Now you’ve dedicated yourselves to Yahweh; come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the Place of Worship of Yahweh. The assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. The number of burnt offerings which the assembly brought was 70 cattle, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to Yahweh. The dedicated things were 600 cows and 3,000 sheep. But there weren’t enough preachers, so they couldn’t slaughter all the burnt offerings; so their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was finished, and until the preachers had dedicated themselves because the Levites were more dedicated than the preachers. Also the burnt offerings were so much, with the fat of the peace offerings, and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the Place of Worship of Yahweh was set in order. Hezekiah and all the people were very happy, because of what God had done for the people so suddenly.
30[1-5] Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, telling them that they should come to the Place of Worship of Yahweh at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to Yahweh, the God of Israel. The ruler and his leaders, and all the assembly in Jerusalem agreed to keep the Passover in the second month (Iyar, April-May). They couldn’t keep it at that time, because the preachers hadn’t all dedicated themselves yet, nor had the people come together to Jerusalem. The thing was right in the eyes of the ruler and of all the assembly. So they set up an order to make the announcement throughout all Israel, from Beersheba all the way to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to Yahweh, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem because they hadn’t kept it in great numbers in this way as it’s written.
[6-9] So the posts went with the letters from the ruler and his leaders throughout all Israel and Judah, at the word of the ruler, saying, “You people of Israel, turn back to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that God may return to what’s left of us who have escaped out of the power of the rulers of Assyria. Don’t be like your ancestors, and like your family members who sinned against Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, so that God gave them up to be ruined, as you see. Now don’t be stubborn, as your ancestors were; but give yourselves to Yahweh, and go into the sanctuary of God, which is dedicated forever, and serve Yahweh your God, whose great anger may turn away from you. If you turn back to Yahweh, your family and your children will find compassion before those who led them prisoner, and will come back into this land because Yahweh your God is full of grace and mercy, and won’t turn away from you, if you return to God.”
[10-14] So the posts went from city to city throughout the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the way to Zebulun; but they ridiculed them, and mocked them. But some people of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem. Also came the hand of God on Judah to give them one heart, to do the word of the ruler and of the leaders by the word of Yahweh. Many people gathered at Jerusalem to keep the celebration of bread made without yeast in the second month (Iyar, April-May), a very great assembly. They came and took away the unfit altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the unfit altars for incense, and threw them into the KidronRiver.
[15-19] Then they killed the Passover on the 14th day of the second month; and the preachers and the Levites were ashamed, and dedicated themselves, and brought burnt offerings into the Place of Worship of Yahweh. They stood in their place after their order, according to the Law of Moses, the follower of God; the preachers sprinkled the blood which they got from the Levites. There were many in the assembly who hadn’t dedicated themselves; so the Levites had charge of killing the Passover sacrifices for everyone who wasn’t fit, to dedicate them to Yahweh. For many of the people of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun hadn’t dedicated themselves, still they ate the Passover meal other than how it’s written. Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “The good Yahweh forgive everyone, who sets his heart to worship God, Yahweh, the God of our ancestors, though not fit like the purification of the sanctuary.”
[20-23] Yahweh listened to Hezekiah, and healed the people. The people of Israel who were at Jerusalem kept the celebration of bread made without yeast seven days with great happiness; and the Levites and the preachers praised Yahweh each day, singing with loud instruments to Yahweh. Hezekiah spoke kindly to all the Levites who had good understanding in the service of Yahweh. So they ate throughout the celebration for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace offerings, and confessing their sins to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors. The whole assembly agreed to stay another seven days; and they stayed another seven days with great happiness.
[24-27] Hezekiah, ruler of Judah, gave to the assembly for offerings 1,000 cattle and 7,000 sheep; and the leaders gave to the assembly 1,000 cattle and 10,000 sheep; and a great number of preachers dedicated themselves. All the assembly of Judah with the preachers and the Levites, and all the assembly who came out of Israel, with the foreigners who came out of the land of Israel, and those who lived in Judah, were very happy. So there was great happiness in Jerusalem because since the time of Solomon, of David, ruler of Israel, there wasn’t a celebration like that in Jerusalem. Then the preachers, the Levites came and blessed the people; and their voice was heard, and their prayer went up to God’s holy place in heaven.
31[1-4] Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were there went out to the cities of Judah, and broke in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherim (wooden idol representing a fertility god), and broke down the places of false worship and the altars out of all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel went back home, into their own cities. Hezekiah set up the divisions of the preachers and Levites after their divisions, everyone according to their service, both the preachers and the Levites, for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise God in the gates of the House of Yahweh. He also set aside a part of his stuff for the burnt offerings, that is, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the Seventh Days, and new moons, and for the set celebrations, as it’s written in the law of Yahweh. Besides this, he told the people who lived in Jerusalem to give their part to the preachers and the Levites, so that they would obey the law of Yahweh.
[5 -10] As soon as the word came out, the people of Israel gave richly from the first of their grain, new wine, oil, and honey, and all of the produce of the field; a tenth of all things they brought in richly. The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah, they also brought in a tenth of their cows and sheep, and a tenth of all the things which were dedicated to Yahweh their God, and laid them in piles. In the third month (Sivan, May-June), they began to lay the foundation of the piles, and finished them in the 7th month (Tishri, Sept.-Oct.). When Hezekiah and the leaders came and saw all the piles, they blessed Yahweh, and his people Israel. Then Hezekiah asked the preachers and the Levites about the piles. Azariah the leading preacher, of the house of Zadok, answered him saying, “Since the people began to bring the offerings into the Place of Worship of Yahweh we’ve eaten and had enough, and have plenty left because Yahweh has blessed his people; and what’s left is this great store.”
[11- 15] Then Hezekiah told them to make room in the Place of Worship of Yahweh; and they got the store rooms ready. They brought in all the offerings, and the tenth of all the dedicated things faithfully; and Conaniah the Levite was in charge of them, and Shimei his brother was second. Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers under the power of Conaniah and Shimei his brother, by the choice of Hezekiah the ruler, and Azariah, the leading preacher, of the House of God. Kore, of Imnah, the Levite, the doorkeeper at the east gate was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the offerings of Yahweh, and the most holy things. Under him were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the preachers, in their office of trust, to give to their brothers by divisions, to the great as well as to the least.
[16-18] Besides this, those who were recognized by genealogy of males, from three years old and up, everyone who went into the Place of Worship of Yahweh, as the duty of everyday required, for their service in their offices by their divisions; and those who were recognized by genealogy of the preachers by their ancestors’ houses, and the Levites from 20 years old and up, in their offices by their divisions; and those who were recognized by genealogy of all their wives and children, through all the people because in their office of trust they dedicated themselves in holiness.
[19-21] Also for the descendants of Aaron, the preachers, who were in the fields of the outskirts of every city, there were those who were mentioned by name, to give parts to all the males among the preachers, and to all who were recognized by genealogy among the Levites. Hezekiah did this throughout all Judah; and he did what was good and right and faithful before Yahweh God. In everything that he began in the service of the House of God, and in the law, and in the words, to worship God, he did it with all his heart, and did well.
32[1-4] After all this faithfulness, Sennacherib, ruler of Assyria, came and went into Judah, and encamped against the protected cities, to take them for himself. When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come, and that he planned to fight against Jerusalem, he counseled with his leaders and his soldiers to dam the waters of the creeks which were outside of the city; and they helped him. So many people gathered together, and they dammed all the creeks, and the river that flowed through the land, saying, “Why should the rulers of Assyria come and find much water?”
[5-8] He took courage, and built up all the wall that was broken down up to the towers, and the outside wall, and strengthened the landfill in the city of David, and made many weapons and shields. He set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the wide open space at the gate of the city, saying kindly to them, “Be strong and brave, don’t be scared, nor troubled, for the ruler of Assyria, nor for all the number who is with him, because there’s One greater with us than with him; he is a human being; but Yahweh our God is with us to help us, and to fight our battles.” The people rested themselves on the words of Hezekiah ruler of Judah.
[9-15] After this, Sennacherib, ruler of Assyria, sent his soldiers to Jerusalem, (now he was about to take Lachish, and all his army was with him), to Hezekiah, ruler of Judah, and to all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying, “Sennacherib, ruler of Assyria, says, “On what do you trust, that you stay under the siege in Jerusalem? Doesn’t Hezekiah convince you, to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, ‘Yahweh our God will save us out of the power of the ruler of Assyria?’ Hasn’t that same Hezekiah taken away the places of false worship and altars, and told Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You’ll worship before one altar, and on it only you’ll burn incense?’ Don’t you know what I and my ancestors have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of those nations in any way able to save their land from my power? Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my ancestors completely destroyed, that could save their people from my power, that your God would be able to save you from my power? So now, don’t let Hezekiah lie to you, nor persuade you in this way, nor should you believe him, because no god of any nation or country was able to save their people from my power, and from the power of my ancestors; how much less will your God save you from me?”
[16-19] His workers said still more against Yahweh God, and against Hezekiah, God’s follower. He also wrote letters to mock and speak against Yahweh, the God of Israel, saying, “As the gods of the nations of the lands, which haven’t saved their people from my power, so will the God of Hezekiah not save these people from my power. They yelled loudly in the Jews’ language to the people of Jerusalem, who were on the wall, to scare and trouble them, so that they could take the city. They spoke of the God of Jerusalem, as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of human hands.
[20-23] Hezekiah, the ruler, and Isaiah, the preacher, of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried out to heaven. Yahweh sent an angel who stopped all the strong soldiers, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the ruler of Assyria. So he went back with shame to his own land. When he had come into the house of his god, his own children killed him there. So Yahweh saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the power of Sennacherib, the ruler of Assyria, and from the power of all others, and protected them on every side. Many brought gifts to Yahweh to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah, ruler of Judah; so that he was uplifted in the sight of all nations from there on out.
[24-28] In those days, Hezekiah had a deadly sickness; and he prayed to Yahweh and God spoke to him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah didn’t give again according to what he had gained, because his heart was proud; so God’s anger was on him, and on Judah and Jerusalem. But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the people of Jerusalem, so that the anger of Yahweh didn’t come on them in the days of Hezekiah. Hezekiah had great wealth and honor; and he made himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and good pots; storehouses also for the harvest of grain, new wine, and oil; and stalls for all the animals, and folds for the flocks.
[29 -33] Besides this, he built himself cities, and had many flocks and herds because God had given him very much stuff. This same Hezekiah also dammed the upper creek of the waters of Sihon, and brought them straight down on the west side of the city of David. Hezekiah did well in all his works. But in the matter of the messengers of the leaders of Babylon, who sent to him to ask of the amazing thing that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that God would know what was in his heart. Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good acts, are written in The Vision of Isaiah, the preacher of Amoz, in The Book of the Rulers of Judah and Israel. Hezekiah died, and they buried him in the graves of the descendants of David; and all Judah and the people of Jerusalem honored him at his death. Manasseh, his son, ruled in his place.
33[1 -4] Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to rule; and he ruled 55 years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, after the horrible sins of the nations whom Yahweh threw out before the people of Israel. He built again the places of false worship which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he put up altars for the false Baal gods, and made an Asheroth (Astarte, Canaanite goddess of fortune and happiness, the supposed consort of Baal), and worshiped all the stars and planets in the sky, and served them. He built their altars in the Place of Worship of Yahweh, of which Yahweh said, “In Jerusalem will My Name be forever.”
[5 -8] He built altars for all the stars and planets of the sky in the two courts of the Place of Worship of Yahweh. He also sacrificed his children in the fire in the valley of Hinnom (a place of false worship and human sacrifice outside the western wall of Jerusalem); and he practiced sorcery and witchcraft, and cast spells, and used mediums who had evil spirits, and wizards; he did much evil in the sight of Yahweh, to make God very angry. He set the carved idol which he had made, in the House of God, of which God said to David and Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I’ve chosen out of all the family groups of Israel I’ll put My Name forever; nor will I ever remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I’ve given to your ancestors, if only you’ll be careful to do what I’ve told you, all the laws, judgments, and rules given by Moses.”
[9 -13] Manasseh seduced Judah and the people of Jerusalem, so that they did more evil than the nations whom Yahweh had destroyed before the people of Israel. Yahweh spoke to Manasseh, and his people; but they wouldn’t listen. So Yahweh brought on them the leaders of the troops of the ruler of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, and cuffed him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon (Iraq, Iran). When he was in trouble, he begged Yahweh God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. He prayed to God, who heard his begging, and answered his prayer, and brought him again to Jerusalem back to his country. Then Manasseh knew that Yahweh was God.
[14 -17] Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, all the way to the entrance at the fish gate; and he surrounded Ophel with it, and raised it up to a very great height; and he put brave captains in all the protected cities of Judah. He took away all the false gods, and the idol out of the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and all the altars that he had built in the mountain of the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and in Jerusalem, and threw them out of the city. He built up the altar of Yahweh, and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and told Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel. The people still sacrificed in the places of false worship, but only to Yahweh their God.
[18 -20] Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to God, and the words of the preachers, who spoke to him in the Name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, are written among the acts of The Rulers of Israel. His prayer also, and how God heard him, and all his sin and guilt, and the areas where he built places of false worship, and put up the Asherim (wooden idol representing a fertility god) and the carved idols, before he humbled himself, are written in the history of Hozai. So Manasseh died, and they buried him in his own house; and Amon his son ruled in his place.
[21-25] Amon was 22 years old when he began to rule; and he ruled two years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as did Manasseh his father; and Amon sacrificed to all the carved idols which Manasseh his father had made, and served them. He didn’t humble himself before Yahweh, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but this same Amon sinned more and more. His workers conspired against him, and killed him in his own house. But the leaders of the land killed all those who had acted together against ruler Amon; and they made Josiah, his son, ruler in his place.
34[1 -7] Josiah was eight years old when he began to rule; and he ruled 31 years in Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, and walked in the ways of David his father, and didn’t turn away at all. In the 8th year of his rule, while he was still young, he began to follow the God of David his father; and in the 12th year he began to clean out Judah and Jerusalem of all the places of false worship, the Asherim (wooden idol representing a fertility god), the carved idols, and the false gods. They broke down the altars of the false Baal gods in his presence; and the incense altars that were on the mountains above them he cut down; and the Asherim (wooden idol representing a fertility god), the carved idols, and the other false gods, he broke in pieces, and made dust of them, and spread it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. He burnt the bones of the preachers on their altars, and cleaned out Judah and Jerusalem. He did this in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and Naphtali, in their ruins all around. He broke down the altars, and beat the Asherim (wooden idol representing a fertility god) and the carved idols into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel, and went back to Jerusalem.
[8-13] Now in the 18th year of his rule when he had cleaned out the land and the house, he sent Shaphan, of Azaliah, and Maaseiah, the governor of the city, and Joah, of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the Place of Worship of Yahweh God. They came to Hilkiah, the leading preacher, and gave them the money that was brought into the House of God, which the Levites, the doorkeepers, had gathered from Manasseh, Ephraim, and of all that was left of Israel, and of all Judah, Benjamin, and the people of Jerusalem. They put it into the power of the overseers who had the oversight of the Place of Worship of Yahweh; and they gave it to those who did the work in the Place of Worship of Yahweh to fix and repair the house; they gave it to the woodworkers and the builders, to buy hewn stone, and wood for hinges, and to make posts for the houses which the rulers of Judah had destroyed. The workers did the work faithfully; and their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the descendants of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the descendants of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and others of the Levites, all who were skillful with instruments of music. Also they were over those who carried all the wood and stone, and told all who did the work in every area of service what to do; and of the Levites there were secretaries, officers, and doorkeepers.
[14-18] When they brought out the money that was brought into the Place of Worship of Yahweh, Hilkiah the preacher found The Book of the Law of Yahweh given by Moses. Hilkiah told Shaphan the secretary, I’ve found The Book of the Law in the Place of Worship of Yahweh. Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. Shaphan carried the book to the ruler, and besides this, brought back word to the ruler, saying, “What was to be done by Your workers, they’re doing. They’ve emptied out the money that was found in the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and have given it into the power of the overseers, and into the hands of the workers.” Shaphan the secretary told the ruler, saying, “Hilkiah, the preacher, has given me a book. Shaphan read it to the ruler.
[19-21] When the ruler had heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes in grief. The ruler told Hilkiah, Ahikam, of Shaphan, Abdon, of Micah, Shaphan, the secretary, and Asaiah, the ruler’s worker, “Go ask of Yahweh for me, and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, about the words of the book that is found because Yahweh’s anger is great toward us, because our ancestors haven’t kept the Word of Yahweh, to do what’s written in this book.”
[22 -25] So Hilkiah, and they whom the ruler had told went to Huldah, the preacher, the wife of Shallum, of Tokhath, of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter;) and they said to her what the ruler had told them. She said to them, “Yahweh, the God of Israel says, ‘Tell the ones who sent you to me, Yahweh says, See, I’ll bring evil on this place, and on its people, all the punishments that are written in the book which they’ve read before the ruler of Judah. Because they’ve left me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they would make Me angry with all the things they’ve done; so I am very angry at this place, and it won’t be calmed.
[26-29] But to the ruler of Judah, who sent you to ask of Yahweh, this will you tell him, Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, About the words which you’ve heard, because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard My words against this place, and its people, and have humbled yourself before Me, and have torn your clothes, and cried before me; I also have heard you, says Yahweh. See, I’ll gather you to your ancestors, and you’ll go to your grave in peace, nor will your eyes see all the evil that I’ll bring on this place, and on its people.’” They brought back word to the ruler. Then the ruler sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
[30-33] The ruler went up to the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, and the preachers, the Levites, and all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read to them all the words of the book of the promised agreement that was found in the Place of Worship of Yahweh. The ruler stood in his place, and made an agreement with Yahweh, to follow Yahweh, and to keep God’s Words, and judgments, and laws with all his heart, and with all his soul, to do the words of the promised agreement that were written in this book. He caused all who were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin to agree to it. The people of Jerusalem did according to the promised agreement of God, the God of their ancestors. Josiah took away all the horrible false gods out of all the lands that belonged to the people of Israel, and made all who were found in Israel to serve, and worship Yahweh their God. All his days they didn’t stop following Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.
35[1 -6] Josiah kept a Passover to Yahweh in Jerusalem; and they killed the Passover on the 14th day of the first month (Nissan, Mar-April). He put the preachers in their offices, and encouraged them to the service of the Place of Worship of Yahweh. He said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to Yahweh, “Put the holy Chest in the house which Solomon of David, ruler of Israel, built; you won’t carry it on your shoulders anymore; now serve Yahweh your God, and his people Israel. Prepare yourselves after your ancestors’ houses by your divisions, according to the writing of David, ruler of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon, his son. Stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the ancestors’ houses of your family, the people, and let there be for each a part of the ancestors’ house of the Levites. Kill the Passover sacrifices, and dedicate yourselves, and get your family ready to do what the word of Yahweh says, given by Moses.
[7-10] Josiah gave to the people 30,000 lambs and kids from the flock and 3,000 cattle, all of them for the Passover offerings, to all who were there; these were from the ruler’s own stuff. His leaders gave a freewill offering to the people, the preachers, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the leaders of the House of God, gave to the preachers for the Passover offerings 2,600 from the small livestock, and 300 of the cows. Conaniah, and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, the leaders of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000 of the small livestock, and 500 cows. So the service was ready, and the preachers stood in their place, and the Levites by their divisions, according to the ruler’s word.
[11-14] They killed the Passover sacrifices, and the preachers sprinkled the blood which they got from them, and the Levites slaughtered them. They removed the burnt offerings to give them according to the divisions of the ancestors’ houses of the leaders of the people, to offer to Yahweh, as it’s written in the book of Moses. They did this with the cows also. They roasted the Passover with fire according to the rule; and they boiled the holy offerings in small pots, and in large pots, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the leaders of the people. Afterward they got their own meal ready, and for the preachers, because the preachers, the descendants of Aaron, were busy making the burnt offerings and the fat until night; so the Levites fixed for themselves and the preachers, the descendants of Aaron.
[15-19] The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were in their place, according to the word of David, along with Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, the ruler’s preacher; and the doorkeepers were at every gate; they didn’t need to leave from their service because their family members, the Levites, fixed theirs. So all the service of Yahweh was done the same day, to keep the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of Yahweh, according to the word of ruler Josiah. The people of Israel who were there kept the Passover at that time, and the celebration of bread made without yeast seven days. There was no Passover like that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel, the preacher; nor did any of the rulers of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept, and the preachers, the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were there, and the people of Jerusalem. In the 18th year of the rule of Josiah this Passover was kept.
[20-22] After all this, when Josiah had prepared the Place of Worship, Neco, ruler of Egypt, went up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. But he sent messengers to him, saying, “What do I have to do with you, ruler of Judah? I’m not coming against you today, but against the house with which I’m at war; and God has told me to quickly stop you from meddling with God, who is with me, that God not destroy you. But Josiah wouldn’t turn from him, but disguised himself, that he could fight with him, and didn’t listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
[23-26] The archers shot at Josiah; and the ruler said to his workers, “Take me away because I’m wounded very badly. So his workers took him out of the war vehicle, and put him in the second one that he had, and brought him to Jerusalem; and he died, and was buried in the graves of his ancestors. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Jeremiah mourned for Josiah; and all the singing men and women told of Josiah in their mourning to today; and they made it a tradition in Israel; and it’s written in the Mourning Song (Lamentations). Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all his goodness, like what’s written in the law of Yahweh, all his acts from the first to the last are written in The Book of the Rulers of Israel and Judah.
36[1-4] Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, and made him ruler in his father’s place in Jerusalem. Joahaz was 23 years old when he began to rule; and he ruled three months in Jerusalem. The ruler of Egypt dethroned him at Jerusalem, and fined the land a tax of 7500 lbs of silver and 75 lbs of gold. The ruler of Egypt made Eliakim, his brother ruler over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Neco took Joahaz, his brother, and carried him to Egypt.
[5-8] Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he began to rule; and he ruled eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh God. Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon (Iraq, Iran), came against him and cuffed him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon (Iraq, Iran). Nebuchadnezzar also carried off the pots of the Place of Worship of Yahweh to Babylon (Iraq, Iran) and put them in his Place of Worship at Babylon (Iraq, Iran). Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his horrible sins which he did, and what was found in him, are written in The book of the Rulers of Israel and Judah; and Jehoiachin, his son, ruled in his place.
[9-10] Jehoiachin was 8 years old when he began to rule; and he ruled three months and ten days in Jerusalem; and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh. At the return of the year, ruler Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon with the good pots of the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and made Zedekiah, his brother, ruler over Judah and Jerusalem.
[11-14] Zedekiah was 21 years old when he began to rule; and he ruled eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh God; he didn’t humble himself before Jeremiah, the preacher, speaking from the mouth of Yahweh. He also rebelled against ruler Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him Promise by God; but he was stubborn and refused to turn back to Yahweh, the God of Israel. Besides this, all the leaders of the preachers and the people sinned very greatly, doing all the horrible sins of the nations; and they ruined the Place of Worship of Yahweh which was holy in Jerusalem.
[15 -21] Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, sent messengers to them, the preachers God sent them from the beginning of their history, who had great compassion on them, and on the House of God; but they mocked the messengers of God, and hated God’s Words, and laughed at the preachers, until Yahweh was very angry at the people of Israel, until there was no way to bring them back. So he brought the ruler of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men in war in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on the young men or women, old or gray-headed; God gave them all into his hand. All the pots of the House of God, big and small, and all the treasures of the Place of Worship of Yahweh, and all the treasures of the ruler, and of his leaders, all these the Chaldeans brought to Babylon (Iraq, Iran). They burnt the House of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all its great houses with fire, and destroyed all the best pots. Those who had escaped from the war he carried away to Babylon (Iraq, Iran); and they were workers to him and his sons until the rule of the land of Persia; to fulfill the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Seventh Days, because as long as it lay empty, it kept the Seventh Day, to fulfill 70 years.
[22-23] Now in the first year of Cyrus (539 BC) ruler of Persia, the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah would be completed, and Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, ruler of Persia, so that he made an announcement throughout all his countries, and put it also in writing, saying, “Cyrus, ruler of Persia, says, Yahweh, the God of heaven has given me all the countries of the earth; and has told me to build a Place of Worship in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all God’s people, Yahweh God will be with you, so go up.” | English | NL | b3e65362394e9630e8e7868d2d042fefef32e43db13182f094109d92b8c88b18 |
Make traps that aren't about being hidden, but are about avoiding them.
The latest dungeon I ran included a trap. All along a hallway, there were massive, purple crystal structures growing from the floor to the ceiling. They were immediately obvious to anyone who wasn't literally blind. There were no rolls required, and there was no time searching for the trap because it was obvious.
The trap, however, was that they were triggered by sound. If the characters spoke too loudly or did anything that made noise, they would explode and deal damage to the players, potentially triggering a chain reaction that could easily kill them.
This turned the characters away from having to do Perception checks every five feet, and instead made it interactive and a roleplay opportunity. How were they going to communicate? How were they going to get the plate wearing orc across? What was even on the other side, was it worth it at all?
All in all, it took them 20 minutes of planning, but rather than it being 20 minutes of "I roll Perception, what do I see?" it was 20 minutes of them chatting in character and planning their course of action, and they loved it. They got to flex their roleplay muscles rather than roll dice, and they got to plan something more clever than "I roll to disarm the trap".
Make it a time investment.
But perhaps you really like hidden traps, and you think you have a particularly good one that you don't want to get rid of. No problem. A character who is constantly searching for traps is going to be wasting a lot of time. This is time that could be better spent hunting down an enemy, exploring the rest of the dungeon, completing their quests, or even resting. They can't do any of those things while they are constantly scouring every square of a dungeon for traps. So, introduce something that puts a time constraint on them.
Perhaps they know their target will be leaving soon, and wasting hours searching for traps means their target escapes.
Maybe a spell is going to cause the entrance to the dungeon to shut in three hours, sealing them in to starve to death, and they need to be quick.
It could even be something as simple as the person who gave them the quest is very picky about time, and won't be in town to pay them for completing their quest if they take longer than a few hours.
If you don't want to do something so strict, you can still punish extreme amounts of time spent searching for traps. Enemies perhaps will know they are outside the door, and the longer they spend searching, the more reinforcements that arrive or the better position they are in to ambush the players as they enter. Maybe enemies have time to sneak up and surprise the players as they waste an hour with their eyes to the floor looking for traps that aren't there.
If you are concerned about the out of game time being spent...
Perhaps your problem is not with the time being wasted in game, but rather out of game. If so, that's easily fixed: just have them roll one Perception check per room or section, rather than every hall and every door. | English | NL | 09fd9999cb5448d0929125fbcd7a0f9ef9ce98ddda72b9e246991f7502cc0c88 |
A Glance at the Manners and Language of the Aboriginal inhabitants of Western Australia—a paper which appeared in The Gazette of the colony in 1833.
The Aboriginal inhabitants of this country are a harmless, liberal, kind hearted race; remarkably simple in all their manners. On our first settling among them, they not only abstained from all acts of hostility, but showed us every kindness in their power. Though we were invaders of their country, and they had therefore a right to treat us as enemies, when any of us lost ourselves in the bush and were thus completely in their power, these noble minded people shared with us their scanty and precarious meal, suffered us to rest for the night in their camp, and in the morning directed us on our way. It is unnecessary to adduce instances in support of facts attested by many witnesses and well known to the community.
Such was the treatment we received from a people who, cradled in storms the moment they come into being, and secluded from other nations by an uninviting, unsheltered, and dangerous coast, seem for ages to have Had no intercourse with the rest of the world. In simplicity of manners, generousness of disposition, and firmness of character, they present us with a striking likeness to the picture drawn of the ancient Caledonians. Were the disbelievers in the authenticity of Ossian to become acquainted with them, they would be almost persuaded to adopt the opposite opinion; so greatly do these inhabitants of the Australian forests resemble the race whose deeds were sung by the bard of Morven.
The sable tribes of Derbal, it must be allowed, yield to the ancient clans of the north in point of cleanliness and ingenuity. But the former arises from the custom, perhaps the necessity, in the absence of clothing, of anointing themselves with oil—a practice by the by common to the most venerable nations of antiquity—and the latter from their mode of living, the climate, and the nature of the country. The powers of the human mind, so far as mechanical science is concerned, can be called forth only by agriculture and commerce. These, however, are neither a commercial, an agricultural, nor even a pastoral people. They live entirely by the chase; differing in this respect from all the nations of antiquity with whose history we are acquainted, and resembling the Americans only. The pastoral life was common, even when mankind were most | English | NL | 05c2a49650e5958a0463e3795b6c8596b26b0f7bc3f23578962ce21aa2af2090 |
After spending ten years in Germany, I returned to India in March ’96. At this point of time, I looked, spoke and thought like a German. The Guru gave me about eight months to acclimatize, and then he appeared for the first time in this incarnation. Years later, I realized, that it had been a long wait for him, for a Guru loves the disciple strongly, and only the Guru has the strength to wait for decades till the disciple is ready again in his/her new body. When the Guru appeared, the last thing on my mind was discipleship. Then, I was suffocating under the apathy and corruption prevalent in my homeland, and was still coming to terms with the culture shock I had suffered upon returning to India. Yes, India had changed. Parts of it and some of its people had become even more western than the West. The red-tapism and the bureaucracy were at an extreme, but apparently not peaking yet. The slums and the pollution had drastically increased. The country was in shambles. And now I had this monk sitting in my office, asking for a food-donation for one of his Ashrams, which somehow broke some barrier in my system, and I started lamenting about my country in a very loud tone in front of the monk, as if everything were his fault. One thing lead to another, and the dialogue got louder from my side, whereas the monk remained calm. I finally got down to yelling that had his boss, the “amazing” God, and his linage of Gurus, not the eyes to see the appalling state of India and to do something about it? The monk had had enough of the insolence, and he banged his palm against the table (the one and only time I have observed him losing his cool in the last seven years), took out a small paper pouch from his dhoti, took a pinch of “Vibhuti” (ashes from meditation/prayer practice) from the pouch, and gave me the Vibhuti, commanding me to mix it in water and sprinkle it over all the property my family owned. Such was the power of this outburst that I quietened down. During an incarnation in India, the Sanskar of obedience to men of God gets ingrained into the system, and is followed even unconsciously. I obeyed the monk without realizing the meaning of this ritual. A few months later, I realized that the monk had taken my entire family and me into his protection, and the sprinkling of the Vibhuti was the reflection of this occurrence on the physical plane.
Amongst all this commotion, I noticed that the monk was experiencing pain on speaking, and the voice was only a hoarse whisper. Later, I found out that at that point of time, Krishnanandji was in his 21st year of a 27 year fast, in which he would only eat fruit and take milk, water etc., but no “Anna” (even slightly heavy food) as they say. [This fast ended in 2002, and I went to Krishnanandji’s main Ashram in Hardwar to obtain part of the fruit of this fast. During the 27 years of this fast, Krishnanandji was popularly known as Phalahari Baba, or the monk who survives on fruit.] But why the pain on speaking? The monk had just completed another penance of standing on one leg for two years at a stretch, and one result of this penance was that he experienced pain even on speaking. But why undergo such a penance? “So that what one wills happens”, was the exact answer of the monk. Over the years I was to find out that this monk had performed severe penances. He had roamed over entire India bare-feet for six years, surviving on alms. The rules of the penance were that he was only allowed to beg from 5 houses per day for food. If he got nothing, he could not beg from a 6th house-hold, and had to go hungry. Before this, he had spent six years shut in a cave in the Himalayas, the parameters of which barely allowed one to stand. This was after he had gained complete control over his 5 senses and attained communion with the Almighty in 1970. [A few years ago I asked him about life in the cave. He said that life in the darkness of the cave made his practice so intense, that “he began seeing maps of the entire realm of God” (to quote him exactly).] Then, after his wanderings and after establishing the Hardwar Ashram, for eight years he did not lie down, doing everything (even sleeping) while standing. Upon knowledge of this penance, a big “Why would anyone do this?” flashed across my mind. Gurus can read minds, so to answer my question he showed me a photograph of him during the 7th year of this penance. Till above the knees, both the legs had gone totally black with blood clots. [He was burning his disciples’ evil Karma by taking their pain on to his body.]
The monk’s face reflected youth, yet the body and the teeth were of an aged person. He required a stick to walk. When he spoke, one couldn’t help noticing that the structure of the gums was such that the monk must have been practicing Khechadi Mudra for years on end. Upon being asked his age, he went into a trance, emerged a minute later, and came up with the answer that he had been friends with Krishna during childhood, but they had gotten separated, and he hadn’t seen Krishna physically since then!!! [He also added that he had been following my progress since three births!] He lived for 8 months a year in his cave in a forest near Joshimath, and came down to the plains for 4 months a year to look after his Ashrams and give Satsanga to disciples. Apart from the main Ashram in Hardwar, he ran an orphanage in Hardwar, an Ayurvedic hospital in Benares, a cow’s haven (Gau-Shala) in Sonepat, was building an Ashram in Ghaziabad outside Delhi, and planned to build an Ashram in Panipat. None of these institutions were registered in his own name, but under the name of disciples. They were being run completely on donations. Amongst his disciples were the rich and the poor alike, and some of the rich would donate huge sums regularly for the running of the Ashrams. The Ashrams and their responsibilities would become reason enough for the monk to come down to the plains at regular intervals (totalling about 4 months a year), and the disciples would get their Satsanga regularly. It was a beautiful cycle.
Whenever he crossed Panipat, Krishnanandji would drop by at my office and give me Satsanga. A relationship began to build from my side too. Guruji, as I had started calling him now, came again to my factory after my engagement to Nidhi. I told him that I had gotten engaged. He said that this was the happiest day of his life. Much later I would realize the meaning of this statement. Normally I would give a small donation for his Ashrams, but this time he commanded, that it was imperative for me to donate Rs. 11000 at this stage, and I would obtain the fruit of this donation very soon indeed. So forceful was this command, that I made the donation. Upon obtaining this donation, he immediately got up, said something to the effect of “watch how the fruit of this donation is given to you”, blessed me and left. During our courtship, Nidhi and I used to be on the phone before bed-time. A week after this donation, I noticed that Nidhi’s voice was sounding very tired on the phone, and she was yawning away. I told her that there was something unusual about her voice. I asked her to call her father, since I wanted to bring this to his notice. She said that everyone was asleep. Strange, this, at 9:30 p.m. I sensed something, and immediately ordered her to wake her father up that very instant. After 5 minutes a yawning father-in-law came on the line. His voice sounded funny too. Drugged was the word I was looking for. I warned him about what I felt, and he immediately controlled and saved the situation. Actually, the entire family had been drugged by the servant, who had mixed 20 sleeping pills in the food. Nidhi had stayed awake waiting for my call. Had even she gone off to sleep, the entire family was doomed, because outside in the bushes was waiting a gang of four robbers to rob the household (later all were apprehended). This gang was known to kill upon the slightest retaliation by any family member. Since the donation, the commanding voice of the Guru and this incident occurred only a week apart, I knew that somehow the Guru had saved the day. Nidhi’s grandmother woke up three days later, and her mother suffered hallucinations for two days, but the situation had been saved. Thank God, and thanks to the Guru.
The Guru never stops testing the disciple, so there he was again, a month later, with the same commanding voice, asking for another Rs. 21000 to be donated urgently. This was a big sum, and I said that I could not go through with such a big donation at this stage. He said that in that case I should donate whatever I deemed fit. I made a small donation of about 20% of the amount asked. He seemed a bit disappointed, but he left. Within a week there was a raid on my factory by government officials and because some papers were not in order, I faced either a fine of Rs. 600,000 or immediate arrest. An arrest, that too fifteen days before my wedding, could have dampened all future prospects for me. Luckily for me, my father and my uncle controlled the situation and avoided the arrest, but had to shuck out the huge fine to the very penny. It was a big loss. I wished that I had listened to Krishnanandji and had made that donation of Rs. 21000.
In 1999, Krishnanandji arrived with a dark and robust man who started giving me Satsanga. During this discourse, Guruji sat quietly, watching me. I sensed that something unusual was at play. Looking at the dark fellow in the ochre robe, I, then studying physiognomy, saw that his thumbs were those of a dacoit. I then only paid attention to Krishnanandji, not once looking at the dark fellow. After the two had left, I got a call from my grandfather, who asked me to invest Rs. 200,000 on some shares which promised a return of Rs. 35000 within two months. I told grandfather that as a matter of principle, I did not invest on the stock-market. All he said was that for once I should please listen to him. Actually, grandfather was never really forceful, but now, there was forcefulness in his voice. Again that strange feeling that odd forces were at play. I followed grandfather’s instructions and purchased the stipulated shares, making sure that when the promised return of Rs. 35000 was ripe, I cashed in on the Rs. 2,35,000. Grandfather seemed satisfied, and I was beaming from inside, for I now had Rs. 35000, generated out of nowhere, and I thought I would donate them, bit by bit, to Guruji. The next day the dark fellow landed up with another fat fellow, both in ochre robes. They said that Guruji had met with an accident and was lying in hospital. His life was in danger, and the doctor had to operate urgently. The cost of the operation was Rs. 35000, and they had come to me on instruction from Guruji to obtain this money. I promptly gave them my entire earnings at the stock market without any further clarification. They left. Two months later, a beaming Guruji entered my office. He couldn’t have looked better. I enquired about his accident. He said that he hadn’t had any accident. Then it dawned upon me that I had been duped, but on second thought and after meditative insights, I feel that Guruji had focused a chunk of my karmic debt upon the dark fellow, and had then sparked him off indirectly to go and obtain this debt. So that I wouldn’t really incur a loss, the earning at the stock market through an abnormally forceful grandfather came about, again ignited through Guruji, I felt. And, killing three birds with one stone, Guruji was able to test my reaction when confronted with the question of his life, a test which I had passed with flying colours. This was a master-stroke, Krishnanandji, a hole-in-one. Guruji closed this meeting with the instruction that if anyone wearing an ochre robe came to my doorstep (apart from himself), I were to offer a glass of water followed by a cup of tea and a donation of Rs. 11, and nothing else. Sure enough, regularly ochre-robed persons come for donations, and I openly apply Guruji’s maxim of water, tea and Rs. 11.
Between 1999 and 2002, Guruji one-pointedly would concentrate on the value of charity during his discourses. Somehow he would make it a point to make me feel that if I thought that I was one of the most charitable persons going around, I was mistaken. He would then narrate episodes from the classics about when the protagonists of the episodes would donate their children to the gods for sacrifice without wincing, the whole thing being a test for the protagonist by the God. The Gods would return the children unharmed after the test, of course. One protagonist even donated a child to a God only to see the god tear the stomach of the child with a saw, and the protagonist did not shed a tear, thus passing the test and having the child returned to him, healthy, unscathed. Guruji was trying to get it across to me that true charity was done without shedding a tear and without the expectation of a reward, and after the performance of the deed, true charity was soon forgotten by the performer. Any expectation of reward and any pinch felt while making the donation reduced the value of that donation in the eyes of the Lord.
In September 2002 came the big test. Guruji expressed a desire to travel all over India and give Satsanga to as many people as possible. His itinerary was such that this 6 week tour would cost him Rs. 3,00,000. He had chosen three disciples who would finance the trip, each having to donate Rs. 1,00,000. I was one of them. Around the same time, for the first time in my life, I had felt that there was something lacking in my life. Nidhi and I had been married for four years then, and we did not have any children. Both of us had just started to want a child. For the first time in his life, I had an unfulfilled desire. Firstly, would he make this donation? Secondly, would he make it with or without the expectation of the reward of a child? Thirdly, would he feel the pinch of donating the huge sum of money? I had been practicing Kriya then for nine months then and had been a disciple of Guruji for six years. Something must have rubbed off on me, for I recognized the test in its full and complete form. I then made the donation without wincing and without the expectation of any reward. Krishnanandji was able to travel to remote parts of India, feed many hungry persons, and give Satsanga to those who would otherwise never have had the opportunity to meet and hear him. I had passed the test, and the moment I handed him the packet of money, he patted me on the back many times and beamed, brimming with joy and shouting “You have passed the test.”
On the path of Sadhana, the tests get more and more difficult. The current test is the most difficult I have ever experienced in my life, having to do with two Sanyasis having to conceive by physical means. The task is very difficult, and Guruji is using the situation to annihilate as much of his disciples’ evil karma as possible by jugglingly magnifying the situation to cause prolonged but bearable amount of mental pain to his disciple.
Meanwhile, Sadhana and the Guru’s tests have made me partly numb towards the pain, apathy and corruption prevalent in India. Both of these have helped me establish my own mental niche, which is essential for the survival of any evolving soul, especially in India.
Paramhans Krishnananda is a part of our lives. He can barely read or write. His visits are tests. We look forward to them, but know that we will be examined. One cannot define Paramhans Krishnananda. | English | NL | b0453e29a29b1f708ef96a3600c6940c6222ba9adaae7d60d558b6f0c4258176 |
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The Heaven holy Dan's pill formulas were nothing to the Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume, so he dared to take out the Heaven holy Dan's divine medicines in front of everyone. Those medicines were indeed the few that Chen Xiang was familiar with.
Wu Qianqian also took out some medicinal ingredients. Other than Tyrant body cloud ear, Chen Xiang did not recognize any other medicinal ingredients, even the Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume did not know what kind of medicinal ingredients they were.
Chen Xiang was very suspicious, and really wanted to ask Wu Qianqian what those things were that he wanted to use them to refine Bati Dan.
Wu Qianqian had opened the lid of her pill furnace, so she could easily see if there was anything inside. The inside of the furnace was empty, and her furnace was not a good one either, far from the Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume's.
The Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume had already started a fire to refine pills, and many Alchemist were watching with wide eyes, hoping to see through the pill formula. However, even if they knew the sequence of the ingredients, they would still not be able to grasp the opportunity.
This was because they were unable to clearly sense the control of the fire in the Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume's pill furnace. Only if they could clearly see the interior of the furnace and feel any changes, would they be able to steal the pill formula.
Therefore, in the eyes of many Alchemist, Li Zhonghan and the others were just making trouble for no reason previously, because stealing pill formulas was simply too difficult.
Wu Qianqian's refining methods were astonishing, because she had placed the Tyrant Profound Ear and other medicinal ingredients into the pill furnace at the same time.
Dan G.o.d Ye said in a low voice: "I knew there was a Tyrant body cloud ear inside, but I don't know what the other medicinal ingredients are, it's hard to believe that this little girl was the one to create this pill formula."
"From the looks of it, she doesn't seem to be under any pressure. She is facing a Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume, and this kind of calmness is not something an ordinary Alchemist can possess. It seems like she has a great background." The Rosy clouds Dan Saint said.
Wu Qianqian had obtained Chen Xiang's inheritance and was using the Original source refining s from the Heavenly Alchemy.
The Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume had already put in all of the divine medicines and as they neared the end, he began to reveal a portion of his Medicine aura.
Just like Chen Xiang had guessed, even if it was a Pill G.o.d, if he used a normal method of refinement, he would still have to rely on leaking Medicine aura s to maintain the balance of multiple types of spiritual energy in order to fuse multiple types of Medicine aura.
Chen Xiang estimated how much more he had left based on the medicinal aura released by the Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume.
"As expected of the famous G.o.d of Pills, it's already quite rare for him to produce two pills this time." Chen Xiang was secretly surprised, but he knew that Wu Qianqian would definitely win, it was just that his speed would be slower by a level.
If it was Pill Saint who refined the Heaven holy Dan, there would be only one pellet per pellet and it would take a very long time. However, Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume only needed half an hour to start condensing the pellets, and his speed was many times faster than other Pill Saints.
"Alright." Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume smiled. Although his smile was very faint, it was very confident, as if to say, it's just a little girl, I can win easily.
Wu Qianqian smiled lightly: "Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume is indeed impressive, to be able to refine a batch of Heaven holy Dan so easily, this little girl is impressed."
Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume laughed: "I will wait for you, don't worry."
Wu Qianqian was really not in a hurry, she continued to concoct pills with her eyes closed.
The two Pill Saints standing behind Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume looked proud, as if they were the victors. Li Zhonghan on the other hand, looked at Wu Qianqian with a look of despise, as he sighed in his heart.
It took Wu Qianqian an hour to open the pill furnace, her refining speed was two times slower than Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume's. When she opened the furnace, Li Zhonghan laughed coldly: "Conducting a challenge to the Pill G.o.d was truly overestimating yourself.
Lv Qilian replied: "Of course we know our standards. There's no need for you to say anything, and we don't have him to challenge the Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume."
When Wu Qianqian opened the pill furnace, he used his Spiritual Sense to scan inside and found that there were actually four Bati Dan s inside.
The effects of Bati Dan were better than his own Heaven holy Dan. He admitted this point, so Bati Dan were also slightly better than his own Heaven holy Dan.
If a Holy Pellet of this level was not a pellet G.o.d, it would be very difficult to refine two of them at the same time, let alone four, but Wu Qianqian had refined four of them now, even though the time was a little slow.
"I've lost." Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume sighed, then cupped his hands towards Wu Qianqian: "Admirable, admirable."
With that, the Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume left, and then he heard his stern voice: "The three of you are not leaving yet."
Li Zhonghan and the two Pill Saints did not manage to react at all. Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume had actually admitted defeat himself, and had left in such a hurry.
No one understood. It was only when Wu Qianqian took out four Bati Dan s and gave them to Lv Qilian did they finally understand.
Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume could only refine two pellets per pellet, but Wu Qianqian could refine four pellets per pellet. Although the refining time was two times that of Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume, if Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume wanted to refine four pellets of Heaven holy Dan, he would still need the same amount of time as Wu Qianqian.
Therefore, Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume lost a lot in this aspect.
The news of the Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume being defeated had spread like wildfire, causing the reputation of the shop to increase. Although there was no name for the shop up till now, everyone had already remembered it.
Because Wu Qianqian had won against the Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume, once the Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume left, everyone started to have enough money for the Holy Pellets. In just half a day, all of the Holy Pellets were sold out.
"Selling so much all at once. It seems like I'll have to wait a while longer if I want to sell out the next time." Lv Qilian returned and counted the divine money.
Chen Xiang anxiously ran back to the shop and went upstairs. He anxiously asked Wu Qianqian: "How did you refine the Bati Dan, those herbs are not right."
Wu Qianqian chuckled: "Those medicinal herbs have changed forms by Sister Qilian, I have quite a few spare ones here."
Medicinal ingredients could also change their form. Chen Xiang looked at Lv Qilian with some disbelief.
"It's the Alive Slain Method, it's not as simple as you think it is. Besides refining the spirit liquid, it has other uses." Lv Qilian laughed: "I had expected this to happen, so I did it earlier. I only changed the color, it won't affect the pill refining."
Chen Xiang gave Lv Qilian a big thumbs up, praising him: "As expected of the future female emperor of the Divine Nations, you are truly not bad."
Lv Qilian snorted: "If I didn't have to, I wouldn't even bother using such a method. If I had the ability, I would directly use my fist to greet him."
Long Xueyi said: "Little Scoundrel, luckily you did not do anything, that Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume was hiding in the crowd, it would be troublesome if he caught him."
"Now that we have a fortune, we don't need to be in such a hurry. We will be concocting pills for ourselves." Lv Qilian said: "Wait until news spreads out, we will refine another batch in half a year, and we will continue to raise the price."
Chen Xiang leaned on a chair, and laughed: "You are now the big sister, you can arrange everything yourself."
Hua Xiangyue smiled tenderly: "We worked hard for almost two months and already earned more than six hundred million."
The Dan G.o.d in Blue Costume tumbled, but the other Pill G.o.ds did not dare to laugh at him, because they were very clear about the situation at that time. If it was them, it would be the same.
Some of the Pill G.o.ds also thought of something, because a long time ago, there was also such a powerful Alchemist, and that Alchemist held the Heavenly Alchemy. | English | NL | c1815d3d56f76c14b9f0b249a3a45ab1df1e25028b8a6cac7337b013b804ca17 |
The Legendary Master's Wife Chapter 493
Chapter 493: Commotion
Chapter 493: Commotion
Translated by Yan of Exiled Rebel Scanlations
The treasury was almost a thousand square meters big and displayed many orderly rows of shelves. The shelves were full of rare treasures that the Xing Luo Citys city master had plundered from various places, such as magic herbs and magic pills, technique scrolls, skins of high level demon beasts, and uncommon spirit fruit or spirit wine, etc.
The Metal Swallowing Beast jumped deftly onto a shelf, and its sapphire blue eyes reflected the treasures inside the treasury, as if they were being filtered through its eyes.
Dragon blood was a kind of fluid that could only be contained by jade bottles, but it could also possibly be stored in jade boxes. This was what their idiot master told them to do, so their goal were jade bottles and jade boxes.
However, in the Metal Swallowing Beasts eyes, even if there werent two hundred jade bottles and jade boxes inside the treasury, there was still at least one hundred. There were too many, and if they had to check each one then it would be daytime before they were done.
Since it was like this, then
Xiao Ping found a magic bag from a large pile of treasures and flew to a shelf while carrying it in its mouth. It arranged the magic bag before placing the treasures on the shelf one by one into the magic bag. Although its figure was small, it still had a lot of strength.
Seeing its actions, the Metal Swallowing Beasts eyes lit up.
Its figure was pretty big, so its treasure packing speed was faster than Xiao Pings by quite a bit.
Since searching one by one was too slow, they would put all the treasures into magic bags, and the idiot master would definitely be very pleased. Their movements were lightning fast, and not even an hour had passed before half of the things in the treasury were stored into magic bags.
When one magic bag was almost full, they would take another one from the treasury, set the full magic bag down, and continue packing.
Ga ga ga!!!
Their idiot master definitely couldnt have thought of such a strategy.
At this moment, You XiaoMo was still worrying about how to sneak into Xing Luo City masters bedroom and didnt know that his two little demon beasts were currently having a intimate relationship with the treasury, preparing to completely empty it. If he could see them, he would definitely feel completely ashamed, because his education was too successful.
However, as the saying goes, just as humans can make mistakes, horses can also stumble.
Just when the two were extremely happily filling bags, a vase that the Metal Swallowing Beast had disliked and placed on top of a shelf wobbled and fell down.
The beautiful vase smashed into pieces.
The Metal Swallowing Beast and Xiao Ping looked sharply at the broken vase before gazing at each other in dismay. The scene was frozen for half a second before the Metal Swallowing Beast quickly used its hind legs to leap towards the exit in the ceiling. Xiao Ping didnt fall behind in the slightest, and it rapidly flapped its wings and followed closely behind.
The sound of a hoarse, angry shout came instantly from outside the treasury, followed by the sound of the door bursting open with a boom. A crowd of people quickly surged inside, including two peak Emperor level practitioners. When they saw the treasury that had pretty much been emptied, everyone sucked in a breath of air.
The two practitioners instantly discovered the hole in the ceiling.
Bastards, chase them!
The Metal Swallowing Beast and Golden Winged Insect ran extremely fast, one after another.
Since Xiao Ping and Xiao Pong had an extremely strong mental awareness of each other, they ran entirely according to the direction the idiot master was in.
After the treasury was plundered, the entire city masters mansion was alerted almost immediately.
You XiaoMo was crouched outside of the city masters bedroom. An hour had passed and he was still outside feeding mosquitoes, but this was also something that couldnt be helped. On such an important day, rather than searching for the culprit, that old city master actually decided to populate with his concubine in his room.
The most shameful thing was that he was still so vigorous. It was already an hour and it still wasnt done. He had listened to the sounds of lovemaking for so long he could almost imagine it.
Just when he was worrying if he should give up, a large crowd of people suddenly ran over while shouting things like not good, not good, somethings happened!
Quickly, Xing Luo Citys Lord ran out from his room with his clothing in a mess. What happened?
Not good, master, the treasury was plundered.
The captain of the guards rushed in.
Hearing this, Xing Luo Citys master grabbed the captains clothing, eyes burning with fury. What did you say? How could the treasury be plundered, werent there people watching it?
After finishing, he didnt even wait for the captains response before hurrying out.
Rapidly, everyone else withdrew until not one was left.
You XiaoMo walked out from his corner. The treasury was plundered? Did Xiao Jin and Xiao Ping succeed in stealing the dragon blood and escape from the Lords Mansion after that? But it was also likely that they had been discovered while stealing.
You XiaoMo pondered for a bit before finally still deciding to go in and take a look. Xiao Pong, you stay here and keep watch. If someone comes notify me immediately.
The Golden Winged Insect instantly took off from the top of his head.
You XiaoMo pushed open the doors to Xing Luo Citys masters bedroom and tiptoed in before closing the door again. The city master had left in a hurry, and the light in his bedroom was still on, illuminating sleeping quarters that were as beautiful and imposing as an emperors. The tables, chairs, vases, and plants all looked very expensive.
You XiaoMo swallowed, and moved his eyes to look towards the inner bedroom.
The beaded curtain was suddenly thrown to the side by someone, and a stark naked young woman walked out, draped only in a thin robe, wearing an expression of unsatisfied lust.
From You XiaoMos perspective, he could see her clearly without obstruction.
Who are you? Upon seeing a stranger appear in the bedroom, the woman shouted out loud at once, although her first instinct wasnt to conceal her exposed skin.
You XiaoMo quietly covered his eyes and shot his soul force from his finger towards the woman.
The woman had opened her mouth as if she still wanted to say something, but in the next second she collapsed, except her posture on the ground wasnt quite appropriate. The thin robe basically didnt cover her body.
You XiaoMo sighed sorrowfully and pulled off the tablecloth in order to cover her body. Only after that did he walk into the inner bedroom and start flipping through chests and drawers to look for the dragon blood.
Dragon blood was a kind of treasure that contained power. If it was truly in the room, he could definitely discover it by using his soul perception. But after he had gone through all the places that could hide dragon blood and even knocked along the wall to discover if there was a hidden mechanism, he still hadnt found the dragon blood.
You XiaoMo scratched his head. Where exactly could it be hidden? Did Xing Luo Citys master carry it with him?
At that moment, Xiao Pong hurriedly flew in.
Without waiting for it to open its mouth, You XiaoMo instantly grabbed it and jumped out the window. Half a minute after he left, a big crowd of people barged in, and leading them was the city master who hadnt been gone all that long. When he saw the room that had been flipped upside down, his face blackened until it was like the bottom of a pot.
The city master of Xing Luo Citys eyes were ice cold as they swept over the woman who lay on the floor before him, and he broke the table with the slap of his hand. Go search right now, you have to find this person no matter what!
The captain of the guards immediately led the people out again.
The city master stamped his feet a few times where he stood before he suddenly took out a jade bottle from his robe. A drop of red liquid laid impressively inside the clear bottle, rolling back and forth like a sparkling dewdrop. This was the dragon blood that You XiaoMo was looking for, but it was too bad that he couldnt see it with his own eyes. However, he had guessed correctly.
The city masters Mansion was tightly enforced by security. You XiaoMo was a big living human, unlike the Metal Swallowing Beast and Xiao Ping, and himself as a target was really obvious, so he painstakingly hid.
He finally broke free with difficulty from the heavy encirclement, but yet he unconsciously came to a place that he didnt recognize. He was surrounded by extremely quiet buildings in pitch-black darkness, and not even a shred of light could be seen.
You XiaoMo ran through the corridor and discovered several wing-rooms.
The wing-rooms were all left unoccupied, so only a few guards were assigned to patrol it, allowing him to sneak in easily.
When he turned the corner of the corridor, he finally saw some light radiating out from a room. Two of the mansion guards stood watch outside the room.
At this moment, the door opened with a creak.
Two people walked out one after another. It was Tang ZhongHua and Tang He.
What happened, whats with all the noise? Upon coming out, Tang ZhongHua saw that besides this area, everywhere else in the mansion was lit as if it was daytime. There was also a loud wave of noise that would frequently come over, and he couldnt help but frown.
Mister Tang, several thieves broke into the mansion. The city master has already given orders to catch them, please rest assured! One of the guards said respectfully.
Thieves? Tang He suddenly became intrigued. Thieves who dare to break into the city masters mansion have some guts, was anything lost?
This The guard hesitated.
The guard shivered with fear. Yes sir, I heard that the treasury was plundered.
Tang ZhongHuas heart jumped. Was the prize for the selection trial stolen as well? If the dragon blood was stolen, then that would be a mess.
The guard said, This lowly man is not clear on that.
Tang He, go ask. Ill look after this place.
Tang ZhongHua said immediately to Tang He. Someone had to keep watch over Jiang Lius condition, so between the two of them someone had to stay.
After Tang He left, Tang ZhongHua hesitated for a moment before suddenly walking in You XiaoMos direction.
You XiaoMo instantly jumped onto the roof, walked quietly over to Jiang Lius room, and removed several of the tiles above his room. He remembered that this was how it always happened on television, and he should be able to see what was happening in the room after he removed the tiles.
You XiaoMo narrowed his eyes and, accompanying the light from inside the room, he could see someone lying completely still on the bed. Half of his face was covered, but he could still recognize him. This person was Jiang Liu. | English | NL | 27afbb4a90335f9f3130c5e039b9e9763a59c07e4eca5284310f83a0d1176da7 |
Anderson, Isaac, Dd
Anderson, Isaac, D.D.
a Presbyterian minister, was born in Rockbridge County, Va., March 26, 1780. At the age of twenty he united with the Presbyterian Church; and in. 1802 was licensed to preach by the Union Presbytery, and was ordained and installed pastor of Washington Church, Knox Co., Tenn., where he labored successfully for nine years. In 1811 he accepted a call to the New Providence Church, Maryville, Tenn., where he performed the principal part of the labors of his life. He died Jan. 28, 1857. He was a man of commanding power, of glowing zeal, and untiring and successful industry. See Sprague, Annals of the Amer. Pulpit, 4, 55. | English | NL | 5f1484afa1a22a9a4488845568003ced7e6407e3aa2400023157abc6623f9a2f |
HOMILY THEME: Have a childlike heart and allow the will of God to prevail in your life.
BY: Rev. Fr. Callistus Emenyonu, cmf
HOMILY: READINGS: Deut. 31: 1-8, Resp. Ps. Deut 32: 3-4, 7-9, Matt. 18: 1-5, 10. 12-14
There is in the Church a prayer we say: Jesus I love you. All that I have is yours; yours I am and yours I want to be. Do with me whatever you will. This prayer is supposed to be a prayer of faith in complete abandonment to the will of God. It is often said in the Church especially after reception of the Holy Communion as an act of faithful resignation to the will of God. In real life situation and in reality, our faith cannot accommodate this in fact. The problem is that to understand the will of God is not easy and when understood by the light of faith accepting it is almost impossible. The scripture said that as the heaven is far from the earth so is the will of God far from ours. Life has taught us that often times the will of God for us is contrary to what we desire, what we pray for and wish ourselves. This is why it is difficult if not impossible to accept his will completely.
Beloved, from the happenings in the first reading between Moses and God, one comes to stark reality of how painful and disgusting the will of God can be. Moses has for years suffered to lead the people of Israel to the Promised Land. He was insulted of planning with God to starve and kill them in the wilderness. They often times grumbled and murmured against him and his God. God wanted to destroy the people in anger but Moses interceded and instead asked that he prefers that his name be blotted from the book of life. The desire and prayer of Moses and his anticipated joy is that one day he will lead the people into the Promised Land and then joyfully say that at last I did not suffer in vain. Unfortunately the will of God for him was contrary to his expectation. God today has revealed to him that he (Moses) was not going to enter into the land he laboured for and desired. The fruit of his faithful labour shall be denied him. He was asked to relinquish his lot to another (Joshua). Abraham willingly and in joyful tone announced this painful will of God for him to the people of Israel. He presented Joshua to them and appealed for their support without any element of sabotage or animosity against him. He did not angrily present an obstacle or stumbling block to his realization of this divine plan of God. He prayed for Joshua for success and encouraged him never to be afraid but be of courage and trust in the providence of God.
Beloved, this is a food for thought to all of us in our journey of faith. How many of us can accept this the way Moses did? How many of us can relinquish his position and due for another to benefit without putting him in enmity with the people so that they can rebel against him and never allow him to succeed? How many of us can accept the will of God freely without question and aggression or grumbling? How many would be happy that another reaps the fruit of his own labour?
Beloved, it takes a faith that is childlike to achieve the perfect acceptance of the will of God, total resignation to his will and perfect surrender to whatever the Lord wills. To be the greatest as a Christian is to be childlike. To be childlike is to accept that the best shall be whatever the Lord provides. To be childlike is to accept that the best is to say Amen to whatever God wants to happen in our lives. It means to be happy with whatever we receive from the Lord. It is to have a spirit of abandonment and detachment from whatever we think is our due. It means not to begrudge anything we receive as a treatment from God. To receive God and his kingdom is to be a child in the heart. It calls for the heart never to despise any person as not qualified for God’s blessing or divine choice. To be a child means to try and discover the way back to the Father from wherever we are lost; it is to try to make ourselves available to be found.
We pray that we may have the spirit of self sacrifice and true love for others. We pray that we may never cling tenaciously to anything as a right but allow God to grant us whatever he wills. May God grant us the grace to be childlike in our followership of Christ so as to be rewarded for obedience and total resignation to his Holy will, Amen.
Rev. Fr. Callistus Emenyonu, cmf | English | NL | 8c07250d01c40f3e5353aa9b6ebaf35c1d6a70a267f1b835d284937d8225dd26 |
Just as Oakley-style plastic lenses for cycling were around in the 1890s, so were MTB-style knobby tyres. Most solid tyres of the period – as fitted to high-wheelers, which didn’t need the suspension offered by pneumatics – were smooth. Most pneumatics were patterned with grooves. However, for serious mud-plugging on an overseas tour on Humber Safety cycles in 1893, the Stead brothers were equipped with the “latest bicycle Torrilliou pneumatic tyres and Edwards’ corrugate cover.”
According to an article in their father’s The Daily Paper (a short-lived publication from the father of New Journalism, creator of the tabloid reporting style, and who in 1912 went down with the Titanic), this “corrugate cover”…
…was an immense success, and attracted great attention whenever the cycles stopped. They were the first of the kind that had been seen in France, and they were very greatly admired, not without cause, for they entirely prevent side-slipping, and they render riding in rain and mud as safe as in dry weather.”
The ridges and grooves on the pneumatic bicycle tyres of the 1890s were distinctive. In Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventure of the Priory School, Sherlock Holmes demonstrated his ability to identify bicycle tyre treads:
“I am familiar with forty-two different impressions left by tyres.”
Conan Doyle likely borrowed this supposed skill from his brother-in-law, E. W. Hornung, author of the Raffles novels about a gentleman thief of the 1890s. Two years before Conan Doyle wrote The Adventure of the Priory School, Hornung placed his anti-hero on a bicycle in The Black Mask and had him ride upon the “incomparable Ripley Road.”
“I had my eye on the road all the way from Ripley to Cobham, and there were more Dunlop marks than any other kind. Bless you, yes, they all leave their special tracks.”
In the cycle trade press, a Lovell Diamond Safety bicycle of 1897 was advertised as having a tyre tread that featured the company’s name in reverse, which, in certain conditions, would decorate a dirt road surface with a corporate signature. | English | NL | 759bb2c95b5189ebb6110cb3702f1f50f60a2d61f793002e234f2517430fc1ad |
We are the Galactic Nation of the Opal Asteroid. We are pleased to be able to communicate with you today and bring you our message of hope and support as you all continue along your ascension process. Your ascension is continuing to manifest in exactly the way that you all need at this time and is on schedule. We know that many wish to hurry it along and ascend faster, but we assure you that all is proceeding in its perfect time and best possible pace. You must remember that it is not just you who is ascending, but the whole earth and all of her residents, including the animal worlds. The human species is just one part of the ascension, though we know it is a huge part. Not everyone is as ready as you to grow and move forward with the new ways. There is much resistance that will need to be cleared still. This resistance is strong and only through your good work and persistence for the cause will it be lessened. You must have faith in the good that you are fighting for. Always lead with kindness and compassion for others who are not as entrenched in the Light as you. They will get there, especially with your help. We suggest you do not fight and argue with these souls. They are children of the Universe just as you. You would not yell and scream at a child who doesn’t know better, would you? We don’t use this analogy to belittle the others who are not as far along as you. Quite the opposite. If you see them as children who want to learn and move forward we believe you will feel more compassion for them and treat them more gently. Their souls are younger and less experienced. Give them time and gentle nudges in the right direction. Most importantly, if they are strongly resisting the Light, let them go for now. They will get there one way or another. It is not your job to take on their negativity and try to turn it into Light. You can gently guide and lead them if they are willing. Most importantly, stay true to your own path towards enlightenment and growth and be a role model of the highest ideals of the 5th dimension and Source. Only through love and compassion will you heal your world and all who are living in it. We wish you only the best and highest results as you proceed along your journeys.
We are the Galactic Nation of the Opal Asteroid. We travel through the Universe to aid and educate all who are open to our messages. It has been our pleasure and honor to speak to you today.
Channeled through Shawn B Wilson | English | NL | 06024fbd6410ef47bc353874638cc9012599a3c1d0376d0d1d0b96d442a8d03e |
Wilfrid Edwards wrote a series of letters to a young Wolverhampton lady, Lilian Wiggall, while he was posted abroad. Although it appears that not all of the letters have survived (earlier non-extant letters are referred to), the surviving letters date between 8 November 1916 and 5 November 1917, giving a fascinating view of life at the Front, as well as an insight into two people’s relationship.
Scans and full transcriptions of all the letters are available on Flickr, but some of the highlights include “I often think that if I had of a stopped in Wolverhampton we should of a perhaps become…more than mere friends of course you may think different.” Whilst we do not have Lilian’s responses, the fact that she clearly kept sending letters, postcards and parcels indicates that the feelings were mutual. The fact that the letters have survived to this day is also an indication that they must have held cherished memories for Lilian.
As well as asking Lilian about herself, Edwards also gives details about his daily life, such as “I dont no what you would say if you were to see me like I am dressed now. We do not look like soldiers, look more like rag time rag pickers.” He also clearly misses Wolverhampton, as he asks questions such as (at Christmas 1916) “what is the Panto at the grand this time” (obviously referring to the Grand Theatre).
The National Archives have got Edwards’s World War One Pension records, so we may feature him again on a future blog. In the meantime, we have some background information on him. He was born in Wolverhampton on 18 December 1888. By the 1911 census, he is a 22-year old boarder at No 2 Pittsburgh Place, Beach Street, Birmingham, living with hairdresser Richard Gair, his wife Lucy, and son William Richard Gair (an office boy). He is an iron moulder.
Having enlisted on the 15 December 1915, Edwards was a member of the 5th Platoon, B company, 1st Gloucesters, and was stationed with the British Expeditionary Force in France. When he terminated his service, his home address was given as 52 Ewins Street, Wolverhampton.
In the last surviving letter, dated 5 November 1917, Edwards speaks of his forthcoming leave, and makes plans to visit Lilian, saying “dont think I want to monoplise [sic] you [sic] time.” He suggests meeting her at Snow Hill or New Street station in Birmingham.
Unfortunately, whilst we do not know what occurred at this meeting, or even if it actually took place, the fact that no further letters exist is not a sign that things went well. In addition, although Edwards survived the war, he did not marry Lilian. A Lilian A. M. Wiggall married a George Pike in 1920. If this is the lady in the letters, she had obviously met somebody else. So far, finding any marriage or death record of Edwards has proved fruitless, so the research will continue… | English | NL | a8e77f511e848f924753171446b0f5e385686a607fd5dc63678b025f1012b65e |
School is over at last and Colby and his best friend Bev want to spend a year wandering around Europe! But before they take off, they go on a last concert tour through the Pacific Northwest with the members of the Disenchantments, Bev’s band. But, out of a sudden, Bev abandons their plans and Colby is totally stunned.
Why has she never mentioned it before? Why did she keep talking about her trip for months, although she had already set her mind on other things? Deeply hurt and upset, Colby struggles to gain control of his feelings for Bev. How can he ever talk about his true feelings for her, if she evades him on their tour?
This book is suitable for young adults over 14 years old.
Nina LaCour has tutored, taught, and guest lectured in various places, including Berkeley City College, Maybeck High School, Stanford University, and Mills College, where she received an MFA in Creative Writing in 2006. Her novels have been Junior Library Guild selections, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, and have appeared on many state and regional lists. Nina won the 2009 Northern California Book Award for Children’s Literature, was featured in Publishers Weekly as a Flying Starts Author, and was a finalist for the William C. Morris award. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her Family. | English | NL | d3134ac0d5b5837c98128efd391544c7c9ee43a65f4a8be9a20a71412a3aa34b |
These are notable quotes from the book "The Rules of the Tunnel," by Ned Zeman.
"Ignorance is a blessing. Memory was a bitch."
"If nature had wanted us to force our way through seas and mountains, she wouldn't have put seas and mountains there."
"Television is the force of no history, and it holds the archives of no history. The power of it resembles the power of no action, the powerful passive. It is bewitching. It interferes with growth, conflict, and deconstruction, and those forces are indifferent in its presence."
"Writers, creators, were different from everyone else." | English | NL | 2e4f59e991138c04c67649a02a6dfa66ddce7fbb08c51701263156d9bc829c0c |
Welcome to WritingNV.com which is brought to you by two sisters, Victoria and Natalie or Natalie and Victoria. We are the NV in the Writing.
Victoria writes Middle Grade fiction. She’s a member of the Golden Egg Academy, where she has worked with Maurice Lyon and Sarah Levison. Victoria is also a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI.)
When she’s not writing Victoria works in Marketing and looks after her two children, two rabbits and a cat. As a child Victoria was so obsessed with Enid Blyton that she begged her parents to send her to a boarding school (like Malory Towers.) They almost agreed.
Natalie wrote her first children's book Teddy Go Teddy when she was seven years old. Unfortunately it wasn't published, although she received a very lovely rejection letter from Ladybird.
Years later Natalie worked for children's book publisher, Egmont UK and it was then that her passion for children’s books was ignited.
She has written poetry since she was a child and, in addition, she now writes Young Adult Fiction and enjoys reading picture books to her little boy.
Copyright © 2017 - 2019 WritingNV.com All rights reserved. | English | NL | 3366fc5161645b706cb750797315890b06acc9ca7698d94d1704051db1e82149 |
Today we led Mass for the whole school to celebrate the feast day of St. Matthew.
Matthew was a tax collector in the city of Capernaum, where Jesus was living.
He was a Jew but he was working for the Romans so the other Jews disliked him.
But Jesus did not feel that way about Matthew. One day, Jesus saw Matthew sitting in his office and he said, "Follow me." At once, Matthew left his money and gave a big supper for Jesus. He invited other friends like himself to meet Jesus and listen to him teach.
Some people criticised Jesus for sharing a meal with sinners, however, Jesus said: "They who are well do not need a doctor; the sick do.” | English | NL | b0c4ea9b8680dd3bec16ce1dd1089c29ff312675e948924b561c792500d4f6d9 |
Isaiah 6:2-4 Tree of Life Version (TLV)
2 Seraphim were standing above Him. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 One called out to another, and said:
“Holy, holy, holy, is Adonai-Tzva’ot!
4 Then the posts of the door trembled at the voice of those who called, and the House was filled with smoke.
Isaiah 6:2-4 New International Version (NIV)
2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. | English | NL | 1ac13bd34b0c72cb4f26f00caf613114ee393057440d67a944eafccc7fdb93f9 |
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Mary Pickford was one of the earliest and biggest stars in the film industry. The film industry was shaped by her ability to not only be a talented actress but a producer and businesswoman. She rose to fame in Hollywood when it was in its infancy and would inspire the generation of actors and actresses who came after her. Pickford was one of the first movie stars to be billed under her own name and the first to have her name put in marquee lights. She also became one of the richest stars in Hollywood, in part due to being the first actor to earn a percentage of a film's earnings. Pickford was also one of the first actors to earn an international reputation, being known around the globe.
On April 8th, 1892, Gladys Louise Smith was both in Toronto, Canada. At some point in 1896, she came down with diphtheria and was baptized. As part of the baptism, Gladys' middle name changed from Louise to Marie. Gladys made her debut on stage in January 1900, playing two small parts in “The Silver King” at Toronto’s Princess Theatre. By November 1901, her mother Charlotte Hennessey Smith (1873-1928) had decided to move her two daughters, Gladys and Lottie Smith (1893-1936), and son John (Jack) Charles Smith, Jr. (1896-1933) and began touring around to perform in plays.
In 1907, Gladys Smith changed her name to Mary Pickford after David Belasco (1853-1931), a theatrical producer, proposed the idea. This new name was a combination of her middle name and her maternal grandfather's middle name. In a show of unity and support, Mary's mother and siblings also changed their last names to Pickford.
Mary was on Broadway before transition to motion pictures. She was signed with the Biograph Company and soon got her first lead role. By January 1910, Pickford has moved with the company to California and would become the new 'Biograph Girl.' Pickford was known widely as 'Little Mary' or 'The Girl with the Curls' before she started to appear under her own name in 1911. During this time from 1909 through early 1913, she would appear in around 180 short films.
In January 1913, Mary debuted as Julia at the premiere of the play “A Good Little Devil.” A few months later she moved to feature-length films when she reprised the role in Adolph Zukor's (1873-1976) film version of the play. At this time, Mary signed a one-year contract with Zukor’s company Famous Players. Pickford saw several successes at the box office, but it was the 1914 film “Tess of the Storm Country” that led to her fame soaring even more and saw her salary double, making her the highest-paid actress at the time. It was also during this time that theater owner David Grauman (1852-1921) gave Pickford the nickname of 'America's Sweetheart,' which would stick with her for the rest of her career.
By early 1915, Pickford's salary was again doubled and she was being called 'The Queen of the Movies.' By the middle of 1916, Pickford had her salary upped again and as part of a new deal with Zukor, she had to ability to pick her own projects, directors, and writers. She could also distribute films under the Artcraft name. That year she also formed Mary Pickford Film Corporation to act as her personal production company, becoming the first movie star to do so. In 1919, Pickford joined forces with Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939) and Zukor to form the United Artists Corporation. Pickford spent the rest of her acting career working under United Artists.
In 1918, Pickford, Fairbanks, Chaplin and Marie Dressler (1868-1934) toured America to promote Liberty Bonds. They would go on to help sell more than $18 billion in bonds, proving the effect their star power over the public.
In 1921, she helped created the Motion Picture Relief Fund (MPTF) and would serve as its vice-president. The MPTF started as a charitable organization to help give monetary support to needy employees in the film industry, later expanding to include those in television. She also started the Payroll Pledge Program in 1932, which saw employees of the movie studios contribute one-half of one percent from each of their paychecks to the MPTF.
Pickford also was one of the 36 founders, only three of which were female, of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 1927.
In 1941, she was one of the co-founders of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers (SIMPP). SIMPP worked to push the interests of independent film producers and battled to stop the anti-competitive practiced used by the eras major film studios.
In March 1928, Mary lost her the biggest supporter of her career, as her mother Charlotte died of breast cancer. Her siblings, Jack and Lottie would die in 1933 and 1936 due to heart problems which stemmed from alcoholism.
With her film career over, Pickford's drinking slowly morphed into her becoming an alcoholic, just like her father and siblings had been, as she dealt with depression. Over the following decades, she slowly became more and more of a recluse, staying almost entirely at her Pickfair estate and receiving only a select group of visitors by the late 1950s. By the middle of the 1960s, Pickford would usually only greet visitors by telephone from her bedroom, rarely leaving her home.
Death and Legacy
In 1927, Mary and husband Douglas Fairbanks became the first stars to have imprints of their hands and feet at Grauman's Chinese Theater. Three years later, Pickford, would win the second ever Academy Award for Best Actress. Pickford received a star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and in 1999 she would get a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto.
In 1955, she received the George Eastman Award, given to those who made distinguished contributions to the art of film. The following year she established what is now known as the Mary Pickford Foundation, which worked to preserve films around the world and set up educational outreach programs at colleges across the United States.
In 1973, the Ontario Heritage Foundation honored her by putting up a plaque near her birthplace. Three years later Pickford was awarded an honorary Oscar for her contributions to film. The award was presented at Pickfair prior to the Academy Awards and taped to be included in the broadcast.
On May 29th, 1979, Mary Pickford died at Santa Monica Hospital after suffering a stroke. She was 87 years old.
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Your Harvard CitationRemember to italicize the title of this article in your Harvard citation. | English | NL | 2112405800d94ecf695e0ec043d7c4aae72200b9c4b759a12e4c4d866482530a |
Music Analysis of…
Chopin's Preface, prologue in Dᵇ Major
Operative. 28, no . 15
Chopin's prelude in Dᵇ is in the romantic period, which began in the late 18th/early 19th century. Composers just like Chopin had been at the cutting edge of this enhancements made on music, producing the composing and playing of solitary piano, orchestral and safari works and exactly how music was performed. There were many composers from this time that were very well known, especially in their later years, or right after their deaths: Liszt, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Verdi, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Strauss are just a few of the better well-known ones. There was a lot of experimentation at the beginning of the period therefore changes in how composers wrote and played songs, harmonies and rhythms were enormous, creating some characteristics by which passionate pieces may be identified. A few of these characteristics are: * Very expressive- powerful contrast in both the drafted and construed music; 2. Melodies with complex tempos were the main emphasis with rich harmonies under that; * Complicated use of chords as an accompaniment for the melody; * Emotional- includes a story to share with if enjoyed feeling- utilization of rubato permits expressiveness; 2. Use of minor and major keys- typically modulating in the enharmonic comparative, major or perhaps minor, or perhaps the dominant. �
Characteristics that identify this as belonging to this style
There are several main characteristics that identify this kind of prelude as a romantic part. The most obvious the first is that it is a prelude by Chopin, who was a composer in the Romantic period. The dynamic and significant markings both on the piece and in performed interpretations are extremely pronounced, particularly in the melody which is the main emphasis - the left hand (or right submit the start of section B) is supposed just as a great accompaniment, yet must still be expressive, articulated and provide equally as much emotion since the melodic line. The accompaniment is complex and uses arpeggios and chords while maintaining the repeated quavers. There is a lot of syncopation and in-bar anacrusis' (lead-ins), wherever rubato can often be used, displaying the feelings needed for this prelude. �
Frédéric (Fryderyk) Chopin (1810-1849) was born in Poland into a French as well as later satisfied in Paris. He consisting, taught and performed through the Romantic period, writing nocturnes, waltzes, etudes (studies) and concertos, nearly all of which was intended for piano- equally for him and his students- and all of which are meant to be performed and enjoyed at home along with performed. Chopin's busiest period in terms of composing music was after he left his family home which he'd been in for winter months of 1846. He was crafting, teaching and performing throughout Europe, yet , this much travelling and anxiety, placed a lot more pressure in the poor health, fantastic last concert was for the 16th of November, 1848, at Guildhall in London. Chopin then emerged home to Paris, and died 12 months later in the Parisian toned on the 17th of Oct, 1849, via tuberculosis and is buried inside the Pere-Lachaise cemetery in Paris. �
How come was the part composed? First performance and what device? This set of preludes was composed when Chopin was on the Spanish island, Majorca during the winter season of 1838/1839. He was so weak by tuberculosis that he could hardly leave the monastery by which he was remaining in, but nevertheless, this individual still constructed. The specific group of preludes from which this one can be taken consists of 24 preludes, each in a different key- 12 minor and major keys. They were doing not the actual traditional definition of a prelude and were able to be played out by themselves and free-standing, and also part of the publication as an intro. There is no record of mainly because it was first performed, however it was probably possibly by him or a pupil, not long following he'd crafted it. It has been nicknamed the ‘raindrop prelude' because of its persistent quavers, as well as the myth that Amantine Dupin (George Sand), Chopin's like... | English | NL | f2dad45bff750074f09ece05eae5914c42a2936a310269425a92b166f771d8b3 |
Captain Adelbert Steiner is a playable character in Final Fantasy IX. He is the leader of the Knights of Pluto and is assigned to protect Princess Garnet.
Steiner is of tall and stocky build. He wears a traditional silver-colored knight's armor, a pair of shorts and a helmet with a white feather. Even his shoes and gloves are armored. Steiner carries a broadsword on his back, fastened in place by a leather strap. Steiner's field movements are accompanied by a clanking noise due to his armor.
Steiner is a retainer of and personal guardian to Garnet, and places her safety above all else. At first this brings him to odds with the others, including Garnet. His world-view is starkly black-and-white, which makes him quick to judge people and situations without a second thought. His narrow-mindedness makes him emotional, as Steiner immediately blames himself for what he sees as failing to perform his duty, and falls into desperation. Initially, he tends to lose his composure when things do not go his way. During his quest Steiner grows and learns to think for himself instead of blindly following duty. | English | NL | b55c1b7b3ae258c2d94bf257350cc0c18076e5f55408578ef5a6ad5f3abd9b39 |
Human nature in a controlled environment.
It was not me, it was you.
Of course, Eden, I almost forgot.
After Genesis, and its seven days, we found a new description of creation but made on a completely different way. So much so that, in general, biblical scholars say it has a different origin, another author, and it was probably written at another time.
In this new description there is a different line of facts.
Why not read the paragraph and analyze it?
"At the time when Yahweh
God made earth and heaven there was as yet no wild bush on the earth nor had any
wild plant yet sprung up, for Yahweh God had not sent rain on the earth, nor was
there any man to till the soil. Instead, water flowed out of the ground and
watered all the surface of the soil. Yahweh God shaped man from the soil of the
ground and blew the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living
"Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden, which is in the east, and there He put the man He had fashioned.
"From the soil, Yahweh God caused to grow every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
"A river flowed from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided to make four streams. The first is named the Pishon, and this winds all through the land of Havilah where there is gold. The gold of this country is pure; bdellium and cornelian stone are found there. The second river is named the Gihon, and this winds all through the land of Cush. The third river is named the Tigris, and this flows to the east of Ashur. The fourth river is the Euphrates. Yahweh God took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and take care of it. Then Yahweh God gave the man this command, "You are free to eat of all the trees in the garden. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat; for, the day you eat of that, you are doomed to die".
"Yahweh God said, "It is not right that the man should be alone. I shall make him a helper". So from the soil Yahweh God fashioned all the wild animals and all the birds of heaven. These He brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would give it.
"The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of heaven and all the wild animals. But no helper suitable for the man was found for him. Then, Yahweh God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And, while he was asleep, He took one of his ribs and closed the flesh up again forthwith. Yahweh God fashioned the rib He had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man. And the man said: "This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh! She is to be called Woman , because she was taken from Man". This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and they become one flesh. Now, both of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they felt no shame before each other." (Genesis 2:5-25).
12 - In some translations instead of "woman" it
says Varona ['ishshah]: "And Adam said: This is now bone of my bones and flesh
of my flesh: this shall be called Woman [' ishshah], because of the man ['ish]
it was taken. This is now bone of my bones "(Genesis 2: 23).
Adam, recognizing in her the desired partner, joyfully welcomed her as his bride and expressed his joy in a poetic exclamation. The words "this is now" reflect his pleasant surprise when he saw in the woman the fulfillment of his heart's desire.
The triple repetition of "this" (as it is in Hebrew) vividly points to her as whom he was now admiring -with joyous amazement- with the intense excitement of first love.
Instinctively, or as a result of divine instruction, he recognized in her a part of his own being. Thereafter he should love her as his own body as by loving her he loves himself.
The Apostle Paul emphasizes this truth: "So husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself "(Ephesians 5: 28).
"Now, the snake was the
most subtle of all the wild animals that Yahweh God had made. It asked the woman,
"Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?"
The woman answered the snake, "We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden.
But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, "You must not
eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death". Then the snake said to the woman,
"No! You will not die! God knows in fact that the day you eat it your eyes will
be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good from evil". The woman saw that
the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye; and that it was enticing for
the wisdom that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She
also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of
both of them were opened and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed
fig-leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths.
"The man and his wife heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. But Yahweh God called to the man. "Where are you?" He asked. "I heard the sound of you in the garden", he replied. "I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid". "Who told you that you were naked?" He asked. "Have you been eating from the tree I forbade you to eat?" The man replied, "It was the woman you put with me; she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it". Then Yahweh God said to the woman, "Why did you do that?" The woman replied, "The snake tempted me and I ate". Then Yahweh God said to the snake, "Because you have done this, accursed be you of all animals wild and tame! On your belly you will go and on dust you will feed as long as you live. I shall put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; it will bruise your head and you will strike its heel". To the woman He said: "I shall give you intense pain in childbearing, you will give birth to your children in pain. Your yearning will be for your husband, and he will dominate you". To the man He said, "Because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat, accursed be the soil because of you! Painfully will you get your food from it as long as you live. It will yield you brambles and thistles, as you eat the produce of the land. By the sweat of your face will you earn your food, until you return to the ground, as you were taken from it. For dust you are and to dust you shall return".
"The man named his wife "Eve" because she was the mother of all those who live.
"Yahweh God made tunics of skins for the man and his wife and clothed them. Then Yahweh God said, "Now that the man has become like one of Us in knowing good from evil, he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and pick from the tree of life too, and eat and live forever!" So Yahweh God expelled him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he had been taken. He banished the man, and in front of the garden of Eden He posted the great winged creatures and the fiery flashing sword, to guard the way to the tree of life." (Genesis 3:1-24).
"The man had intercourse with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. "I have acquired a man with the help of Yahweh", she said. She gave birth to a second child, Abel, the brother of Cain.
"Now Abel became a shepherd and kept flocks, while Cain tilled the soil. Time passed and Cain brought some of the produce of the soil as an offering for Yahweh, while Abel for his part brought the first-born of his flock and some of their fat as well. Yahweh looked with favour on Abel and his offering. But He did not look with favour on Cain and his offering, and Cain was very angry and downcast.
"Yahweh asked Cain, "Why are you angry and downcast? If you are doing right, surely you ought to hold your head high! But if you are not doing right, Sin is crouching at the door, hungry to get you. You can still master it". Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out"; and while they were in the open country, Cain set on his brother Abel and killed him. Yahweh asked Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I do not know", he replied. "Am I my brother's guardian?" "What have you done?" Yahweh asked. "Listen! Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground. Now be cursed and banned from the ground that has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood at your hands. When you till the ground it will no longer yield up its strength to you. A restless wanderer you will be on earth". Cain then said to Yahweh, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. Look, today You drive me from the surface of the earth. I must hide from You, and be a restless wanderer on earth. Why, whoever comes across me will kill me!" "Very well, then", Yahweh replied, "whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance". So Yahweh put a mark on Cain, so that no one coming across him would kill him.
"Cain left Yahweh's presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
"Cain had intercourse with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. He became the founder of a city and gave the city the name of his son Enoch. Enoch fathered Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael; Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech." (Genesis 4:1-18).
It seems obvious that this description does not correspond with
the general creation, but only with that of Eden and Adam and Eve.
When God created Eden, humanity had been walking in the world a long time, millions of years; so much so that after God expelled Adam and Eve from Paradise, Cain killed Abel and, as the only living child of Adam and Eve, left the presence of God and sat on the land of Nod, where he met his wife.
Here it is evident that Cain met his wife in the land of Nod because there were women there to be met; and because there were other countries where women lived, other women who were of course not relatives of Adam and Eve. They were part of other peoples, the peoples that were not God's chosen people; because in order to choose a people there had to be other options, which were "the other", the other men and women, the original, which had been generated during the overall creation of species, those men that God created on the sixth day and lived in populations like that land of Nod mentioned in the text.
If humanity -and therefore man-existed, what is the meaning of the creation of Eden?
This point is very important, crucial Iīd say.
Humanity is now fully operational, under development and activity.
It takes, at least, two million years of evolution, but- and-once again but-it is walking down a wrong path, and this wrong path it polytheism.
Humans, in that spiritual youth -almost spiritual children- see a god in every force of nature, every star, and every event they cannot explain. This is natural and reasonable for children, spiritual children, so they are naturally polytheists.
Apparently this polytheism is not wrong in the beginning of the world; it is indeed almost normal, almost inevitable. But, for some reason, it is clear, at that point in history God decides it is time to take the next step, understanding the meaning of monotheism and adopting it. It is time to discard the facets, the biases of divinity, and replace them with the more advanced idea of one God, a single God. This new idea, this new belief in one single God is monotheism
It is interesting to note and observe that, although in most of the planet people had and worshipped many gods, in China and India they did not. China and India, at the time when the chosen people entered the picture, were already monotheists. It is necessary to understand Hindu philosophy to understand that they already were monotheists and, of course, still are. In India God is everything, but not as pantheism understands it but from the closer view of panentheism. Although they sound similar, pantheism and panentheism are spiritually different approaches. Pantheism can become atheist-atheistic pantheism-; but not panentheism, which is a more complex understanding of God, the divinity, as one, omnipresent and omniscient. China and India already had the idea of a moral and just God above all things, not only unique but moral. His philosophy was based on the correct action -dharma in India- and on karma as the result of oneīs acts.
This philosophy stands to this day, and it is observed in both Hinduism and Buddhism, which can be considered a new and current derivation of the first, based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha.
It is possible that due to the type of philosophy they followed, Indians and Chinese did not resist the idea of monotheism when Catholic missionaries arrived in the land, in more modern times. And perhaps also for the same reason, God has not sent the disciples of Jesus to catechize Asia. Moreover, at some point the Holy Spirit explicitly prohibits the apostles to go to Asia. To better understand it is good to read the words of Jesus when He sends His disciples after the lost sheep, both of His own people, the Jews, and of the Gentiles, the "other", all of them polytheistic. Naturally, it was not worth wasting time with those who already had the knowledge-those who were monotheistic-, that is why the spread of Christianity occurs from Pakistan to the West, bypassing India and China.
The first time I noticed it, that I noticed this "detail"- when I compared the world map and overlaid it with the initial expansion area, the area of influence of Christianity- I was in shock.
Of course, the God of the Hebrews was and is the same as that of Asia, so why waste time?
So, summing up, we have man diverting to a malicious polytheism -we might call it wild- with human sacrifices and identification of God with vile, low aspects; so it was necessary to stop and redirect this diversion and, at the same time, take the next step of spiritual growth towards the adult form of monotheism, to the knowledge of the one God.
It seems to me that this is precisely the reason for the creation of the chosen people, the Jewish people, who will be in charge of first purifying those peoples that no longer have a chance to join the new "monotheistic system"-so to speak- and then imposing the belief in Yahweh, their God, the only God.
For this purpose God, as a first step, makes the place from where the first humans will come out, Eden, a new pristine place, on which He first puts the man, made from the dust of the ground. This dust is all a metaphor. Let us pause for a moment on that idea: the man made of dust from the ground. If we recall the comments in the original creation, that everything we are is part of the original nebula-that cosmic dust generated in the furnaces of supernovae- there is no doubt that we are just that: soil dust: dust plus the breath of life from God, the soul, the spirit.
After God created this new man apart from "the other", surrounds him with a garden, trees, plants, and animals.
It is interesting to compare and conclude that this creation is totally different from the original, the first. In this, man is the first to be created -because he was the most important in this phase- and then God deals with the accessory, plants and animals.
But -there is always a but- He puts in their way the tree of good and evil, about which He warns them, very clearly, not to eat the fruit under penalty of certain death.
Well, we have almost completed the scene, the man, his environment, and something forbidden ... what's missing? Yes, something is missing, we need women. Without women, the stage, the replica of what was happening outside of Eden, would have been incomplete.
We now have everything, the woman, who is part of the man, of one of his ribs, with which they form one flesh in the union that is beyond explanation; and the rest of the environment.
She turns on the machine, and makes human nature remain in evidence.
Ah yes ... the temptation never well weighted...
"Now, Both of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they felt no shame before each other.
"Now, the snake was the most subtle of all the wild animals that Yahweh God had made. It asked the woman, "Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?"...
So great is the separation between these two beings and the rest of those who already inhabited the planet, who have no idea of the slightest customs, or of the feeling of shame-for they were naked, and, of course, that did not affect them at all. Then the snake appears: evil, temptation, doubt, rebellion, but -yes, again but... our beloved but-nothing would have happened if human nature did not exist. Precisely, this whole scenario is mounted to show human nature, for us to become aware of our nature and try to tame it. Without this component the snake would have found a resounding NO and everything would have ended there. But... it didnīt happened; the free will God has given us and our rebellious nature is, was, and will be the perfect combination to get us in trouble. And it did. Not only Eve ate, but Adam ate, and both ended thrown from Paradise- right out in the street, as my wife would say.
Now, let's look a little more closely at this whole play.
First the threat.
This threat is not small; if they eat they will die because God is going to kill them; not because it will do them wrong, they will have stomachache or something ... no, they will die because that is the law that God established: eating = death penalty.
And there goes the unconsciousness, not being aware of the seriousness of the threat; how serious, delicate and dangerous it is to contradict what God says.
Naïve Adam and Eve heard nothing of what God said, but heeded the serpent, who skillfully explains that there is nothing to fear. She tells them that God just does not want to share with them the gifts of the gods, and there appears the human folly. Fools are naturally stupid, no doubt.
Did God know what was going to happen? I think so, He just wanted to show it to us and prove it with facts.
In Eden there was no one to ask or from whom be badly influenced; they were alone, alone with the object of desire, the law and the temptation to contradict it.
With that, there was more than enough; there was no need for anything else, which was amply demonstrated.
What now? Now awareness of what is right and what is wrong arises, but knowingly, not like before when God had specified: they can do this and not that. Now they must decide what is right and what is wrong and take the consequences, or at least, they should bear the consequences.
So there they are sewing leaves to clothes.
At one point they are pitiful. They look like children who have done a mischief and now do not know how to fix it; and to make matters worse they are ashamed to be naked, so they hid from God.
God walks the Eden as if He knew nothing, like a father who obviously knew what had happened -how wouldnīt He? Come on, He is God!- and asks: Where are you?, As if He were playing hide and seek with a child.
This scene reminds me of many games and situations I have had with my children. The typical: what have you done? -a completely rhetorical question because I already knew what he had done-, but it was just necessary to ask to make him reflect on what he had done and so try to explain why, why he had done it and thus learn from it. And there you have God in the same situation -we must not forget that God is a loving and merciful father.
Adam replied "I heard the sound of you in the garden", he replied. "I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid"; how does he know he's naked, if a moment before they had no idea of what nudity was? And God asks: "Who told thee that thou wast naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? ". Isnīt it wonderful? Isnīt it wonderful how God speaks to him as to a child? If I said no, why did you do that? And there comes the explanation: "It was the woman you put with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it", so it was her fault, not mine; and You are to blame for giving her to me as my companion. Let's see ... not only does he not take responsibility but also he blames God!
If God so far was calm and tried not to get angry this must have filled up the measure of His patience.
And yes ... He is not to be blamed. It was time to grab them by the ears and ..., but God remains calm and continues: "'Why did you do that?". The woman replied, "The snake tempted me and I ate". ', And yes, that snake...
And we got this far.
God said to the serpent:
""Because you have done this, accursed be you of all animals wild and tame! On your belly you will go and on dust you will feed as long as you live. I shall put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; it will bruise your head and you will strike its heel".
"To the woman He said: "I shall give you intense pain in childbearing, you will give birth to your children in pain. Your yearning will be for your husband, and he will dominate you".
"To the man He said, "Because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat, accursed be the soil because of you! Painfully will you get your food from it as long as you live. It will yield you brambles and thistles, as you eat the produce of the land. By the sweat of your face will you earn your food, until you return to the ground, as you were taken from it. For dust you are and to dust you shall return"."
I wonder whether the death penalty wouldnīt have been better.
And he drove them from Eden.
"Yahweh God made tunics of skins for the man and his wife and clothed them. Then Yahweh God said, "Now that the man has become like one of us in knowing good from evil, he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and pick from the tree of life too, and eat and live forever!" So Yahweh God expelled him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he had been taken. He banished the man, and in front of the garden of Eden He posted the great winged creatures and the fiery flashing sword, to guard the way to the tree of life."
This paragraph clearly shows the mercy of a loving father; even after such disobedience and the seriousness of these actions, God dresses them, gives them garments of skin-to replace the loincloth of leaves they had done. This seems a minor issue, but it is not. Clearly, God is merciful, loving, to the point that He does not keep the original death penalty and only sends them out, out of Eden to live with "the other"-the other people, men that had been conceived in the initial creation.
This raises two issues: one, how did we come to the idea that there are others out of Eden? And two, what is the meaning of the story of Eden if Adam and Eve were not the first humans?
Let's look first at the "other", the other people:
"The man had intercourse with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. "I have acquired a man with the help of Yahweh", she said. She gave birth to a second child, Abel, the brother of Cain.
"Now Abel became a shepherd and kept flocks, while Cain tilled the soil.
"Cain had intercourse with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. He became the founder of a city and gave the city the name of his son Enoch".
Here are two clues, two keys to understanding that other beings live out of Eden: first, Abel was a keeper of flocks, and Cain a tiller. Keep in mind that animal grazing and tillage are fairly recent human activities; man originally was nomadic gatherer, so if their tasks were plowing that means, we might say, they were modern, and that they enter the play -so to speak- in a time when humanity had developed such activities for their livelihood. And second: "Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch." How did he meet a woman if Adam and Eve were supposedly alone in the world together with Cain, because Abel had died? If there was a woman to be met it was simply because there was someone else to meet, and those were "the other."
And now, what is the meaning of the story of Adam and Eve? Why are they made? Why would God take so much trouble for just two people?
This is a much more complex issue, and to understand it we must look at the whole Bible, the whole history of the Hebrew people, the history of the chosen people; without understanding the Bible there is no way to understand Eden.
When reading the Bible I have reflected and discovered what I think is the reason, the rationale for the chosen people, the Jews. We have seen human nature in action put in evidence with Adam and Eve in the Paradise narration. Now we must see what "the other" were doing - the other people when Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel come into play-, so to speak, the game of Humanity.
These other people who were in the area were polytheistic; they believed in many gods, some of which had been given violent and vile characteristics, to the point of being offered human sacrifices. If you review some of the customs of the time and the region, you will find extremely barbaric practices, such as revenge, human sacrifice, polytheism and the worship of false gods.
It is obvious to me that God understood that among men there was much to correct and that it was time to do so; that this situation could not continue and that someone should undertake this task. Then, considering that it was not only a matter of time and place but of nature -as demonstrated by the snake- He gives that task to the descendants of Adam and Eve, the Hebrews -later the people of Israel- today the Jewish people, the descendants of the tribe of Judah.
These people, the chosen people, are the people chosen by God to perform the hard task of recovering the lost sheep, eliminating those that cannot be redeemed and prepare the ground for the arrival of the Messiah; the Messiah Who will wipe mankind from the guilt of their sins of evil and polytheism, and Who will give them another chance.
It is for this purpose that makes sense to have eaten of the tree of good and evil, as this town-which must deal with being the role model of a new age-, must have-should have- extra knowledge "others" do not possess; and their "diploma" -the credential of having a better understanding- is the fact they ate of the fruit of good and evil. They were the only ones they knew why; they had the knowledge, awareness of why they should go towards monotheism. They knew that there was only one God; they knew there was only a single God. What is not clear to me is whether they were ever aware of the task they had been given, although they did it to perfection-beyond some delays and complications like the Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the desert...
And finally, in the story of the Messiah, of Jesus, we find this people, the same chosen people, the one that must kill the Messiah in order to fulfill their task, and also to rid humanity of this tremendous guilt:
"He asked, "But what harm has he done?" But they shouted all the louder, "Let him be crucified!" Then Pilate saw that he was making no impression, that in fact a riot was imminent. So he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd and said, "I am innocent of this man's blood. It is your concern." And the people, every one of them, shouted back, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" " (Mateo 27:23-25).
"Let his blood be on us and on our children!". This phrase frees humanity from the terrible burden of having killed the Messiah, the Son of God.
There and then, an era ends and another begins. The idea of monotheism is already planted and spreads like a blast covering the planet until today. Changing paradigms and laws are altered by Jesus. Jesus opens the game to all humanity. The good news of Jesus, the Messiah, in not something reserved to the Hebrews anymore; salvation includes "others" to the point that the apostles, originally Jewish, offer other people-the Gentiles- to take the job to bring the good news for everyone. No need to be Jewish to reach God; you no longer need to be Jewish to know that God is one. From Jesus the knowledge is for everyone, and we are all children of God, Jews and Gentiles. There is no distinction. We are all the same herd sheep and God is the good shepherd, our Good Shepherd. | English | NL | 30b7426eae2db332eec8854812c7c012137780ae386401776f273ea90ff74c65 |
On this day in history, August 4, 1780, Bird's Expedition against Kentucky comes to a close. A series of British expeditions to capture the American frontier was launched in 1780. The goals included the capturing of St. Louis and New Orleans, Louisville and Vincennes. Most of these ventures failed, but the most successful was a campaign into Kentucky led by Captain Henry Bird from Fort Detroit.
Bird's objective was to capture Fort Nelson at the falls of the Ohio River, the present day site of Louisville, Kentucky, which was then the main base of American general, George Rogers Clark. Bird left Detroit with 150 men in June and met with Indian allies to discuss plans for the upcoming raid.
Bird ran into trouble when the Indians were hesitant to attack Fort Nelson. General Clark, or the "Chief of the Big Knives," as the Indians called him, struck terror in the hearts of the Indians for his many raids and victories in the recent past. Instead of attacking Clark's base, they insisted on attacking less significant posts in eastern Kentucky. Settlers were filling Kentucky and were protected by small posts or forts located every few miles. The Indians wished to attack these lightly guarded posts and capture prisoners and booty. The prisoners could be exchanged for money at Detroit, taken into slavery or adopted into the tribes.
Bird argued with the Indians for days, but finally was forced to give in to attacking the smaller outposts on the Licking River. A large force of a thousand men, mostly Indians, arrived at Ruddell's Station early on June 24th. Ruddell's Station was a stockaded log fort with about 20 families inside. Approximately 350 people lived in the vicinity. The fort was surprised and a gun battle began. When a British cannon shot a hole through the wall, the fort quickly surrendered.
Unfortunately, the Indians violated the peaceful surrender terms and rushed in, took prisoners and killed several people. The settlers were stripped naked and all their goods plundered. To Captain Bird's horror, the Indians killed all the settlement's cattle, which he intended to keep for food. On the 26th, Bird and the Indians approached the nearby Fort Martin. This fort quickly surrendered, but again, the Indians violated the prisoners, killing some and taking the rest prisoner.
Captain Bird was exasperated by this time. He had no food to feed hundreds of prisoners and the Indians could barely be controlled. They still refused to attack Fort Nelson and wanted to perform more raids on small settlements for booty and prisoners. In addition, it was rumored that General Clark was amassing a force to retaliate against Bird's Expedition. Bird finally convinced the Indians to call the expedition off. During the march back to Detroit, some prisoners were killed if they straggled. All were nearly starving and they were forced to march quickly because General Clark was now coming in pursuit.
Bird finally reached Detroit on August 4, exhausted and nearly starved. Of the hundreds of prisoners that survived, some joined the British army, while others settled in Detroit. Some were forced into slavery or adopted into Indian tribes. All those who remained in British custody until the end of the war were finally returned to Kentucky when the war ended and the state of Virginia paid to help bring them back to Kentucky.
© 2008 - 2019 Revolutionary-War-and-Beyond.com Dan & Jax Bubis | English | NL | 1d47e24876dd573f54a7434aa65893ae53b95433b6bc42e81c8bbf43c21c9a5d |
The Iridescent Decade
Shataina, Speaker for the Fair, Lady of Legends, tells the tale:
As the Fair Ones were beaten back, and the Defense Grid of the Realm was at last perfected, the gambits attempted by the creatures of the Wyld to infiltrate Creation became more and more desperate. At some point that is undetermined (for reasons that shall become clear), the Fair, seeing that they were almost beaten, came together, pooling their power, and worked their greatest glamour upon the populace of Creation.
Ten thousand scholars, it is said, have come up with reasons for the Fair's creation of the Iridescent Decade, and all of them are different. Many accept that it was, in fact, an attempt to lengthen their stay in Creation, but we cannot know with any certainty; they are the Fair, after all, their motives unknowable by all of us not born of chaos. Perhaps the Iridescent Decade had no purpose -- or perhaps it did, and perhaps it attained that purpose.
We call this time the Iridescent Decade, but in truth, we are simply not sure how long it lasted. During that period, time itself shifted and became mutable. It became possible to, with the barest effort (or even the most random of chances), shift backwards, sideways, or even forwards in time. It has been theorized that this effect was a mass hallucination and that everyone of the time, in fact, only imagined that they were moving about in time; but this ignores such physical paradoxes as the Amaryllis Tokens, which have been thought wholly destroyed more than thirty-nine times, only to be found again -- with the faintest of telltale iridescent shimmers.
For that was the mark of the Iridescent Decade: the "age" of a person or thing -- measured in the elapsed time they had experienced -- was measured no longer by appearance (for they could simply regress or progress this at their whim); it was measured by a faint sheen to the skin, a shimmer that intensified the more one changed and abused the fabric of Time.
The only creatures unable to take advantage of this shifting ability within the time-stream were the gods, down to the smallest of spirits (and, perhaps, the Primordials and their kindred experienced the same effect); but even the gods, though they could not "move within time", were not immune to the glamour. Those gods who existed in those long-ago days remember the Iridescent Decade with confusion, unable to isolate a linear timeline or recall how long it lasted. When asked to recite events, they universally claim that all events seemed to happen at once, and that the most such a "recitation" would give would be a mishmash of impressions and random happenings of randomly varying importance.
It is thought that a Sidereal Exalt, a Chosen of Endings known as Wine-Coloured Edge, is the one who finally reversed the glamour and "fixed" the flow of time. None can be certain, however, for Wine-Coloured Edge herself disappeared at some point "during" the Iridescent Decade, and although she has been seen at scattered intervals since (and some claim even to have conversed with her), there has been no positive confirmation of either her death or her survival. Even my extensive knowledge of my own domain can tell me nothing of the ending to her tale.
Long after the Decade had "elapsed", Lord Flawless Mirror discovered the existence of such iridescent-skinned people as remained. He fell in love with their skin, declaring it the "most exquisite of leathers", and hunted down those who had such a marked shimmer in order to take their skins and have them tailored into further clothing for his expansive wardrobe. To make matters worse, Lord Flawless Mirror claimed that only by removing the skin while the owner lived could it be perfectly preserved, and the suffering of his victims was terrible. As a result of his horrifying purge, there are no known survivors or descendants of survivors of the most prolific time-manipulators from the Decade, save those few immortals powerful enough to call upon the Hierarchy for their protection; and many of these masked or disguised their shimmer in the times since.
Though the aftermath of the Iridescent Decade has, by now, been mostly comprehended and controlled, there are still troubling echoes, even unto our own time. The Amaryllis Tokens have already been mentioned; there is also the matter of the Years of Artistic Frenzy, which can be precisely quantified by none. The shortest time the Years could possibly have lasted is approximately thirteen seasons, but there are sources which claim that they lasted as long as four centuries. Those who actually lived through the Years and can still be questioned today either refuse to talk about the experience, or give an estimate that differs from every available other.
See also Shataina's other Lexicon entries | English | NL | cc033672e789cd3e319a68bba296938d41ca5fcd3aa7591cde64bd35073ffbcc |
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
The sun is going in for the day and the night time seems to unravel my house, the one I'm supposed to be in charge of. The babies crying, and wanting me to hold them for their latest melt down over something small but big to them. Supper needing to be finished and school needing to be checked and attitudes straightened out...Yep, this all happens when the sun is going down and my body is tired. I keep telling myself, I can do this. One, two, three diapers changed. One more boo-boo and four little people needing their hair combed out before bed. It all must be done. I can give a lot of these jobs over to others but everyone seems to want mamma.
I really just want to "sit a spell" like they used to say on Andy Griffith and watch the moon slowly make her way as she spreads her light across this farm...but I can't. So much noise tonight. I would have to scream loud to penetrate the level, so I don't. Noise coming from every direction, dishes banging on table, babies crying or laughing, dogs, fights between brothers. My own name 'mamma' being cried out seems unfamiliar in the noise I have to search out the caller and I find him tears streaming....a bike wreck. Dust him off and patch him up and send him on his way again.
I'm not in some foreign country, but my feet tell me I could be. At the end of the day I've poured out what I have and fed as many as I can. I have clothed, and cried with people I barely know. I have sat with a woman who's family is a mess and another who found out she's having twins in an already stressful situation and manged to get supper on the table. I'm no super woman but our family has open doors and with that comes open eyes and with open eyes comes responsibility before the Lord. I cannot look away and even though night time brings the melt down hour and some say, "you already have so much to do" I will say, "I can never do enough for my Heavenly Father who has done so much for me".
I will, for as long as He wills, live freely giving what He alone has given me...grace. Grace to others. Not knowing how it feels to live their life.
My table is set for one extra tonight, like it has been for the past few months. A little guy needing a place, a warm meal, and a yes from someone who will say yes with everything in them. I have so much and this little man needs only a small amount of what I have, crumbs really...and I give..I give him everything I have..he takes.
I pull his highchair close up to my table and feed him like he belongs, after all isn't that what everyone wants, to belong? I will bathe him and sing to him and rub medicine on his skin. I will dress him and wrap him in my arms and rock and kiss the top of his head and breathe him in.
I lay everyone down and slowly make my way to my closet and close my eyes....did I really just make it through this day? So much packed into it I can't even begin to explain. I slip out of my clothes and take a shower and crawl beneath my sheets and whisper, "Lord am I doing Your will? This is hard. This road is bumpy and there is a lot of hurting people out there and I can't fix them all or fix all of their problems."
He gently reminds me I fix no one, I'm simply walking the road with people that He chooses to put in my path. He says feed those people. Clothe those people. Love on those people that I put on the road before you...that's all I ask...
Are you truly loving those God puts directly in your path? Don't miss the joy that comes from living on the mission field of your life.
Who and what we truly are is really reflected by whether we love and accept others just as they are, right where they are. | English | NL | 387089f525c496ba5bb737694ee812a57ce384d67517f0dfb75617d34c655c0c |
The first Emeryson cars were created initially by George Emery from his Engineering workshop at New Malden Surrey. Post war, Emeryson cars were created with a combination of input from George, Georges sons Peter and Paul with some cars being designed and built individually by both Peter or Paul on there own. George’s younger son Peter Emery recounts the family story, in part to redress some of the myths and anecdotes written by others in the past and to elaborate on the racing.
After the end of the Second World War and despite losing his Engineering Works, after having become involved in a business consortium that went wrong, George and his two sons Peter and Paul had not relinquished the bug for motor racing and it was not long before plans were a foot to do something about it.
The following chapters illustrate some of the unexpected problems and difficult situations brought about by the war as well as the excitement involved in designing, building and racing these cars. | English | NL | 29f35ba0d944b946e74671f86682651c6f0ba4703906ac348421f29451fb0056 |
We were contacted by a client looking for an 1840-50s open kitchen range to suit their property of the same period. The witness marks of the original could still be seen on the Bath stone fireplace. Ranges from this period are incredibly rare and finding one to suit their specific fireplace would have been almost impossible.
We were able to supply the clients with several images from early catalogues detailing examples of the type of range that was used in the area during the period. As part of the building listing it was stipulated that whatever was installed in the fireplace should not be fixed so we were set the challenge of producing a replica range to the correct dimension that was freestanding was set.
Initially drawings were made of the individual parts that would be needed to recreate such a range. I had in my store some fragments of some original Coalbrookdale sham plates that bore the correct motifs that were found in the mid-19th century. From these plaster moulds were taken and from this we were able to make the basis of the patterns. Many other patterns and castings were required to be made in house including, two top plates, oven door, firebars, fallbar, heat plates, trivets, damper frets, grate and various sundry items in brass like the oven vents and drop loop handles that are so typical of that era.
The finished castings were assembled in a fabricated frame creating a modular unit that would fit snuggly within the fireplace but require no setting and therefor conform the stipulations of the conservation officer. The finished article is truly impressive and probably the first range of its kind to have been cast in 150 years! | English | NL | 7a5b3274429aff42aada7e75573574b77fc44ee164d1e9afe80bf031a1dd59aa |
Marie-Louise Gay was born in Quebec City, on June 17, 1952. As a child she lived in Sherbrooke, Montreal, Oakville and Vancouver but Gay eventually moved back to Montreal, where she now lives. As a child, she found it difficult to adjust to so many new and different environments. With the encouragement of her parents, who accompanied her on weekly trips to the library, Gay found solace in reading. Ironically, despite being a great reader, Gay found little interest in the books' illustrations. As a child Gay herself did not draw very much. She began drawing out of boredom when she was seventeen and having difficulties in school, sketching in the margins of her notebooks before moving on to using full pages. Her mother suggested she turn her interest into an asset instead of wasting her time and Gay discovered that she wanted a career in the visual arts field
She began her training at The Institute of Graphic Arts of Montreal but found graphic art too restraining and as a result moved to courses at The Montreal Museum School of Fine Art. As a student, she worked on professional cartoon strips and editorial illustrations. She also began taking her portfolio around to various publishers until she found one that was willing to publish her work.
When she was twenty-six, Gay decided to further her education in illustration at The Academy of Art College in San Francisco. Gay enjoyed the experience so much that she stayed for three years instead of the expected one. During her last two years in San Francisco, she worked hard to sell her drawings to publishers of educational books. This experience was very important in defining her unique style with its bright colours and sketchy design. Gay attributes the change of using bright colours to the sunny climate of California. However, Gay could not identify with a San Franciscan lifestyle. After a few years there, she began to long for a place that felt like a home. She needed a connection to her history and roots, so she moved back to Montreal.
In Montreal, Gay began illustrating children's books. She reveled in the larger scale and number of drawings that are involved in picture books. She enjoyed the opportunity to create whole new visual worlds but often found that she was not interested in the stories she was given to illustrate. In 1980, she decided that she would try to write and illustrate her own picture books. Marie-Louise Gay has become one of Canada's premier children's authors and illustrators. Her prolific amount of work is available in both English and French. She gets her ideas from her own memories of childhood. Rainy Day Magic for example, was inspired by memories of what she and her sister did on rainy days in Vancouver. Gay observes the world she sees around her and uses both the unusual and the mundane as inspiration for her stories and illustrations. Gay understands that despite the limited size of a child's world, children's feelings are as complex as those of adults. She talks about the joy and pains of childhood and draws ideas from these emotions. She also observes her own children and draws inspiration from them. She regards the line between fantasy and reality, especially for children, as thin and obscured. Gay aims to create illustrations that reflect and compliment the text and text that describes and narrates the illustrations.
One might think that Gay's loose and distorted drawing style would be casual and random. However, Gay is very meticulous about her illustrations. She will work on one drawing, doing several drafts until she feels that what she has is perfect. Her works begin as sketches and doodles on a pad she carries with her at all times. She uses this pad to record moments of inspiration and capture spontaneous images. From these ideas her stories and images emerge. She works in an office at home but cannot work while caring for her children. Gay does her best work after her husband has left for work and her children have left for school. Her small office is filled with paint supplies and papers. She works primarily during the day for five to seven hours. However, she will work at night when she has a deadline to meet. Each drawing takes about five days to create. After the sketch is complete, she does the pencil roughs, which lead to the final pencil drawings, the lines are inked and then the picture is painted. Dedicated to illustration, Gay suggests that aspiring artists work at perfecting their skills.
An Online Children’s Book Review Journal
Through The Looking Glass Children’s Book Reviews
Kids book reviews, including book reviews of chapter books, novels, picture books, and non-fiction from famous children’s literature authors. Your review site of books for children.
Welcome to Through the Looking Glass Book Reviews. We have moved! Please visit the new site at www.lookingglassreview.com to enjoy the new website. | English | NL | 4fbd767f08afe257b8f99a5ef674397126fa50bb3e542ddb7f4718b90e51ed97 |
Aliens Exist Study #1 – The Grey Alien
The Grey alien is probably one of the better known alien types due to the fact that most abductee reports contain similar information describing their characteristics. Also, Sci Fi books and movies pretty much use this alien for characters viewed by the general public so we’ve all become very familiar with them. The question is do these aliens exist. Many abductees believe they do and have offered information about their experience with this alien species.
The Grey is characterized by a bulging head much larger than its extremely thin body shape. Weighing just 50 to 90 pounds, they only measure between 4 to 6 feet tall. One very noticeable feature on this alien being is extremely large, almond shaped eyes without any eyelids. Skin type is similar to a dolphin yet very wrinkled and colored different shades of gray. Some abductees have stated that they have 3 to 4 fingers with webbed hands and feet.
Since they have no recognizable ears on their heads, it is assumed that they speak through telepathy. Certainly many abducted by this alien have stated that when encountering the Grey, it never spoke to them directly with its mouth only through thoughts suddenly filling one’s consciousness.
Barney & Betty Hill Abduction
In 1961 while driving home from vacation, husband and wife, Barney & Betty Hill of Portsmouth, New Hampshire had an alien encounter and were brought onto a Grey alien spaceship. Both said that initially the aliens spoke to them in their minds using telepathy, and once on the ship, Betty Hill described being medically examined by what one could only assume was an alien doctor, who spoke to her in English. She also witnessed this leader speaking in its own unique language to other Grey aliens present.
Where Do They Come From?
After her abduction, Betty Hill was hypnotized to try to discover details about their UFO encounter and subsequent abduction. During the process, she “remembered” having been given a star map by the alien doctor. He described trade routes that the Grey aliens took during their excursions, however, he told Mrs. Hill that since she had no knowledge of that part of the universe, she would be unable to actually read the chart and locate his home planet.
A few years later Marjorie Fish, a UFO researcher, became interested in the abduction case and came up with a theory concerning the star map drawing. Based on her research, she concluded that the star map was of the Zeta Reticuli twin stars, which are located about 220 trillion miles from planet Earth.
Based on past alien abduction stories, most people feel that the Greys are a benevolent species operating as observers of humanity. Much as our scientists observe and interact with wild life on our planet to study them so too do the Grey aliens study humans by abducting us and conducting scientific and medical style research.
Why are the Grey Aliens on Earth?
Some have speculated that this alien being is a dying breed. They were originally cloned by a more evil alien species known as the Reptilians that made the Grey alien their slaves. After an uprising, the Greys gained their freedom and began traveling the universe until they found our planet. Their goal is to use our genetic material to strength their DNA and keep their species alive. Some people believe that the United States made agreements with the Greys in Roswell, New Mexico to allow for these human abductions so that we could receive new and more advanced technology.
At this point if the Grey Aliens do exist, we only can theorize about what their true intention is on this planet. What are your thoughts? | English | NL | d673b942c03abbce9fd3151640db2010387f01eb264f2e8ce0377e0aa2c665c0 |
North Station Crash, 1917
On August 31, 1917, the brakes failed on a wooden elevated coach, and the train smashed into the dead-end bumper at old North Station. The operator tried frantically to stop the train, and at the last moment warned the passengers to brace for a collision. The safety bumper at the end of the structure prevented the train from crashing down onto Causeway Street. Eighteen people were injured, none seriously.
The original Main Line Elevated (Orange Line) was built from Dudley Street, Roxbury to Sullivan Square, Charlestown. An elevated branch above Atlantic Avenue connected South Station to North Station (the line closed in 1938). At North Station, a dead-end platform existed above Causeway Street at the east end of Boston Garden. Passengers could transfer to the old Lechmere elevated line or travel via elevated walkways directly into North Station. The old Atlantic Avenue line platform existed at North Station until about 1978. It is fortunate that the doomed train in 1917 was not traveling faster, or the accident could have easily caused fatalities (on the train, along the walkways, or even pedestrians walking in the street below).
The August 31, 1917 Boston Globe describes the crash: "Eighteen persons were injured at 5:30 yesterday afternoon, when a shuttle train on the Elevated became unmanageable in front of the North Station and crashed into a bumper. But for the bumper, which was demolished, [the] two-coach train would have plunged through a thin iron fence and then down into Causeway st, 30 feet below. Fortunately the bumper stopped the wild train, and the majority of the 150 passengers escaped with nothing more serious than a bad scare and a shaking.
Nearly a score of the passengers were taken to the Relief Hospital, where they were treated for injuries, which ranged from mental shock to broken bones. No one was really seriously injured, and aside from a few broken windows and some splintered wood on the train, the worst damage was that done to the bumper itself.
Crash Comes at Rush Hour
The accident happened during the rush hour, and the shuttle train, operating between the South and North stations on the L, was packed. The noise of the crash could be heard for blocks. Every available ambulance was rushed to the scene, it being believed at first that many of the passengers had been hurt seriously.
The exact cause of the accident is uncertain.
According to passengers, the motorman, George J. Donnelly, did everything in his power to prevent it, but the brakes did not work. Passengers seen at the station and at the Relief Hospital all said that when the train was about 30 feet from the bumper, Donnelly, who had been trying frantically to work the brakes, stopped from his box into the front car crying, 'Stand back! Stand back! I can't stop her! The brakes don't work.' The next thing the passengers knew there was a flash and an explosion in the front of the forward car, and then a terrific crash.
Panic Follows Crash
Wild confusion followed, Men broke windows in a mad scramble to get out of the two cars, and trampled over women and children, Everyone fought his or her neighbor in an effort to get somewhere other than where he or she happed to be.
Guard Charles Winter, who was between the two cars when the crash came, quickly opened the side doors of both cars, allowing the pushing, screaming mass humanity to fight its way to the platform.
The two cars were crowded. Each seated 48 persons, and each had as many more persons standing. At every stop from the South Station on, crowds of home-goers had jammed themselves into the two coaches. Car 029 With motorman Donnelly, was ahead, and car 044 was hitched behind. The train moved along at a fair rate of speed, it is said. As it drew into the North Station platform, however, it was noted that it did not seem to slacken speed much. Passengers standing near the motorman’s box saw him frantically pulling at something over his head.
Women Passengers Alarmed
Then came what many women passengers believe was an explosion in the front of car 029, but which men passengers say was simply a fuse blowing out. This gave the passengers, particularly the women, a preliminary shock. Several of them screamed and jumped from their seats. Just then the motorman leaped from his box, crying: 'Stand back!' This alarmed everyone and the interior of the forward car became a scene of wild struggling.
Then came the crash as the car bit the bumper, tearing away its woodwork and bending its iron supports double. It seemed for a second as though the car had left the track. Then there was a second, milder shock, the recoil, and the train stopped. The motorman's box was partially wrecked. Donnelly escaped injury, as did Guard Winter. Within a couple of minutes after the crash the first ambulances were on the scene and the injured were being carried down stairs and placed in them Shortly afterwards the wrecked train was towed away An inquiry into the cause of the accident probably will take place today."
North Station Crash Site
Causeway and Canal Streets, Boston, MA 02118 | English | NL | e71454aee212f8445491dd3cfea46eeab5b2a64c037873ccc5a6db950592d8a0 |
“Be warned, these are not songs, but sound pieces inspired by the works of artist Richard M Powers, who in the 1950s was one of the most important Science Fiction artists of his time. Prolific to the point of producing more than 1500 cover and interior illustrations, the world of the SF paperback had been truly informed by “the Powers style”.
“Over the last year Andy has been sculpting and squeezing sounds in his shed to put together a collection of pieces linked to his experiences as a child where he would literally disappear into the book jacket art of Mr Powers.
“Every week or so, a young Andy would go to his local library and loan out three books, sometimes the same ones, sometimes different ones. He wouldn’t read them, but instead stare intensely at the jacket illustrations and drift into these fearful future worlds, hearing unusual soundscapes and noises. In the last couple of years Andy found out that the vast majority of illustrations he liked were done by the same artist, one Richard M powers. Finally he had a name to link with his experience.
“The pieces that he has recorded are an attempt to capture the sounds that played in his schoolboy head when he would stare at the cover paintings. Thus these are not songs, or even what the majority of people would call ‘music’, but are aural sculptures if you will, that are meant to marry in your head with the fluid and often frightening vistas that Powers would portray in paint.”
Text & Image: Ape House | English | NL | 2171c459994e39997b4bac7c9767e9fe5ff83385742fc167182c24fb53fdc598 |
David Schriner was born in (near?) Saratov on 30 November 1911 and immigrated with his family to Calgary, Alberta, at the age of one month. He was a professional ice hockey forward who played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Americans and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was named Rookie of the Year in 1935 and was the NHL scoring leader in 1935–36 and 1936–37. He won two Stanley Cup championships with the Maple Leafs in 1941–42 and 1944–45. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962. He died in Calgary on 4 July 1990. | English | NL | 8e01bdac87130a9395cbf86bb2a8c51b8a61cab8996e309e6f0bf5f6a9c91725 |
Half Yordiy off was better than she’d expected to get, if she was being honest, and all she had to do was draw up a safer version of things she’d been doing for years.
“Thank you, Mr. Vibius.” He reminded Kael strongly of the people she had known before she’d become a potion-mistress and ruler of her own domain. She knew how to act around him, but that didn’t make it the least bit pleasant. “You said the food was on the third floor?”
“Yep. It’s always there. I don’t get it, I really don’t, but it’s always there.”
Kael suppressed a smile. Jaoan had been working on that for years. She wondered how long it had taken him to perfect it. “Thank you. If nobody is here to ask me about potions, I will go and eat now.”
“You’re really taking this seriously.” He looked at a small glowing piece of glass for a moment. “There’s three people in the museum, but they’re taking their down in the Lives of the Ancient Natives and Potions Then and Now displays. The Lives one really gets a lot of attention,” he confided. “People like going through how people lived back before, uh,” he coughed, “before the modern era. We get a lot of yelling, too.” He smiled grimly. “People who say there’s no way things could have been like that.” Continue reading | English | NL | 5d8684d3c0e9d6e2f64521b6f0ccbed0c92b3e8a35ac69d4e76dd1beaf87d36c |
Francesco Canova da Milano (Francesco da Milano, also known as Il divino, was an Italian lutenist and composer. He was born in Monza, near Milan (1497), and worked for the papal court for almost all of his career. Francesco was heralded throughout Europe as the foremost lute composer of his time. More of his music is preserved than of any other lutenist of the period, and his work continued to influence composers for more than a century after his death in 1543.
Already by 1530 Francesco’s music was widely known and studied. A few of his works were published in France by Pierre Attaingnant in 1529, five volumes of lute music comprising mostly Francesco’s works were published in Milan in 1536. There are many 16th- and 17th-century manuscript sources for his works, as well. Today, more than a hundred ricercars and fantasias (two terms used interchangeably in Francesco’s oeuvre), some 30 intabulations and a few other pieces by Francesco are known.
His music represents the transition from the loose improvisational style of his predecessors to the more refined polyphonic textures of later lute music. One of the defining characteristic features of Francesco’s style is the manipulation and development of short melodic motifs within a “narrative” formal outline. Francesco was drawing on techniques found in contemporary vocal music, e.g. works by Josquin des Prez and composers of his generation. Aside from his influence on the development of lute music, he is also important for being among the first composers to create monothematic ricercars.
The collected extant lute music of Francesco, edited by Arthur Ness, was published by Harvard University Press in 1970 (ISBN 0-674-53955-9).
Part of the text comes from Wikipedia free encyclopedia | English | NL | baac635a94abf1591d5c2cb523ba0070fca24b3c1c841b7ab527c4d63d9040de |
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. – Job 1:1
Job was known to be blameless & upright, one who feared God & shunned evil. He was not a “full-time” priest. He had his own business – consisting of flock, real estate & other possessions. And he conducted himself as one who feared God and shunned evil. What a testimony for our emulation! | English | NL | 476105e799b5c759f745f0aeacb5b6ee03d442f1406de585378da7a1e32c5c77 |
Imagine with me…
A young girl with long dark hair still in her pajamas bubbling with so much excitement that she is about to burst. Her face is lit up brightly like the sun coming up over the morning horizon. She had lain in bed awake for what seemed like hours, waiting for the appropriate time to rise.
It is just another day, so why is she so excited?
All through the day joy is radiating off her. Those around cannot help but feel the excited with her. They endearingly laugh as they watch this girl go about her daily routine waiting with the expectation that ‘it’s’ coming!
What is coming?
Wonderful Gifts from heaven! Dreams that come true!
This is how I have been feeling; it just amazes me that God is restoring so many things in my life. The enemy had stolen my youth but I feel like a small girl again! Except this time I have feelings of joy, anticipation that I can achieve many things (with God). When I was young I didn’t have that joy for life. I never allowed myself to get excited because I didn’t want to be disappointed.
I can remember one year for my birthday receiving a bike, a girl’s bike! It was pink and white; it had the prettiest banana seat (dating myself, huh) with flowers on it. Up to that point I would ride my brothers’ bike or the neighbor girl’s bike. My parents had parked the bike down by the creek that ran alongside the front of our property. To get me to go down there they had told me that I had left something down there and I needed to make sure to put it away.
As I ran down the hillside I saw the bike however it never crossed my mind that the bike might be mine. I had thought maybe the neighbor girl had gotten a new bike and wanted to show it off. I ran back to the house empty handed and asked my dad; what did I leave down there? They had to explain to me that the bike was mine, that they had gotten it for me for my birthday.
I cannot imagine the disappointment my parents must have felt when they didn’t see me get excited. As a parent myself, I love to see excitement in my children when I give them something that I know they have been wanting.
I believe that we bring joy to God when we get excited about life. God said He knows the good plans He has for us. That He is giving each of us a future and a hope. (Jer. 29:11)
We should all walk out each day with the joyful expectation that good, not just good, but awesome things are ahead! Let’s get excited about life, we have a loving father in heaven that wants to bless us.
Psalm 37:4 – Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. | English | NL | 935a4baca0624c0bc658f91bc335b56029a623ab4fb2e1703bef7029a45fefaa |
God's Promise To You
Did you know that God made a promise to you many years ago? His promise was made to everyone. So if you live on this earth, then it applies to you.
Long ago, in the days of Noah, God made a covenant with the whole earth and everyone living on it. He bound Himself by an oath not to allow the earth to be destroyed (Gen. 9:17).
A few centuries later, in the days of Moses, God made a similar vow to clarify what he meant. God took an oath to make us all His people and to be our God. He then said (Deut. 29:14, 15),
“Now not with you alone am I making this covenant and this oath, but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and with those who are not with us here today.”
The Israelites in that time witnessed this oath, but it was not given to them alone. God said that it applied to the whole earth—“those who are not with us here today.”
Were you there when God made that oath? Of course not. But if you were NOT there, it still applies to you!
Do you understand what that means?
God took the responsibility upon Himself and bound Himself with an oath to see to it that you would be one of His people and that He would be your God.
He did not say, “If you are good, then I will make you one of My people.”
He did not say, “I will give everyone the opportunity to come to Me so that if they promise to follow Me, then I will make them My people.”
No, God took an oath to do this by His own will and His own power. That is His promise.
There are two kinds of covenants that God has made with people. One is where God makes a promise to us. The other is where we make a promise to Him.
Because God made this promise, He is the one that is responsible to fulfill it. When we make a promise, we are the ones who are responsible to fulfill our word.
It’s that simple. Whoever makes the promise is the one required to keep his word.
The Bible says that Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai. There they were asked to make a promise (covenant) with God (Exodus 19:8). They agreed. So they promised to obey God always, and they bound their children to that promise as well. They all had good intentions, but they failed often to keep their promise. So that covenant failed and had to be scrapped.
But God still loved them and did not give up on them. What was the solution to this problem?
Forty years later, God made His own promise to them—and to everyone living on earth. This is the oath or promise that I mentioned earlier.
God too had good intentions. The difference was that God also had the ability to keep His promise. Yet many have doubted His ability to save all mankind. They say He cannot overrule their free will.
They say that man has free will, but God does not. The devil can make you do things, but God cannot. Really? Is God really that helpless? Is man’s will really stronger than God’s will? Is there nothing God can do that would succeed in saving all mankind?
Must we give God credit for trying, or for having good intentions? Did He do all that He could, but in the end do we have to admit that He was unable to fulfill His promise? Has God failed?
Is God Able to Keep His Promise?
The question is whether or not God really has the power to fulfill His oath. Many do not believe that He is able to save the whole earth and restore all to fulfill their purpose in life. But no one should make a promise that he cannot keep. Not even God Himself.
What they are really saying is that God made an oath that He could not keep, because it was never in His power to do so. If that were true, then God should not have made a promise He could not keep. But He did make this promise, and He only asks that we believe that He is able to keep it.
In other words, God asks that we have faith in Him. He does not require us to have faith in our own ability to keep whatever promises we make to God. Do you see the difference?
The difference is who is responsible to do it—you or God?
Have you ever made a promise to God? Were you able to keep your promise? Did you promise to change your life so that it would be pleasing to Him? Did you succeed?
My guess is that you did not. I myself have made thousands of promises to God, and they all fell short in spite of my good intentions. Every time I promised never to sin again, I failed.
And then I discovered that God had made a promise to me and to the whole world. That changed everything. No longer was I responsible to have faith in my good intentions. I suddenly saw that God was responsible to change me.
Suddenly, my faith shifted. I realized that I no longer needed to have faith in my own ability. I just needed to have faith in Him and His ability to keep His word.
You see, I was raised in the church. I was taught that my decision to follow Jesus was what would save me and make me one of God’s people. The problem was that as long as my salvation was based on my own decision (and vow), I found it impossible to make good on my decision—even with good intentions.
I struggled with this for many years. I know that many others do as well. Many are discouraged and just give up, thinking they will never be good enough to come to God. God is too holy, they say, and I am too sinful.
That is how it is as long as we think everything is based on our own will, our own decision, and our own promise. Old Covenant Boulevard is a dead end.
But God is love. He loves you, even if you don’t love yourself! Because He is love, He has stepped in by His own sovereign free will and has bound Himself by an oath to save the whole world—including you!
You may think you are too far gone for God to love you. You may think you have sinned too much for God’s promise to apply to you. If so, you are precisely the reason Jesus died on the cross. He paid the full penalty for everyone’s sin. He took the responsibility for your sin upon Himself.
God’s law was set up first to define sin and justice to show judges how to bring true justice when people sin. A biblical judge does not have the right to forgive sin, but the victims do have that right.
When Jesus paid the penalty for the sin of the whole world, He became the victim for every sin ever committed in this world. That gave Him the right to prosecute us or to forgive! What did He do?
When Jesus was dying, one of His last words were, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34). This was His prayer to the Judge. Jesus was exercising His rights to forgive all the sins that He was paying for by His death on the cross. Was Jesus’ prayer answered, or did it carry no weight with the Judge?
Jesus knew what He was doing, and He knew His rights. He had the right to forgive, and He did. That includes your sins as well, no matter what you have done. That is how His love was demonstrated.
God’s Plan to Save All
Man was created in the image of God. His purpose was to have the same nature as God Himself. But man sinned and brought death to the world. This is why we are all mortal.
The law of God requires penalties for sin, so Jesus came to earth to die on the cross to pay for the sin of the whole world. One of Jesus’ disciples, a man named John, also wrote in a letter that Jesus paid the penalty not only for the sins of believers but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).
Further, Jesus said that if He were to die on the cross, He would draw everyone to Himself (John 12:32). This is how He demonstrated His love for the world. He was willing to die even for His enemies before they even knew Him!
What Should We do?
The only thing that is required of you is to have faith in the promise of God. Believe that His promise applies to you and that Jesus’ death on the cross paid the full penalty for all your sins.
Just say, “I believe it!” Have faith in Him. I know that sounds too simple and far too easy, but it is true. God made it easy so that it is not out of reach for anyone.
If this good news has caused you to have faith in Him, it is evidence that God has now begun to work in your heart to change your life. His promise to the world is beginning to apply specifically to you.
Know then that God will continue to work in your heart and will guide you by His Spirit to show you many things that you did not know before.
The next step is to learn more about this plan of salvation, so that you will be able to live the kind of life that God meant for you from the beginning. Begin to read and study the Scriptures and His laws, so that you will learn what kind of person God intends to make you by the time this is over.
The laws of God were given originally as commands for us to keep. But now that we have been given the New Covenant, these same laws have become God’s promises to us. Instead of you having to try to do what God commands in order to be good, God promised to give you His divine nature.
So when you read the Ten Commandments, think of them as God’s Ten Promises to you. God has promised to change your heart so that you will not steal, you will not kill, you will not commit adultery, you will not lie, and you will not covet.
Are you ready for a change in your life? See how He transforms you back into His image. | English | NL | cda4048b0e909472863f1d6a206ecaa1228d393c07e23b5f4807db45065a1e37 |
It is a chilling winter evening. The wedding reception is in an open ground. A small tent covers the stage and a few chairs kept in front of it. Food is being served on tables arranged along the perimeter the ground.
Kids are stuffed with enough woolen that they may roll without getting hurt. Old men are wearing just as much but they put on a jacket. They set themselves apart by sporting a cap, some have a monkey cap. They look prepared to survive if were to stay here for the night.
Women are confused. They sit in the covered area unable to decide whether to let that thin shawl cover their elaborate jewelry or not. They may stand a chance to get a compliment from at least one of their husband’s subordinate or his wife. “Oh, that is a lovely necklace!” the wife will say. It means that she is looking forward to the day when she can afford it. Definitely, she would buy something better just like her taste.
An espresso machine stands in a corner. It makes a swoosh sound as it spews coffee in a cup. The cups are thick and save your hands from the heat. They are designed to look big and have less capacity.
You stand in a queue, get yourself a cup. You take a sip and all you get is the taste of cocoa powder and froth. But you are a born explorer who lives life dangerously. You venture into the unknown. You have let yourself be surrounded by strangers. Strangers who, when they question, make you wish they are struck by lightning. Twice. So, you quickly take another sip of that extremely hot coffee that destroys all taste buds. All the taste that ever was and will be.
You feel angry and embarrassed like a kid who is just old enough to realize that bed-wetting is shameful. You have now acquired the power to taste all the food irrespective of its taste.
The food will be declared terrible eventually by the guests. The worst thing that can happen to coffee is that it will run out. The cold is here to stay while everyone waits for the bride and groom. Till then most of the guests would have finished dinner and declared that only the coffee saved them. | English | NL | 802d326551d5260d581aa9450c2b947f028afb56cfaee3c9796393bf6dbb0f6d |
Chapel Street: The Bravest Little Street in England
Chapel Street in Altrincham, so called because of the Wesleyan Chapel on the corner of the road, was a road mainly occupied by labourers and lodging house keepers. It gained public recognition after the First World War for the extraordinary sacrifice of the residents. From just 60 houses, 161 men volunteered for active service, 29 men were killed. The street was honoured on the 5th April 1919 when the Earl of Stamford unveiled a memorial to the men in front of a vast crowd. King George V sent a telegram of support which was read out at the unveiling and Chapel Street became known as ‘’The Bravest Little Street in England’’. Chapel Street was demolished in the middle of the 20th Century.
Chapel Street War Memorial 1919
Volunteers at Trafford Local Studies have been researching how the First World War affected the lives of the people who lived in Chapel Street both on the front line and the home front. Using archives and information from surviving family members we have been able discover more about how they lived their lives through such a difficult period.
One of our volunteers Liz has been researching the Wyatt brothers Joseph, Thomas and Frank of Chapel Street. This is their story…
All three brothers joined up and survived the War. The eldest brother Joseph was born in Chapel Street in 1890 to parents Frank Wyatt, a builder’s labourer and his wife Ann nee Glavey. At the age of 11 he was employed as an ‘’Evening News Boy’’ and then as a jobbing gardener. In 1912 he married Florence Naylor and the couple had one son Joseph born in 1913. A family member informed me that at this time Joseph was employed as a train carriage cleaner.
Joseph enlisted on 15th November 1915 and joined the Cheshire Regiment, serving with the rank of Corporal. His regimental number was 32605.Unfortunately his attestation and military records have not survived. What is known is that Joseph was injured on 25th August 1916 possibly during the Battle of the Somme. He lost fingers on his left hand from a gunshot wound. He was evacuated to England and nursed at the Military Hospital, Edmonton, London. This was reported in the Manchester Evening News on Monday 8th October 1916. This photo of Joseph provided by his granddaughter was taken whilst he was in hospital and shows the disability to his hand. The red armband appears to signify that he was a patient undergoing treatment at this time.
Joseph was discharged from the army because of his wounds on 19th January 1917.He was awarded the Silver War Badge and also received the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. Sadly Joseph’s wife Florence died in the summer of 1917 shortly after his return home. His family report that he moved back to Edmonton where had been nursed and in 1918 he married Sarah Agnes Chapman, a Queen Alexandra’s Nurse who had nursed him at the Military Hospital. Agnes was a widow with three young daughters. The couple eventually moved back to Altrincham with his son Joseph, Agnes’ three daughters and the three daughters they had together, settling in Oldfield Brow.
Joseph worked a jobbing gardener after the war and may have struggled to find work. This later picture of him with Agnes kindly provided by Joseph’s granddaughter shows him in military uniform. He appears to have a prosthetic glove on his left hand. Joseph died on 22nd November 1937 aged 47 years. Sadly he was buried in an unmarked pauper’s grave in Hale Cemetery.
Thomas Wyatt, born in 1893 was a jobbing gardener. He enlisted in the army at some point during 1915. His Medal Index Card indicates that he joined the Royal Field Artillery as a driver and entered France on 20th November 1915.His Regimental number was 35246. He was awarded the 15 Star Medal, the Victory Medal and the British War Medal .As the records have not survived it is not known when Thomas was discharged from the army, but it may have been before the end of the war as his death certificate describes him as a military pensioner and a jobbing gardener. He died in Altrincham General Hospital aged 27 years and was buried in April 1921 at the Blessed Virgin Mary Anglican Church in Bowdon. At the time of his death he was living with his father at 46 Chapel Street. The cause of his death was given as malignant cardiomyopathy.
Frank Wyatt, born in 1891, joined the Cheshire Regiment in 1914 Regimental number 10293, although he was later transferred to the Devon Regiment, Regimental number 34061. This information came from the Medal Index Cards as like his two brothers, his attestation papers have been destroyed. Frank was awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. It is not known where Frank went after the war. Research has been unable to identify any marriage or death records.
Chapel Street Commemoration Image – Trafford Local Studies
Wyatt Family Photographs – Courtesy of Jane Southern. | English | NL | 18714096f545c6b2a820443c63cdee6849edadf9f4918702d6c434dc0d16ed1c |
PATHS OF GLORY
Impressions of War Written At and Near the Front
BY IRVIN S. COBB
AUTHOR OF "BACK HOME," "EUROPE REVISED,' ETC., ETC.
"The paths of glory lead but to the grave." —Thomas Gray
To the Memory of MAJOR ROBERT COBB (Cobb's Kentucky Battery, C. S. A.)
What is enclosed between these covers was written as a series of first-hand impressions during the fall and early winter of 1914 while the writer was on staff service for The Saturday Evening Post in the western theatre of the European War. I tried to write of war as I saw it at the time that I saw it, or immediately afterward, when the memory of what I had seen was fresh and vivid in my mind.
In this volume, as here presented, no attempt has been made to follow either logically or chronologically the progress of events in the campaigning operations of which I was a witness. The chapters are interrelated insofar as they purport to be a sequence of pictures describing some of my experiences and setting forth a few of my observations in Belgium, in Germany, in France and in England during the first three months of hostilities.
At the outset I had no intention of undertaking to write a book on the war. If in the kindly judgment of the reader what I have written constitutes a book I shall be gratified.
I. S. C.
I. A Little Village Called Montignies St. Christophe. II. To War in a Taxicab. III. Sherman Said It. IV. "Marsch, Marsch, Marsch, So Geh'n Wir Weiter". V. Being a Guest of the Kaiser. VI. With the German Wrecking Crew VII. The Grapes of Wrath.. VIII. Three Generals and a Cook IX. Viewing a Battle prom a Balloon X. In the Trenches Before Rheims.. XI. War de Luxe... XII. The Rut of Big Guns in France.. XIII. Those Yellow Pine Boxes.. XIV. The Red Glutton.. XV. Belgium—The Rag Doll of Europe . XVI. Louvain the Forsaken.
A Little Village Called Montignies St. Christophe
We passed through it late in the afternoon—this little Belgian town called Montignies St. Christophe—just twenty-four hours behind a dust- colored German column. I am going to try now to tell how it looked to us.
I am inclined to think I passed this way a year before, or a little less, though I cannot be quite certain as to that. Traveling 'cross country, the country is likely to look different from the way it looked when you viewed it from the window of a railroad carriage.
Of this much, though, I am sure: If I did not pass, through this little town of Montignies St. Christophe then, at least I passed through fifty like it—each a single line of gray houses strung, like beads on a cord, along a white, straight road, with fields behind and elms in front; each with its small, ugly church, its wine shop, its drinking trough, its priest in black, and its one lone gendarme in his preposterous housings of saber and belt and shoulder straps.
I rather imagine I tried to think up something funny to say about the shabby grandeur of the gendarme or the acid flavor of the cooking vinegar sold at the drinking place under the name of wine; for that time I was supposed to be writing humorous articles on European travel.
But now something had happened to Montignies St. Christophe to lift it out of the dun, dull sameness that made it as one with so many other unimportant villages in this upper left-hand corner of the map of Europe. The war had come this way; and, coming so, had dealt it a side-slap.
We came to it just before dusk. All day we had been hurrying along, trying to catch up with the German rear guard; but the Germans moved faster than we did, even though they fought as they went. They had gone round the southern part of Belgium like coopers round a cask, hooping it in with tight bands of steel. Belgium—or this part of it—was all barreled up now: chines, staves and bung; and the Germans were already across the line, beating down the sod of France with their pelting feet.
Besides we had stopped often, for there was so much to see and to hear. There was the hour we spent at Merbes-le-Chateau, where the English had been; and the hour we spent at La Buissiere, on the river Sambre, where a fight had been fought two days earlier; but Merbes-le-Chateau is another story and so is La Buissiere. Just after La Buissiere we came to a tiny village named Neuville and halted while the local Jack-of-all- trades mended for us an invalided tire on a bicycle.
As we grouped in the narrow street before his shop, with a hiving swarm of curious villagers buzzing about us, an improvised ambulance, with a red cross painted on its side over the letters of a baker's sign, went up the steep hill at the head of the cobbled street. At that the women in the doorways of the small cottages twisted their gnarled red hands in their aprons, and whispered fearsomely among themselves, so that the sibilant sound of their voices ran up and down the line of houses in a long, quavering hiss.
The wagon, it seemed, was bringing in a wounded French soldier who had been found in the woods beyond the river. He was one of the last to be found alive, which was another way of saying that for two days and two nights he had been lying helpless in the thicket, his stomach empty and his wounds raw. On each of those two nights it had rained, and rained hard.
Just as we started on our way the big guns began booming somewhere ahead of us toward the southwest; so we turned in that direction.
We had heard the guns distinctly in the early forenoon, and again, less distinctly, about noontime. Thereafter, for a while, there had been a lull in the firing; but now it was constant—a steady, sustained boom- boom-boom, so far away that it fell on the eardrums as a gentle concussion; as a throb of air, rather than as a real sound. For three days now we had been following that distant voice of the cannon, trying to catch up with it as it advanced, always southward, toward the French frontier. Therefore we flogged the belly of our tired horse with the lash of a long whip, and hurried along. There were five of us, all Americans. The two who rode on bicycles pedaled ahead as outriders, and the remaining three followed on behind with the horse and the dogcart. We had bought the outfit that morning and we were to lose it that night. The horse was an aged mare, with high withers, and galls on her shoulders and fetlocks unshorn, after the fashion of Belgian horses; and the dogcart was a venerable ruin, which creaked a great protest at every turn of the warped wheels on the axle. We had been able to buy the two— the mare and the cart—only because the German soldiers had not thought them worth the taking.
In this order, then, we proceeded. Pretty soon the mare grew so weary she could hardly lift her shaggy old legs; so, footsore as we were, we who rode dismounted and trudged on, taking turns at dragging her forward by the bit. I presume we went ahead thus for an hour or more, along an interminable straight road and past miles of the checkered light and dark green fields which in harvest time make a great backgammon board of this whole country of Belgium.
The road was empty of natives—empty, too, of German wagon trains; and these seemed to us curious things, because there had until then been hardly a minute of the day when we were not passing soldiers or meeting refugees.
Almost without warning we came on this little village called Montignies St. Christophe. A six-armed signboard at a crossroads told us its name —a rather impressive name ordinarily for a place of perhaps twenty houses, all told. But now tragedy had given it distinction; had painted that straggling frontier hamlet over with such colors that the picture of it is going to live in my memory as long as I do live. At the upper end of the single street, like an outpost, stood an old chateau, the seat, no doubt, of the local gentry, with a small park of beeches and elms round it; and here, right at the park entrance, we had our first intimation that there had been a fight. The gate stood ajar between its chipped stone pillars, and just inside the blue coat of a French cavalry officer, jaunty and new and much braided with gold lace on the collar and cuffs, hung from the limb of a small tree. Beneath the tree were a sheaf of straw in the shape of a bed and the ashes of a dead camp fire; and on the grass, plain to the eye, a plump, well-picked pullet, all ready for the pot or the pan. Looking on past these things we saw much scattered dunnage: Frenchmen's knapsacks, flannel shirts, playing cards, fagots of firewood mixed together like jackstraws, canteens covered with slate-blue cloth and having queer little hornlike protuberances on their tops—which proved them to be French canteens—tumbled straw, odd shoes with their lacings undone, a toptilted service shelter of canvas; all the riffle of a camp that had been suddenly and violently disturbed.
As I think back it seems to me that not until that moment had it occurred to us to regard closely the cottages and shops beyond the clumped trees of the chateau grounds. We were desperately weary, to begin with, and our eyes, those past three days, had grown used to the signs of misery and waste and ruin, abundant and multiplying in the wake of the hard-pounding hoofs of the conqueror.
Now, all of a sudden, I became aware that this town had been literally shot to bits. From our side—that is to say, from the north and likewise from the west—the Germans had shelled it. From the south, plainly, the French had answered. The village, in between, had caught the full force and fury of the contending fires. Probably the inhabitants had warning; probably they fled when the German skirmishers surprised that outpost of Frenchmen camping in the park. One imagined them scurrying like rabbits across the fields and through the cabbage patches. But they had left their belongings behind, all their small petty gearings and garnishings, to be wrecked in the wrenching and racking apart of their homes.
A railroad track emerged from the fields and ran along the one street. Shells had fallen on it and exploded, ripping the steel rails from the cross-ties, so that they stood up all along in a jagged formation, like rows of snaggled teeth. Other shells, dropping in the road, had so wrought with the stone blocks that they were piled here in heaps, and there were depressed into caverns and crevasses four or five or six feet deep.
Every house in sight had been hit again and again and again. One house would have its whole front blown in, so that we could look right back to the rear walls and see the pans on the kitchen shelves. Another house would lack a roof to it, and the tidy tiles that had made the roof were now red and yellow rubbish, piled like broken shards outside a potter's door. The doors stood open, and the windows, with the windowpanes all gone and in some instances the sashes as well, leered emptily, like eye-sockets without eyes.
So it went. Two of the houses had caught fire and the interiors were quite burned away. A sodden smell of burned things came from the still smoking ruins; but the walls, being of thick stone, stood.
Our poor tired old nag halted and sniffed and snorted. If she had had energy enough I reckon she would have shied about and run back the way she had come, for now, just ahead, lay two dead horses—a big gray and a roan—with their stark legs sticking out across the road. The gray was shot through and through in three places. The right fore hoof of the roan had been cut smack off, as smoothly as though done with an ax; and the stiffened leg had a curiously unfinished look about it, suggesting a natural malformation. Dead only a few hours, their carcasses already had begun to swell. The skin on their bellies was as tight as a drumhead.
We forced the quivering mare past the two dead horses. Beyond them the road was a litter. Knapsacks, coats, canteens, handkerchiefs, pots, pans, household utensils, bottles, jugs and caps were everywhere. The deep ditches on either side of the road were clogged with such things. The dropped caps and the abandoned knapsacks were always French caps and French knapsacks, cast aside, no doubt, for a quick flight after the melee.
The Germans had charged after shelling the town, and then the French had fallen back—or at least so we deduced from the looks of things. In the debris was no object that bespoke German workmanship or German ownership. This rather puzzled us until we learned that the Germans, as tidy in this game of war as in the game of life, made it a hard-and-fast rule to gather up their own belongings after every engagement, great or small, leaving behind nothing that might serve to give the enemy an idea of their losses.
We went by the church. Its spire was gone; but, strange to say, a small flag—the Tricolor of France—still fluttered from a window where some one had stuck it. We went by the taverne, or wine shop, which had a sign over its door—a creature remotely resembling a blue lynx. And through the door we saw half a loaf of bread and several bottles on a table. We went by a rather pretentious house, with pear trees in front of it and a big barn alongside it; and right under the eaves of the barn I picked up the short jacket of a French trooper, so new and fresh from the workshop that the white cambric lining was hardly soiled. The figure 18 was on the collar; we decided that its wearer must have belonged to the Eighteenth Cavalry Regiment. Behind the barn we found a whole pile of new knapsacks—the flimsy play-soldier knapsacks of the French infantrymen, not half so heavy or a third so substantial as the heavy sacks of the Germans, which are all bound with straps and covered on the back side with undressed red bullock's hide.
Until now we had seen, in all the silent, ruined village, no human being. The place fairly ached with emptiness. Cats sat on the doorsteps or in the windows, and presently from a barn we heard imprisoned beasts lowing dismally. Cows were there, with agonized udders and, penned away from them, famishing calves; but there were no dogs. We already had remarked this fact—that in every desolated village cats were thick enough; but invariably the sharp-nosed, wolfish- looking Belgian dogs had disappeared along with their masters. And it was so in Montignies St. Christophe.
On a roadside barricade of stones, chinked with sods of turf—a breastwork the French probably had erected before the fight and which the Germans had kicked half down—I counted three cats, seated side by side, washing their faces sedately and soberly.
It was just after we had gone by the barricade that, in a shed behind the riddled shell of a house, which was almost the last house of the town, one of our party saw an old, a very old, woman, who peered out at us through a break in the wall. He called out to her in French, but she never answered—only continued to watch him from behind her shelter. He started toward her and she disappeared noiselessly, without having spoken a word. She was the only living person we saw in that town.
Just beyond the town, though, we met a wagon—a furniture dealer's wagon—from some larger community, which had been impressed by the Belgian authorities, military or civil, for ambulance service. A jaded team of horses drew it, and white flags with red crosses in their centers drooped over the wheels, fore and aft. One man led the near horse by the bit and two other men walked behind the wagon. All three of them had Red Cross brassards on the sleeves of their coats.
The wagon had a hood on it, but was open at both ends. Overhauling it we saw that it contained two dead soldiers—French foot-soldiers. The bodies rested side by side on the wagon bed. Their feet somehow were caught up on the wagon seat so that their stiff legs, in the baggy red pants, slanted upward, and the two dead men had the look of being about to glide backward and out of the wagon.
The blue-clad arms of one of them were twisted upward in a half-arc, encircling nothing; and as the wheels jolted over the rutted cobbles these two bent arms joggled and swayed drunkenly. The other's head was canted back so that, as we passed, we looked right into his face. It was a young face—we could tell that much, even through the mask of caked mud on the drab-white skin—and it might once have been a comely face. It was not comely now.
Peering into the wagon we saw that the dead man's face had been partly shot or shorn away—the lower jaw was gone; so that it had become an abominable thing to look on. These two had been men the day before. Now they were carrion and would be treated as such; for as we looked back we saw the wagon turn off the high road into a field where the wild red poppies, like blobs of red blood, grew thick between rows of neglected sugar beets.
We stopped and watched. The wagon bumped through the beet patch to where, at the edge of a thicket, a trench had been dug. The diggers were two peasants in blouses, who stood alongside the ridge of raw upturned earth at the edge of the hole, in the attitude of figures in a painting by Millet. Their spades were speared upright into the mound of fresh earth. Behind them a stenciling of poplars rose against the sky line.
We saw the bodies lifted out of the wagon. We saw them slide into the shallow grave, and saw the two diggers start at their task of filling in the hole.
Not until then did it occur to any one of us that we had not spoken to the men in charge of the wagon, or they to us. There was one detached house, not badly battered, alongside the road at the lower edge of the field where the burial took place. It had a shield on its front wall bearing the Belgian arms and words to denote that it was a customs house.
A glance at our map showed us that at this point the French boundary came up in a V-shaped point almost to the road. Had the gravediggers picked a spot fifty yards farther on for digging their trench, those two dead Frenchmen would have rested in the soil of their own country.
The sun was almost down by now, and its slanting rays slid lengthwise through the elm-tree aisles along our route. Just as it disappeared we met a string of refugees—men, women and children—all afoot, all bearing pitiably small bundles. They limped along silently in a straggling procession. None of them was weeping; none of them apparently had been weeping. During the past ten days I had seen thousands of such refugees, and I had yet to hear one of them cry out or complain or protest.
These who passed us now were like that. Their heavy peasant faces expressed dumb bewilderment—nothing else. They went on up the road into the gathering dusk as we went down, and almost at once the sound of their clunking tread died out behind us. Without knowing certainly, we nevertheless imagined they were the dwellers of Montignies St. Christophe going back to the sorry shells that had been their homes.
An hour later we passed through the back lines of the German camp and entered the town of Beaumont, to find that the General Staff of a German army corps was quartered there for the night, and that the main force of the column, after sharp fighting, had already advanced well beyond the frontier. France was invaded.
To War in a Taxicab
In a taxicab we went to look for this war. There were four of us, not counting the chauffeur, who did not count. It was a regular taxicab, with a meter on it, and a little red metal flag which might be turned up or turned down, depending on whether the cab was engaged or at liberty; and he was a regular chauffeur.
We, the passengers, wore straw hats and light suits, and carried no baggage. No one would ever have taken us for war correspondents out looking for war. So we went; and, just when we were least expecting it, we found that war. Perhaps it would be more exact to say it found us. We were four days getting back to Brussels, still wearing our straw hats, but without any taxicab. The fate of that taxicab is going to be one of the unsolved mysteries of the German invasion of Belgium.
From the hour when the steamer St. Paul left New York, carrying probably the most mixed assortment of passengers that traveled on a single ship since Noah sailed the Ark, we on board expected hourly to sight something that would make us spectators of actual hostilities. The papers that morning were full of rumors of an engagement between English ships and German ships somewhere off the New England coast.
Daily we searched the empty seas until our eyes hurt us; but, except that we had one ship's concert and one brisk gale, and that just before dusk on the fifth day out, the weather being then gray and misty, we saw wallowing along, hull down on the starboard bow, an English cruiser with two funnels, nothing happened at all. Even when we landed at Liverpool nothing happened to suggest that we had reached a country actively engaged in war, unless you would list the presence of a few khaki-clad soldiers on the landing stage and the painful absence of porters to handle our baggage as evidences of the same. I remember seeing Her Grace the Duchess of Marlborough sitting hour after hour on a baggage truck, waiting for her heavy luggage to come off the tardy tender and up the languid chute into the big dusty dockhouse.
I remember, also, seeing women, with their hats flopping down in their faces and their hair all streaming, dragging huge trunks across the floor; and if all of us had not been in the same distressful fix we could have appreciated the humor of the spectacle of a portly high dignitary of the United States Medical Corps shoving a truck piled high with his belongings, and shortly afterward, with the help of his own wife, loading them on the roof of an infirm and wheezy taxicab.
From Liverpool across to London we traveled through a drowsy land burdened with bumper crops of grain, and watched the big brown hares skipping among the oat stacks; and late at night we came to London. In London next day there were more troops about than common, and recruits were drilling on the gravel walks back of Somerset House; and the people generally moved with a certain sober restraint, as people do who feel the weight of a heavy and an urgent responsibility. Otherwise the London of wartime seemed the London of peacetime.
So within a day our small party, still seeking to slip into the wings of the actual theater of events rather than to stay so far back behind the scenes, was aboard a Channel ferryboat bound for Ostend, and having for fellow travelers a few Englishmen, a tall blond princess of some royal house of Northern Europe, and any number of Belgians going home to enlist. In the Straits of Dover, an hour or so out from Folkestone, we ran through a fleet of British warships guarding the narrow roadstead between France and England; and a torpedo-boat destroyer sidled up and took a look at us.
Just off Dunkirk a French scout ship talked with us by the language of the whipping signal flags; but the ordinary Channel craft came and went without hindrance or seeming fear, and again it was hard for us to make ourselves believe that we had reached a zone where the physical, tangible business of war went forward.
And Ostend and, after Ostend, the Belgian interior—those were disappointments too; for at Ostend bathers disported on the long, shining beach and children played about the sanded stretch. And, though there were soldiers in sight, one always expects soldiers in European countries. No one asked to see the passports we had brought with us, and the customs officers gave our hand baggage the most perfunctory of examinations. Hardly five minutes had elapsed after our landing before we were steaming away on our train through a landscape which, to judge by its appearance, might have known only peace, and naught but peace, for a thousand placid years.
It is true we saw during that ride few able-bodied male adults, either in the towns through which we rushed or in the country. There were priests occasionally and old, infirm men or half-grown boys; but of men in their prime the land had been drained to fill up the army of defense then on the other side of Belgium—toward Germany—striving to hold the invaders in check until the French and English might come up. The yellow-ripe grain stood in the fields, heavy-headed and drooping with seed. The russet pears and red apples bent the limbs of the fruit trees almost to earth. Every visible inch of soil was under cultivation, of the painfully intensive European sort; and there remained behind to garner the crops only the peasant women and a few crippled, aged grand- sires. It was hard for us to convince ourselves that any event out of the ordinary beset this country. No columns of troops passed along the roads; no camps of tents lifted their peaked tops above the hedges. In seventy-odd miles we encountered one small detachment of soldiers—they were at a railroad station—and one Red Cross flag.
As for Brussels—why, Brussels at first glance was more like a city making a fete than the capital of a nation making war. The flags which were displayed everywhere; the crowds in the square before the railroad station; the multitudes of boy scouts running about; the uniforms of Belgian volunteers and regulars; the Garde Civique, in their queer- looking costumes, with funny little derby hats, all braid-trimmed—gave to the place a holiday air. After nightfall, when the people of Brussels flocked to the sidewalk cafes and sat at little round tables under awnings, drinking light drinks a la Parisienne, this impression was heightened.
We dined in the open air ourselves, finding the prices for food and drink to be both moderate and modest, and able to see nothing on the surface which suggested that the life of these people had been seriously disturbed. Two significant facts, however, did obtrude themselves on us: Every minute or two, as we dined, a young girl or an old gentleman would come to us, rattling a tin receptacle with a slot in the top through which coins for the aid of the widows and orphans of dead soldiers might be dropped; and when a little later we rode past the royal palace we saw that it had been converted into a big hospital for the wounded. That night, also, the government ran away to Antwerp; but of this we knew nothing until the following morning.
Next day we heard tales: Uhlans had been seen almost in the suburbs; three German spies, disguised as nuns, had been captured, tried, convicted and were no longer with us; sentries on duty outside the residence of the American Minister had fired at a German aeroplane darting overhead; French troops were drawing in to the northward and English soldiers were hurrying up from the south; trainloads of wounded had been brought in under cover of the night and distributed among the improvised hospitals; but, conceding these things to be true, we knew of them only at second hand. By the evidence of what we ourselves saw we were able to note few shifts in the superficial aspects of the city.
The Garde Civique seemed a trifle more numerous than it had been the evening before; citizen volunteers, still in civilian garb, appeared on the streets in awkward squads, carrying their guns and side arms clumsily; and when, in Minister Brand Whitlock's car, we drove out the beautiful Avenue Louise, we found soldiers building a breast-high barricade across the head of the roadway where it entered the Bois; also, they were weaving barbed-wire entanglements among the shade trees. That was all.
And then, as though to offset these added suggestions of danger, we saw children playing about quietly behind the piled sand-bags, guarded by plump Flemish nursemaids, and smart dogcarts constantly passed and repassed us, filled with well-dressed women, and with flowers stuck in the whip-sockets.
The nearer we got to this war the farther away from us it seemed to be. We began to regard it as an elusive, silent, secretive, hide-and-go-seek war, which would evade us always. We resolved to pursue it into the country to the northward, from whence the Germans were reported to be advancing, crushing back the outnumbered Belgians as they came onward; but when we tried to secure a laissez passer at the gendarmerie, where until then an accredited correspondent might get himself a laissez passer, we bumped into obstacles.
In an inclosed courtyard behind a big gray building, among loaded wagons of supplies and munching cart horses, a kitchen table teetered unsteadily on its legs on the rough cobbles. On the table were pens and inkpots and coffee cups and beer bottles and beer glasses; and about it sat certain unkempt men in resplendent but unbrushed costumes. Joseph himself—the Joseph of the coat of many colors, no less—might have devised the uniforms they wore. With that setting the picture they made there in the courtyard was suggestive of stage scenes in plays of the French Revolution.
They were polite enough, these piebald gentlemen, and they considered our credentials with an air of mildly courteous interest; but they would give us no passes. There had been an order. Who had issued it, or why, was not for us to know. Going away from there, all downcast and disappointed, we met a French cavalryman. He limped along in his high dragoon boots, walking with the wide-legged gait of one who had bestraddled leather for many hours and was sore from it. His horse, which he led by the bridle, stumbled with weariness. A proud boy scout was serving as his guide. He was the only soldier of any army, except the Belgian, we had seen so far, and we halted our car and watched him until he disappeared.
However, seeing one tired French dragoon was not seeing the war; and we chafed that night at the delay which kept us penned as prisoners in this handsome, outwardly quiet city. As we figured it we might be housed up here for days or weeks and miss all the operations in the field. When morning came, though, we discovered that the bars were down again, and that certificates signed by the American consul would be sufficient to carry us as far as the outlying suburbs at least.
Securing these precious papers, then, without delay we chartered a rickety red taxicab for the day; and piling in we told the driver to take us eastward as far as he could go before the outposts turned us back. He took us, therefore, at a buzzing clip through the Bois, along one flank of the magnificent Forest of Soigne, with its miles of green- trunked beech trees, and by way of the royal park of Tervueren. From the edge of the thickly settled district onward we passed barricade after barricade—some built of newly felled trees; some of street cars drawn across the road in double rows; some of street cobbles chinked with turf; and some of barbed wire—all of them, even to our inexperienced eyes, seeming but flimsy defenses to interpose against a force of any size or determination. But the Belgians appeared to set great store by these playthings.
Behind each of them was a mixed group of soldiers—Garde Civique, gendarmes and burgher volunteers. These latter mainly carried shotguns and wore floppy blue caps and long blue blouses, which buttoned down their backs with big horn buttons, like little girls' pinafores. There was, we learned, a touch of sentiment about the sudden appearance of those most unsoldierly looking vestments. In the revolution of 1830, when the men of Brussels fought the Hollanders all morning, stopped for dinner at midday and then fought again all afternoon, and by alternately fighting and eating wore out the enemy and won their national independence, they wore such caps and such back-buttoning blouses. And so all night long women in the hospitals had sat up cutting out and basting together the garments of glory for their menfolk.
No one offered to turn us back, and only once or twice did a sentry insist on looking at our passes. In the light of fuller experiences I know now that when a city is about to fall into an enemy's hands the authorities relax their vigilance and freely permit noncombatants to depart therefrom, presumably on the assumption that the fewer individuals there are in the place when the conqueror does come the fewer the problems of caring for the resident population will be. But we did not know this mighty significant fact; and, suspecting nothing, the four innocents drove blithely on until the city lay behind us and the country lay before us, brooding in the bright sunlight and all empty and peaceful, except for thin scattering detachments of gaily clad Belgian infantrymen through which we passed.
Once or twice tired, dirty stragglers, lying at the roadside, raised a cheer as they recognized the small American flag that fluttered from our taxi's door; and once we gave a lift to a Belgian bicycle courier, who had grown too leg-weary to pedal his machine another inch. He was the color of the dust through which he had ridden, and his face under its dirt mask was thin and drawn with fatigue; but his racial enthusiasm endured, and when we dropped him he insisted on shaking hands with all of us, and offering us a drink out of a very warm and very grimy bottle of something or other.
All of a sudden, rounding a bend, we came on a little valley with one of the infrequent Belgian brooks bisecting it; and this whole valley was full of soldiers. There must have been ten thousand of them—cavalry, foot, artillery, baggage trains, and all. Quite near us was ranged a battery of small rapid-fire guns; and the big rawboned dogs that had hauled them there were lying under the wicked-looking little pieces. We had heard a lot about the dog-drawn guns of the Belgians, but these were the first of them we had seen.
Lines of cavalrymen were skirting crosswise over the low hill at the other side of the valley, and against the sky line the figures of horses and men stood out clear and fine. It all seemed a splendid martial sight; but afterward, comparing this force with the army into whose front we were to blunder unwittingly, we thought of it as a little handful of toy soldiers playing at war. We never heard what became of those Belgians. Presumably at the advance of the Germans coming down on them countlessly, like an Old Testament locust plague, they fell back and, going round Brussels, went northward toward Antwerp, to join the main body of their own troops. Or they may have reached the lines of the Allies, to the south and westward, toward the French frontier. One guess would be as good as the other.
One of the puzzling things about the early mid-August stages of the war was the almost instantaneous rapidity with which the Belgian army, as an army, disintegrated and vanished. To-day it was here, giving a good account of itself against tremendous odds, spending itself in driblets to give the Allies a chance to get up. To-morrow it was utterly gone.
Still without being halted or delayed we went briskly on. We had topped the next rise commanding the next valley, and—except for a few stragglers and some skirmishers—the Belgians were quite out of sight, when our driver stopped with an abruptness which piled his four passengers in a heap and pointed off to the northwest, a queer, startled, frightened look on his broad Flemish face. There was smoke there along the horizon—much smoke, both white and dark; and, even as the throb of the motor died away to a purr, the sound of big guns came to us in a faint rumbling, borne from a long way off by the breeze.
It was the first time any one of us, except McCutcheon, had ever heard a gun fired in battle; and it was the first intimation to any of us that the Germans were so near. Barring only venturesome mounted scouts we had supposed the German columns were many kilometers away. A brush between skirmishers was the best we had counted on seeing.
Right here we parted from our taxi driver. He made it plain to us, partly by words and partly by signs, that he personally was not looking for any war. Plainly he was one who specialized in peace and the pursuits of peace. Not even the proffered bribe of a doubled or a tripled fare availed to move him one rod toward those smoke clouds. He turned his car round so that it faced toward Brussels, and there he agreed to stay, caring for our light overcoats, until we should return to him. I wonder how long he really did stay.
And I have wondered, in idle moments since, what he did with our overcoats. Maybe he fled with the automobile containing two English moving-picture operators which passed us at that moment, and from which floated back a shouted warning that the Germans were coming. Maybe he stayed too long and was gobbled up—but I doubt it. He had an instinct for safety.
As we went forward afoot the sound of the firing grew clearer and more distinct. We could now hear quite plainly the grunting belch of the big pieces and, in between, the chattering voice of rapid-fire guns. Long- extended, stammering, staccato sounds, which we took to mean rifle firing, came to our ears also. Among ourselves we decided that the white smoke came from the guns and the black from burning buildings or hay ricks. Also we agreed that the fighting was going on beyond the spires and chimneys of a village on the crest of the hill immediately ahead of us. We could make out a white church and, on past it, lines of gray stone cottages.
In these deductions we were partly right and partly wrong; we had hit on the approximate direction of the fighting, but it was not a village that lay before us. What we saw was an outlying section of the city of Louvain, a place of fifty thousand inhabitants, destined within ten days to be turned into a waste of sacked ruins.
There were fields of tall, rank winter cabbages on each side of the road, and among the big green leaves we saw bright red dots. We had to look a second time before we realized that these dots were not the blooms of the wild red poppies that are so abundant in Belgium, but the red-tipped caps of Belgian soldiers squatting in the cover of the plants. None of them looked toward us; all of them looked toward those mounting walls of smoke.
Now, too, we became aware of something else—aware of a procession that advanced toward us. It was the head of a two-mile long line of refugees, fleeing from destroyed or threatened districts on beyond. At first, in scattered, straggling groups, and then in solid columns, they passed us unendingly, we going one way, they going the other. Mainly they were afoot, though now and then a farm wagon would bulk above the weaving ranks; and it would be loaded with bedding and furniture and packed to overflowing with old women and babies. One wagon lacked horses to draw it, and six men pulled in front while two men pushed at the back to propel it. Some of the fleeing multitude looked like townspeople, but the majority plainly were peasants. And of these latter at least half wore wooden shoes so that the sound of their feet on the cobbled roadbed made a clattering chorus that at times almost drowned out the hiccuping voices of the guns behind them.
Occasionally there would be a man shoving a barrow, with a baby and possibly a muddle of bedclothing in the barrow together. Every woman carried a burden of some sort, which might be a pack tied in a cloth or a cheap valise stuffed to bursting, or a baby—though generally it was a baby; and nearly every man, in addition to his load of belongings, had an umbrella under his arm. In this rainy land the carrying of umbrellas is a habit not easily shaken off; and, besides, most of these people had slept out at least one night and would probably sleep out another, and an umbrella makes a sort of shelter if you have no better. I figure I saw a thousand umbrellas if I saw one, and the sight of them gave a strangely incongruous touch to the thing.
Yes, it gave a grotesque touch to it. The spectacle inclined one to laugh, almost making one forget for a moment that here in this spectacle one beheld the misery of war made concrete; that in the lorn state of these poor folks its effects were focused and made vivid; that, while in some way it touched every living creature on the globe, here it touched them directly.
All the children, except the sick ones and the very young ones, walked, and most of them carried small bundles too. I saw one little girl, who was perhaps six years old, with a heavy wooden clock in her arms. The legs of the children wavered under them sometimes from weakness or maybe weariness, but I did not hear a single child whimper, or see a single woman who wept, or hear a single man speak above a half whisper.
They drifted on by us, silent all, except for the sound of feet and wheels; and, as I read the looks on their faces, those faces expressed no emotion except a certain numbed, resigned, bovine bewilderment. Far back in the line we met two cripples, hobbling along side by side as though for company, and still farther back a Belgian soldier came, like a rear guard, with his gun swung over his back and his sweaty black hair hanging down in his eyes.
In an undertone he was apparently explaining something to a little bow-legged man in black, with spectacles, who trudged along in his company. He was the lone soldier we saw among the refugees—all the others were civilians.
Only one man in all the line hailed us. Speaking so low that we could scarcely catch his words, he said in broken English:
"M'sieurs, the French are in Brussels, are they not?"
"No," we told him.
"The British, then—they must be there by now?"
"No; the British aren't there, either."
He shook his head, as though puzzled, and started on.
"How far away are the Germans?" we asked him.
He shook his head again. "I cannot say," he answered; "but I think they must be close behind us. I had a brother in the army at Liege," he added, apparently apropos of nothing. And then he went on, still shaking his head and with both arms tightly clasped round a big bundle done up in cloth, which he held against his breast.
Very suddenly the procession broke off, as though it had been chopped in two; and almost immediately after that the road turned into a street and we were between solid lines of small cottages, surrounded on all sides by people who fluttered about with the distracted aimlessness of agitated barnyard fowls. They babbled among themselves, paying small heed to us. An automobile tore through the street with its horn blaring, and raced by us, going toward Brussels at forty miles an hour. A well-dressed man in the front seat yelled out something to us as he whizzed past, but the words were swallowed up in the roaring of his engine.
Of our party only one spoke French, and he spoke it indifferently. We sought, therefore, to find some one who understood English. In a minute we saw the black robe of a priest; and here, through the crowd, calm and dignified where all others were fairly befuddled with excitement, he came—a short man with a fuzzy red beard and a bright blue eye.
We hailed him, and the man who spoke a little French explained our case. At once he turned about and took us into a side street; and even in their present state the men and women who met us remembered their manners and pulled off their hats and bowed before him.
At a door let into a high stone wall he stopped and rang a bell. A brother in a brown robe came and unbarred the gate for us, and our guide led us under an arched alley and out again into the open; and behold we were in another world from the little world of panic that we had just left. There was a high-walled inclosure with a neglected tennis court in the middle, and pear and plum trees burdened with fruit; and at the far end, beneath a little arbor of vines, four priests were sitting together. At sight of us they rose and came to us, and shook hands all round. Almost before we knew it we were in a bare little room behind the ancient Church of Saint Jacques, and one of the fathers was showing us a map in order that we might better understand the lay of the land; and another was uncorking a bottle of good red wine, which he brought up from the cellar, with a halo of mold on the cork and a mantle of cobwebs on its sloping shoulders.
It seemed that the Rev. Dom. Marie-Joseph Montaigne—I give the name that was on his card—could speak a little English. He told us haltingly that the smoke we had seen came from a scene of fighting somewhere to the eastward of Louvain. He understood that the Prussians were quite near, but he had seen none himself and did not expect they would enter the town before nightfall. As for the firing, that appeared to have ceased. And, sure enough, when we listened we could no longer catch the sound of the big guns. Nor did we hear them again during that day. Over his glass the priest spoke in his faulty English, stopping often to feel for a word; and when he had finished his face worked and quivered with the emotion he felt.
"This war—it is a most terrible thing that it should come on Belgium, eh? Our little country had no quarrel with any great country. We desired only that we should be left alone.
"Our people here—they are not bad people. I tell you they are very good people. All the week they work and work, and on Sunday they go to church; and then maybe they take a little walk.
"You Americans now—you come from a very great country. Surely, if the worst should come America will not let our country perish from off the earth, eh! Is not that so?"
Fifteen minutes later we were out again facing the dusty little square of Saint Jacques; and now of a sudden peace seemed to have fallen on the place. The wagons of a little traveling circus were ranged in the middle of the square with no one about to guard them; and across the way was a small tavern.
All together we discovered we were hungry. We had had bread and cheese and coffee, and were lighting some very bad native cigars, when the landlord burst in on us, saying in a quavering voice that some one passing had told him a squad of seven German troopers had been seen in the next street but one. He made a gesture as though to invoke the mercy of Heaven on us all, and ran out again, casting a carpet slipper in his flight and leaving it behind him on the floor.
So we followed, not in the least believing that any Germans had really been sighted; but in the street we saw a group of perhaps fifty Belgian soldiers running up a narrow sideway, trailing their gun butts behind them on the stones. We figured they were hurrying forward to the other side of town to help hold back the enemy.
A minute later seven or eight more soldiers crossed the road ahead of us and darted up an alley with the air and haste of men desirous of being speedily out of sight. We had gone perhaps fifty feet beyond the mouth of this alley when two men, one on horseback and one on a bicycle, rode slowly and sedately out of another alley, parallel to the first one, and swung about with their backs to us.
I imagine we had watched the newcomers for probably fifty seconds before it dawned on any of us that they wore gray helmets and gray coats, and carried arms—and were Germans. Precisely at that moment they both turned so that they faced us; and the man on horseback lifted a carbine from a holster and half swung it in our direction.
Realization came to us that here we were, pocketed. There were armed Belgians in an alley behind us and armed Germans in the street before us; and we were nicely in between. If shooting started the enemies might miss each other, but they could not very well miss us. Two of our party found a courtyard and ran through it. The third pressed close up against a house front and I made for the half-open door of a shop.
Just as I reached it a woman on the inside slammed it in my face and locked it. I never expect to see her again; but that does not mean that I ever expect to forgive her. The next door stood open, and from within its shelter I faced about to watch for what might befall. Nothing befell except that the Germans rode slowly past me, both vigilantly keen in poise and look, both with weapons unshipped.
I got an especially good view of the cavalry. He was a tall, lean, blond young man, man with a little yellow mustache and high cheekbones like an Indian's; and he was sunburned until he was almost as red as an Indian. The sight of that limping French dragoon the day before had made me think of a picture by Meissonier or Detaille, but this German put me in mind of one of Frederic Remington's paintings. Change his costume a bit, and substitute a slouch hat for his flat-topped lancer's cap, and he might have cantered bodily out of one of Remington's canvases.
He rode past me—he and his comrade on the wheel—and in an instant they were gone into another street, and the people who had scurried to cover at their coming were out again behind them, with craned necks and startled faces.
Our group reassembled itself somehow and followed after those two Germans who could jog along so serenely through a hostile town. We did not crowd them—our health forbade that—but we now desired above all things to get back to our taxicab, two miles or more away, before our line of retreat should be cut off. But we had tarried too long at our bread and cheese.
When we came to where the street leading to the Square of Saint Jacques joined the street that led in turn to the Brussels road, all the people there were crouching in their doorways as quiet as so many mice, all looking in the direction in which we hoped to go, all pointing with their hands. No one spoke, but the scuffle of wooden-shod feet on the flags made a sliding, slithering sound, which someway carried a message of warning more forcible than any shouted word or sudden shriek.
We looked where their fingers aimed, and, as we looked, a hundred feet away through a cloud of dust a company of German foot soldiers swung across an open grassplot, where a little triangular park was, and straightened out down the road to Brussels, singing snatches of a German marching song as they went.
And behind them came trim officers on handsome, high-headed horses, and more infantry; then a bicycle squad; then cavalry, and then a light battery, bumping along over the rutted stones, with white dust blowing back from under its wheels in scrolls and pennons.
Then a troop of Uhlans came, with nodding lances, following close behind the guns; and at sight of them a few men and women, clustered at the door of a little wine shop calling itself the Belgian Lion, began to hiss and mutter, for among these people, as we knew already, the Uhlans had a hard name.
At that a noncommissioned officer—a big man with a neck on him like a bison and a red, broad, menacing face—turned in his saddle and dropped the muzzle of his black automatic on them. They sucked their hisses back down their frightened gullets so swiftly that the exertion well-nigh choked them, and shrank flat against the wall; and, for all the sound that came from them until he had holstered his hardware and trotted on, they might have been dead men and women.
Just then, from perhaps half a mile on ahead, a sharp clatter of rifle fire sounded—pop! pop! pop!—and then a rattling volley. We saw the Uhlans snatch out their carbines and gallop forward past the battery into the dust curtain. And as it swallowed them up we, who had come in a taxicab looking for the war, knew that we had found it; and knew, too, that our chances of ever seeing that taxicab again were most exceeding small.
We had one hope—that this might merely be a reconnaissance in force, and that when it turned back or turned aside we might yet slip through and make for Brussels afoot. But it was no reconnaissance—it was Germany up and moving. We stayed in Louvain three days, and for three days we watched the streaming past of the biggest army we had ever seen, and the biggest army beleaguered Belgium had ever seen, and one of the biggest, most perfect armies the world has ever seen. We watched the gray-clad columns pass until the mind grew numb at the prospect of computing their number. To think of trying to count them was like trying to count the leaves on a tree or the pebbles on a path.
They came and came, and kept on coming, and their iron-shod feet flailed the earth to powder, and there was no end to them.
Sherman Said It
Undoubtedly Sherman said it. This is my text and as illustration for my text I take the case of the town of La Buissiere.
The Germans took the town of La Buissiere after stiff fighting on August twenty-fourth. I imagine that possibly there was a line in the dispatches telling of the fight there; but at that I doubt it, because on that same date a few miles away a real battle was raging between the English rear guard, under Sir John French, of the retreating army of the Allies, falling back into France, and the Germans. Besides, in the sum total of this war the fall of La Buissiere hardly counts. You might say it represents a semicolon in the story of the campaign. Probably no future historian will give it so much as a paragraph. In our own Civil War it would have been worth a page in the records anyway. Here upward of three hundred men on both sides were killed and wounded, and as many more Frenchmen were captured; and the town, when taken, gave the winners the control of the river Sambre for many miles east and west. Here, also, was a German charge with bayonets up a steep and well-defended height; and after that a hand-to-hand melee with the French defenders on the poll of the hill.
But this war is so big a thing, as wars go, that an engagement of this size is likely to be forgotten in a day or a week. Yet, I warrant you, the people of La Buissiere will not forget it. Nor shall we forget it who came that way in the early afternoon of a flawless summer day. Let me try to recreate La Buissiere for you, reader. Here the Sambre, a small, orderly stream, no larger or broader or wider than a good-sized creek would be in America, flows for a mile or two almost due east and weSt. The northern bank is almost flat, with low hills rising on beyond like the rim of a saucer. The town—most of it—is on this side. On the south the land lifts in a moderately stiff bluff, perhaps seventy feet high, with wooded edges, and extending off and away in a plateau, where trees stand in well-thinned groves, and sunken roads meander between fields of hops and grain and patches of cabbages and sugar beets. As for the town, it has perhaps twenty-five hundred people— Walloons and Flemish folk—living in tall, bleak, stone houses built flush with the little crooked streets. Invariably these houses are of a whitish gray color; almost invariably they are narrow and cramped- looking, with very peaky gables, somehow suggesting flat-chested old men standing in close rows, with their hands in their pockets and their shoulders shrugged up.
A canal bisects one corner of the place, and spanning the river there are—or were—three bridges, one for the railroad and two for foot and vehicular travel. There is a mill which overhangs the river—the biggest building in the town—and an ancient gray convent, not quite so large as the mill; and, of course, a church. In most of the houses there are tiny shops on the lower floors, and upstairs are the homes of the people. On the northern side of the stream every tillable foot of soil is under cultivation. There are flower beds, and plum and pear trees in the tiny grass plots alongside the more pretentious houses, and the farm lands extend to where the town begins.
This, briefly, is La Buissiere as it looked before the war began—a little, drowsy settlement of dull, frugal, hard-working, kindly Belgians, minding their own affairs, prospering in their own small way, and having no quarrel with the outside world. They lived in the only corner of Europe that I know of where serving people decline to accept tips for rendering small services; and in a simple, homely fashion are, I think, the politest, the most courteous, the most accommodating human beings on the face of the earth.
Even their misery did not make them forget their manners, as we found when we came that way, close behind the conquerors. It was only the refugees, fleeing from their homes or going back to them again, who were too far spent to lift their caps in answer to our hails, and too miserably concerned with their own ruined affairs, or else too afraid of inquisitive strangers, to answer the questions we sometimes put to them.
We were three days getting from Brussels to La Buissiere—a distance, I suppose, of about forty-five English miles. There were no railroads and no trams for us. The lines were held by the Germans or had been destroyed by the Allies as they fell back. Nor were there automobiles to be had. Such automobiles as were not hidden had been confiscated by one side or the other.
Moreover, our journey was a constant succession of stops and starts. Now we would be delayed for half an hour while some German officer examined the passes we carried, he meantime eying us with his suspicious squinted eyes. Now again we would halt to listen to some native's story of battle or reprisal on ahead. And always there was the everlasting dim reverberation of the distant guns to draw us forward. And always, too, there was the difficulty of securing means of transportation.
It was on Sunday afternoon, August twenty-third, when we left Brussels, intending to ride to Waterloo. There were six of us, in two ancient open carriages designed like gravy boats and hauled by gaunt livery horses. Though the Germans had held Brussels for four days now, life in the suburbs went on exactly as it goes on in the suburbs of a Belgian city in ordinary times. There was nothing to suggest war or a captured city in the family parties sitting at small tables before the outlying cafes or strolling decorously under the trees that shaded every road. Even the Red Cross flags hanging from the windows of many of the larger houses seemed for once in keeping with the peaceful picture. Of Germans during the afternoon we saw almost none. Thick enough in the center of the town, the gray backs showed themselves hardly at all in the environs.
At the city line a small guard lounged on benches before a wine shop. They stood up as we drew near, but changed their minds and squatted down without challenging us to produce the safe-conduct papers that Herr General Major Thaddeus von Jarotzky, sitting in due state in the ancient Hotel de Ville, had bestowed on us an hour before.
Just before we reached Waterloo we saw in a field on the right, near the road, a small camp of German cavalry. The big, round-topped yellow tents, sheltering twenty men each and looking like huge tortoises, stood in a line. From the cook-wagons, modeled on the design of those carried by an American circus, came the heavy, meaty smells of stews boiling in enormous caldrons. The men were lying or sitting on straw piles, singing German marching songs as they waited for their supper. It was always so—whenever and wherever we found German troops at rest they were singing, eating or drinking—or doing all three at once. A German said to me afterwards:
"Why do we win? Three things are winning for us—good marching, good shooting and good cooking; but most of all the cooking. When our troops stop there is always plenty of hot food for them. We never have to fight on an empty stomach—we Germans."
These husky singers were the last Germans we were to see for many hours; for between the garrison force left behind in Brussels and the fast- moving columns hurrying to meet the English and the French and a few Belgians—on the morrow—a matter of many leagues now intervened.
Evidence of the passing through of the troops was plentiful enough though. We saw it in the trampled hedges; in the empty beer bottles that dotted the roadside ditches—empty bottles, as we had come to know, meant Germans on ahead; in the subdued, furtive attitude of the country folk, and, most of all, in the chalked legend, in stubby German script— "Gute Leute!"—on nearly every wine-shop shutter or cottage door. Soldiers quartered in such a house overnight had on leaving written this line—"Good people!"—to indicate the peaceful character of the dwellers therein and to commend them to the kindness of those who might follow after.
The Lion of Waterloo, standing on its lofty green pyramid, was miles behind us before realization came that fighting had started that day to the southward of us. We halted at a taverne to water the horses, and out came its Flemish proprietor, all gesticulations and exclamations, to tell us that since morning he had heard firing on ahead.
"Ah, sirs," he said, "it was inconceivable—that sound of the guns. It went on for hours. The whole world must be at war down the road!"
The day before he had seen, flitting across the cabbage patches and dodging among the elm trees, a skirmish party, mounted, which he took to be English; and for two days, so he said, the Germans had been passing the tavern in numbers uncountable.
We hurried on then, but as we met many peasants, all coming the other way afoot and all with excited stories of a supposed battle ahead, and as we ourselves now began to catch the faint reverberations of cannon fire, our drivers manifested a strange reluctance about proceeding farther. And when, just at dusk, we clattered into the curious little convent-church town of Nivelles, and found the tiny square before the Black Eagle Inn full of refugees who had trudged in from towns beyond, the liverymen, after taking off their varnished high hats to scratch their preplexed heads, announced that Brussels was where they belonged and to Brussels they would return that night, though their spent horses dropped in the traces on the way.
We supped that night at the Black Eagle—slept there too—and it was at supper we had as guests Raymond Putzeys, aged twelve, and Alfred, his father. Except crumbs of chocolate and pieces of dry bread, neither of them had eaten for two days.
The boy, who was a round-faced, handsome, dirty, polite little chap, said not a word except "Merci!" He was too busy clearing his plate clean as fast as we loaded it with ham and eggs and plum jam; and when he had eaten enough for three and could hold no more he went to sleep, with his tousled head among the dishes.
The father between bites told us his tale—such a tale as we had heard dozens of times already and were to hear again a hundred times before that crowded week ended—he telling it with rolling eyes and lifting brows, and graphic and abundant gestures. Behind him and us, penning our table about with a living hedge, stood the leading burghers of Nivelles, now listening to him, now watching us with curious eyes. And, as he talked on, the landlord dimmed the oil lamps and made fast the door; for this town, being in German hands, was under martial law and must lock and bar itself in at eight o'clock each night. So we sat in a half light and listened.
They lived, the two Putzeys, at a hamlet named Marchienne-au-Pont, to the southward. The Germans had come into it the day before at sunup, and finding the French there had opened fire. From the houses the French had replied until driven out by heavy odds, and then they ran across the fields, leaving many dead and wounded behind them. As for the inhabitants they had, during the fighting, hidden in their cellars.
"When the French were gone the Germans drove us out," went on the narrator; "and, of the men, they made several of us march ahead of them down the road into the next village, we holding up our hands and loudly begging those within the houses not to fire, for fear of killing us who were their friends and neighbors. When this town surrendered the Germans let us go, but first one of them gave me a cake of chocolate.
"Yet when I tried to go to aid a wounded Frenchman who lay in the fields, another German, I thought, fired at me. I heard the bullet—it buzzed like a hornet. So then I ran away and found my son here; and we came across the country, following the canals and avoiding the roads, which were filled with German troops. When we had gone a mile we looked back and there was much thick smoke behind us—our houses were burning, I suppose. So last night we slept in the woods and all day we walked, and to-night reached here, bringing with us nothing except the clothes on our backs.
"I have no wife—she has been dead for two years—but in Brussels I have two daughters at school. Do you think I shall be permitted to enter Brussels and seek for my two daughters? This morning they told me Brussels was burning; but that I do not believe."
Then, also, he told us in quick, eager sentences, lowering his voice while he spoke, that a priest, with his hands tied behind his back, had been driven through a certain village ahead of the Germans, as a human shield for them; and that, in still another village, two aged women had been violated and murdered. Had he beheld these things with his own eyes? No; he had been told of them.
Here I might add that this was our commonest experience in questioning the refugees. Every one of them had a tale to tell of German atrocities on noncombatants; but not once did we find an avowed eye-witness to such things. Always our informant had heard of the torturing or the maiming or the murdering, but never had he personally seen it. It had always happened in another town—never in his own town.
We hoped to hire fresh vehicles of some sort in Nivelles. Indeed, a half-drunken burgher who spoke fair English, and who, because he had once lived in America, insisted on taking personal charge of our affairs, was constantly bustling in to say he had arranged for carriages and horses; but when the starting hour came—at five o'clock on Monday morning—there was no sign either of our fuddled guardian or of the rigs he had promised. So we set out afoot, following the everlasting sound of the guns.
After having many small adventures on the way we came at nightfall to Binche, a town given over to dullness and lacemaking, and once a year to a masked carnival, but which now was jammed with German supply trains, and by token of this latter circumstance filled with apprehensive townspeople. But there had been no show of resistance here, and no houses had been burned; and the Germans were paying freely for what they took and treating the townspeople civilly.
Indeed, all that day we had traveled through a district as yet unharried and unmolested. Though sundry hundreds of thousands of Germans had gone that way, no burnt houses or squandered fields marked their wake; and the few peasants who had not run away at the approach of the dreaded Allemands were back at work, trying to gather their crops in barrows or on their backs, since they had no work-cattle left. For these the Germans had taken from them, to the last fit horse and the last colt.
At Binche we laid up two nights and a day for the curing of our blistered feet. Also, here we bought our two flimsy bicycles and our decrepit dogcart, and our still more decrepit mare to haul it; and, with this equipment, on Wednesday morning, bright and early, we made a fresh start, heading now toward Maubeuge, across the French boundary.
Current rumor among the soldiers at Binche—for the natives, seemingly through fear for their own skins, would tell us nothing—was that at Maubeuge the onward-pressing Germans had caught up with the withdrawing columns of the Allies and were trying to bottle the stubborn English rear guard. For once the gossip of the privates and the noncommissioned officers proved to be true. There was fighting that day near Maubeuge— hard fighting and plenty of it; but, though we got within five miles of it, and heard the guns and saw the smoke from them, we were destined not to get there.
Strung out, with the bicycles in front, we went down the straight white road that ran toward the frontier. After an hour or two of steady going we began to notice signs of the retreat that had trailed through this section forty-eight hours before. We picked up a torn shoulder strap, evidently of French workmanship, which had 13 embroidered on it in faded red tape; and we found, behind the trunk of a tree, a knapsack, new but empty, which was too light to have been part of a German soldier's equipment.
We thought it was French; but now I think it must have been Belgian, because, as we subsequently discovered, a few scattering detachments of the Belgian foot soldiers who fled from Brussels on the eve of the occupation—disappearing so completely and so magically—made their way westward and southward to the French lines, toward Mons, and enrolled with the Allies in the last desperate effort to dam off and stem back the German torrent.
Also, in a hedge, was a pair of new shoes, with their mouths gaping open and their latchets hanging down like tongues, as though hungering for feet to go into them. But not a shred or scrap of German belongings— barring only the empty bottles—did we see.
The marvelous German system, which is made up of a million small things to form one great, complete thing, ordained that never, either when marching or after camping, or even after fighting, should any object, however worthless, be discarded, lest it give to hostile eyes some hint as to the name of the command or the extent of its size. These Germans we were trailing cleaned up behind themselves as carefully as New England housewives.
It may have been the German love of order and regularity that induced them even to avoid trampling the ripe grain in the fields wherever possible. Certainly, except when dealing out punishment, they did remarkably little damage, considering their numbers, along their line of march through this lowermost strip of Belgium.
At Merbes-Ste.-Marie, a matter of six kilometers from Binche, we came on the first proof of seeming wantonness we encountered that day. An old woman sat in a doorway of what had been a wayside wine shop, guarding the pitiable ruin of her stock and fixtures. All about her on the floor was a litter of foul straw, muddied by many feet and stained with spilled drink. The stench from a bloated dead cavalry horse across the road poisoned the air. The woman said a party of private soldiers, straying back from the main column, had despoiled her, taking what they pleased of her goods and in pure vandalism destroying what they could not use.
Her shop was ruined, she said. With a gesture of both arms, as though casting something from her, she expressed how utter and complete was her ruin. Also she was hungry—she and her children—for the Germans had eaten all the food in the house and all the food in the houses of her neighbors. We could not feed her, for we had no stock of provisions with us; but we gave her a five-franc piece and left her calling down the blessings of the saints on us in French-Flemish.
The sister village of Merbes-le-Chateau, another kilometer farther on, revealed to us all its doors and many of its windows caved in by blows of gun butts and, at the nearer end of the principal street, five houses in smoking ruins. A group of men and women were pawing about in the wreckage, seeking salvage. They had saved a half-charred washstand, a scorched mattress, a clock and a few articles of women's wear; and these they had piled in a mound on the edge of the road.
At first, not knowing who we were, they stood mute, replying to questions only with shrugged shoulders and lifted eyebrows; but when we made them realize that we were Americans they changed. All were ready enough to talk then; they crowded about us, gesticulating and interrupting one another. From the babble we gathered that the German skirmishers, coming in the strength of one company, had found an English cavalry squad in the town. The English had swapped a few volleys with them, then had fallen back toward the river in good order and without loss.
The Germans, pushing in, had burned certain outlying houses from which shots had come and burst open the rest. Also they had repeated the trick of capturing sundry luckless natives and, in their rush through the town, driving these prisoners ahead of them as living bucklers to minimize the danger of being shot at from the windows.
One youth showed us a raw wound in his ear. A piece of tile, splintered by an errant bullet, had pierced it, he said, as the Germans drove him before them. Another man told us his father—and the father must have been an old man, for the speaker himself was in his fifties—had been shot through the thigh. But had anybody been killed? That was what we wanted to know. Ah, but yes! A dozen eager fingers pointed to the house immediately behind us. There a man had been killed.
Coming back to try to save some of their belongings after the Germans had gone through, these others had found him at the head of the cellar steps in his blazing house. His throat had been cut and his blood was on the floor, and he was dead. They led us into the shell of the place, the stone walls being still staunchly erect; but the roof was gone, and in the cinders and dust on the planks of an inner room they showed us a big dull-brown smear.
This, they told us, pointing, was the place where he lay. One man in pantomime acted out the drama of the discovery of the body. He was a born actor, that Belgian villager, and an orator—with his hands. Somehow, watching him, I visualized the victim as a little man, old and stoop-shouldered and feeble in his movements.
I looked about the room. The corner toward the road was a black ruin, but the back wall was hardly touched by the marks of the fire.
On a mantel small bits of pottery stood intact, and a holy picture on the wall—a cheap print of a saint—was not even singed. At the foot of the cellar steps curdled milk stood in pans; and beside the milk, on a table, was a half-moon of cheese and a long knife.
We wanted to know why the man who lived here had been killed. They professed ignorance then—none of them knew, or, at least, none of them would say. A little later a woman told us she had heard the Germans caught him watching from a window with a pair of opera glasses, and on this evidence took him for a spy. But we could secure no direct evidence either to confirm the tale or to disprove it.
We got to the center of the town, leaving the venerable nag behind to be baited at a big gray barn by a big, shapeless, kindly woman hostler whose wooden shoes clattered on the round cobbles of her stable yard like drum taps.
In the Square, after many citizens had informed us there was nothing to eat, a little Frenchwoman took pity on our emptiness, and, leading us to a parlor behind a shop where she sold, among other things, post cards, cheeses and underwear, she made us a huge omelet and gave us also good butter and fresh milk and a pot of her homemade marmalade. Her two little daughters, who looked as though they had escaped from a Frans Hals canvas, waited on us while we wolfed the food down.
Quite casually our hostess showed us a round hole in the window behind us, a big white scar in the wooden inner shutter and a flattened chunk of lead. The night before, it seemed, some one, for purposes unknown, had fired a bullet through the window of her house. It was proof of the rapidity with which the actual presence of war works indifference to sudden shocks among a people that this woman could discuss the incident quietly. Hostile gun butts had splintered her front door; why not a stray bullet or two through her back window? So we interpreted her attitude.
It was she who advised us not to try to ford the Sambre at Merbes-le- Chateau, but to go off at an angle to La Buissiere, where she had heard one bridge still stood. She said nothing of a fight at that place. It is possible that she knew nothing of it, though the two towns almost touched. Indeed, in all these Belgian towns we found the people so concerned with their own small upheavals and terrors that they seemed not to care or even to know how their neighbors a mile or two miles away had fared.
Following this advice we swung about and drove to La Buissiere to find the bridge that might still be intact; and, finding it, we found also, and quite by chance, the scene of the first extended engagement on which we stumbled.
Our first intimation of it was the presence, in a cabbage field beyond the town, of three strangely subdued peasants softening the hard earth with water, so that they might dig a grave for a dead horse, which, after lying two days in the hot sun, had already become a nuisance and might become a pestilence. When we told them we meant to enter La Buissiere they held up their soiled hands in protest.
"There has been much fighting there," one said, "and many are dead, and more are dying. Also, the shooting still goes on; but what it means we do not know, because we dare not venture into the streets, which are full of Germans. Hark, m'sieurs!"
Even as he spoke we heard a rifle crack; and then, after a pause, a second report. We went forward cautiously across a bridge that spanned an arm of the canal, and past a double line of houses, with broken windows, from which no sign or sound of life came. Suddenly at a turn three German privates of a lancer regiment faced us. They were burdened with bottles of beer, and one carried his lance, which he flung playfully in our path. He had been drinking and was jovially exhilarated. As soon as he saw the small silk American flag that fluttered from the rail of our dogcart he and his friends became enthusiastic in their greetings, offering us beer and wanting to know whether the Americans meant to declare for Germany now that the Japanese had sided with England.
Leaving them cheering for the Americans we negotiated another elbow in the twisting street—and there all about us was the aftermath and wreckage of a spirited fight.
Earlier in this chapter I told—or tried to tell—how La Buissiere must have looked in peaceful times. I shall try now to tell how it actually looked that afternoon we rode into it.
In the center of the town the main street opens out to form an irregular circle, and the houses fronting it make a compact ring. Through a gap one gets a glimpse of the little river which one has just crossed; and on the river bank stands the mill, or what is left of it, and that is little enough. Its roof is gone, shot clear away in a shower of shattered tiling, and its walls are breached in a hundred places. It is pretty certain that mill will never grind grist again.
On its upper floor, which is now a sieve, the Germans—so they themselves told us—found, after the fighting, the seventy-year-old miller, dead, with a gun in his hands and a hole in his head. He had elected to help the French defend the place; and it was as well for him that he fell fighting, because, had he been taken alive, the Prussians, following their grim rule for all civilians caught with weapons, would have stood him up against a wall with a firing squad before him.
The houses round about have fared better, in the main, than the mill, though none of them has come scatheless out of the fight. Hardly a windowpane is whole; hardly a wall but is pocked by bullets or rent by larger missiles. Some houses have lost roofs; some have lost side walls, so that one can gaze straight into them and see the cluttered furnishings, half buried in shattered masonry and crumbled plaster.
One small cottage has been blown clear away in a blast of artillery fire; only the chimney remains, pointing upward like a stubby finger. A fireplace, with a fire in it, is the glowing heart of a house; and a chimney completes it and reveals that it is a home fit for human creatures to live in; but we see here—and the truth of it strikes us as it never did before—that a chimney standing alone typifies desolation and ruin more fitly, more brutally, than any written words could typify it.
Everywhere there are soldiers—German soldiers—in their soiled, dusty gray service uniforms, always in heavy boots; always with their tunics buttoned to the throat. Some, off duty, are lounging at ease in the doors of the houses. More, on duty, are moving about briskly in squads, with fixed bayonets. One is learning to ride a bicycle, and when he falls off, as he does repeatedly, his comrades laugh at him and shout derisive advice at him.
There are not many of the townsfolk in sight. Experience has taught us that in any town not occupied by the enemy our appearance will be the signal for an immediate gathering of the citizens, all flocking about us, filled with a naive, respectful inquisitiveness, and wanting to know where we have come from and to what place we are going. Here in this stricken town not a single villager comes near us. A priest passes us, bows deeply to us, and in an instant is gone round a jog in the street, the skirts of his black robe flicking behind him. From upper windows faces peer out at us—faces of women and children mostly. In nearly every one of these faces a sort of cow-like bewilderment expresses itself—not grief, not even resentment, but merely a stupefied wonderment at the astounding fact that their town, rather than some other town, should be the town where the soldiers of other nations come to fight out their feud. We have come to know well that look these last few days. So far as we have seen there has been no mistreatment of civilians by the soldiers; yet we note that the villagers stay inside the shelter of their damaged homes as though they felt safer there. A young officer bustles up, spick and span in his tan boots and tan gloves, and, finding us to be Americans and correspondents, becomes instantly effusive. He has just come through his first fight, seemingly with some credit to himself; and he is proud of the part he has played and is pleased to talk about it. Of his own accord he volunteers to lead us to the heights back of the town where the French defenses were and where the hand-to-hand fighting took place.
As we trail along behind him in single file we pass a small paved court before a stable and see a squad of French prisoners. Later we are to see several thousand French prisoners; but now the sight is at once a sensation and a novelty to us. These are all French prisoners; there are no Belgians or Englishmen among them. In their long, cumbersome blue coats and baggy red pants they are huddled down against a wall in a heap of straw. They lie there silently, chewing straws and looking very forlorn. Four German soldiers with fixed bayonets are guarding them.
The young lieutenant leads us along a steeply ascending road over a ridge and then stops; and as we look about us the consciousness strikes home to us, with almost the jar of a physical blow, that we are standing where men have lately striven together and have fallen and died.
In front of us and below us is the town, with the river winding into it at the east and out of it at the west; and beyond the town, to the north, is the cup-shaped valley of fair, fat farm lands, all heavy and pregnant with un-garnered, ungathered crops. Behind us, on the front of the hill, is a hedge, and beyond the hedge—just a foot or so back of it, in fact—is a deep trench, plainly dug out by hand, and so lately done that the cut clods are still moist and fresh-looking. At the first instant of looking it seems to us that this intrenchment is full of dead men; but when we look closer we see that what we take for corpses are the scattered garments and equipments of French infantrymen—long blue coats; peaked, red-topped caps; spare shirts; rifled knapsacks; water- bottles; broken guns; side arms; bayonet belts and blanket rolls. There are perhaps twenty guns in sight. Each one has been rendered useless by being struck against the earth with sufficient force to snap the stock at the grip.
Almost at my feet is a knapsack, ripped open and revealing a card of small china buttons, a new red handkerchief, a gray-striped flannel shirt, a pencil and a sheaf of writing paper. Rummaging in the main compartment I find, folded at the back, a book recording the name and record of military service of one Gaston Michel Miseroux, whose home is at Amiens, and who is—or was—a private in the Tenth Battalion of the —— Regiment of Chasseurs a Pied. Whether this Gaston Michel Miseroux got away alive without his knapsack, or whether he was captured or was killed, there is none to say. His service record is here in the trampled dust and he is gone.
Before going farther the young lieutenant, speaking in his broken English, told us the story of the fight, which had been fought, he said, just forty-eight hours before. "The French," he said, "must have been here for several days. They had fortified this hill, as you see; digging intrenchments in front for their riflemen and putting their artillery behind at a place I shall presently show you. Also they had placed many of their sharpshooters in the houses. It was a strong position, commanding the passage of the river, and they should have been able to hold it against twice their number.
"Our men came, as you did, along that road off yonder; and then our infantry advanced across the fields under cover of our artillery fire. We were in the open and the French were above us here and behind shelter; and so we lost many men.
"They had mined the bridge over the canal and also the last remaining bridge across the river; but we came so fast that we took both bridges before they could set off the mines.
"In twenty minutes we held the town and the last of their sharpshooters in the houses had been dislodged or killed. Then, while our guns moved over there to the left and shelled them on the flank, two companies of Germans—five hundred men—charged up the steep road over which you have just climbed and took this trench here in five minutes of close fighting.
"The enemy lost many men here before they ran. So did we lose many. On that spot there"—he pointed to a little gap in the hedge, not twenty feet away, where the grass was pressed flat—"I saw three dead men lying in a heap.
"We pushed the French back, taking a few prisoners as we went, until on the other side of this hill our artillery began to rake them, and then they gave way altogether and retreated to the south, taking their guns. Remember, they outnumbered us and they had the advantage of position; but we whipped them—we Germans—as we always do whip our enemies."
His voice changed from boasting to pity:
"Ach, but it was shameful that they should have been sent against us wearing those long blue coats, those red trousers, those shiny black belts and bright brass buttons! At a mile, or even half a mile, the Germans in their dark-gray uniforms, with dull facings, fade into the background; but a Frenchman in his foolish monkey clothes is a target for as far as you can see him.
"And their equipment—see how flimsy it is when compared with ours! And their guns—so inferior, so old-fashioned alongside the German guns! I tell you this: Forty-four years they have been wishing to fight us for what we did in 1870; and when the time comes they are not ready and we are ready. While they have been singing their Marseillaise Hymn, we have been thinking. While they have been talking, we have been working."
Next he escorted us back along the small plateau that extended south from the face of the bluff. We made our way through a constantly growing confusion of abandoned equipment and garments—all the flotsam and jetsam of a rout. I suppose we saw as many as fifty smashed French rifles, as many as a hundred and fifty canteens and knapsacks.
Crossing a sunken road, where trenches for riflemen to kneel in and fire from had been dug in the sides of the bank—a road our guide said was full of dead men after the fight—we came very soon to the site of the French camp. Here, from the medley and mixture of an indescribable jumble of wreckage, certain objects stand out, as I write this, detached and plain in my mind; such things, for example, as a straw basket of twelve champagne bottles with two bottles full and ten empty; a box of lump sugar, broken open, with a stain of spilled red wine on some of the white cubes; a roll of new mattresses jammed into a natural receptacle at the root of an oak tree; a saber hilt of shining brass with the blade missing; a whole set of pewter knives and forks sown broadcast on the bruised and trampled grass. But there was no German relic in the lot —you may be sure of that. Farther down, where the sunken road again wound across our path, we passed an old-fashioned family carriage jammed against the bank, with one shaft snapped off short. Lying on the dusty seat-cushion was a single silver teaspoon.
Almost opposite the carriage, against the other bank, was a cavalryman's boot; it had been cut from a wounded limb. The leather had been split all the way down the leg from the top to the ankle, and the inside of the boot was full of clotted, dried blood. And just as we turned back to return to the town I saw a child's stuffed cloth doll—rag dolls I think they call them in the States—lying flat in the road; and a wagon wheel or a camion wheel had passed over the head, squashing it flat.
I am not striving for effect when I tell of this trifle. When you write of such things as a battlefield you do not need to strive for effect. The effects are all there, ready-made, waiting to be set down. Nor do I know how a child's doll came to be in that harried, uptorn place. I only know it was there, and being there it seemed to me to sum up the fate of little Belgium in this great war. If I had been seeking a visible symbol of Belgium's case I do not believe I could have found a more fitting one anywhere.
Going down the hill to the town we met, skirting across our path, a party of natives wearing Red Cross distinguishments. The lieutenant said these men had undoubtedly been beating the woods and grain fields for the scattered wounded or dead. He added, without emotion, that from time to time they found one such; in fact, the volunteer searchers had brought in two Frenchmen just before we arrived—one to be cared for at the hospital, the other to be buried. | English | NL | d56d76f075ec6e3e869387bef7ac47b0fe9dcd022855591732f72b3c302641ab |
I saw him waiting but I turned around his car quickly and drove into the only parking space as soon as the red car moved out. He came down and walked to my window looking very ang
I sized him up. He was small in stature and wore a blue cap. There was a scar across his cheekbone that gave his otherwise calm face a certain hardness.
“Do you want to reverse and let me park here?” He asked politely despite his anger.
“Hell no” I replied, and chuckled. I stepped out of my car and entered the mall.
When I was done shopping, bags in hand, I returned to the parking lot. The man in blue cap wasn’t there and neither was my car. After ranting and shouting, I watched the security video feed and saw myself walk into the mall gates and straight into the entrance door. I hadn’t even driven there. Something was definitely wrong.
I got home and found my car parked in my garage. I heaved, relieved.
So, night came and because I live alone, someone tapping my shoulders had to be in my dream. The tap felt real but I didn’t want to disturb my beautiful sleep by really waking up.
“Do you want to reverse and let me park here?” I heard whoever was tapping me say.
I bolted up and instinctively pressed the light switch. There was no one. The dream had seemed almost real and my heart refused to stop pounding hard.
I decided to sleep over at my sister- Shally’s place. I called her. I got to the garage and my car wasn’t there.
I found it parked very close to the roadwalk. Maybe I really didn’t park it inside. Maybe I was starting to see things. I examined the car and drove off. I got to my sister’s place, parked right in front, got inside and jumped into bed.
She finished her assignments and came to join me.
“Do you want to reverse and let me park here?” she asked, starting to push me to the other side of the bed.
I jerked up in fright.
“What did you just say now?” I asked her, my voice rising with every word.
She looked honestly surprised.
“I said, that you should make room for me to lie down”
“No not that, don’t rephrase it. What exactly did you say? Your exact words.”
She looked worried now. “I said… do you want to reverse …. and … let me park here?”
“Why did you say that? Why didn’t you just tell me to shift? Ehn?”
I didn’t wait for an answer. I put on my shirt and bolted out of the house. My car wasn’t in front of her house anymore. It was right in the middle of the road, three blocks ahead. My heart pounded and my knees felt weak. I went after the car.
After walking for some seconds, I realized I wasn’t any closer to my car. As I walked forward, the car seemed to move away also. The night suddenly seemed to get cooler. Cold whiffs of air swirled past me and I caught a little of one. My arms felt cold and tiny goose bumps sprang up on them and spread fast. I felt a chill at the back of my neck. It ran down my spine in quick ripples.
I broke up into a slight jug. Still, the car kept up the distance, reversing all the way. It had entered the major road now. The streetlights shone brightly and I could see inside my car. Someone was in it. Someone wearing a blue cap. I could hear the voice of the little man in the blue cap ring in my ears.
“Do you want to reverse?… do you want to reverse?…. do you want to? … Do you want to reverse and let me park here?” It played louder and louder in my head as I sprinted after my car. Soon, I couldn’t take it anymore. My heart was tired of pounding against my ribcage and the noises in my heard were overwhelming me. I stopped running.
After regaining my breath. I turned around and headed for Shally’s place. I got to the front door and sure enough, the car had followed me and was now where it had started- three blocks away.
I got into Shally’s house and jumped back into bed totally ignoring all her questions and nagging.
Next morning, Shally and I stood in front of her house. I was to take her to the Mall to get some fruits and then drop her off at her friend’s place.
“Why did you have to park that far away? Are you afraid of being seen with your sister? Are you ashamed of me?” she ranted.
I handed her the keys. “Idiot, Go and bring the car here. I want to lace my shoes properly” I said and squatted to fumble with my shoes.
She looked at me strangely but still went on. I watched her. She was getting closer to the car. The car didn’t move away this time. She got to the car and drove right to where I stood still perplexed. I tried convincing myself that last night was all a terrible dream.
It wasn’t easy touching the door handle but I finally did and got in. I let Shally drive. We got to the mall, turned round, and round looking for any empty space to park. Then we saw a shopper get into his red car to leave. Shally sped to the space but a Benz got there before us.
As the red car drove out, the Benz was a few seconds slow but it was time enough for Shally to speed around it and enter the golden space. I looked at the triumphant look on her face but kept mute, afterall, the blue man in the cap was just a dream.
There was a quiet rap on Shally’s window. She wound down and standing by her window was someone in a blue cap. It wasn’t the man. No, it wasn’t. It was a small old woman.
“Do you wan’t to reverse and let me park here?” she said in a feeble and almost inaudible voice.
I heard her clearly. I shuddered. I felt a wetness between my legs.
“Hell no!” Shally said and started to wind up the window.
“Maa’m…” I said, fearfully “Yes, we’d reverse… and let you park here”. I gave Shally the coldest stare I could summon. She was angry but she kept quiet.
“Thank you, good child. You learn fast.” She replied.
“Reverse and let the woman park now… hurry up” I shouted at Shally.
She did and the old woman drove her Benz in, came down, winked at me and sashayed away towards the entrance.
“What the hell was that about?” Shally screamed at me.
I turned to her. I didn’t know where to begin.
“….and what was that ‘…good child… you learn fast’ about? Have you met this woman before?”
I promised to explain to her as soon as we were out of the mall. We went into the mall, did our shopping and returned to the parking lot. My car was still there.
“Thank you Man in the blue cap…. and woman in the blue cap… Thank you!” I screamed.
I didn’t mind that Shally was beside me wondering what was wrong with me. We got into the car and zoomed off. As soon as I got to the gate of the Mall, I looked back through the side mirror of the car. I saw the little man in the blue cap waving. I honked loudly in gratitude to him for forgiving me and letting me be and then, continued driving. | English | NL | b4f660a7f0439dd46c3da9c53a24826c81e7224885780eef2cf2dbf1a533ae3e |
Newspaper Page Text
. A. (J ATTALA KEGISTEM V TRUTH IS MIGHTY AND WILL PREVAIL." VOttWE I. KOSCIUSKO, MISSISSIPPI, SATURDAY OCTOBER 7, 1843. Vmiw AfiA KEWISTI3IC. Published every Saturday, by narro. .....T, u-fipklv at 2 per ! .'v ' . , j.ko tit the ena 01 ine jpVEBTISEMKSTS published at J . dm first insertion and 0f each couiniua.' annum in year contH pr 374 cent xii i: SAM OUMS. j .'pome wild desire, eomesad mistake lias cast I vere remorse and sorrow lor tno pasi; I Luc former fault shall present solace curb, nr fair occasion lost, his peace disturb: Some fatal cbanco has ruined every scheme, And proved his brightest prospect all a dream.' Aim.it Hie vcar 18, there lived in a neighborhood, in the state of :i l:ulv and uentleman named Sanford. Tlicy possessed considerable wpalth. which was to ho inherited by lUrnnlv son, whom they called Hugh. The life of this worthy couplewas a qui- ctand easy as an unrulied stream, save whpn sonic slight Jill'erenccs of opinion j would occasionally arise, respecting the management ot Hugh, lint one point n which thev always agreed, was, that 1 Im should never be thwarted in any wish of his heart. ; At the time our story commences, Hugh Sanford was twenty, and had just Icftcollege. Whether he ever distin guished himself there, I have not been a k to ascertain. However, I know with certainty, that he was by nature gifted with good sense, and he had many fine qualities of the heart. I know not whe ther the reader will think so, from the sketch I am about to write, but he must bear in mind, that Hugh's natural disposition was so wrapped by continu al indulgence, that not until the fever of youth had subsided, was it truly devel oped. A largo party had been invited to spend several days at Mr. Sanford's, and his wife had promised them a little dance. We shall pass over the preparations which were made (or the party, and which, in the country, always produce so much bustle and excitement; we will even say nothing of the important busi ness, (to the girls at least) of the toilette; hut shall follow them all to the drawing room, which was brilliantly lighted. Among the girls, Mary Linden was the most commanding; her splendid dress and jewelry, gave her quite a magnifi ed air. She was the daughter of a rich widower. Ellen Lorval (the only child ofiiw layer,) was also much admired. Her light muslin dress nnd simple wreath ;f wild flowers were peculiarly becom ing "Mv dear Ilusrh." said Mrs. Sanford. 1 4,i wish to speak with you a momente I fore the dancing commences. Does not Mary look beautiful? Do go and engage I cr as your partner immediately.1' I "Not so fast mother." said he smilinir. ----- j C-i 'My son," said she, "I love Maty as n,y daughter: could 1 but think that she would be one to me." She looked at '" intently, but he appeared not to un derstand her meaning, and turning the conversation, he went to join a group young men. I'lie scene changes. The enlivening sound of the violin is heard; the cou P'es are beginning to take their places j the floor, when Hugh, to the dismay J' his parents, is seen leading out Ellen Lorval. Mary Linden is surrounded by "puuxs, and it seems has capriciously !v'cn her fair hand to tho least deser JJJgof them, a would-be-wit, whose h(le conversation consists of long . rds and jest, which have been in Ei scs Thc Partv wcnl olVvve11 Ja all seemed to enjoy themselves, ex- P' some fewfunfortunate wall-flowers, w whom, however, Mrs. Sanford pro- rci partners to-wards the close ol thc Hugh would probably never again ''"e thought of his attentions to Ellen, w not his mother kept him in custody nnjiuitm , wnue sue spoKe ncr ',?a the subject. She represented 1 "ntlc folly of falling in love with ' When TVf ' !at ''there ltuld be a great impro-iiSf-,.u his iallinirfin love with Ellen." nr... astonished at hear- "&f falling in love 'tttercd hj Kgination. lie since she had put such notions into his head, ho could not but sec, that if he could be so fortunate as to fall in love, ana meet with opposition, it would give a peculiar zest to the monotony of his country lile. So he stalked oil' the draw ing room, and began to think Ellen very interesting. The few succcding days were passed as they usually are by a large party in the country. They read, talked, rode and played at battledoor; but at length the guests departed, and Mr. and Mrs. Stanford returned to the enjoyment of their tranquilty; but Hugh did not feel quite at his ease, as he was conscious that he had pained his parents, not so much by lus attentions to Ellen, as by failing to fall in love with Mary Linden. Weeks passed on; Hugh continued to meet Ellen at all the dinners and parties in the neighborhood, and to pay her attention. Mr. and Mrs. Sanford had seen all their hopes respecting Mary Linden laid low, and they had fretted themselves into ill hu mor about Ellen: a calm was now ensu ing, they began to look on thc bright side of things, and even to fancy that Ellen was to be their future daughter. "My son," said Mr. Sanford, I wish vou to consult your own happiness in every thing. You love Ellen; you have now the consent of your parents to ad dress her." Jleally father, I ." he stammered out something that was untelligiblc. "Sav no more, I see you are embar rassed. "Hear me father ." "Not a word more at present; good bye." lhcre is an old saying, that "competi tion is the hie ol trade, and 1 think it is no less true, that "opposition is thc Iileol love, or ol something that is lre- luentlv mistaken lor it by green-horns, and very young ladies just from school. Now that all opposition was at an end, Hugh was somewhat surprised to find himself entirely out of love with Ellen; and indeed, lie shrewdly suspected he lad never been in love with her. lhe gentle girl had seemed pleased with the attentions ol thc handsome Hugh ban- ford, though she acted with the most per fect delicacy, nor have I ever found out whether she immagincd him to be seri ous. 1 am sorry to say, inai me ut most partiality cannot throw a veil over .1 1 i"lT I .1 . A. - . the conduct ol liugn m mis instance; and manv will say that he does not de serve thc title ol a hero. "Pshaw?" says a little girl, "I thought all lierors were lerlect! ' And so they are, in .English novels, but not in old Virginal Mrs. Sanford had a widowed sister iviug in the southren part of the state. Her name was Harrington, and she was the mother ot two daughters, who were dashing belles and beauties. I hither Hugh now went, to pay a visit. On a bright evening, he came in sight ot his aun'ts dwelling. It was situated on a smooth green hill, which gradually slop ed to the river , which was not very wide here. A tiny canoe was pre sently visible in the middle ol the stream, and much to his surprise he perceived in it a single female figure. "Can that be one of my cousins? said he; "what mad freak could induce her to go alone.'" But when he arrived at the house, he found both of his cousins and his aunt sitting together. They received him cordially, and while he was answering their inquiries, a light step was heard m the passage, and an eager voice exclaim ed: "Oh, Mrs. Harrington, my pigeon flew away from me to the other bank, and I was so much afraid of loosing it, that I went over for it myself." 'lhe speaker entered the room, holding the bird triumphantly inner nana; out per ceiving a stranger, she was retreating, when Mrs. Harrington recalled her, and she was introduced to Hugh by thc ipcllation of Amy Larone. She was and beautiiul as ai britrht as a sun beam, thc roses of spring. Her hazel eyes were lame: a delicate carnation bloom ed on her cheek, and her brown hair was arted over her smooth brow, and -'racefully twisted at the back of her head. She was below thc middle size, and thc plainest suit of mourning was i it i neatly luted on her spiender snape. Hugh's interest was strongly excited by the :iir ofmvsterv with which he fancied she was surrounded, and he seized the first opportunity to enquire who she was. ller simple story wis suuu iuiu. unc was nearly sixteen, and was the ornhant child of poor and obscure, though ho nest parents. Her mother aiea wnen to the care ol her father, an illiterate. although well meaning man, who had no idea that education was at all necessary: if he could see hisdaughter neatly dress ed, and hear thc neighbors say how beautiful she was, he cared for nothing more, iier oeauty and modesty were talked of by rich and poor. Her lather had not been dead more than seven or eight months; and Mrs. Harrington pi tying her furlorn condition, had taken her to her house. Maria and Theresa Harrington were kind to her, and were anxious to repair somovvhat the tota neglect ol the education ol the w I 1 J A I M . I ueuiicuiimy. one was cratciui, nut as her taste for study had not been formed in childhood, it was with reluctance that she now attempted the drudgery of lear mg, and, so far as concerned herself. she wished that the makers of books had never existed. CI. II one seemcu, nowever, to possess an instinctive knowledge of what was right tnd proper to be said or done, even on occasions that were perfectly novel to her; and when a subject was started of which she was ignorant, she acted wise ly, and said nothing', or if in the course ol conversation a lew errors were com mitted by her, her transcendent beauty was sulhcient to atone lor all. True, her beauty was not of the spiritual kind, "thfi r.int snill wnmntr in tlio ovot-" but it was just such as is always admir ed by enthusiastic young men! Company came in,and Hugh obtained a seat near Amy, entered into conver sation with her, in which to do her jus tice, she supported her part quite well. He rallied her upon her excursion after her truant bird. She replied "It was tlio lnot fliinrr mw lit! lac oirni1 rrn r n and I love it lor his sake." Several weeks had been passed by Hugh at his aunt's, and he had become deply interested in the orphan. Amy appeared dejected, and very rarely-joined the family party in the sitting room. This conduct only strengthened Hugh's interest. He was now really in love "fairly caught," as the young ladies ex press it. Walking out one evening by himself, he encountered Amy unexpect edly, and a gleam of joy lighted up his handsome features. "Miss Larone, said he, "why have you deserted us: the time has been too long since we met." "Three da s, sir," said Amy, slightly smilling. "I can hardly believe it possible," said he, for it seems as many months to me." Amy assumed a look of coldness, and said she did not understand him; but her countenance betrayed that she did. They walked on in silence to tho bank of the river, and Hugh looking on the beautiful stream and its romantic banks, said, Could 1 but think that vou would walk here after I am gone, and think of me Amy, I will confess that from the first moment I saw you, 1 felt the stron gest interest in vou., Nay more, that 1 do now love you most ardently. Will vou give me vour heart? ' one remain ed silent and agitated, and at lengtli tears came to her relief. "Oh, whv do you weep? Say to me Amv, that I may at least hope you love me!" She raised her mild tearful eyes, and that glance betray ed that her heart was his. "Now hea ven bless yoa Amy, let us record our vows,and you will be my bride ere long." Mr. Sanford," she said " 'tis true that I love you, but yet I can never be yours. Your parents would never receive me as their daughter." "Hush Amy," said he, "my parents love me too well to withhold their consent," struggling with her emotion, she said. "There are other weighty reasons which 1 cannot be your wife. No, no, it cannot be." "Amv, you distract me; whatever those rea sons are, they shall bo overcome." She shook her head, and darted oll'from him ere he was aware of her determination. Hugh was bewildered; but he resolved to seek another interview with Amy. The next day he entreated her as a last favor, to walk with him. So reasona ble a request could not be "refused. He told her that unless she changed her de termination, on the morrow he would depart, whither he neither knew or ca red, ller compassion was so much cx- citcd,that before thcii return to the house she had permitted him to hope, lie tohiher ho would set off directly for his home, and that he would return in a few weeks, adding that he would write- to her immediately. It was not until alter much entreaty, that she consented to re ceive his letters; but when he requested no bounds. Poor Amy! The next day he tookjeave,of all; and ere long, a letter fraught with expres sions of the most tender regard, was handed to Amy. She did not answer it. Another soon followed, gently chiding m-r lor ner silence. Alter this, all urre answered. Mrs. Harrington and Maria were in arms about the match. His pa rents yielded a reluclant consent: and at the appointed time they were marri ed. Hugh wrote to his mother to ap prize her or it, and to appoint a time for men- arrival at the home ol his childhood he now thought himself perfectly hap py. Thc honey-moon was nearly past, when one day as he was gazing with rapture on the loveliness . of his young bride, Mrs Harrington entered, saying? "Here is a letter directed to Mrs. Hugh Sanford," from my sister, 1 think." She handed Amy the letter, with a look of peculiar significance! Amy broke the seal mechanically, blushed deeply, and bent her eyes on thc ground. "Amy," said Hugh, "why do vou not read mv mother's letter ?" She sank down, and could only say,'Forgive me oh, forgive me!" "For what dearest? You that never in thought or word ollcnded. Look up, Amy." said he. smillin". 'vou have no need of forgiveness.' 'Oh. you do not know; I" She could scarce articulate; but at length came the ter rible confession, that she could scarcely read, and could not write! Wo have mentioned the total netrlecl of her education, and the "weighty rea sons" which she told Hugh would pre vent her from marrying him. All is now explained. But how, you may ask, did she manage to answer his letters, when she was unable to write? SI Theresa Harrington her confidant: and she without thinking of the consequen ces, answered them in Amv's name. The deception was cruel; but Amv's conduct is not entirely without some palliation. Her love of Hugh, and the shame of her ignorance, combat ted lienx ly in her bosom; and she did refuse him partly. " " T :'" Hugh fiad first been won by her beau ty and her destitute condition: her re fusal of his offered hand had onl v. ad- led fuel to the flame. Absence,""ma ung the heart grow fonder," and. the etters he received, all conspired to blind him. Sincerely was he to be pitied, for he possessed many fine qualities, and was nobly disinterested. The veil was now removed from his eyes, and the dream of love was fast deserting him, like sha- when the bricht sunlight rises o'er the hills. Thev went to his parents. We shall pass over the various mortifications which Hugh had to endure. Amv idolized her husband, and he was too iund-hearted to be proof against her fondness. He exerted him self day after day to instruct her, but 1 do not believe she went much beyond learning to read and write legibly. His parents lived dnly a few years after these events, and his beautiful wife was at tacked about four yean after they were marryed with a slight cough, which was soon followed by that bright flush, which is too frequently the harbinger of death. A southren climate, and every possiblo means were resorted to, for her restora tion to health, but in vain! Her last prayers were offered up for her husband and a daughter then two years old. Hugh never married again. lie contin ued to live at the family mansion occu pied almost entirely with the education of Eva. When she was ten years of age, she was sent to New York to school. Her life had been Attended with circum stances which arc not without romance. Should any curiosity be felt on the sub ject, I may at a future tune give a sketch ol the lite ol Eva Sanford. Years have passed since these events transpired, and the once vouiil' and handsome Hugh Sanford is now an old man. His appearance is very much changed, and his faults and loibfes havo been lost in his progress through life, or have liccomo soltencd by tho hand of time, ucrtain it is; ho is now .. ..: I I i i i i usimisuiu man, uuu is iookcu UP revcrcacc both in public and life. a very to with private New process of Counter fciliii'T.rYw Cincinnati Sun says: "We have heard it asserted that a process of Counterfeit. ing bills has been discovered in thisjjeity by thc dagucrrotypo, which will become a subject for legislation, or the whole country will be floated with notes that cannot be detected, mi perfectly are 1,1 I fa f it' ' M fl1 i '1 If r. i II, ii it' | English | NL | b569a53fd8adc0ec5bdae4435471029537b4936f91acd93583bca3a794dfac9b |
Cymru Alliance – 13th February 2016
Ground #66: Y Weirglodd, Rhayader, Radnorshire, Powys
- Attendance: 68
- Entrance: £5.00
- Programme: £1.00
- Pin Badge: £2.00
- Hotdog: £1.50
- Cup of Soup: £1.00
- Raffle Ticket: £1.00
There was romance in the air for the second weekend in February, as it was Saint Valentine’s weekend – the time of year when people publically show their affections for the people that they love or adore. Personally I find Valentine’s Day to be a corporate-created money-making scheme which forces poor love-struck people into paying inflated prices for meals/flowers/etc. just to show their affection on a specifically defined day. All piffle if you ask me! I mean why do you need a specific day to show affection ha?
Perhaps I am becoming cynical in my advancing years, perhaps there is no Mrs 94th Minute on the scene currently (applications for the vacancy are welcome haha) or maybe a combination of the both has resulted in my opinion of the day. Either way, my Valentine’s weekend would be a quiet (yet cheap) one, which I didn’t mind too much if truth be told. However the romance shall not completely pass this fellow by, as the Saturday of the weekend would be spent embracing the things I admire. Naturally it would be an alluring combination which involved my love of groundhopping with viewing my beloved Holywell Town at an exciting new location…and my word was this groundhop date all set to be an absolute beauty potentially!
When the original Cymru Alliance fixtures were announced prior to the season commencing, I had a scout to spot all the fixtures when Holywell were playing away at locations I had not previously visited and plan future groundhops. During that initial research, one such fixture stood out and immediately peaked my interest due to the fact it would be the longest journey I would be making to watch a Holywell Town Cymru Alliance game this season. This journey would be a two and a half hour drive, at a length of 97 miles (155 kms), down into deepest mid-Wales to see the Wellmen take on the Red Kites of the Powys town of Rhayader.
Rhayader (Welsh: Rhaeadr Gwy) is a small but important rural market town of about 2,100 inhabitants situated within a meander on the eastern bank of the River Wye (Welsh: Afon Gwy). The town is one of the main conurbations within the predominately rural historic county of Radnorshire in mid-Powys, and is also the first town the River Wye flows through from its source on the Plynlimon range of the Cambrian Mountains 20 miles west of Rhayader. The Wye is also the source of the town’s name “Rhayader” as it is corrupted from the original Welsh name of the town “Rhaeadr Gwy”, which literally means ‘Waterfall on the Wye’. Alas little remains of the original waterfall nowadays with it being destroyed in 1780 to make way for the bridge linking the town with Cwmdauddwr and the Elan Valley.
Rhayader is situated centrally in Wales, and is roughly the midway point between North and South Wales on the main A470 trunk road (which runs from Llandudno to Cardiff) that goes through the town. Positioned in the north-west of Radnorshire, the town is 12 miles north-west of Llandrindod Wells, 14 miles north of Builth Wells, 24 miles south of Newtown and 35 miles east of Aberystwyth. The B4574 mountain road which connects Rhayader to the seaside university town of Aberystwyth is considered by the AA as one of the ten most scenic drives in the world! Despite Rhayader’s key location within Wales, it does not have its own train station with the nearest train station being located in Llandrindod Wells.
There is evidence of ancient settlements being located either in Rhayader or within the close locality from the Bronze Age to the Dark Ages. Such prehistoric artefacts like Neolithic axes, have been discovered in the area. Plus an abundance of cairns and standing stones that dot the hills surrounding the town indicate Bronze Ages settles were lived and travelled through the area. Centuries later the Romans arrived in the area hoping to ford the River Wye at Rhayader on their way to accessing the numerous lead and silver mines situated in Cardiganshire. Evidence of Roman activity was proved when a huge Roman treasure horde was discovered on Gwestedyn Hill (located to the south of Rhayader) in the late 19th Century. The trove of Romano-British gold jewellery that was discovered is thought to have belonged to the local princess Rowena.
However it is not until the 12th century when documented history of Rhayader commences, when an outlying castle was built by the Lord Rhys of Debeubarth in 1177 to protect his kingdom from the ever encroaching Norman and Flemish Marcher Lords, and in particular Roger Mortimer, Earl of Wigmore. After Mortimer forces had ambushed and killed two local princes after returning from an Eisteddfod (held by the Lord Rhys), Lord Rhys responded to the outrage by constructing a wooden fort surrounded by a dry moat (the moat still exists) on the banks of the River Wye. The castle was originally burnt down by Marcher forces (with Lord Rhys captured) but was rebuilt in 1194 by a newly-released Lord Rhys who realised the strategic importance of its location. The castle lasted approximately fifty years under Welsh command before it was eventually captured and burnt down by Mortimer forces in 1231, after the passing of Lord Rhys a year earlier.
The location of Rhayader has resulted in the town always being an important stopping point for travellers moving across the country. Along with the earlier settlers as mentioned previous, Cistercian monks plodded through the town on their arduous journey from Strata Florida to their sister abbey at Cwmhir. Later cattle and sheep drovers would drive their livestock through the town for a quick stop-off before heading towards the lucrative markets in the growing cities of England. Even the mail coaches on their way from London to Aberystwyth would stop in the town for a change of horses, some food & drink and shelter when required. The location is so significant when travelling through Wales that the clock tower in the middle of Rhayader, is considered to be the historic crossroad midway between North and South Wales.
In the first half of the 19th century, Rhayader and the local area were subject to rioting through the unpopular toll system that was in place. Rhayader had six toll gates on the roads into the town, which resulted in making journeys or bringing goods/livestock/etc. into the town incredibly expensive. This additional cost really burdened the tenant farmers and farm workers, who were already struggling financially through low prices for food, poor harvests and an increased levy on tithe payments. A maelstrom of a dire financial situation with a perceived lack of interest from those in power, resulted in furious storm of violence from the local populace against the tolls, which were perceived a symbol of their grievances.
To avoid detection from the authorities, local tenant farmers and workers would dress up in women’s clothing and call themselves “Rebecca and her daughters” as they attacked the tollgates. No-one is sure why the rioters created the icon of Rebecca and the cross-dressing daughters as a disguise, but it is thought it comes from Genesis book of the Bible where Rebecca recommends that some “possess the gates of those which hate them”. The ‘Rebecca Riots’, as they are known in history, began in Rhayader in October 1843 when “Rebecca” first appeared with her “daughters” and demolished three tollgates. The following month the ‘Rebeccaites’ reappeared and destroyed the North, East and Rhayader Bridge tollgates. Eventually a Commission of Inquiry was established to determine the reasons for the Rebecca Riots, and many of the grievances that forced Rebecca to appear were righted in 1844.
Towards the end of the 19th century, and the rapidly expanding city of Birmingham (then dubbed “the workshop of the Empire”) was in desperate need of an additional source of clean, safe water especially after an few outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as typhoid, cholera and dysentery had struck the city. The ideal water source they acquired was 70 miles west of the city to the Elan Valley, and this decision by Birmingham would change the nearby town of Rhayader forever.
Rhayader would become the “Gateway to the Elan Valley” as thousands of workers would arrive in the town via the railway (which had reached the town in 1864) to help build the massive complex of dams and reservoirs that would serve Birmingham’s water requirements. Work started on the monumental Victorian engineering project in 1894, and they were officially open in 1904 by King Edward VI. With the construction of the dams, Rhayader expanded with many hovels replaced by the three storied buildings which are in existence in the town today. Also shops in the town centre were all enlarged or rebuilt to accommodate the growth in population, as well as the increasing tourist trade engendered by the newly opened reservoirs.
Today the town embraces its position as “Gateway to the Elan Valley” becoming the base of a tourist trade which focuses on the reservoirs and the surrounding hills of both the Elan and upper Wye vales. There are many hotels, bed & breakfasts, camp / caravan sites available, as well as plenty of restaurants and cafes providing food within the town. The town fully accommodating for tourists who wish to explore the Elan Valley and beyond from Rhayader or who are traditionally using the town as a stopping point before continuing their journey through Wales.
Colloquially Rhayader residents are sometimes known as “Bwgyites”, named after the River Bwgy which used to flow along an artificial channel through the town before flowing into the River Wye near the Rhayader Bridge. The river was considered “the pride of its inhabitants and the bane of travellers” as it supplied houses in the town with drinking water. There are a few local sayings which state that “the finest children Wales can have are those that drink bright Bwgy’s wave”, and that anyone who dipped their feet in the Bwgy would always return to Rhayader. Even though the Bwgy has been piped underground since 1877, the river still has a strong link to the town resulting in the local nickname for its residents today.
There are records of a football team playing at Rhayader as far back as 1884, when a side playing at Y Weirglodd complex gained a 1-1 draw against fellow mid-Wales side Newtown. This early result can be considered a decent achievement considering Newtown were one of the strongest and successful teams in Welsh football during that late Victorian period.
A Rhayader side named ‘Turfs Rhayader FC’ were formed in the post-WW2 period where they applied their early trade in the Mid-Wales (South) League from the 1947-48 season onwards. However after a few seasons, they moved into the Mid-Wales League when the Northern and Southern sections combined to make one league. In their first season of the combined Mid-Wales League, they finished bottom of the league with just two points earned from one win (back when a win was worth two league points) throughout the whole season. Rhayader seems to disappear from records after that season, but they eventually reappear in the Mid-Wales League in the 1965-66 season when they finished second from bottom in the league, with only Tywyn below them. In the 1966-67 season, they achieved their first piece of silverware when they were victorious in the Radnorshire Cup competition.
Rhayader continued to play in the Mid-Wales League throughout the 1960s and 1970s although they didn’t particularly producing any highlights during their sixteen season stay in the league, often finishing near the bottom of the table. On occasions Rhayader struggled and finished bottom of the league in particular seasons, with the 1971-72 season being particular awful for Rhayder earning a single point from 26 league games. However when the league changed its name to the ‘Central Wales League’ in the 1981-82 season, Rhayader’s fortunes began to improve as they slowly climbed into more respectable league positions. The highlight of this period in the 1980s was when they finished in 5th position in the 1987-88 season earning 24 points from 24 games.
The creation of the League of Wales in the 1992-93 season proved to be beneficial to Rhayader’s position in the football pyramid as they moved up a tier to accommodate a position in the Cymru Alliance. The Cymru Alliance required new teams to fill its ranks after losing half of the previous season’s teams to the newly established national league competition. After a period of adjustment to the second-tier of Welsh football, where they achieved a 13th place finish in their debut deason, they soon established and consolidated themselves both on and off the pitch in the Alliance. The team consistently improved and finished in solid mid-table positions between 1993 and 1995.
The breakthrough season came in the 1995-96 season when improved on their previous mid-table finishes to complete the league campaign in an impressive 6th position, scoring 66 goals and recording 20 league wins along the way! Under the management of Richard Cross, the Red Kites dramatically improved the following season and using the momentum gained from the 6th place the previous season, managed to comfortable win the Cymru Alliance title (winning it by 7 points from runners-up Rhydymwyn) and gain promotion to the League of Wales. During the title winning campaign, they scored a ridiculous 79 goals whilst conceding 25 goals, and only lost once during the season. They also backed up the Alliance title by claiming the Central Wales Cup to complete a historic double-winning season!
Their promotion to the top flight led to a series of ground improvements to Y Weirglodd to bring it up to the league’s standards, resulting in the impressive ground that exists today. Even though they never lit up the top flight during their five season stay, they achieved four consecutive lower half table finishes [15th, 15th, 14th and 12th] to maintain their position in the League of Wales. However in the 2001-02 season, the odds were against them and they suffered relegation after only achieving three league victories and 15 points in a 34 match season.
Rather surprisingly, Rhayader chose to drop a further tier down the pyramid to take the place of their reserve side and rejoin the Mid-Wales League rather than second-tier Cymru Alliance. This was down to it being more financially beneficial to play more local teams in the Mid-Wales League than the more extensive area covered by the Cymru Alliance, which would have increased travel costs. However after four seasons in the Mid-Wales League, the club suffered from a lack interest from potential officials. Therefore in the summer of 2006, the club resigned from the league and ceased to exist meaning the town had no representation for the 2006-07 season.
Thankfully the ‘Bwgy’ only had to wait a solitary season before they would be represented again and Rhayader Town were reformed. Under the guidance of local player-manager Dylan McPhee (who is still player-manager today), they went on to achieve the Mid Wales (South) League and Cup double on their return back to competition, as well as winning promotion back to the Mid-Wales League. After their first season back finished in a sixth place finish, the following season saw them return back to the second-tier and the Cymru Alliance as they finished runners-up to league champions CPD Penparcau. Penparcau chose not to get promoted, and as per FAW regulations, the runner-up was allowed promotion (providing the ground was to Alliance standards) which resulted in Rhayader heading back to the Alliance.
Their stay back in the Cymru Alliance lasted only one season, when they were relegated back the Mid-Wales League alongside Welshpool Town, with both teams occupying the bottom two positions. However they rebounded back to the second tier after claiming the 2011-12 Mid-Wales League title by a single point from nearest rivals Montgomery Town. They have played in the Alliance since their re-promotion back to the Alliance in the 2012-13 season, finishing 11th in their first two seasons back. Last season they suffered a slight drop in results when they achieved a 12th position finish but were involved in a relegation fight with four teams getting relegated from the league. In the end, their points’ total of 30 points was just enough to hold off local rivals Llanidloes Town to maintain their Alliance stay courtesy of a single point advantage over Llanidloes.
This season has been a struggle for the Red Kites as they are currently situated 15th in the table, having just achieved 3 wins from their 17 league games so far. After achieving 4 points from their first two games, they only achieved one win (against last season’s Mid-Wales League champions Llanfair United) from the following 11 games but losing the other 10 fixtures. The worst result of that period was a 1-7 loss against Caernarfon Town (which I saw and blogged about). However within the last couple of games, results have improved for the Thin Red Line. In their previous league fixture, they just lost a close encounter away against Llanfair 1-2, but in their previous home fixture they achieved a confidence boosting 3-2 victory over Flint Town United. They were hoping lightning would strike twice and they would achieve another victory over a top half Flintshire side at Y Weirglodd!
Their opponents for this match would be Holywell Town, who were flying high in the league in 3rd position. Since getting promotion back to the Cymru Alliance, they have vastly exceeded pre-season expectations by earning 35 points from 17 games played. Going into the match, the Wellmen were just four points off league leaders Caernarfon Town but with a game in hand. However the bad weather since the turn of the New Year has severely hampered Holywell’s season as they have only played two games prior to this match in 2016. In their last match, they achieved a hard-fought away victory against local rivals Prestatyn Town (which I went and seen). In a very tempestuous match, a second-half strike from Graeme Williams claimed all three points for the Wellmen in their first league match of 2016.
Holywell were supposed to play Caernarfon in a Cymru Alliance League Cup (the Huws Gray Cup) match the previous weekend to the Rhayader match, but a waterlogged pitch at The Oval ensured Holywell had another free weekend this year. Although there is a worry that the momentum of the Prestatyn win might be disrupted, they should be fresher for the long trip down to Radnorshire.
When I viewed the initial fixtures, I was concerned that February weather conditions could problems for the game being played. Imagine my despair when weeks prior to the match, games would be postponed left, right and centre, with Holywell games inevitably being postponed seemingly nearly every weekend. Plus weather forecasts for the week prior to the Rhayader game were not looking ideal with high risks of snow or rain cascading down over the Radnorshire area. The looming scenario of another postponement was looking like a distinct possibility and the Rhayader trip would be delayed for later on in the season!
Viewing of the Rhayader & Holywell Twitter accounts on the Friday before the game were rife, with fingers, toes and any other appendages crossed hoping the game would take place on the Saturday. My hopes were initially dashed when the backup game (always got to have a Plans B, C, D and beyond during the winter months) of Llanfair United versus Mold Alexandra was postponed on the Saturday morning after a 9am pitch inspection. Would another Holywell fixture allude me for another weekend? Thankfully the football gods were smiling down upon me on this romantic weekend as confirmation of the game came through on Twitter. Mother Nature had decided to take a breather this weekend and the pitch condition at The Weirglodd was acceptable! It was game on!
I would not be venturing to the banks of the River Wye alone as regular groundhopping sidekick Greg would be accompanying me and superbly decided to drive down, meaning I could be passenger for the day. However because he was driving down, there would be two conditions – the first was I had to drive to meet him at his sister’s house in Broughton, meaning no drinks in the clubhouse (no problem). The second was that he had to get back home rapidly after the game as he was taking his lovely wife Becky on a Valentine’s meal that very evening. Considering she was very understanding allowing him to go a 5 hour round trip to watch a match, I thought it was a fair deal!
Therefore we set off from Broughton just after noon (humming Golden Earring’s Radar Love – very apt considering the time of year and place name), heading down the A483 to Newtown. From Newtown we journeyed west towards Caersws (where we both visited in late September for a Holywell game), before latching onto the main A470 trunk road. Staying on this main road, we ventured through Llanidloes (another future potential groundhop venue) before arriving at the beautiful town of Rhayader just before 2pm. Thankfully the traffic conditions were relatively clear on the way down meaning we could easily arrive in town with plenty of time before the 2:30pm scheduled kick-off time.
Y Weirglodd is located to the south of the town, between the town centre and the bend of the River Wye. The entrance is located at the end of Water Lane, with the lane junction being situated just before the bridge crossing over the Wye. There are signs located at the junction pointing down the lane to ensure all visitors are heading in the right direction. I couldn’t spot any signs in the town centre itself showing direction, so keep a look out when driving past junctions. We initially drove past the Water Lane and had to double back on ourselves before we followed the correct route.
The football ground is located in close proximity to the town’s rugby club and you have to drive past the rugby clubhouse before arriving at the large car park outside of the football ground. The car park is a good size with plenty of opportunities to park one’s car. Please be aware that there were a few potholes about and the surface can be a little slippery with mud, so take aware when walking from the vehicle to the entrance of the ground. When we arrived in the car park, the Holywell Town coach was already parked up waiting, whilst there were a few other cars which had taken space in the car park. As mentioned previously, the car park was muddy when we disembarked the car although considering the weather we have had over the past few months, it is to be expected.
From the car park, the entrance to the ground can be clearly seen as well as the cracking view of the ground and the landscape beyond. Going through the entrance, I paid the Cymru Alliance standard price of £5 entry, along with purchasing the accompanying match programme for an additional pound. The programme is colour printed and is quite thin considering other programmes produced in the league. However considering it just had facts on both teams and not pages upon pages of advertisements that some clubs produce in their programmes, it made a pleasant change.
Upon entering the ground and having a quick comfort break, we decided to kill some time before kick-off (and to get out of the bitter coldness of the open air) by venturing into the clubhouse which is situated next to the turnstile block. Inside, the clubhouse has an old school pub type of feeling which I really enjoyed and was a pleasant surprise, with a bar in one corner and a hatch to the snack bar at the end of the clubhouse (it can also be accessed from outside). On every wall were pictures and news clippings of previous Rhayader teams who had achieved some success in the past. There was also a Welsh international shirt and cap hung up on the far wall although I was unable to see the reason for why they were displayed. It looked impressive anyway!
Upon entering the clubhouse, there were a few Holywell Town supporters had also made the long journey down to Y Weirglodd, either by car or on the coach with the players. They were busy supping on drinks ordered from the bar whilst watching Jeff Stelling presenting Soccer Saturday, which was being shown live on the TV in the clubhouse. I also noticed a sheet of paper pinned up on the wall of the clubhouse stating that pin badges were available for £2.00 each! After a quick enquiry to see if they still had any badges left, a Rhayader Town pin badge was acquired from the snack hatch to add to the ever increasing collection! Fantastic stuff!
Further trips to the snack bar were soon made when I ordered a hotdog accompanied with fried onions and lashings of ketchup, and then a well-needed warming cup of chicken soup for a grand total of £2.50. With cup of soup in hand, myself and Greg decided to venture out into the cold Powys air and take in the upcoming game.
Rhayader’s ground Y Weirglodd is a cracking little ground in my opinion and really impressed me when I first came through the turnstile. The main stand is located at the halfway line of the pitch, on the same side as the entrance & clubhouse. It has about 200 covered seats for supporters, with the sides of the stands also enclosed with clear Perspex to keep out the howling winds which must be filtered through the Wye Valley. Within the main stand complex are the changing rooms for both teams as well as toilets for supporters which can be accessed around the back of the stand. This orientation leads to a unique route for teams to walk onto the pitch by having to walk around either side of the main stand, rather than come from beneath or from the front of it as is the usual case.
There is an additional stand at the town side end of the ground, which is called the “Bill the Coal” Stand. Named in honour of “Bill the Coal” (no idea who he is but I would presume he was the local coal merchant who helped out the club in the past), the stand is a uniquely slightly curved stand with an old school, almost agricultural style feel to the area in terms of its wooden, barn styled pillars. Again it has approximately 150 covered seats for supporters, although I found a number of the seats had been broken or were in a state of disrepair, which was slightly disappointing to see.
The ground has a concreted path around the circumference of the pitch, so easy and safe access for disabled supporters. As is the norm with grounds at this level, there are permanent brick dugouts located by the main stand, floodlights surrounding the pitch, whilst the supporters’ area and pitch is segregated by a permanent divider that displays a number of advertisement boards. There is also a brick-built media gantry opposite the main stand that can be used for the Sgorio cameras, should they decide to record a game at Rhayader. Finally a line of trees surround three sides of the ground, separating the football stadium from the rest of the Rhayader sporting complex. The line of trees in combination with the background views of the Cambrian Mountains made for very pleasant viewing in my opinion!
Curiously there was also a standing stone next to one of the floodlights just opposite the turnstile. It looked as if something had been displayed upon it at one point due to remnants of adhesive still visible on the face of the stone, however nothing was shown currently. If anyone from Rhayader could provide more information on the standing stone, it would be gratefully received!
With the cups of soup slowly defrosting an almost frozen 94th Minute team, we decided to stand between the home dugout and standing stone to initially watch the match. As the match would progress, we would eventually make our way around the pitch, eventually ending up in the Coal Stand towards the end. Eventually the teams ventured onto the pitch from either side of the main stand, with Rhayader coming from the right and Holywell Town from the left hand side of the stand. Rhayader were in their home kit of red shirts with white sleeves, red shorts and socks; whilst Holywell were in their away kit of white shirt with black trim, white shorts and black socks.
MATCH REPORT – FIRST HALF
The game started well for the home side as they had the first chance after a few minutes of the game which resulted in the deputising Paul Turner into making a fine save. However as the game progressed, Holywell worked their way into the match and started to dominate in possession and chances.
Holywell’s first chance of the game involved a great interchange between midfield before a corner from Graeme Williams was dropped by Ash Roberts and conceding a corner. From the resulting corner, the ball fell to Connor Littler but he could only see his half-chance just go wide of the post. Captain Steve Thomas was getting a lot of space down the right hand flank, and exploited it many times. On one occasion he used his speed advantage to beat Gethin Jones and whip a threatening looking cross into the danger zone. Unfortunately, his cross couldn’t reach any Wellman and it was eventually cleared by the home defense.
Holywell continued to apply the pressure upon the home defense, and they would threaten the Rhayader goal once again, this time from their #7 Tom Rowlands. Rowlands, a new signing from Conwy Borough, had a great chance on the right side of the penalty area, but his low shot into the corner was superbly saved by Roberts in the Red Kites goal. Steve Thomas would again cause problems down the flanks, and once again he was influential in another Holywell chance. From an indirect free kick, he managed to arc a dangerous cross towards the penalty spot where the crowd of players were bustling and from the crowded group, forward Phil Lloyd leaped the highest and managed to connect with Thomas’ set piece. Alas for attacker, his header just grazed the top of the crossbar.
With Holywell’s missed chances racking upwards, Rhayader continued to threat the visitor’s goal through dangerous and rapid counter-attacks. One such counter almost managed to be fruitful as Dane Griffiths exploited the space ahead of him to surge forward and launch a chance on the Wellmen’s goal. Again Steve Thomas was proving to be hugely influential to the game as he managed to clear the threat created by Griffiths, but the ball fell kindly into the path of the advancing Sean Powell. Once again the right winger attempted to put his side ahead but could only see his effort scorch over Paul Turner’s crossbar.
Around the 43rd minute and Holywell had their best opportunity to break the deadlock through Rowlands. He managed to gain possession in the box but didn’t have the space to craft and effort on goal. Using skill in the box, he managed to twist and turn to find just enough clear air and cannon a low shot into the bottom corner. It seemed as if the former Tangerine might score the first goal of the afternoon, but Ash Roberts reacted quick enough to palmed the ball away with one hand. It would seem Roberts was looking unbreachable this afternoon!
Just as it seemed both teams would be returning back to the dressing room on an equal footing, the home side grabbed the initiative in the fixture. Firstly a perfect Rhayader counter-attack found Dane Griffiths breaking clear of the Holywell defensive line and into a one-on-one situation from the left hand side of the box, but his effort was saved by Paul Turner for a corner. From the resulting corner, Dane Griffiths found himself clear at the near post to drill the ball past Turner and give his side the lead at a critical time in the game.
Rhayader Town 1 – 0 Holywell Town
It would be the last action of the half, and the official would soon blow the whistle to end the half. Rhayader might not have had their possession, but their counter attacks caused Holywell problems.
HALF TIME: RHAYADER TOWN 1 – 0 HOLYWELL TOWN
At half time we decided to move from our standing position from behind the Wye-side goal towards the Coal End stand as Holywell would be attacking that end in the second half. As we continued our ramble around the pitch, we passed someone with an official looking clipboard taking some notes underneath the media gantry. Not entirely sure what he might have been noting down on his clipboard. Was he putting together a scouting pack for one of the other teams in the league or was he an adjudicator on the officials’ performances? The mystery continues….
The mysteriousness continued on the walk around as I spotted a tree I have dubbed ‘The Levitating Tree of Rhayader’, as it one of the shielding trees which had a large segment of its trunk removed, but with everything above the cut still standing upright. Although the tree stump was clearly visible, the rest of the tree had meshed tightly together with the adjoining evergreen resulting in a “floating tree”. Ha the picture I took doesn’t do it justice but the sight of a large tree just hanging there with its stump underneath it was surreal to say the least!
After being impressed with Mother Nature defying the laws of gravity (clearly the newly discovered gravitational waves were a tad ‘choppy’ on that tree), we sat in the “Bill the Coal” Stand and awaited the Holywell reaction to being a goal down in the second half. The Holywell fans in the stand wouldn’t be disappointed with the effort given…
MATCH REPORT – SECOND HALF
Straight from the whistle, it would be Holywell who would be starting the spritely, eager to overturn the deficit in the scoreline. The Wellmen’s first half-chance of the second half came a few minutes from the restart through a set-piece. A good free kick from the left hand side was launched into the box and connected with Jonathon Jones. Alas his firm goalward header was cleared by the Rhayader defence. A few minutes later and the Rhayader defence was tested again through another Holywell set-piece. This time they managed to initially block a Graeme Williams’ free-kick, which was situated in a dangerous position just outside of the penalty area. However the rebound fell kindly to Luke Douglas, who finding space in front of goal, managed to get a shot goalwards but disappointingly could only lift it over the crossbar.
Holywell were cranking up the pressure on their hosts and it was only a matter of time before the equaliser eventually came for the visitors. On the 65th minute, a corner from the left hand side was launched towards the back post where centre back Dafydd Griffith rose above everyone to divert the ball into the back of the Rhayader net. Yet another important header from the former Rhydymwyn man!
Rhayader Town 1 – 1 Holywell Town
With the game’s momentum now in their favour, Holywell pressed for a second goal. Firstly Phil Lloyd had a shot deflected wide of Ash Roberts’ post, then Connor Littler had an clear opportunity on goal but was superbly denied by Roberts. Tony Roebuck then had a 25-yard long range chance which looked as if it would hit the back of the net, but agonisingly drifted just wide of the Rhayader goal. Holywell were starting to pepper to Rhayader goal but it was looking as if the second goal just wouldn’t appear.
For all of Holywell’s possession and opportunities, they were almost made to pay for their numerous missed chances when Rhayader’s counter attack almost caught them out again. Sean Powell broke clear of the Holywell defence down the left hand channel and advanced into the penalty box. However the winger made the wrong decision when surging forward as he chose to continue towards the byline instead of taking a shot on goal when an opportunity arose. Unfortunately as he ran toward the byline, hoping to whip a cross into the penalty box, he had too much of a heavy touch and the ball could only run out of play for a goal kick.
With the threat of Rhayader almost retaking the lead, Holywell continued to harass the home side’s goal and dominate ball possession. Another set-piece almost provided rewards for the Wellmen when the influential Steve Thomas curled another pinpoint free kick into the box. In a similar situation to their goal, the free kick was fired to the back post where goalscorer Dafydd Griffith was waiting. This time he headed the ball across the goal which allowed Phil Lloyd to attempt an audacious and acrobatic overhead kick. Alas the bicycle kick was blocked by Rhayader and cleared away.
After constant pressure from the visitors, they would have the ball in the net for a second time of the afternoon when Phil Lloyd broke clear, got on the end of a left hand cross and headed past the advancing Ash Roberts. However the officials would chalk off the winner as the linesman deemed Lloyd was offside when the cross came in. As you can imagine, the Holywell players were not happy and felt it was the wrong call. In fact the officials were not having a great game as they missed a number of fouls including a blatant push on Connor Littler in the penalty box! If they were being assessed, they would not be getting a too high score in my opinion!
A great sight for all Holywell fans was the return of Paul Williams from injury, who came onto the pitch as a substitute. Williams had been out injured since the home fixture against rivals Flint Town United, when the midfield broke his leg. It was great to see him back in the red and white striped shirt! He almost made a dream return when he whipped a cross into the box towards Connor Littler, but pressure from the Rhayader defenders around the young striker pressured him to put his header over the crossbar. Holywell were throwing the kitchen sink at the Rhayader but it just was not looking like the second goal would ever come.
Rhayader continued to counter Holywell as they pushed further and further forward looking for a winner. Another attack down the wing from the home side almost punished Holywell, but a superb save from Paul Turner ensured Holywell would not be caught out late like they were in the first half. The home side would also suffer a man disadvantage late on in the game when Christian Jones was dismissed for a very late and rough tackle on Tony Roebuck. The right decision from the official as it looked a dangerous tackle from where I was positioned.
Despite all of Holywell’s chances and possession in the second half, the official blew for full time a few minutes after the dismal. Rhayader successfully managed to hold on and stand firm again the Wellmen’s pressure to claim an important point for the relegation-threatened team. Holywell would rue their missed chances and feel they could and perhaps should have taken all three points from this encounter in Radnorshire.
FULL TIME: RHAYADER TOWN 1 – 1 HOLYWELL TOWN
With Greg eager to get back to Flintshire for his Valentine’s meal, he quickly darted back to the car at full time to warm both himself and the car up before the long journey back home. Just before I headed back with him, I had a quick chat with a senior Rhayader fan. We talked about the game, where he was very complimentary towards the Holywell team’s performance and the number of supporters who had come down, whilst I returned the courtesy by saying how I thought Rhayader had defended well and I was super impressed with the ground. We chatted about attendance levels for both teams and he seemed impressed with the support Holywell received in the league. Alas I couldn’t stay too long to chat with him as I knew Greg was probably looking at the clock and wonder where I was haha. Anyway a quick glance back at the superb ground and the Wye Valley landscape behind it before it was a rapid dart into the car, and the 2.5 hour trip back through Wales to Holywell.
Anyway what can I say about Rhayader? Despite the result wasn’t what any Holywell fan wanted considering the way Holywell played, I absolutely loved the whole groundhop as a whole. The town itself seems really interesting and if I had more time in Rhayader, I would have explored the town a lot more. The ground itself is an absolute cracker, and has a unique character which I found charming and delightful – something which is in keeping with a lot of mid-Wales football grounds. The landscape beyond the ground are something to behold and add to the beauty of the town and ground. However the warm welcoming of the Rhayader officials, volunteers and supporters were second to none and a great advertisement for why Welsh football is so brilliant in my opinion!
So if you’re in the area or have a chance to watch a game at Rhayader, please make the effort to both visit the town and Y Weirglodd. I am confident would you would enjoy it as much as I did (providing your team doesn’t get hammered of course ha). It is a must visit ground!!
May I send my best wishes to everyone at Rhayader Town and wish them all the best for the rest of the season, and thank you for the warm welcome we received! J | English | NL | 430dad00520e1e017b35ba6fc783de791d398b46ced04ce5836a57aa1f35842c |
So, I have this geometry:
It was created from this geometry:
by simple scaling to zero about the 3D cursor, which had been moved to selection, but selecting the topmost and bottom-most vertices. Now, as you may already know, this isn't nearly as connected as it looks; the fact all these edges are intersecting doesn't mean there is a vertex there to unite them. Let's try to fix that with:
But no dice, it becomes impossible to do loop cuts. This:
becomes impossible after the merge. Could someone be so kind as to tell me why? Is there a way around this problem, or should I just do my loop cuts first?
Doing the loop cuts first seems to work, but I'd like to understand the nature of the problem. | English | NL | e2a434e441cff4de6446e2df9a6d28d3c6a3bca456c78c43c6a84a819b78c573 |
That brings up the question that is often heard about checkers being "dead." The best computer programs today are at an extraordinarily advanced level, very likely beyond the best human players. Computer programs were always relatively good in checker tactics; but now, with enormous opening databases of half a million to a million positions, endgame databases which comprehensively solve endgames of up to 10 pieces, computer programs seem to know just about everything about checkers. The University of Calgary has as its goal the complete "solution" of checkers, and they think they will do this in the next few years. We believe that they will, in fact, accomplish this feat.
But does the fact that a "solution" for checkers exists (or will exist) mean that the game is "dead"? We think that is only true if you are playing against the world-class computer programs that know the "solution." In a game between humans, especially an over the board game, checkers is not and will never be "solved." There is too much challenge and enjoyment in the game as played by mere mortals.
What has this got to do with checker problems? It's simply that these problems, especially the better and more clever or entertaining ones, show the depth of the game. Struggle with a couple of these gems and you'll see what we mean. You'll find that there's a lot left for you personally in the grand old game. Visit Jim Loy's site and start with his beginner's problems. You'll quickly understand. | English | NL | 6ea8d5214e45724f42dcb67003998e6de16adf6eb7beb7cf307c773e7b49cbab |
Dialectic Journal for Catcher in the Rye Essay
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“… and all that David Copperfield kind of crap but I don’t feel like going through it if you want to know the truth… my parents would have about two hemorrhages a piece it I tell anything pretty personal about them.” (Page 1) Response:
This excerpt makes me very curious about his family members. The tone makes me believe that Holden probably is ashamed by them or he doesn’t like them when he describes them as “crap”. His parents’ attitude toward telling others personal stories is also confusing.
It is not clear whether they are the ones inhibiting Holden from telling or not. I predict that Holden is reluctant when it comes to uncovering truths about his life. This quote is important because it gives me background information into Holden’s family life, as well as revealing a variety of characteristics of his personality. From this quote, I could tell that Holden does not have motivation to excel in school and he does not seem to care about getting kicked out.
Being the teenager that he is, Holden does not realize the importance of education in his life, thus not caring about the severe consequences.
“He said he talked to Jesus all the time, even when he was driving his car. That killed me. I can just see the big phony bastard shifting into first gear and asking Jesus to send him more shifts.” (Page 17) Response:
The quote made me really confused because I do not understand what Holden meant by shifting gear in this passage. However, now I understand that he does not like braggers and fakers. Also, Holden finds it irrational that these people dare to say they follow Jesus. I agree with him. If standing in a parking lot does not make you a car, then going to a church does not mean you are incredibly religious. This also seems to be one sign of Holden’s immaturity. It is very clear that when Holden starts to horse around, he puts an effort into annoying those surrounding him.
“I didn’t care about not seeing the movie anyway… Besides, I’d been to the movies before with Auckly and Brossard.” (Page 37) Response:
This quote seems ironic to me in ways more than one. Holden normally hates watching movies because he thinks that actors are fake and phony. He also does not like Auckly that much. In this section of the book, Holden does not seem glum and miserable as usual because he is acting like a regular teenager would. Holden’s invitation to Auckly proves that he is caring and sensitive to Auckly’s emotions. He also knows that loneliness is the worst situation so he helps Auckly out of it at least for one night. I also feel as if Holden really did care about seeing the movie because of the tone evolved in his voice.
“He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You’d have liked him. He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent. He was terrifically intelligent.” (Page 49) Response:
This quote seemed very significant to me. It informed me that Holden had a younger brother named Allie who died from Leukemia. It is extremely clear that when Holden thinks about Allie, all he thinks about is how amazing of a person Allie was. I get the feeling that Holden is very fond of his siblings and has developed a fantastic relationship with them over time, making the death of Allie a major impact on his life. Also, the way Holden seems to be acting in this scene in the book tells me that he has strong feelings for Jane. The way he is talking about Stradlater has a connotation of evilness and mystery as to why he is afraid about Jane. Holden used to be close friends with Jane and he knows things about her that is worrying him about the intimate relationship she might form with Stradlater.
“I was right away sorry I’d said it, but it was too late.” (Page 75)
In my perspective, Holden tells these lies because he is used to it, but every time in the end he feels guilty. I think the fact that Holden feels bad about what he has done makes him a mature young man. He recognizes his mistakes and recognizes the horrid feeling of telling a lie. Many people in life have had moments where they have said something and regretted it immediately. This is the exact situation in which Holden was in. Holden had just had one of those relatable moments involving the guilt from saying something harsh and how it immediately affects him. However, he soon realizes that it is unfortunately too late to take back the words he had said.
“The fish-that’s different. The fish is different. I’m talking about the ducks.” (Page 82) Response:
In this passage of the book, Holden is thinking scientifically. This supports the fact that he is smart after all, even though he his failing most of his classes. Often times, a teenager wants something so bad, they come up with crazy and somewhat stupid ideas and plans to help them obtain that something. Maybe this is because he does not want to try or maybe he wants to fit in with others who would not accept him if he was smart. In this metaphor, he is comparing himself the ducks in Central Park when the lagoon freezes over. What Holden is really saying is the fact that he would not know where to go if he stays living in a place full of phonies and rude people. The ducks cannot swim in ice and he will not stay in a school full of fakes.
“She hasn’t felt too healthy since my brother Allie dies. She’s very nervous. That’s another reason why I hated like hell for her to know I got the ax again.” (Page 140) Response:
This quote clearly explains how Holden is definitely not the only one who is affected by his brother, Allie’s, death. Holdens mother has gained severe
health problems ever since Allie passed away. His mother is also very nervous, and I have come to conclusion that this is probably because she is afraid to lose another child of her own. However, not matter what her reason, Holden is concerned about his mother, and he feels saddened and guilty that his problems will affect her. This seems to be one of the real reasons as to why he does not want his parents, especially his mother, to know about him getting kicked out of school once again. I can relate to Holden in this situation in the fact that there is much pain and struggle that goes on within a family when a tragedy happens.
“I kept putting my hand over my stomach and all to keep the blood from dripping all over. I didn’t want anybody to know I was wounded. I was concealing the fact that I was a wounded sunuvabitch.” (Page 150) Response:
Back in the hotel when Holden caught himself into a fight and became the punching bag for the elevator guy, he pretended to be shot in the stomach. It is worth noting that Holden does the same thing now. I will infer that Holden may have seen this played out in a movie and such a scene became imprinted in his head. Also, this passage is extremely symbolic as to how Holden is feeling. It is very clean that Holden has a ton of issues that are depressing him but he is not showing that among others. I feel as though if Holden received help from a therapist or even a loved one he could excel in life and not have to live in such a tremendous lie anymore. In this depressed state, Holden is looking for much comfort. In some ways Holden proves he has much strength, but in other ways he proves he is a weak liar.
“Then I took my hunting hat from my coat pocket and gave it to her.” (Page 180) Response:
In this quote it is clear that Holden feels attached to it because he is able to recognize the connection he has with it. When he puts on the hat, he feels almost outside of himself and feels like there is someone that understands him. He understands himself even if no one else does. He feels safe when he wears it. The hunting hat is very symbolic to Holden. He wears it whenever he wants to feel protected and loved. It is probably the only object he cherishes. Giving that hat to Phoebe is a terrific example of being the catcher in the rye because he was to protect the children from the severity of life. Among those children, his favorite person is Phoebe, and this is why he chose the hand off the hunting hat to her.
“but this damn article I started reading made me almost worst. It was all about hormones. It describes how you should look, your face and eyes and all, if your hormones were in good shape, and I didn’t look that way at all.” (Page 195) Response:
Holden appears to be sad, lonely, and in desperate need of comforting. Unfortunately he decides to turn to alcohol for comfort. This clearly demonstrates how Holden behaves when dealing with certain issues as well as showing another immature side of him. Holden is originally skinny. He was supposed to be on a certain diet to help him gain weight, but he never eats enough. In fact, he rarely mentions food in his whole novel. His body is not receiving the essential nutrition in order for his body to function correctly, and consequently his hormones are not going to form completely. Many organs in his body will not work correctly, this includes his brain. This is scientifically why Holden will wind up in a mental hospital to seek help with his personal issues. | English | NL | f96dec7192170c2b63fadfefe006308bded8257675d23799c2b36365d7ff93ad |
Born Emmanuel Radnitzky in Philadelphia USA, 1890, to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents. After moving to New York, they changed their surname to Ray due to antisemitism which was rife at the time. Later Emmanuel adopted the name Man Ray and used it as a single name. He made ground-breaking contributions to the avant-garde Dada and Surrealist movements.
Man Ray’s work spanned multiple media such as film, collage, poetry, and sculpture. However, he is best known for his photography, especially his photograms which he renamed ‘rayograms’. His experimentation with photographic techniques were paramount and in 1974 he was awarded the Progress Medal and Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society. He also became a celebrated fashion photographer.
In 1912 Man Ray enrolled at Ferrer School, New York, where he flourished. He abandoned conventual static imagery and focused on creating movement in his work. After meeting Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray dived into Dadaism and the two artists began a prosperous collaborative relationship.
He moved to Paris in 1921 and quickly immersed himself with the Surrealist movement, exhibiting at the first Surrealist exhibition at Galerie Pierre, Paris 1925. In 1940 Man Ray was forced to leave France due to the war and fled to Los Angeles where he met Juliet Browner. They married in 1946 in a double ceremony with Max Ernst and Doretha Tanning. He returned to Paris in 1951 where he remained for the rest of his life.
Man Ray died in 1976 in Paris at the age of 86. | English | NL | 875b492eeb99d0c64f16843abbeaec13de6cffdb4eefeaaba21b9810b7addb66 |
God, whose love and care for us extends far beyond our human understanding, whose presence in our midst is greater than our fears and doubts, we come offering ourselves to you – our weaknesses and our strengths, our faith and our fears. We seek to know the risen Christ among us in this gathering, and trust you to reveal him to us once again, as we wait upon you in hope and expectation. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Dear Lord, we admit that we are often afraid to come near you. For if we do, you might see how our faces darken with anger as we speak hurtful words, or whiten with fear of those who are different, or redden from the depths of our desires. We can spend so much time gazing in the mirror of our longings, that we are unable to see the faces etched with loneliness, hollowed by hunger, overshadowed by hopelessness. You reveal the mystery of your grace, Holy One, by pouring out mercy upon us. As you bend down to listen, may we speak your love to all those around us. As you call us into your presence, you send us out to do your justice which brings hope to the world.
Gospel Lesson: John 20: 19-31 NRSV
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Psalter Lesson: Psalm 150 NRSV
Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
- No. 118 – The Day of Resurrection!
- No. 399 – We Walk by Faith and Not by Sight
- No. 302 – I Danced in the Morning
Solo performance by Catherine Carter, soprano
“The Power of Belief” – Rev. Dr. Martha Jordan | English | NL | e334b2ac66b6437934ec631903c9bbf9ed8e5a39dd0dd64d148ee43788984bb3 |
The pursuit of knowledge is never that alone. History is marred by the malevolence and egotism of those who proclaim otherwise. It was written on the hallowed halls that surround Zain as they made their way to their lessons.
Today’s was to be led by Quyyum, a man few could tolerate and even fewer respected. But he held a high position within the symposium even if he was relegated to lecturing the likes of Zain and their peers. Quyyum didn’t give the appearance of being a lecturer or really having much knowledge worth regarding as his face was that of a fighters. His nose, what remained, had been flattened and his cheeks with them. It left him with a reedy lisp when he spoke that if you weren’t directly in front of him made it hard to follow along.
Zain needed to do more than that. They needed to comprehend. This symposium had been going on for two years already. Zain had only been invited within the past six weeks, such was the urgency that all scholars, knowledge seekers and truth-tellers were welcomed. Albeit begrudgingly by those who had first formed the committee.
Their goal, Zain’s too, was to save the world. Before any of them could do so, they had to figure out the actual nature of what was threatening their exists. That posed a big problem, as all it did was lead to endless debates and pointing fingers. Two years on though and those gathered were still at it, even when tempers rose and fists flew.
Quyyum was often on the receiving end of those temper tantrums, which was why Zain was happy to sit in on his lectures. They didn’t mind how mad the man sounded. What they were there for was to examine the intricate little devices that dotted the table before them. Each was a construction of brass and glass that spun their own patterns and cast lights about the room even during the brightest hours.
Zain sat each lesson listening but staring intently at the whirring and whirling before them. When called upon they would speak but otherwise spent the time in silence, appearing the dutiful student writing notes when in reality they were sketching the movements of all upon the table. Today there was a new device and Zain was too busy studying it to notice Quyyum’s attention was focused on them.
“Do you have anything to offer?” a voice over Zain’s shoulder asked.
Zain ignored it and kept about sketching the latest object. It’s orbs spinning in tandem about one another casting cerulean light across the table. The voice came closer an ask once more, “Do you have anything to offer, Zain?”
Munching on the end of their pen, Zain didn’t even turn to see who was addressing them and said, “mmm… well what causes it all to happen?”
A wheezing laugh followed. Which got Zain to turn and see their lecturer leaning over them. Quyyum once he stopped laughing said, “Oh those, they’re nothing. Meer toys, concern yourself not with them.”
“How could I not?” said Zain, “they’re so beautiful. And they glide without effort or interference.”
A smile followed and Quyyum stood straight to address the others in the room, “These contraptions are little more than ingenuity and applied physics.” He picked the latest up and held it before the class.
“This one seems the most complex because it is the simplest in that it has the fewest parts. Can anyone guess to its workings?”
A few hesitated answers but none were right. Leaving Quyyum disappointed, so he turned to Zain, “You’ve been studying them, do you have a theory.”
Zain flipped through their notes to some of the earliest before looking up and answering, “The so called deep earth magics you claim create layers throughout our realm?”
Quyyum nodded, and said, “No. It is no magics. It is real, and what you see before you is a demonstration of that. There are parts of our world that attract and repell one another like two wrestlers in the courtyard!”
“This, this is a demonstration of those very aspects,” he said holding aloft his creation.
“Then what accounts for the spin,” asked Zain.
“Oh I did that,” offered Quyyum, “it’s little more than wound spring in the base with bits of the particular earths attached moving and in turn those pieces being repelled following as the tides move them.”
“Tides, as in the sea?”
“Quite possibly, though I can’t get it to work on any sizable scale with water.”
“Can we see those attempts?”
Quyyum looked out a door to the courtyard beyond with its bubbling fountain. “No. Not anymore.”
He shook off the reminiscence and turned once more to Zain, “Come to my workshop later if you are interested in these.”
Today’s art is courtesy of Steve Shi from Maryland, USA. | English | NL | 4a917c4d6cc41b8f7d11e78d43ddf3e66f3d37b0ed97e90ee6a991ca841c96da |
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24. When a Christian man finds his bride he is charged to “hold fast” to her and the wife likewise to her husband as they literally become one flesh in the eyes of God (very romantic if you think about it). A good wife is a gift directly from the Lord. “Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.” Proverbs 19:14. A man is to treat his bride as his “Beloved” and always show her that she is loved and well taken care of while the wife is charged with the duty to respect and obey her husband. “However, each one of you also must lov
e his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” Ephesians 5:33. “Wives, obey your husbands as you obey the Lord.” Ephesians 5:22.
The reward for a couple following God’s commands is a satisfying
marriage including in many cases a satisfying sex life. “Let my beloved (husband) come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits.” Song of Solomon 4:16. “I came to my garden, my sister, my bride, I gathered my myrrh and my spice, I ate my honey comb with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk.” Song of Solomon 5:1. A recent survey published by the University of Chicago found sex is more satisfying in marriage than outside it. That is particularly true for religious couples. The study found that the more religious a married couple, the more frequent and satisfying their sex life. Conservative evangelical Protestant women, the survey found, reported the most satisfying sex life. Mainline Protestants and Catholics were only five points behind, while those with no religious affiliation were way down the list.
There are so many unhappy marriages today as it is difficult for two people to live happily together with our fallen natures in play. However, if we follow the biblical principles of chastity and self-sacrificing love for husbands/submission for wives, God can provide us the wonderful marriage we all desire. Then we can say to our spouses – “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” Song of Solomon 6:3. | English | NL | 76736740d1aa4a0eafca216e9985cd65a1601b97a6fe905d1103fb9dd07e31ef |
John 19: 28-29 NRSV
After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
Scriptures about Jesus being crucified are difficult and painful to read. It is rather awful for us to even consider the men who put Jesus on the cross and walked around as if it was another normal day. They went so far as to gamble for his clothing as if they were doing a normal job or at a local fair. We are left with all this pain and agony and a small amount of scripture to determine what happened and why and the meaning as filtered through many great theologians and language scholars. Adam Hamilton shares how he has wrestled with this text and has found that it means much more than a simplistic or literal theory of atonement. All of these actions and stories that have been preserved for 2,000 years mean more than a simple statement reduced to these words: “Jesus died for our sins.” Many of us spent time, even as children, wondering what we did that was so terrible that a man had to be murdered for our sins. Atonement seems to be based too much on a legal point of view. A God of love would not punish us for thousands of years for a simple act of defiance by Adam and Eve and need Jesus to release us from that black mark by his death. The mystery and majesty and depth of this event are too great to fit into boxes of human language and understanding.
For Adam Hamilton, the Gospel of John reveals at least seven different ideas about the significance of Jesus’ death. Some of these we have heard, such as the atonement, the ultimate substitutionary sacrifice for God to release us and reverse what may have happened in the Garden of Eden. Other deeper meanings suggested include: a demonstration of divine love for humanity, a model for Christians to look to in practicing sacrificial love, or a compelling portrait of Jesus intended to stir the hearts so that more would come and follow Jesus and a sign of God’s ultimate power and control over death.
Jesus took on the authorities and confronted them and was terribly horribly punished. He did this to free human beings to see beyond the grave and beyond a God who both punishes and loves. This act of love cannot be denied. It is so huge and so powerful and so beyond our comprehension. Jesus showed us God’s love. The God of the Hebrews was so easily provoked and so punishing. The God of the New Testament was willing to do any act to release his creation from that concept of God. In this way, we know that Jesus committed his spirit to God in death. The same is true for us. Our spirits will be with God when we leave this earthly life. It is the way of God and the plan of creation. God did not want anyone or anything or any belief to hold us captive from knowing the extent of God’s love for us and all creation. Think about these questions. Does God want to leave anyone out? Does God have a heart for punishment? Or, do people lose their joy when they separate themselves from God by their actions?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the beauty, the majesty, and the wonder of the cross. Thank you that it was for each of us. May our daily prayer be, “Into your hands I commit my spirit, O Lord.” Grant each of us the strength to walk with you and to accept the peace that you give that goes beyond understanding. Amen.
Rev Sharon McVean | English | NL | 444ddb4de5cde7ff96f058048e0a661b9cae4594b2e69e6a88e0555c6fe0d7c6 |
Hebron E. “Hebe”Adams ’52 died December 8, 2014, in South Paris, Maine. He was born in Westbrook on September 3, 1930—son of the late Hebron Mayhew Adams, Class of 1914—and graduated from Thornton Academy. He was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. He did graduate work at Temple University and American University, then received his PhD in Operations Research from Lancaster University in England in 1970. He served to corporal for two years in the Army, stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He began his career at the Westinghouse Corporation in Pennsylvania, then moved to the Operations Research Office in Chevy Chase, Md., a civilian military research center founded by the Army and run under contract by Johns Hopkins University. He worked for ORO and its successors, Research Analysis Corporation and General Research Corporation, then went on to work as a systems analyst at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He is survived by daughters Jenny Adams and Heather Adams Miller ’88 and three grandsons. He was predeceased in 2009 by Nancy Ann Foxon, his wife of 47 years. | English | NL | 6ffb4b032f9274cf249c23fe16c5bd784408b7b9e360235fb99bc779e60f6823 |
Partway through reading my friend Chris Gabbard's recent memoir, A Life Beyond Reason, I came across the word grace, and was emotionally stunned. Chris uses it to describe a commitment he made to raise his son August with as much poise and kindness as he could muster. August, like Calvin, had cerebral palsy and was legally blind, non-verbal and incontinent. Unlike Calvin, his condition was the result of injuries he suffered during a medically negligent and reckless childbirth. Reading the word grace, I felt a deep sense of shame and regret, since too often when caring for Calvin, any semblance of grace I might be able to muster, inevitably goes out the window. And though I can blame any number of reasons for my graceless behavior—sleep deprivation, agitation, resentment, monotony, grief, impatience, anger, frustration—I still feel remorseful of my inability to be wholly graceful when caring for such a pure, affectionate, faultless little kid.
In the heat and humidity of early evening while strolling alone in the garden yesterday, Michael having gone to Boston for the night, I heard, via the baby monitor slung around my head, Calvin banging the wall behind his bed. I made my way up to his room and was greeted by the stinky news that he had pooped. After unfastening the safety netting and side panel of his bed, I first sniffed his fingers. Yep. He had put his hand down his diaper and into the shit ... again. Exasperated, I grit my teeth. I wiped him up, gave him a new diaper, and spread copious amounts of sanitizer on his hands. All the while, I bitterly and openly lamented the fact that, despite how often this happens and no matter how many ways I try to explain to him why he shouldn't do it, it never seems to sink in. I rubbed his palms and fingers down, cleaning underneath each fingernail with half a dozen baby wipes. I changed his pants and shirt, which were both wet, then put him back into bed. When laying him down, I noticed a brown splotch on his clean sheet and another on the wall above his head. I tried hard to contain my vexation, tried to emulate my friend Chris, and to act with grace. But in my state of cumulative and acute sleep deprivation, plus a certain kind of traumatic stress disorder from fifteen years of rearing a boy with chronic epilepsy who it still a lot like an infant, I lost my head.
I screamed at the sheet, at the walls, at the bed, at myself, at my son. Luckily, Calvin remained visibly unfazed. No doubt, however, with all the windows open, any passersby or neighbors could have heard my ugly distress. The grace I tried to hold in my body's vessel, in my brain and spirit, went right out the window instead.
I apologized to Calvin and to Nellie. I should apologize to the neighbors just in case. I forgave myself for the eruption which came on the heels of a buildup of worry, frustration, pressure and tension. But when I woke up this morning, I was uniquely aware that I hadn't spent the night clenching my teeth. | English | NL | e5b62d1d3dd855d72016a9c5294126d842c8b9d83acbf9844fd15ced067cf1df |
It was about nine o'clock in the morning when the ship first appeared. At once there was the greatest excitement in the village. It was a British warship. What would she do? Would she tack about in the bay to pick up stray coasters as prizes, or would she land soldiers to burn the town? In either case there would be trouble enough.
Those were sad days, those old war-times in 1812. The sight of a British warship in Boston Bay was not pleasant. We were poor then, and had no monitors to go out and sink the enemy or drive him off. Our navy was small, and, though we afterwards had the victory and sent the troublesome ships away, never to return, at that time they often came near enough, and the good people in the little village of Scituate Harbor were in great distress over the strange ship that had appeared at the mouth of the harbor.
It was a fishing-place in those days, and the harbor was full of smacks and boats of all kinds. The soldiers could easily enter the harbor and burn up, everything, and no one could prevent them. There were men enough to make a good fight, but they were poorly armed, and had nothing but fowling-pieces and shotguns, while the soldiers had muskets and cannon.
The tide was down during the morning, so that there was no danger for a few hours; and all the people went out on the cliffs and beaches to watch the ship and to see what would happen next.
On the end of the low, sandy spit that makes one side of the harbor, stood the little white tower known as Scituate Light. In the house behind the light lived the keeper's family, consisting of himself, wife, and several boys and girls. At the time the ship appeared, the keeper was away, and there was no one at home save Mrs. Bates, the eldest daughter, Rebecca, about fourteen years old, two of the little boys, and a young girl named Sarah Winsor, who was visiting Rebecca.
Rebecca had been the first to discover the ship, while she was up in the light-house tower polishing the reflector. She at once descended the steep stairs and sent off the boys to the village to give the alarm.
For an hour or two, the ship tacked and stood off to sea, then tacked again, and made for the shore. Men, women and children watched her with anxious interest. Then the tide turned and began to flow into the harbor. The boats aground on the flats floated, and those in deep water swung round at their moorings. Now the soldiers would probably land. If the people meant to save anything it was time to be stirring. Boats were hastily put out from the wharf, and such clothing, nets and other valuables as could be handled were brought ashore, loaded into hay carts, and carried away.
It was of no use to resist. The soldiers, of course, were well armed, and if the people made a stand among the houses, that would not prevent the enemy from destroying the shipping.
As the tide spread out over the sandy flats it filled the harbor so that, instead of a small channel, it became a wide and beautiful bay. The day was fine, and there was a gentle breeze rippling the water and making it sparkle in the sun. What a splendid day for fishing or sailing! Not much use to think of either while that warship crossed and recrossed before the harbor mouth.
About two o'clock the tide reached high water mark, and, to the dismay of the people, the ship let go her anchor, swung her yards round, and lay quiet about half-a-mile from the first cliff. They were going to land to burn the town. With their spy-glass the people could see the boats lowered to take the soldiers ashore.
Ah! then there was confusion and uproar. Every horse in the village was put into some kind of team, and the women and children were hurried off to the woods behind the town. The men would stay and offer as brave a resistance as possible. Their guns were light and poor, but they could use the old fish-houses as a fort, and perhaps make a brave fight of it.
If worse came to worse, they could at least retreat and take to the shelter of the woods.
It was a splendid sight. Five large boats, manned by sailors, and filled with soldiers in gay red coats. How their guns glittered in the sun! The oars all moved together in regular order, and the officers in their fine uniforms stood up to direct the expedition. It was a courageous company come with a warship and cannon to fight helpless fishermen.
So Rebecca Bates and Sarah Winsor thought, as they sat up in the light-house tower looking down on the procession of boats as it went past the point and entered the harbor.
"Oh! If I only were a man!" cried Rebecca.
"What could you do? See what a lot of them; and look at their guns!"
"I don't care. I'd fight. I'd use father's old shotgun--anything. Think of uncle's new boat and the sloop!"
"Yes; and all the boats."
"It's too bad; isn't it?"
"Yes; and to think we must sit here and see it all and not lift a finger to help."
"Do you think there will be a fight?"
"I don't know. Uncle and father are in the village, and they will do all they can."
"See how still it is in town. There's not a man to be seen."
"Oh, they are hiding till the soldiers get nearer. Then we'll hear the shots and the drum."
"The drum! How can they? It's here. Father brought it home to mend it last night."
"Did he? Oh! then let's--"
"See, the first boat has reached the sloop. Oh! oh! They are going to burn her."
"Isn't it mean?"
"It's too bad!--too--"
"Where is that drum?"
"It's in the kitchen."
"I've got a great mind to go down and beat it."
"What good would that do?"
"They'd see it was only two girls, and they would laugh and go on burning just the same."
"No. We could hide behind the sand hills and the bushes. Come, let's--"
"Oh, look! look! The sloop's afire!"
"Come, I can't stay and see it any more. The cowardly Britishers to burn the boats! Why don't they go up to the town and fight like--"
"Come, let's get the drum. It'll do no harm; and perhaps--"
"Well, let's. There's the fife, too; we might take that with us."
"Yes; and we'll--"
No time for further talk. Down the steep stairs of the tower rushed these two young patriots, bent on doing what they could for their country. They burst into the kitchen like a whirlwind, with rosy cheeks and flying hair. Mrs. Bates sat sorrowfully gazing out of the window at the scene of destruction going on in the harbor, and praying for her country and that the dreadful war might soon he over. She could not help. Son and husband were shouldering their poor old guns in the town, and there was nothing to do but to watch and wait and pray.
Not so the two girls. They meant to do something, and, in a fever of excitement, they got the drum and took the cracked fife from the bureau drawer. Mrs. Bates, intent on the scene outside, did not heed them, and they slipped out by the back door, unnoticed.
They must be careful, or the soldiers would see them. They went round back of the house to the north and towards the outside beach, and then turned and plowed through the deep sand just above high water mark. They must keep out of sight of the boats, and of the ship, also. Luckily, she was anchored to the south of the light; and as the beach curved to the west, they soon left her out of sight. Then they took to the water side, and, with the drum between them, ran as fast as they could towards the mainland. Presently they reached the low heaps of sand that showed where the spit joined the fields and woods.
Panting and excited, they tightened up the drum and tried the fife softly.
"You take the fife, Sarah, and I'll drum."
"All right; but we mustn't stand still. We must march along the shore towards the light."
"Won't they see us?"
"No; we'll walk next the water on the outside beach."
"Oh, yes; and they'll think it's soldiers going down to the Point to head 'em off."
"Just so. Come, begin! One, two,--one, two!"
Drum! drum!! drum!!!
Squeak! squeak!! squeak!!!
The fife stopped.
"Don't laugh. You'll spoil everything, and I can't pucker my lips."
Drum! drum!! drum!!!
Squeak! squeak!! squeak!!!
The men in the town heard it and were amazed beyond measure. Had the soldiers arrived from Boston? What did it mean? Who were coming?
Louder and louder on the breeze came the roll of a sturdy drum and the sound of a brave fife. The soldiers in the boats heard the noise and paused in their work of destruction. The officers ordered everybody into the boats in the greatest haste. The people were rising! They were coming down the Point with cannons, to head them off! They would all be captured, and perhaps hung by the dreadful Americans!
How the drum rolled! The fife changed its tune. It played "Yankee Doodle,"--that horrid tune! Hark! The men were cheering in the town! there were thousands of them in the woods along the shore!
In grim silence marched the two girls,--plodding over the sharp stones, splashing through the puddles,--Rebecca beating the old drum with might and main; Sarah blowing the fife with shrill determination.
How the Britishers scrambled into their boats! One of the brave officers was nearly left behind on the burning sloop. Another fell overboard and wet his good clothes, in his haste to escape from the American army marching down the beach--a thousand strong! How the sailors pulled! No fancy rowing now, but desperate haste to get out of the place and escape to the ship.
How the people yelled and cheered on the shore! Fifty men or more jumped into the boats to prepare for the chase. Ringing shots began to crack over the water.
Louder and louder rolled the terrible drum. Sharp and clear rang out the cruel fife.
Nearly exhausted, half dead with fatigue, the girls toiled on,--tearful, laughing, ready to drop on the wet sand, and still beating and blowing with fiery courage.
The boats swept swiftly out of the harbor on the outgoing tide. The fishermen came up with the burning boats. Part stopped to put out the fires, and the rest pursued the flying enemy with such shots as they could get at them. In the midst of it all, the sun went down.
The red-coats did not return a shot. They expected every minute to see a thousand men open on them at short range from the beach, and they reserved their powder.
Out of the harbor they went in confusion and dismay. The ship weighed anchor and ran out her big guns, but did not fire a shot. Darkness fell down on the scene as the boats reached the ship. Then she sent a round shot towards the light. It fell short and threw a great fountain of white water into the air.
The girls saw it, and dropping their drum and fife, sat down on the beach and laughed till they cried.
That night the ship sailed away. The great American army of two had arrived, and she thought it wise to retreat in time!
Rebecca lived until old and feeble in body, but ever brave in spirit and strong in patriotism, she told this story herself to the writer, and it is true.
Return to History Stories. | English | NL | cafdd51be3cdf503cb3a47d48d55fba0034f7ef87853073b39ba642e7001af78 |
Tips to Help an Autistic Child Develop Social Skills
Parents of autistic children usually have to put double the effort into helping their little ones acquire the necessary social skills they need in their daily lives.
And as much as this task may seem difficult, there are some effective ways to help achieve this goal. These include:
- Help your child make colored masks which he could wear on his face to enhance his ability to communicate.
- Sing along with your child songs that will help him recognize the different kinds of feelings and emotions.
- Playing games which require role-switching such as board games, as this encourages him to understand the concept of taking turns.
- Engaging with the child in educational games while making sure that he doesn’t always win. It is very important that he learns the concept of “losing” in a game, so that he can be ready to adapt to this situation when he’s with other kids.
- Practicing with the child social scenarios he might encounter at a party, or in a park or any place where he doesn’t know anyone. This will teach him how to join a group of kids and play with them, as well as how to introduce himself and properly negotiate with other children of his age.
- Using video clips to teach the child important social values and introduce him to the different emotions he might feel so he can be able to deal with them. Also, let’s make sure that we draw his attention to the body language, facial expressions and tones of voice in each scene.
Let’s do our best to help the autistic child develop his skills in playing, communicating and talking, in addition to his emotional skills that allow him to manage his feelings and understand those of others. Moreover, we need to work on enhancing the little ones’ abilities to find solutions to problems and make the right decisions in certain social situations as all of these aid in developing their social skills and interactions.
So what do you think of these tips and is there anything you would like to add? Let’s share our thoughts in the comment box below! | English | NL | 731234378a45956988225c48958be378912da11f68728449353e5056b6109670 |
Prior to becoming the president she served as Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy at NATO. Born in a small village in Croatia, she grew up to be a bright and ambitious girl. She excelled in her studies and attended the Diploma Course at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna before earning her master’s degree in International Relations.
She was elected to the Croatian Parliament and later on became the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Over the ensuing years she steadily rose through the political ranks and held various prestigious governmental positions. She rose to become the Croatian Ambassador to the United States by replacing Neven Mimica, in 2008. After becoming the Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy at NATO, she set her ambitions even higher and successfully ran for presidency.
She was a bright student and was selected for a student exchange program when she was 17. She moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico, subsequently graduating from Los Alamos High School in 1986. | English | NL | caab38a27587eabc01298b4e8408d9611db6cd8ed4e83c160e14b77323a3c56e |
Frederick T. Smith ’44 died December 16, 2013, in Spruce Pine, N.C. He was born on June 18, 1920, in Ticonderoga, N.Y., and prepared for college at the Loomis School and Darrow School. He attended Bowdoin from 1940 to 1942, a member of Chi Psi fraternity. He served to captain in the Army Air Corps during World War II and was awarded an air medal with two oak clusters. He went on to attend the University of Michigan and to earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1949. He worked as an accountant and in sales for E.I. DuPont International. He is survived by a son, David, and two grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife, Phyllis, and daughter, Martha. | English | NL | 561182a5f622fdf10dd4cf3dee1bd8ec0caeedefba5aed14fd0c4761d09544f5 |
John Rae, fur trader, explorer, surgeon, author (born 30 Sept 1813 in Orkney, Scotland; died 22 July 1893 in London, England). Rae was an expert doctor and outdoorsman known for surveying parts of the Canadian Arctic while searching for the Northwest Passage, and for his 1854 reports on the Franklin Expedition's fate. Rae stood out from his contemporaries in his openness toward establishing stable relationships with and learning survival techniques from the Inuit residing in the areas he explored. His reputation suffered an unfair smearing by, among others, Lady Jane Franklin and the novelist Charles Dickens, following his discovery of evidence of cannibalism among the Franklin expedition’s crew. It is only in the late 20th and early 21st centuries that Rae’s name has been rehabilitated by historians and added to the pantheon of Arctic explorers.
Early Years and Moose Factory
John Rae was born in the Orphir parish on Scotland’s Orkney Islands. His father ran the local Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) post; thus from a young age Rae was exposed to outdoors-oriented pursuits. In 1829 he traveled to Edinburgh for a medical education and graduated in April 1833 from Edinburgh’s Royal College of Surgeons. That year Rae signed on as the surgeon on board a HBC ship bound for Moose Factory that was forced to wait out the winter at Charlton Island in James Bay due to ice. Rae’s discovery of cranberries preserved below the snow saved all but two of the crew from dying of scurvy. After the ice melted, Rae continued on with the HBC ship to Moose Factory, where he remained as surgeon and clerk for 10 years. It was during this period that Rae established cordial relations with the local Cree Nation, enthusiastically taking to their survival methods. His contemporaries came to regard him as one of the most skilled snowshoe travellers of his time.
Early Arctic Expeditions
In 1844 John Rae was selected by Sir George Simpson to lead an expedition to survey unexplored patches of Canada’s northern coastline for the Hudson Bay Company. Over the next two months, he travelled first to Upper Fort Garry, then to Sault Ste Marie, eventually settling in Toronto to prepare for his trip. Between 1846 and 1847 Rae made two expeditions. Rae and his crew, which included two Inuit interpreters, were the first Europeans to spend an entire winter in the Arctic during the first expedition, living in a stone house built at Fort Hope until the spring of 1847. Rae and his crew allegedly came to prefer the igloos constructed by their Inuit interpreters to their own structures. His second expedition continued west from their winter location, charting Committee Bay, the Simpson Peninsula and Pelly Bay in the process. A third expedition was launched in May to reach the Fury and Hecla Strait, but poor weather and food shortages forced the men back. By September the entire crew returned to York Factory, where Rae was made the settlement’s chief trader. He left for England and Scotland shortly after.
Searching for Franklin
By 1848 it had become obvious that Sir John Franklin's expedition, which had not been heard from in three years, was lost. Under Lady Jane Franklin’s direction, three expeditions were sent to locate Franklin and his crew: one from the east; one through the Bering Strait; and one overland. Sir John Richardson, who chose John Rae as his second in command, led the land expedition. Over the course of three journeys between 1848 and 1851, Rae and Richardson were unsuccessful in locating the wreck, save for two pieces of lumber suspected to be from one of the ships. However, the expeditions were not without fruit: In 1854 Rae was able to successfully question local Inuit about Franklin’s whereabouts and fate. One Inuk reported hearing about a party of white men who starved to death several years earlier, while a party of Inuit who had several artifacts from the wreck in their possession reported that Franklin’s men had resorted to “the last resource,” meaning cannibalism. The Inuit also described to Rae’s party the approximate location of where they had found the men. Rae returned to England in the fall to discover that his private correspondence with the Admiralty on the Franklin search had been released to the press.
A Smeared Reputation
John Rae’s suggestion that British sailors had resorted to cannibalism caused outrage in England. Lady Jane Franklin and Charles Dickens spearheaded a campaign to discredit Rae’s name, claiming that he had relied too much upon the testimony of untrustworthy “savages.” Dickens published a series of articles that rejected Rae’s findings, and insinuated that he had turned wild during his time in North America. Lady Franklin refused to pay Rae the £10,000 reward he was promised until 1856.
Later Years and Legacy
In 1860 John Rae was employed to carry out the land part of a survey for a projected telegraph line from Great Britain to North America by way of the Faeroes, Iceland and Greenland. In 1864, for a similar purpose, he carried out a survey from Winnipeg to the Rocky Mountains. He spent his later life in London. Rae was supremely gifted in Arctic survival, living off the country in comparative comfort and security. By the end of his life he had received a number of honours, notably the Founder’s Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1852. Although Rae was the subject of bitter controversy related to the Franklin wreck, he would live to see his major findings confirmed by a series of expeditions post-1859. The 2014 finding of one of the Franklin ships, the Erebus, confirmed the oral testimony given to Rae by the region’s Inuit. | English | NL | 81f549bfdcc3da7720d869e9aa4eaeb7ef744473998d6caf80f622d32c00a9f1 |
We met Jan Vermeer earlier. You might also see him called Johannes Vermeer. Both would be correct. Today Vermeer is considered the best Northern painter of his generation, but for a couple of hundred years he was almost forgotten. Luckily his paintings did not suffer greatly during the dark years, and now he has recovered the glory that was long absent.
Jan Vermeer had a genius for painting people with a certain luminescence. In almost all of his paintings the light streams in from the left and seems to create a glow over some feature or person.
While his compositions were certainly staged they have the feel of a moment in time. It is as though you stumbled into the room and caught the scene as it unfolded.
In come cases he even uses the vantage point of a view through a doorway or past some other obstruction. You will not find this in other artists of his day and speaks to his originality even while portraying mundane events.
There are several features in this scene that we will see again. The walls are bare and plain except for a painting. The floors are tiled. The room seems sparsely furnished. The window is partially open and reveals richly decorated leaded glass.
I put these two paintings next to each other to show how Jan Vermeer used one room in his house as a regular setting for his compositions. Not all his paintings are in the same room, but if you look at all of his paintings you will recognize the repetition of a handful of floor patterns.
Here again we see the same window, but now we can make out the details of the design.
This sleeping girl reminds me of myself. Unfortunately the painting has been damaged.
This is one of the few indoor paintings where there is no tile apparent. The walls are plain and it seems very monotone except for the vibrant textiles. The Netherlands was a center for the textile industry and many houses used textiles heavily in their decoration.
The door is a simple plank door, rather plain in comparison to the furniture.
This painting will provide an interesting contrast to our next featured artist, Pieter de Hooch. The setting is similar although the subject is different.
There is an interesting pattern of blue crosses formed by the tile. Similar tile patterns are found in other paintings.
Behind the rather surprised lady is a carved wood pillar supporting what looks like a wood mantle, but with a skirting of blue hanging down from the mantle. It is difficult to tell what this is. It might be a doorway, but the opening seems short. It could be a fireplace, but the floor tile seems to go too far back. My guess is that it is a fireplace with a mantle that comes out fairly far from the wall.
Behind the two woman there appears to be a lower panel of wallpaper or textile below a wood molding. This is the only time I have seen this in these Dutch paintings. The molding comes up fairly high, but the height was usually in proportion to the height of the wall, so apparently the unseen ceiling is quite high.
Check out my next page on Pieter de Hooch to see what I say about the companion painting.
What do you have to say about this article and Houses in Art? Do you have a suggestion? Can you recommend a painting or an artist? | English | NL | 39302cda3a6de93721443840d35452561ba6a148db86a1cb4d050ce06b946880 |
We remember the many groans of the oppressed, the arrogance of the oppressor, back in the dark ages.
We remember the hat on a stick, and how the squire had people greet it, under threat of punishment.
And we remember the man: proud, untamed. Tell. The one who refused to greet.
How the squire heard of it, and as a punishment had him shoot an apple off his own boy’s head. The tension, rising. The shot, smack in the middle of the apple. The second bolt in the crossbow, noticed by the squire. How the proud man explained it was meant for the squire, in case the first shot killed his son.
And that made Tell the hero of the hour.
Yeah, we remember that.
But what about his son? What do we remember of him?
Walter was his name.
Here’s his story.
When his father was imprisoned, he was taken too, and put into a separate prison.
There he had time to think.
About that incredible streak of luck that had saved him. From being killed by his own father. Just because his father would not put aside his pride for once, for a joke. I mean, what was it to greet a hat? And what was his father’s pride worth, compared to risking his own son’s life?
Well, we all know the answer to this one, don’t we?
And these thoughts made Walter develop a deep and ferocious hatred of his father.
Of his principles, of all he stood for.
Because in the end, it all boiled down to satisfying his pride.
And so Walter took revenge on his father. He had found just the way to do it.
He made friends with his guards, and went over to their side.
Became one of them.
Became good at it.
He did everything his superiors asked him to do.
He executed their orders with meticulous dedication, with no regard for the consequences, or for the victims.
He secured and advanced his own status, with absolutely no questions asked, no moral consciousness to hold him back.
And because he was so good at it, he got promoted, got married, and had numerous offspring.
If you look around carefully, you will spot them.
Thanks to Isabella for her help.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. | English | NL | c2ff63c75dcac9c3e3cdee8ea89bad5ac33633b750429a71c60482462578b873 |
Day 2 – Mountain Cliffs
“Keep up!” Came the brisk voice of the silvery runner as he flitted on ahead through the blizzard, there was something ghostly about the tall and very lean vayron and he made it look easy as he moved with confident strides and broad paws through the snow. Spill was having a lot less success than he was, struggling through with no grace at all, stumbling into snow drifts and generally finding it all exceedingly tough going. The pure of blood trials were something Spill had been dreading for years, feeling the whole ordeal looming on the horizon as a chunk of effort. He wasn’t very good at effort. He’d been expecting to be assigned Merc as his partner for the trip but despite the brisk barked orders, he’d been placed under the charge of a stranger. Meow was the one ultimately assigned to the elder vayron. He’d been pleased to be able to lead Meow across the mountain paths but he’d seemed furious when he saw the name of the other companion who would be accompanying them for the trip as Spill’s mentor and guide. He’d been snippy and angry ever since. Spill didn’t have time to think too much about why he’d dislike the guy so much or where he might have known him from, he was too busy trying not to fall off the side of a mountain. After all, from what Spill could tell he seemed nice enough. It was the mountain that was the problem, it had a bad attitude. Snow was fine, he was used to snow, but the snow up here was more ferocious, the wind more biting and the drifts more dangerous, it was unfriendly snow and it was exhausting him very quickly. The first day had been deceptively easy, the pace slow and easy, with plenty of supplies to tide them all over, but the second day on the mountain was where they’d come to this point, where it was difficult even to continue on their way.
The only thing that was keeping Merc from attacking their new companion wasn’t the difficult weather but the fact that without him Spill would potentially fail his pure of blood trial. Any other place, any other time, the so called “Count” would find a set of teeth firmly placed in his cowardly muzzle and would be quickly sent packing. He was a reminder of a life Merc had left behind, and since they had set off he had not exchanged a single word with the interloper, treating him with nothing but complete indifference and deaf ears, anything which needed to be said was relayed via the medium of Spill and Meow. The anger and irritation which riddled him kept him walking, ignoring the aches in his muscles with a delighted sort of malice. They’d get through this mess and then he’d part ways with him hopefully for ever this time. Glancing back, he sought out Meow, slowing in his pace to ask her.
“Are you doing all right? We’ll stop for the night soon, it’s just a short way till this path levels out a little, there is a cave used by travellers up that way.”
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A few months ago, I was asked to complete a model of the above-mentioned ship, the part-built model itself was certainly built to a high standard. The work so far was mostly done to the hull along with a few of the lower yards. The first task was to carefully study the drawings in order to work out exactly what had already been completed, once this had been done work could begin.
I decided to start work on the deck detailing which included some of the deck fittings along with detailing the cannons as well as some deck details and inner bulwarks etc. Once this work had been completed, I then moved onto the outer hull detailing this included the anchors plus work on the channels and the rear side windows along with the finer details on the transom. With the hull now 90% completed I moved onto finishing off the masts before making and detailing the remaining yards which were then very carefully fixed into place using the correct rig on the lifting blocks etc. Once all the yards were in position and checked for alignment the very complex work could begin with the ships rigging.
With regards to the rigging I firstly studied the several sheets of drawings to make certain of the correct procedure required to complete the rigging, the first job was to attach all the very detailed Fore and Aft stays as well as the top gallant shrouds in order to secure the mast positions. With the stays etc in place the yard lifts could now be very carefully put into position and fixed in their appropriate positions on the belaying racks etc, as you can imagine this task took quite while to complete due to the complex and detailed nature of the rigging. Now all the yard lifts were in place I could now move onto the yard braces these again took some very careful handling due to the complexity of the rigging but when completed certainly enhanced the overall finish. With the rigging now finished I then moved onto adding the finer details of the rigging by adding rope coils etc where ever necessary thus adding to the overall effect.
Now the rigging had been completed I moved onto making and adding the three ships boats to go either side and rear of the transom before adding on the ships flags thus completing the USS CONSTITUTION, the only remaining task would be to very carefully check the model all over to make sure everything is perfect prior to handing back to the customer.
At the customers request we then made and supplied a bespoke display case, so the model could be safely admired for years to come and kept dust free.
Overall this project proved to be both very satisfying and challenging at the same time. | English | NL | e0aae36307fb7f09077f091ef193854c49a18e1d04c8983262a2f799051c133e |
She sighed. “I’m sure I wouldn’t know,” she ceded, “You’re the expert.” She crossed her fingers that that would get her off of whichever toe she’d stepped on. She’d hoped he would catch the magic hint, but he seemed to have taken it as a jab instead.
Now the conversation had turned to a familiar question. The honest answer? She’d been a year behind in schooling and a wreck besides after the war started. Certification and regulation seemed less important than being in the field. In retrospect, she’d gone about it all wrong. Certification meant respect, and regulation kept you from casting the wrong curse and tarnishing your reputation for years. Hindsight is twenty-twenty.
The answer she gave was, “I’m a jack of all trades, not a specialist. People with your talent? Of course you should become official, with the Minister’s seal of approval. It probably would have helped me stay out of trouble if I’d worked for the government, but I don’t know what they would have had me doing.”
She gestured with her mug at the street, and tried for a new topic. “What brought you out this morning? Not work, I hope?”
If he hadn't caught her hint previously, he felt sure that she was a witch when she said that he should have the Minister's seal of approval. A muggle would have referred to a unit chief or someone within the legal department. The hierarchy of the Ministry of Magic was quite a bit different from how the Muggle realm worked. Perhaps a part of why Maverick had been predatory for a moment was that she appeared far younger than she was - he didn't think she was old enough to have the experiences she was claiming.
"I wish," he replied wistfully, relaxing marginally. The good news about Maverick was that he was rarely ruffled and if he was, it was very short-lived. "It's my day off and my brother bailed on me." He paused a beat, then looked back to her. "You teach at Hogwarts?" It was a gamble but he was pretty sure he read the clues right.
It seemed to work. Well, then, at least they could speak openly now. Her career sounded much more hodgepodge when it had to be coded into muggle.
She nodded. "It's going well enough, for my first year. It turns out that what fifteen years of wandering through the underbelly of the wizarding community does qualify you for is teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. It's also giving me time to focus on research, without having to dodge curses."
Settling back into her chair, she waved down the waitress for another coffee. "You're with MLE, then?" she asked, "I assume you're keeping busy." Honestly, she was surprised he was Ministry. His reaction to her not being with the Ministry was strong enough to prove it, but she didn't think he seemed the sort.
"You don't look old enough to have fifteen years experience in anything," he said, brows lifted in surprise. His words weren't meant as an insult - she looked very good. He'd put her at twenty-five at most.
"Hitwizard Demolitions Specialist," he confirmed with a cocky little smirk. It was a very specialized job title and he took a lot of pride in it, obviously.
"Thank you," she said, laughing at what she assumed was sheer flattery. To be entirely fair, her style was deceptive - just because she'd finally taken an office job didn't mean she'd give up her jeans and flannels after hours. The robes were enough of an imposition.
Her eyes lit up at the job title. "Impressive. Did you head to the Ministry straight out of Hogwarts?" It was her turn to do some guessing. He was probably a Hogwarts graduate, if she went by the accent. She had a hard time placing his age - his scars said he had plenty of experience. However, he worked with explosives, so one bad day was enough to leave a mark. He seemed like a young blood - he wore his job like a medal and was clearly itching to be back on the clock - but some guys never lost that edge.
"Just about," he shrugged. "I took a year off and traveled first. That's what you're supposed to do, right?" Maverick had enjoyed his time traveling, but he'd always been more interested in his work. Because, to him, it wasn't work. It was the thrill of danger. He took pride in what he did because not many were brave enough to do it and too many who were brave enough, lived very short lives as a result.
She nodded, then looked around the pub. It was quiet, relaxing - and something told her it wasn't living up to her implied agreement to amuse him. Now that she knew what he was, it would be easy to find shenanigans. She wasn't sure she knew where to take a muggle around here, but she knew the magical side of this neighborhood like the back of her hand.
"So, what do you do for fun?" she asked. "Besides blowing things up," she added.
Though he had a penchant for trouble, Maverick was more than amused just by meeting Gavyn. He was that high maintenance to entertain, strangely enough. The quiet of the pub was nice for a Saturday early afternoon.
"There's fun in everything I do," he smiled mischievously. "I am the fun. I'm always up for anything. Today I was meant to play some footie with my brother, but he's blown me off like an arse."
She continued to be amused by his self-estimations, but she had to admit he was fun to be around. "Thank him for me," she said. "This is the first time I've escaped grounds in two weeks. It's nice to talk to someone who isn't studying for their N.E.W.T.s." Apparation was a life saver - she'd have gone crazy by now if London wasn't just a spell away.
She nodded. "I don't know how some of the professors do it. I could never teach a class that wasn't hands-on. But recently, I've just been too tied up with work to take a break. I have the spellwork down, but the lesson planning and the dark creatures parts of the job are new to me. Keeping all the different species properly caged and fed - and keeping them from feeding on each other, or on the students during office hours - has been a puzzle." She thought about the boggart she had locked in a footlocker back in her office. Hagrid would be disappointed in her containment method, but she hadn't figured out a better way to house it yet.
"Maybe let one or two students get nibbled on and I bet the rest would stay away from them well enough on their own," he suggested with a chuckle. "See? That's why I can't be a professor. I'd probably feed really annoying kids to dark creatures once a month, like a sacrifice."
Post by trashpanda on May 22, 2018 19:46:56 GMT -5
"That would be good motivation," she said, laughing. "Worst grade for the month has to care for the Doxies. I've already been bitten twice." She rubbed her shoulder absently, where the wound was healing. She wondered if she should be letting the older students help with the caretaking - at least one of her sixth years wanted to work with dragons, and it wouldn't be bad training.
"Bastards, them," he said with a grin. Maverick wasn't a magical creatures guy - he had never taken much interest in beasts, to be honest, but he did like the ones that amused him. Blast-ended skrewts, for instance, and dragons. Doxies didn't make the cut, seeing as they didn't possess fire. "So, this is what professors get up to on their days off? Researching in muggle London?"
Post by trashpanda on May 26, 2018 12:26:13 GMT -5
“I’m running down curses and defensive spells,” she said, pointing back to the book. “I spend most of my free time trying to stay ahead of the curve - reading case reports, hunting down old spells and trying to replicate them, talking to any dark wizard that I think I can survive having coffee with. This was the fun part of my old job. I had to know who was an active threat, what they could do, and who they were in touch with. I’m doing my best not to lose my edge.”
She gave him an appraising look, and said, “You haven’t happened to come across anything new at work, have you? I’d imagine you see some of the most creative work that dark wizards have to offer.”
Teegan: For anyone not on the discord, the group thread has been started in the "Other Locations" board
May 23, 2018 2:17:56 GMT -5
Teegan: A year, a month, and three days since the last shout. Still love you all! Hope we could someday find some free time in our crazy lives to get back here. Love this place!
Jun 26, 2019 19:45:26 GMT -5 | English | NL | ce85e551bb63e94abdfd7e45fe8cdea3ba5a69d73bcd675f6e3481d3e534c6ad |
Q&A: Unsure of Parent Potential?
It is very important to remember you are still in your first trimester of pregnancy, where fatigue is still one of the most common symptoms. During this time you should give in to the fatigue and rest, instead of trying to fight it. You cannot judge yourself or compare yourself during this time because there is a great deal going on (both physically and emotionally) that is causing you to become so tired.
Being tired during pregnancy (something common in almost all pregnant moms) has nothing at all to do with how you will be as a mother. Being a good mother comes from loving and caring for your child to the best of your ability, and it has no basis on how well you clean your home. I think you are being very hard on yourself and instead of focusing on the negatives, try focusing on the positives of being tired. If you are concerned about being tired after the baby, think of ways to incorporate help into your home. Sometimes beautiful moments happen when both Mommy and baby are resting together and creating a wonderful bond. Take this alone time during pregnancy to work on fostering a new attitude and implementing a back-up plan of support during pregnancy and birth. Most of all, be good to yourself by resting, taking care of yourself, and believing in your capacity to mother. | English | NL | ae4ce7510cd3a9fed217285b57d998ad955b0d798e708048d4e0c62692f94f6b |
[LIVE REVIEW] Majical Cloudz @ The Chapel
A little while back we made an impromptu visit one of our favourite San Francisco venues, The Chapel, to see Montreal's Majical Cloudz.
As the room started filling up for the support act, She Devils (also from Montreal), what looked like a young, moustachioed Connan Mockasin stepping on to the stage in to a harsh spattering of dark electronic beats and clashes. He was then accompanied by Wynona Ryder's Lydia, commanding the audience with her slight frame and brooding stare, as she swayed around on stage like a creature risen from the grave. It was only towards the end of the set that their performance cracked for just a moment and you noticed how young and vulnerable they suddenly were.
The men of Majical Cloudz took up the same amount of space on stage, but their presence managed to reach every corner of the venue. Partly the stark, harsh appearance of front man Devon who had an awkwardness on stage that we couldn't quite tell was genuine or orchestrated, his polite manner in addressing the audience made his British skinhead look soften to that of a strange and intriguing Canadian. On keys/beats/everything else was Matt who we'd had the pleasure of meeting before briefly in New York, far more charismatic and certain in his looks and movements, he acted as back seat driver of the whole act, I became very aware of his ability to bustle on in the background cooly, while letting Devon's voice and sunken cheekbones captivate the audience in the stark lighting. Stopping before "Downtown" to explain to the audience precisely how many songs were left in their set, they carried on through the momentary audience fight that broke out, and ended the evening with Devon wailing repeatedly "I never think about dying alone", over and over again until you couldn't help wonder if it was himself he was trying to convince. | English | NL | 82e1dcf7a5f2589ebd587aed887835a30ce0a37a0fbbe579d818a17378ea5f98 |
Tayvia Danielle Ridgeway is a young developing artist from the city of Chicago. Coming from a family deeply involved with art, Tayvia’s journey with art and media making started at an early age. Tayvia uses mixed media including painting, drawing, and photography to display her creative vision. She not only creates portrait commissions for family members, but also loves to express her identity and background in her pieces. Tayvia has also created pieces for the organization After School Matters, some of which have been sold at the After School Matters branch in downtown Chicago. She also designed and painted murals for after school matters at the McCormick Place. In the future, Tayvia wishes to take her skill further, and become a well known artist. | English | NL | 80826e071fc871ce1e9e0efed4c4a2691a8bdd959f370e24de2d13bda7e0f8e6 |
At the end of May (how are we already 2 weeks into July?), we headed north towards Ripon. For a bank holiday weekend in the UK, the weather was glorious.
We arrived early afternoon, which gave us chance to explore some of the abbey ruins as well as the Studley Royal Water Gardens, and still have time for a drink and a snack.
Fountains Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery that was originally founded in 1132 by 13 Benedictine monks who were expelled after an argument from St Mary’s Abbey in York.
Some sources say they were expelled while others say they left of their own accord. Either way, they left York and landed just 3 miles from Ripon.
The Archbishop of York gave the monks the land and, in 1133, the monks applied to join the Cistercian order.
The enclosed valley that the archbishop gifted to them was an ideal source of stone, timber and running water, but it was the harsh winter of 1133 that helped their decision to make the application.
The abbey was rebuilt over the ensuing years, but an angry mob attacked the site in 1146 and burnt down all of the surrounding buildings.
For the next 200 years the monks had many problems: bad harvests; management disputes; raids from the north; and eventually, in 1348, the plague arrived.
But it was a wealthy monastery, thanks to the support of what were known as lay brothers, or labourers, who did much of the manual work so that the brothers may have more time for praying and other spiritual pastimes.
This wealth came from the production of wool, lead and stone, and the rearing of cattle and the breeding of horses. In 1539, the abbey was another casualty of the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII.
In 1550, the 500-acre-plus estate was sold by the crown and remained in private ownership until the 1960s, from whence it promptly changed hands several times.
The band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) filmed the video for Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans) (later re-titled Maid of Orleans (The Waltz of Joan of Arc) for the single release) in 1981 at Fountains Abbey, and it has also featured in the Omen series of film, as well as several television programmes and game shows.
We started our visit at Fountains Hall, which was built in the 17th century using stone from the ruined abbey. A private family home for many years, visitors today may stay in one of the holiday flats.
Through the orchard, across a bridge and via a potentially awkward gate, access can then be gained to Fountains Mill. The mill was built by the monks in the 12th century to grind grain. It was still being used in the 1920s.
There are interactive displays inside the building, which is usually open during normal abbey opening times.
From the mill we walked around the back of the abbey ruins and along the River Skell towards the spectacular Studley Royal Water Gardens.
This Georgian water garden is the main reason the property is a world heritage site.
The original valley was converted in the early 18th century by the Aislabies.
There are lots of follies at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Gardens. These include:
- the Temple of Fame
- the Octagon Tower
- the Banqueting House
- the Temple of Piety
All have their own histories, and some have been re-named, re-built and refurbished over the years.
There is also the Serpentine Tunnel, which Rufus didn’t like very much. And there are also several other features such as the High Ride, Surprise View and Anne Boleyn’s Seat. Plus there are statues and sculptures dotted along the riverside.
New for 2018 are four new outdoor works for the exhibition folly! These are:
- the Gazing Ball
- the Listening Tower
- the Cloud
At the tearooms at the Studley Water Gardens end of the estate, we paused for a snack and a drink before heading back to the main car park. It was late in the day and the shadows were starting to lengthen.
Because we arrived so late (around lunch time), we were initially turned away, with many other potential visitors, and asked to come back in half an hour. The car park, apparently, was completely full and they wanted to allow some time for it to empty a little.
Fortunately, we’d brought a picnic with us and were able to drive along the road a little and park up in what turned out to be a free overflow car park for Brimham Rocks, another National Trust property. By the time we got back, an hour had passed, and they were still turning folk away. We pointed out we’d already been sent away once and we were allowed to pull over until the supervisor turned up and said they could let people in again.
We thought that admission to Fountains Abbey and Studley Water Gardens was a little steep for non-members of the National Trust. Standard admission for 2018 is £15, and with gift-aid it’s £16.50. We’re not currently members, but we did have a gift card, courtesy of Son #2 and his girlfriend, and we were able to use that to get us in.
We walked from the visitor centre to the tea rooms in the water garden via the old mill and the river and back. This was a total of 4.3 miles. We walked almost 17,000 steps, and we burnt more than 750 calories. | English | NL | b67f30ec28a59654a57cbbf063b0269fed4a1513f631364f5df7fb5d8c4ef114 |
With the 500th anniversary of Flodden and the 700th anniversary of Bannockburn behind us, you should know that Scotland is being invaded by the English yet again.
It is the old familiar story, a great gathering of the English host just over the Border in Northumberland and Cumbria, then at the critical moment a decisive push north.
You should also know that the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway have already fallen, and a two-pronged thrust is sure to claim Ayrshire and the Lothians. After that, who knows where they will turn up next, for it seems that where they encounter no competition and no resistance their northwards spread is proceeding at remarkable speed.
All of a sudden there they were, wearing their black Lone Ranger masks
I have seen them this autumn at Kilmahog near Callander, skulking upside-down in the woods by the Leny. They were part of an advance raiding party, I would guess, just two of them disguised by the fact that they were in a mixed flock of sparrows, finches, spotted flycatchers and tree creepers. And all of a sudden there they were, upside down on the same trunk, wearing their black Lone Ranger masks and decked out in the ancestral colours of their race – blue and white and a faded pinky orange.
Nuthatches. What did you think I was talking about?
It was a dull day, it had just begun to rain, and I had discovered that my waterproof jacket was in the car rather than the rucksack. I retreated into the generous hospitality of an oak with a substantial and multi-layered canopy, and watched more or less unscathed while the rain thundered into the river. Just as it began to ease I heard the flutter and cheep of small birds high in the canopy, and there are few more frustrating ways to watch birds than to stare up through cross-hatchings of leafy, dripping branches or into falling rain.
The nearest of the flock were an adult spotted flycatcher and one of its fledglings demanding food it looked quite capable of catching for itself. I had an unobscured view for all of ten seconds. Then a tree creeper drifted down looking a little like a discarded autumn leaf until it attached itself to the base of an oak and began bouncing upwards, slowly spiralling up the trunk as it climbed. Then I saw it passing a nuthatch on the way down.
Nuthatches seem to be mostly upside down
If you don’t know nuthatches (and the chances are that unless you live south of the M8 you don’t), they seem to be mostly upside down. They sort of do what tree creepers do, but as often as not they do it going down the tree trunk, head first. I have never read or heard of a convincing explanation of why they do that, but it does look rather odd. I was trying to think of other species that do it, and all I have come up with is squirrels.
They possess an uncanny ability to look upwards while their bodies are pointing vertically downwards
They share with tree creepers the character traits of disproportionately large feet and beak. They also possess an uncanny ability to look forward or even upwards while their bodies are pointing vertically downwards, which suggests an unusually flexible neck.
The nuthatch I was watching stopped in its downwards upside-down journey and did just that, lifted its head beyond the horizontal then turned it sideways to look back up the tree it was descending, and following its line of vision I found the second nuthatch ten feet higher up, and upside down, naturally.
The rain grew vigorous again and the birds disappeared with the rest of the flock, which I could see scurrying away through gaps in the treetops, and I was left to my own thoughts, which included the realisation that this was the first nuthatch I had ever seen in the Highlands, albeit only a mile or so in. But a few weeks before, my friend Polly Pullar had one in her garden near Aberfeldy, and another friend, Keith Graham, had one in his garden near Port of Menteith just to the south of the Highland Edge. One has lingered from time to time in Balquhidder Glen a few miles to the north.
The south of Scotland only recorded its first confirmed breeding in 1989
None of that is conclusive proof of a determined effort to colonise the southernmost Highlands, but it fuels the intrigue with which Scottish ornithologists have regarded the nuthatch for a very long time. The south of Scotland only recorded its first confirmed breeding in 1989, and it was only in the 1960s that nuthatches moved into Northumberland and Cumberland, both of which apparently filled up within about 25 years. Scotland’s Border country is now host to a substantial coast-to-coast population, with particular strongholds at the Hirsel and at Floors Castle. The last time I saw nuthatches (which was also the first time) was near Berwick a few years ago where an estate had set up a bird-feeding station. I counted about twenty in no time at all.
But there is some evidence to suggest that this is not so much a new colonisation as a return to old haunts. Statistical Accounts both old and new have placed the bird in Kenmore, and in 1807 at Tannadice in Angus. Throughout the 19th century there are periodic records that hint at the possibility of a settled population. The Duke of Argyll, who for reasons best known to himself tried (and failed) to introduce American red-winged blackbirds at Inverary in the 1870s, had another go, this time with nuthatches, in 1879. The outcome is recorded in a letter dated February 1889:
“I may mention that I have failed also in, perhaps, a more likely attempt which was to introduce into the large woods of this place the Common English Nuthatch. I got from a Dealer in birds at Brighton a good many couple of these birds and turned them out in most suitable tracts of old timber. Not one of them was ever seen again.”
The Scottish nuthatch population continues to double itself every two years
It is perhaps worth pointing out to the present Duke that on the off chance his mind is straying in the same direction as his ancestor, he will be well advised just to wait, because if, as seems likely, the Scottish nuthatch population continues to double itself every two years, they will be around sooner rather than later.
The Tay could also see a huge influx over the next few years
Two things seem to be essential to their conquest of new territory. One is mature deciduous woodland, especially oak woods (and there is good evidence from the Borders that if there are good supplies of yew trees around, so much the better) and they consistently turn up in old country estates and in ancient woods on steep river banks. The other is rivers. The original Scottish Borders population expanded by way of the Tweed and its tributaries. The Annan has conducted them from the Solway as far north as Moffat. The Forth would appear to be propelling them towards the Trossachs, and if Killin, Aberfeldy and Angus are on their radar (and there are records in the 1970s from Invergowrie on the edge of Dundee and from Perth) then the Tay could also see a huge influx over the next few years.
There were many sporadic records along the Highland Edge through the 60s and 70s, enough for some ornithologists to consider the possibility that there had been a small and unseen resident population towards the north of the central lowlands, but if that is true, what happened to it? No-one knows, which rather adds to the intrigue factor that surrounds the bird.
Not much in the wildwood is blue
This time, it looks as if the nuthatch is here to stay, which is a delightful prospect for several reasons. Firstly, it is a little charmer, and brings a splash of unusual small bird colour to our woods and bird feeders. Not much in the wildwood is blue. It also has a slightly villainous aspect because of the black-mask-like eyestripe. Secondly, it has a novel feeding technique of jamming a nut into tree bark then hammering it with its beak (the nuthatch beak is a hammer whereas the tree creeper’s is a down-curved sickle). Thirdly, there is that upside down thing, which simply makes you smile like an idiot.
They like old woodpecker holes to nest in, and they can be induced into bird boxes. They are prolific – anything between six and twelve eggs. They use mud to remodel the sides of the hole to the width of one nuthatch, a means of deterring larger predators, although I can’t see dried mud holding out for long against a pine marten like the one that had left its signature in the middle of the small path along the edge of the Kilmahog woods. They have been known to overdo the mud work so that the nest hole becomes too narrow for a nuthatch, a level of competence that brings my own DIY capabilities effortlessly to mind.
So bring on the English, I say, and let’s do what we always do, which is to welcome them with open arms.
- Unlike the tree creeper, which only moves up the trunk of a tree, nuthatches will move both up and down.
- Large gardens with oak trees provide the best habitat for the birds.
- The name of the species comes from nut hacker, reflecting the bird’s method of opening up nuts by jamming them into a crevice then hammering at them with their beak.
- The birds seldom travel far from where they hatch and are very territorial. | English | NL | 75d57fe1bebb12f74e9cd653b0ca07422c56484f30f4c150a16c466d64df1e52 |
Title Significance of “Twilight in Delhi”
Title of the novel is self-explanatory; it expresses the main theme i.e. decay of culture and downfall of Mughal Empire. Twilight is the time of day just after the sunset and before dawn when the sun is about to set. Ahmed Ali spreads light on the historical background of Muslim society. It was the time when Muslim culture was mingled with British culture. The writer has created a single family for this purpose, through which, he portrays a true picture of Delhi in its true perspective. The novel creates an image of the time when neither the British people were in charge of Delhi nor Muslims were totally exterminated. Ahmed Ali, while explaining the subject matter of the Novel says:-
“… My purpose was to depict a phase of our national life and the decay of a whole culture, a particular mode of thought and living, now dead and gone already right before our eyes.”
Certainly, the novel is about the decay of a whole culture. The setting of the novel is of that time when British were going to rule over the city of Delhi. This is why Ahmed Ali has chosen the word twilight as it was the time when Muslim values were about to decay but the same were not entirely decayed. Let’s find out whether the title justifies the novel or not?
Mir Nihal could not understand what was happening to his culture and to his people. Things were not going right as expected. Muslims were about to lose their identity but it was not certain. Like Mir Nihal, every Muslim family was not sure about their decline. The word twilight also refers vagueness, when things cannot be seen clearly. We observe in the novel that the downfall of Muslims was not certain to Mir Nihal. Old order was going to be replaced with new system but it was ambiguous. Even his son became his rival in this regard. He was unsure that whether British are responsible for their downfall or his own nation is to be blamed. Hence, the uncertainty of Mir Nihal wants clarity in understanding the situation of Muslims. In this way, the time of twilight is the time when things are not clear as nothing was clear to Mir Nihal.
Muslims have ruled out Delhi for many years. They have created their own culture and have their own beliefs. Where there is religion, there are superstition beliefs; therefore, they were also present in Muslim society of Delhi. Ahmed Ali, through, Mir Nihal’s family, demonstrates the whole Muslim class. In other words, Mir Nihal is the representative of the whole Muslim culture in Delhi at the time of Mughal Empire. Their culture is their identity, therefore, they cannot forget it. Mir Nihal and his family is sticked to their old values. He cannot forgive his son when he adopts English lifestyle. He wants his son to follow the tradition; a tradition, which has been given by his ancestors and the culture, which they left for him. He forces his family to follow the conventional lifestyle and not to accept the foreign culture. Pigeon flying, visiting Kotha, enjoying prostitutions and poetry-mehfil was included in that culture. Moreover, women were bound to kitchen works, whereas it was the duty of men to earn bread to take care of their families. Decay of this culture fills everyone’s life with darkness; the darkness which prevail the light just after the twilight.
If the universality of the novel, for the sake of arguments, is ignored, even then the title of the novel is justified. Meaning thereby, if Mir Nihal is not the representative of Muslim class and the novel is just a simple story of an individual even then the title suits the novel. Mir Nihal in start of the novel is an affluent person, who has control not only over his family but also on the people of vicinity. He is living a prosperous life but at the end we witness his adverse life. We know that at the time of twilight, light ends and darkness prevails everything. Similar is the case with the life of Mir Nihal, in the start of novel, his life was full of light (a symbol of hope), whereas at the end, his life is filled with darkness.
With the arrival of British, everything was shattered. Mir Nihal was well aware with the fact that new generation is not going to continue his culture. Ahmed Ali first creates pen picture of Muslim civilization and then at the end shows its decline, which is mournful for Muslims. Like Chinua Achebe, Ahmed Ali has also created a true picture of colonialism. With the expansion of colonialism, many nations have lost their identities including Muslims but it is not the case that they have been forced to adopt the British identity. In case of Delhi, Muslims allowed the British to rule them for more than two hundred years. In fact, after reading the whole novel, it can be adjudged that Muslims have open-heartedly accepted the British invasion and their culture. The character of Asghar Ali is remarkable example of the same. Mir Nihal, the protagonist of the novel, rebukes his son not to adopt the British lifestyle but he deliberately does the same.
British influx created a hybrid culture in Delhi city. The culture was neither totally of Muslims nor was it of British but the hotchpotch of these two nations. Ahmed Ali has rightly chosen the word twilight in title of the novel as it is the time when the sun is at the horizon and the time can neither be expressed as day nor evening but the mixture of both.
The word twilight does not need any explanation. From the word, we can imagine the theme of novel. Literally, it has means for faint light, just after the sun goes down but symbolically, it refers many other things. It suggests the era between downfall of Muslims and rise of British Empire. It also symbolizes the decline of a culture and its replacement with the new one. It also suggests the meaning of vagueness. It also shows the decline of life from light to darkness. Thus, these are the reasons, due to which, Ahmed Ali has chosen the title “Twilight in Delhi” for his novel. | English | NL | a0460d3276f65e5d51c804ecdcc516b5a6eaca5e7738d346417f33072d8b3047 |
Maynard Monsen started in the topsoil business in 1933 with a ’26 International truck that carried a generous 2 cubic yards. Maynard worked for his father, who owned the Monsen Coil Company. In those days, topsoil had to be shoveled by hand.
The spring of 1938 brought with it a shiny new Black Ford dump truck. It was at this time that Maynard Monsen set up a garden stand on 76th and Capital Drive in Milwaukee, WI. This was the home for the Monsen’s until 1964.
By the spring of 1941, the company continued to grow and it was time for another new Ford dump truck, this time in the shade of maroon. It was quite the truck for its time with a two speed rear axle and a Mercury engine. Tom Monsen, Maynard's son, recalled riding in it to deliver soil to Hawk's Nursery shed. (Horses were kept in the shed at Hawk’s which were used for working their land).
In 1952, the Monsen’s purchased the first Lindig soil shredder in Milwaukee. The Lindig made pulverized topsoil possible, keeping the business ahead of the times.
Maynard retired in 1972 to his home in West Field, WI. His retirement toys included two Ford tractors, a D4 bulldozer, a road grader, and a dump truck.
Tom Monsen took over in 1972 with his wife Janis who was the chief order taker and book keeper. Their two sons, Bobby and Jimmy, were the truck drivers.
Today, Monsen Trucking has expanded above and beyond Maynard’s vision. The Company is currently in its 3rd and 4th generations of the Monsen Family. Now run by Tom's sons, Bobby and Jimmy and their sons, Matthew and David, they currently employ over 20 employees year round with a large fleet of top of the line trucks to match. Monsen Trucking stays ahead of the times and will continue to grow in the future. | English | NL | a60e6029309efa2bf8d88d0821e3efb6190a58205f8acde95f425cb4407183c7 |
“But I like being bad,” she pouted, giving him a come-hither promise of something… naughty.
He growled against her lips, knowing just how bad she could be.
After a quick fumble with clothing, Matthew found himself sitting on a stump with her on his lap, her skirt up, his cock sliding in and out of a place wet, hot, and needy for him.
Tongue dancing between her lips, Matthew kissed his golden girl, grunting when she squeezed around him and made that little noise of pleasure he loved. Urging her on, he felt his wife come so quickly it was glorious.
For Charlie, it was one of her more blissful releases, extended and splendid. When she felt him stiffen and spill his seed a few moments later, she watched that perfect man groan.
“My God, woman.” There would never be enough of her; Matthew would always want more. “There ain’t no way I am ever letting you go.”
Pressing her lips to his, she offered a very wicked leer and whispered, “I’m going swimming again tomorrow… naked. You can join me if you want to.”
* * *
The baby came a couple of months later. Being the difficult woman she was, Charlie hid the earliest pains of labor, rocking in her chair with Gus on her lap as she hoped the nearby radio concealed her muffled groans.
They’d argued about where the infant would be born, Matthew demanding the hospital twenty miles down the road, Charlie saying it would happen right there in their fine house. They had come to a shaky compromise that the local doctor would be sent for and she could have her way. But Charlie did not trust him to keep his word, keenly aware of Matthew’s constant need to mollycoddle her.
“You can stop pretendin’, Charlotte,” he grunted, a puff of cigar smoke leaving his mouth. “I can see plain as day what’s going on.”
“If you try to drag me to the hospital, I will knock you upside the head,” she grunted out, teeth clenched, as another contraction crept through her. After a few panting breaths, she pleaded, “They won’t let you stay with me at the hospital.”
That was all she had to say to get him to nod in agreement. “I’ll send Nathaniel for the doctor.”
“And Gertrude!” Charlie added. “Men don’t know squat about having a baby. I want her here.”
When news spread that Charlie was in labor, all the clan came to the fine new house. Ruth and Gertrude were above stairs with the doctor, the three Emersons below. Matthew was quiet, ignoring the teasing of his kin as he endured the sounds of pain coming from his bedroom.
He’d stayed by her side for hours, he’d seen her pain… until Gertrude shooed him off.
It was nigh on midnight when the first lusty screams of his firstborn filled the house. The dark glower on Matthew’s face crumbled, a delighted smile came in its place. He stood and walked right up the stairs.
Charlie lay in their bed, hair damp with sweat but face glowing. In her arms she cradled their bawling little boy. Pushing past the doctor and ignoring the women, Matthew sat by her and reached out a hand to touch the baby’s clenched fist, instantly quieting the little one as he always could. | English | NL | 4761b0ddbc92df5e6975f0e3a0a048a9b2c6991cfbdc192eeba8cf8d0434b88c |
I posted some of my old work on Flickr at last. Old pieces that I found photographs of. As I don't have a scanner (well not a working one) I had to snap them with my digi camera, which never looks good, but I did promise quite a few folk that I'd get some of these pieces up for viewing.
All these pieces are from 1992-93. The bowl is raku fired, I wish I had a view from the top where the hole is, that's the nicest part. It's completely black and smooth inside and the outside creamy with lots of cracked texture and at the top the coiled show with very fine sliced lines all round them and brown colouring. I was in my neutral phase with those pieces.
Hanging over the edge is a whale charm made from fused copper and silver. I think there are 9 charms, 3 each attached to 3 blackened silver chains. I was (and still am) very interested in seeds and pods but also in the sea so I studied shells and whales (which in a group make a pod, I like the word play there). I was studying at NSCAD in Canada when I made the charm. I think it was for a project called 'Relics for the Future' which really suited me as I had previously been making pieces that were meant to look as if they had been dug up and were all partially decayed. I love to see wear and tear on things, age can be so beautiful.
The second photo shows a small experimental piece (approx. 15cm) made based on drawings combining shells and pods. I wasn't all that pleased with it so when I did the final larger one I made it without the prongs and had an undulating edge instead (will show that soon I hope).
It's entirely made from scrap copper and the silver wastage (filing, trimmings etc.) from fellow jewellers as it was about that time that I started to become more seriously concerned about the environment. I was really horrified when I realised what terrible damage silver and copper mines do (not to mention gold) and so I decided to try and only work with waste so I would be adding to the demand for such things. I used to absolutely love going to the scrap yard hunting for copper, though I inevitably came back with anything but... I have some very interesting bits of 'things'.
With most of my work I like to work with texture creating most areas in a very rough way and then bringing up a few smaller bits to the smoothest shine. Unfortunately these photos aren't good enough to show this, I need to re-take the items I have when I unpack. | English | NL | 498d98cd3c5a5760c23916c92a65d62cb0494549de00cb09ba64cb8bab8ea5d7 |
Featuring Assistance League of Los Angeles’s member spotlight:
How did Fluff become involved with the League?
Fluff McLean joined the Assistance League of Los Angeles in 1978 after retiring from the banking industry. She became a member of the Nine O’clock Players auxiliary because they mirrored her talents and community service passions. Fluff’s professions began in her childhood (teaching piano lessons at age 13 and modeling by age 18) which served as an segue to her appreciation of theatrical arts. In her adult years, Fluff and her husband Sandy, opened their home and heart by sponsoring 5 foster children over the span of 18 years and maintains relationships with them to this day. She continues to share her skills and passions as a lifetime member of the Assistance League of Los Angeles.
What is Fluff’s fondest memory while serving at the League?
McLean played a princess in her first play. Other members advised against looking directly at the audience; rather an actor’s role is to bring the audience into magic on the stage. During her first performance, Fluff did not heed this advice and took notice of the first row with handicapped children including a boy with no arms or legs. Filled with empathy, she gave choked up and had difficulty delivering her lines. That was the moment she realized the importance of this organization.
What is something many people do not know about Fluff?
She plays ten different instruments (piano, organ, violin, viola, cello, clarinet, saxophone) and even played violin with the Glendale Symphony at age 14. Fluff’s father’s band played for the pageant where her mother was crowned Miss. Montana. Her paternal grandfather came to America from Yugoslavia during the Gold Rush and her grandmother called her “Fluff” at first sight- a name that she has been known as throughout her life.
What is the most valuable advice Fluff has given?
McLean told the foster children she sponsored and music students to “never compare yourselves to anyone because everyone is unique” and “if someone says you can’t – do it anyway. Prove them wrong!” These deep rooted principals in persistence explain the reason Fluff’s favorite song is “Climb Every Mountain” from the Sound of Music.
If Fluff could have dinner with one person, who would it be?
Fluff promptly replied that it would depend on who’s cooking then stated that she would like to dine with her father who suddenly passed away when she was 25 years old. She misses him and would like to share what she has accomplished in her life.
Fluff, we are sure your father would be proud of your achievements and heartfelt efforts helping Los Angeles’ youth.
Thank you, Fluff, for being an exemplary Assistance League of Los Angeles member. | English | NL | a6bac6abc2df4760c5552664f9d372fbd57ff63a60e99b677596b1bfab662041 |
The James Gang was in the second tier of rock acts from the perspectives of popularity and record sales. However, the James Gang had their moments, their fans and the acknowledgement of those who made it bigger.
“Walk Away” was the band’s big hit. The first 40 seconds of the clip above is probably as good an example of pure 1970s garage band rock as there is.
The James Gang was formed in 1966 in Cleveland. The most famous alumni is Joe Walsh, who went on to greater fame as a member of The Eagles and has had a successful solo act. Walsh joined the James Gang in 1968. Things quickly got interesting:
One night in May, 1968, on the way to Detroit for a show at the Grande Ballroom opening for Cream, half the band quit. Needing the money to pay for gas to get home, the James Gang took the stage as a trio, and Joe was forced to learn on the fly how to carry rhythm and lead duties simultaneously. It proved a revelation.
The band therefore after was a trio. It developed a following and got a record deal. Its 1969 debut album was cleverly titled “Yer Album.”
A lesser known alum of the James Gang is Tommy Bolin. Bolin was quite a musician. Most notably – and least surprisingly – Bolin was a member of Deep Purple. But he clearly was a fine musician whose skills went far beyond rock. Before joining the James Gang, Bolin played with legendary jazz drummer Billy Cobham on an album called Spectrum, according to Wikipedia. It was the big leagues: Cobham and others on the album were members of John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Bolin also was an established session man who played with a long list of well-known musicians. He indeed was versatile: In addition to hard rock and cutting edge jazz, Bolin recorded a song, “Owed to G,” which Wikipedia says is a tribute to George Gershwin. Unfortunately, Bolin died in 1969. The cause of death was a drug overdose.
Another hit by The James Gang was “Funk 49.” The video below features Bolin and seems as much an odd dream sequence as a rock video. | English | NL | 156b37b203fc0c08771cab34b0a5144ae5f6add3be94ed56fe13f184c43abdfa |
Why did God decide to change the people's language was the question raised as the study examined this particular chapter of Scripture. Looking through the chapter we discover the reason mankind wanted to establish a city and build a large tower was to ensure that they would not be scattered across the face of the earth. It's interesting to note, that their fear was exactly what came upon them. The Bible does not tell us how the people knew that God was intending for them to populate the entire world but we would speculate that this was a direct teaching handed down to them from Noah. Prior to coming to the plain of Shinar the people had been nomadic travellers having left the area where the Ark settled at Mount Ararat.
The decision they made to want to stay together was a conscious decision despite God's direct instructions to the contrary. It is interesting to note that God allowed the building of the tower to be established. It was only when it became apparent that people were going to remain in disobedience that he determined to change their language and scatter them over the face of the Earth.
Within our discussions a number of suggestions were made as to how God subsequently scattered the people. The funniest being that God beamed them to different parts of the world similar to how it would have been done in Star Trek. While the Bible doesn't actually tell us how God moved people to the different areas of the world it seems reasonable to conclude that they made the move themselves. Some people have difficulty understanding why the people would have chosen to separate after their language had changed specially as it is obvious today that we humans have the capacity to learn different languages. The answer to the question however is very simple the spirit that was influencing the people to stay together in opposition to God's will is the same spirit we see in nations today. That spirit creates suspicion and fear of any individuals who it perceives as being different from the Society it is working within. Once the language had changed and every individual family could only communicate with each other then the fear and suspicion this created forced each individual family grouping to seek to isolate themselves thus forming the nation's and cultures that were to dominate the ancient world.
It is interesting in Acts chapter 2 that one of the gifts evident at the coming of the Holy Spirit allowed the disciples to be heard by every nation language and tongue even though these speakers were speaking Aramaic within their own local dialect as Galileans.
'When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. 'How can this be?' they exclaimed. 'These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! Here we are 'Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!' They stood there amazed and perplexed. 'What can this mean?' they asked each other.'
It is interesting to note that the new Testament does not indicate a repeat of this particular miracles being experienced with any of the other apostles when they were evangelising the Gentile nations..
The subject matter of Genesis chapter 11 now changes to explore the geology of Abram and the main item of interest is the decline of the age mankind is now living to. Prior to the flood Methuselah lived to be 969 years old while Abram's father Terah only lived to be 205 years old.
On a final note the very last verses of chapter 11 tells us that, 'One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram's wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran's child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there. Terah lived for 205 years here are and died while still in Haran.'
Terah was heading for Canaan the very place that God would subsequently send Abram to explore as it was to become an inheritance of his descendants. As Abram was not approached by God until after the death of his father it would be reasonable to speculate that God originally called Terah but because of his unwillingness to continue God waited until this individual died before offering the opportunity to his son Abram.
Jesus said "many are called but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:16), here we have an example of those words in action. Terah was called and given the opportunity to go to Canaan with his family but only went so far, he did not finish the journey. On Terah's death, Abram also received the call and showed that he had also been chosen by completing the journey as instructed. Abram is known as the father of the faithful, that is to say, those who will obey God and finish their journey of faith.
William Andrews is a regular Christian preacher/speaker within churches across Northern Ireland. He lives in one of the very few dry villages in Ireland called Seskinore, has been married to Caroline for 38 blissful years and has two daughters Charlene (37) and Rachel (23). The year 2008 proved to be an exciting year for the family as Charlene got married to Dominic in September 08 and they had their first child Phoebe Rose on 30th November 2009. A second grandchild, Ruby Caroline was born on 23rd April 2013. | English | NL | 551a8a3928004f8150bf37dad043de02eca77ee3d6edae91090a13f00e95477b |
He woke up to complete darkness. There were a few moments of panic before he remembered where he was and why the darkness was what awaited his waking eyes. Even though he went in voluntarily, he was scared of the possibility of waking up to complete darkness every day. Three knocks, two knocks, three knocks, he remembered. He took a deep breath and started knocking.
He heard footsteps and mumbling coming from the other side. Suddenly a burst of light forced him to shut his eyes. He was hoping it was his friends who were in the brightness and not anyone else.
“Wow, you actually made it... can’t believe it really worked!” exclaimed a familiar voice with excitement. “Come on out buddy.”
He opened his eyes a bit, squinting just enough to make out the silhouette of a man offering his hand. He grabbed the offered hand and took a step out. His weak legs were unable to carry his weight and when he was sure that he would fall, he was grabbed by the person next to him.
“It’s alright buddy. You haven’t moved in weeks and your body is kind of messed up, it will take some getting used to.”
Weeks?? It couldn’t have been that long. He assumed he would have felt rested if he had been unconscious for that amount of time. He wondered how many weeks it had been, but couldn’t find the strength to speak. Even breathing was taking effort. And how messed up was his body? He knew they would take out pieces, but how much did they actually remove?
His eyes were getting used to the light and he could see his long, very long, time friend carrying him to the vehicle they put together decades ago.
As they made their way through the open field, both his senses and strength started making their way back. “How long?” he asked, clearing his throat. “How long have I been...?”
“A little more than 3 weeks, we thought you would come out of it in a few days. We were starting to think you were gone for good. The scientists apparently messed some of stuff up. After a week had passed they re-checked each calculation and datum, and realized the damn excel sheet converted one of the genes into a date. They’ll be happy to see you’re alright. Better than dead.”
A wheelchair was brought out for him when they arrived. Pride told him to reject the wheelchair and try to walk in looking strong, but logic and reality made him thankful it was brought out and he got into the wheelchair with the help of his friend.
“...All of our members have faced these questions, yet only a few have reached a decision.
You have come here and opened your minds. These questions are burdens to carry as long as you live. For this I would like to apologize to you. And now, I would like to officially welcome you all.
Welcome to Ohm.”
His eyes caught Arsinoe’s as she finished her speech. She turned back to the crowd and calmly addressed them;
“Well, you are a lucky bunch. Today is a special day. One of our volunteers has undergone many transformations and horrors to make our hopes a reality some day. He is now unique on this Earth. He is no longer registered. No trackers, no serial numbers, no identifiers. He is considered by everyone and every system in place to be deceased. I wish we could shout out his name, but for reasons of security he will from now on go by the name he chose for himself. Please join me in welcoming back ‘Uncle’.”
The newbies looked confused and disturbed at the state of him, but applauded anyway. He remembered his confusion when he was given the speech on his first day. Even though he didn’t get to see anyone whose body probably looked like an overused cadaver, he had never thought he would be one of the martyrs or volunteers. He had thought he would just be working in the background. Funny how things play out. He smiled.
His wheelchair started moving again, towards, he realized, the health centre.
He saw some scientists along the way catching glimpses of him and sighing with relief and crying and smiling all at the same time. They must have been going mad with guilt.
“Look at you, still barely breathing” said the only doctor they had, jokingly. He never understood why she joined Ohm. The Doctor was intelligent and a part of the STEM crowd. The Doctor would be able to live pure forever. Isn’t that what everyone wanted?
“Luckily you didn’t have many tech parts. But still, it will take some time to fix your body, even with the formula. During that time we will start on your physiotherapy to make up for the muscle loss.”
He nodded in agreement as if he had a choice while the doctor drew some blood.
“I will get you into surgery in a little while, after that you need to rest to make sure your body heals properly.”
The Doctor’s calm voice was interrupted by Arsinoe’s distressed one. “Welcome back. I am afraid I need to give you some bad news. Your niece has gone through with the complete conversion. She is a complete tech now. We were following her every move as you had asked us to and she requested a hand function update. In the middle of it all, she opted for the complete conversion. There was nothing we could do.”
That was it then. His entire family was gone now. He loved his niece as if she was his own daughter. He’d always tried his best to make sure she would never become complete tech. He felt guilty for being, in a sense, dead for so long that he couldn’t keep an eye on her. He felt like it was his fault. But melancholy would not help him now. He made an effort to divert his sadness into anger towards the pure ones. It was so easy to do.
“I ...” he coughed “I don’t..” he started coughing again.
The Doctor interfered “Don’t try to talk now, there is oedema around your vocal chords. Talking will only cause pain. You will have more than enough time to talk when you are healed.” Then she turned to Arsinoe “I don’t think this is the time or place to discuss these things. Don’t you have some orientation to do somewhere?”
He always found it funny that the two pure women of Ohm couldn’t stand each other’s existence. They probably both wanted to be the only pure woman around. They were also polar opposites. Whereas the Doctor was caring and warm towards everybody, Arsinoe was usually referred to as the Iron Lady. Seeing Arsinoe give a sincere smile was a rare sight.
“Fine” said Arsinoe, “I will see you in a couple of days Uncle” and walked out.
The machines started beeping moments after she left. The Doctor looked at the blood results and exclaimed “Brilliant! We can start the surgery now. I know you have been awake for a very little time but I need to put you back to sleep again. I will see you soon.”
As he inhaled the gas from the mask, he thought of his family. All of them were slaves now. All of them lost forever. While his eyes were closing, his last thought was “Wish I never woke up.” | English | NL | 669481b510e8a7de9fc64615b1554dfac5097e92224e1799e94f483aef2d7838 |
Just another one of those speaking of which moments.
“MY LACK OF THOUGHTS YESTERDAY GOT ME THINKING ABOUT THINKING.
THINKING TOO MUCH CAN BE COUNTER PRODUCTIVE.
SOMETIMES IT IS GOOD TO CLEAR YOUR MIND OF THOUGHTS, RELAX, LOSE YOURSELF IN THE MOMENT AND JUST RIDE. IT IS AMAZING HOW MANY THINGS CAN JUST FALL INTO PLACE WHEN YOU DO THIS.”
Several years ago, I was riding a young, long legged sorrel horse for a friend who did not have the time to work him. He was at the time that I started riding him, lightly started under saddle. He knew how to go, turn, and stop, mostly, and had not been ridden outside of the round pen very much. I had been riding him for a good little while and he was making some good progress on most things. Teaching him his leads was hard for him for some reason or another and keeping them from becoming an issue or a complex for him was a little bit of work. Eventually he seemed to have them figured out. Or so it would have seemed.
One particular windy day in a busy arena, he apparently forgot the whole left and right lead concept. We had all the pieces seemingly snugly in his brain, but he just could not, on that day, put them together. Or I could not. We both started to get a little flustered at the situation when my friend and owner of the horse spoke out, “Just get his hip, keep the shoulder, and ask him again. Just ride.” A voice of reason when I could not seem to find my own. It was just what we needed to pick up the correct lead. The colt powered away, unsure of whether or not he had done the correct thing and again, my friend’s voice came to me, “Just ride, sit down and just ride. Let him come back.”
Both in life and horses, you just need to ride it out sometimes.
Make a mistake? Just ride. Ask and try again.
Road get a little bumpy? Just ride till it gets smooth.
Life changing? Just ride and let it. Don’t stand in the way.
Storm on the horizon? Have faith and just ride. Storms never last.
Rain, winter, and a busy schedule keep you from riding as much as you normally do? Just look up, ride through, and remember, this too shall pass. | English | NL | daa72c599cecd9496b2d7a3222089c526fa9b9d290943e2045fa2e1fbd396988 |
Gina is from South Carolina and began studying piano at the age of 7. She continued to pursue music and received a Bachelor of Music degree from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia with an emphasis in piano performance and music education. For the past 20 years Gina has taught music in public and private schools in Texas, Arizona, California, South Carolina, and Malawi, Central Africa. During this time she has also taught private piano lessons, classroom piano keyboard classes and been an accompanist for various schools and churches. Gina was recognized for her teaching skills in 2012 when she was presented with the Teacher of the Year award from Hursey Elementary School in North Charleston.
Gina also has a graduate degree in education that specializes in curriculum and instruction. This degree has enabled Gina to apply uniquely created instruction to music students as well as developing special music curriculum designed to meet individual student needs, | English | NL | 08813a67b20ed28545aab52bc516e48b074d5cccdf375e5f1cada0f4377c71da |
February 23 Day 54
God Chose You
'He chose us. He predestined us. He gave us life. He redeemed us. He gave us our faith. He saved us from our mindsets that separate and war with each other. He made us righteous. He loved us. He is in us. He is at work within us. God is sovereign. Yes, He is a gentleman. '
WE ARE ONE <3
He also knows what is best for us and will work us within His plan. That is how everything will work out for our good in the end. If we say we have total free will then God is not sovereign. God is not a person. There is no he or him. :-) Ye are Gods!
♥ ♥ ♥
Ephesians 1:4, "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him." | English | NL | be98937fece8db54406cbe54c905a41d1857c7d0f3163899c96e1ddfa7d66964 |
Now spectacles or glasses as they’re commonly known, have been a concern of mine for as long as I can remember.
In the first instant my great , great grandfather William Howe appears in the 1835 edition of Pigot & Co’s Commercial Directory. as a Spectacle and Tobacco box maker in Oxford Street Wolverhampton.
Secondly, as I’ll explain later, I have been terribly short sighted throughout my life until 2 years ago when I had cataracts removed from both eyes; What a Joy!
The earliest mention of a spectacle manufacturer in Wolverhampton I have found is in the Staffordshire Directory from 1818.
There were ten Spectacle case and Tobacco box makers, and six spectacle frame makers, some of which also made lenses.
The earliest Directory I discovered which actually included named opticians amongst the frame makers, was from 1856 and it included this gentleman – John Rowley of Lewis Street, close to his Graisley Brook Works.
Now I think in this day and age it is amazing that the same skilled optical service can be obtained in Wolverhampton on the same site 150 years after it came in to practice. I am referring to the opticians at 44 Lichfield Street.
There was a magazine article on care of the eyes written in the 1920’s, regarding the reckless manner in which some people take chances with their sight.
The article finished with this paragraph: “Our Wolverhampton readers of course will be in no doubt as to were in their district treatment of this highly skilled nature can be obtained. Wolverhampton’s leading optical service is that of Messrs H. Blackham & Son whose headquarters are at 44 Lichfield Street.”
Now I personally don’t believe they started their long time business actually here in Lichfield Street. Perhaps the date 1863 for their commencement in business is correct but the location of Lichfield Street, could be out.
The first mention I have found of them in any directory is five years after the said commencement, and they are listed at 3 Graisley Street in the Staffordshire Directory in 1868.
Bold Regarding Old Lichfield Street
Now, it is possible they spent the first five years of their existence here in Lichfield Street until moving to Graisley Street, but I doubt it.
These buildings were on their last legs in 1863, and in 1881 all these houses and shops were pulled down under the artisans scheme.
And if further proof is needed… In August 1883 the first shop was opened in the new Lichfield Street; the one we know today.
If you look at their advert
This advert for H. Blackham appeared in Alfred Hindes Directory the following year 1884, stating at the bottom right they are late of 64 Queen Street..
I think this proves they have been in existence 150 years and in the same premises in Lichfield Street 130 years, which I must say is some accomplishment.
By the end of the first World War This opticians founded by the then late Mr Henry Blackham had grown to be the largest organisation of its kind in Wolverhampton.
In addition to having this large private practice Messrs Blackham were also opticians to various important public bodies including the Wolverhampton Eye Infirmary and the Education committee of Wolverhampton, Bilston, Coseley, and Cannock.
They were also registered to the National Health Insurance Scheme, and had the distinction of being modern in every way and fully equipped for sight testing by the most up to date methods.
This I can vouch for first hand.
When I first started senior school at the age of Eleven years, being tall for my age, I always tried to sit at the back of the class.
The problem I had with that was I found it difficult to read what was on the Blackboard some ten feet away never realizing then that I was very short sighted.
Bluffing my way during lessons often caused the teachers to think me disinterested and it was only after a visit to the school by optician Mr Blackham in 1948 that my problem was resolved.
When testing my eyes he said he was amazed that I could see the board, never mind what was written on it.
I’ll never forget his words to me when I called at Lichfield street to pick up my first pair of glasses.
“William,” he said. “Put these new spectacles on, Now you are about to see the patterns on wallpaper for the first time.” – How right he was! | English | NL | 6b74e5116d4f256c3762c9a5d8d279e7838d93f4bf19b0c4980672b8f1d3aca8 |
The town was named for Joseph E. Gay, a director of the Mohawk and Wolverine Mining Companies. He explored the area that was eventually used for mining and milling.
In 1896, a lumberman named Ernest Koch found some native copper where the Mohawk Mine was eventually built. Exploration by Joseph E. Gay proved the find to be valuable.
In 1898, the Mohawk Mining Company was formed. Gay became president of both the Mohawk and Wolverine Mining Companies in 1906. | English | NL | 79f3eee5e5890c2678f33407166aa46a1fe0385064037d1adff6df5f12786d84 |
He is called The Rat because of his lying, cheating ways.
He joined TDP to prove that cheaters always win.
| Thrashing Rabbits|
|Episode Eliminated||"Bears, paintballs, and other things will stand between you and the final two."|
|Place|| TDP - Third |
TDAS - TBA
|Friends||Jacob, Jaz, Veronica, Dyl, Jocelyn|
|Enemies||Lequisha, Julio, Elian, Belle, "Dome" "Ugly"|
|Fear||People knowing his full name|
Chapter One - The Rat was chosen to be on the Thrashing Rabbits tribe. He made lots of enemies with his mean remarks, especially Lequisha.They won the challenge, and they got pop-tarts and invincibility.
Chapter Two - The Thrashing Rabbits won again. He was chosen to be in the relay race. His team might have lost if he didn't trip Billy in the beginning.
Chapter Three - The Rat got into a fight with every boy at the Thrashing Rabbits. He was placed at the top of the tribe switch, because the guys decided to just let him have his way. He got Julio to trick the girls into voting for random people, so that the guys could blindside Lequisha.
Chapter Four - The Rat was a target for elimination because he was responsible for Lequisha's elimination. He was the only Thrashing Rabbits at the top of the volcano at the thirty minute mark. He voted for "The Hobo" and got three votes.
Chapter Five - The Rat was selected as the team captain for the Thrashing Rabbits. He was the first rabbit to cross the finish line. He and Jacob voted for "Dome" at tribal council. He played an immunity idol, and "Ugly" was eliminated.
Chapter Six - The Rat and Jacob were being mean about "Ugly" getting eliminated, so "Dome" decided that The Rat would be the next to go. At the challenge, he was chosen to be buried alive. The Thrashing Rabbits and Fighting Ducks won immunity and reward.
Chapter Seven - The Rat got a video from his cell-mates. The Rat and Jacob knocked Dustin out and held Cindy hostage during the challenge. He threatened to tell people she liked Lucas, so she confessed that the Conquering Sloths flag was hidden on a cliff. The Thrashing Rabbits won immunity and reward.
Chapter Eight - The Rat made a video for his parents, saying how he's cheating, lying, and winning. He and Jacob decided they'd get Lucas to help them vote out "Dome". The three of them voted for "Dome" and he was eliminated.
Chapter Nine - The Rat and Jacob gave Lucas the promised immunity idol. The Rat was crushed by the sled during the challenge. The Thrashing Rabbits won invincibility and reward.
Chapter Ten - The Rat prevented Jacob and Elian from kissing. The Rat performed a magic trick in the show where he blindfolded Lucas, put him in a pink dress, and "made his dignity disappear." The Thrashing Rabbits won invincibility.
Chapter Eleven - The Rat talked about what a good position he had in the game, even though most of his fellow tribe mates hate him. The Rat got the closest to the finish line (3 feet), so his tribe won immunity and reward.
Chapter Twelve - The Rat told Jacob that next they were voting for Elian, because she was too strong. The Rat joined the Surviving Dragons, which is the merged tribe. The Rat beat up Julio for his immunity idol. The Rat told Julio to get two people to join alliance with him, and in return The Rat would give back the idol. The Rat got Jacob, Lucas, Jaz, Cindy, and Julio to form an alliance. The alliance, except for Jacob, voted Dustin out, because he was an outsider.
Chapter Thirteen - The Rat told everyone about Lucas's and Julio's immunity idols, but especially explained voting out Lucas. The Rat was in a canoe with Jaz and Julio. The Rat threw a rock into Jacob and Elian's canoe, nut Jacob threw it back. The Rat voted for Lucas, and got a vote from Lucas. The immunity idol that The Rat gave to Lucas was fake. Julio thought that his was fake too and threw it in the fire, but The Rat said that it was real.
Chapter Fifteen - The Rat, Cindy, and Veronica were bad-mouthing Belle, and Dyl overheard. The Rat worked in the challenge with Veronica. Veronica made him do all the work. The Rat and Veronica lost invincibility when Jacob and Cindy's air vehicle crashed on them. The Rat voted for Julio. Julio exploded in a fit of cursing after he realized his elimination was caused by The Rat.
Chapter Seventeen - The Rat's father revealed that The Rat's worst fear was having his full name revealed. The Rat's full name is Simon Thatius Dorkson. He ran away from the group, but still won invincibility. He told Jacob that he still had three immunity idols. The Rat voted for Dyl.
Chapter Eighteen - The Rat decided that he would need to get dirt on the other final five. The Rat used his lighter to light his torch, but he took a wrong turn. He fell into a hole and was attacked by moles. Jacob revealed to everyone that The Rat had enough immunity idols to make three people, and Cindy who had won immunity, safe. He decided to save Dyl, Jacob, and himself. Jacob gave Elian his immunity.
Chapter Nineteen - The Rat was very upset that Jacob had given up. The Rat was paired with Dyl in the challenge. The Rat ran into a tree, and found a clue in the race. They won invincibility. The Rat voted for Cindy.
Chapter Twenty - The Rat tried to get Dyl to bring him to the final two. The Rat lost the challenge when he was knocked out of the tree by geese. He got a non-jury vote to win from Philip. The Rat was eliminated, when Dyl decided to bring Elian to the final two. The Rat knew that he would make sure the person he wanted to win won.
Chapter One - The Rat returned to season four, mocking Lequisha. He nominated himself to be the captain of the Striving Lions, and Jocelyn supported him. He was chosen by Dyl as the smartest member of the team, and he beat Hillary in a puzzle-building contest by cheating. The Rat convinced most of his team to vote off Dyl for being mentally unstable.
The Rat never played fair. When he was two he'd cheat at Candy Land, in kindergarten he'd steal blocks, in middle school he'd copy other people's tests and homework. People got fed up with him in high school, however, and frequently beat him up or cause him casualties. He never learned better, and never understands why this happens to him.
- The Rat's appearance is an edit of Trent.
- The Rat received sixteen votes, giving him more votes than anyone else.
- He was the ninth and final jury member.
- The creator, Nalyd Renrut, designed the The Rat and thought, "I gave Trent a mustache. Then teeth. He looked like a stereotypical liar and cheater."
- His full name is Simon Thatius Dorkson.
- "The Rat's" final image was made by Manatee12. | English | NL | 0616d241433c9e23f9507f606c41383173e89174345ae0373267dd6eaa047108 |
How Axiom Attorney Dina Maxwell Helps Companies Navigate the Changing Privacy Landscape
By Axiom Law
“Axiom lawyers have a really broad array of interests. It’s an interesting mix of people who are drawn to this legal disruptor,” says Toronto-based attorney Dina Maxwell. A specialist in privacy law, Dina joined Axiom because she was interested in our flexible model of employment, as well as the opportunity to work with a wide variety of clients, including Fortune 500 companies and fast-growing startups. A novelist and a runner in addition to an attorney, Dina brings her extensive experience in privacy, data governance, and data security to her work with Axiom’s clients.
A studious beginning
Dina grew up in a small town in New Brunswick, the youngest of five daughters of a Ghanaian father and Canadian mother. Of her family she says, “We’ve always loved to study and always been very academic, so my love of learning started very early. I had a very supportive, close family. We focused a lot on academics and how to achieve our best.”
Her parents also fostered her creative side, and when she went to college Dina found she was drawn to both law and writing. To further nurture her creative skills, during her undergraduate studies at Harvard, Dina chose to major in English and American Literature and Language, with a minor in French. “The beauty of a liberal arts education is that it encourages you to become interested in many different subjects and that has carried through my legal career,” she explained.
After college she returned to Canada and began law school at the University of Toronto. The summer after her first year she wrote for a local newspaper in New Brunswick. During that time the New Brunswick government was overhauling their access to information law. Dina was put in charge of the paper’s information requests, which began her interest in privacy.
Upon completion of law school Dina articled at a large firm, which was her first exposure to corporate law. She explained that her experience, “taught me a lot about the business of law, how to engage with clients, and soft skills that they don’t necessarily teach you in law school.”
A growing interest in privacy law
Dina had a nascent interest in privacy law and wanted to pursue it further. She began working as a privacy researcher in Toronto, which enabled her to develop a broad knowledge base in the field. She was able to gain exposure to privacy laws in Canada, the United States, the European Union, and the Asia Pacific region. She also earned two privacy certifications from the International Association of Privacy Professionals in Canadian and American privacy law.
After working at the research company Dina realized that although she enjoyed it, she missed the pace and client interaction that she had in a law firm environment. She then transitioned into private practice and spent two years at two different law firms focusing on insurance litigation and privacy law.
When she joined the first firm privacy was still just a small part of their business, but it grew after Canada passed an anti-spam law and regulation increased worldwide. “I told the partners that hired me that privacy was an interesting and developing area of law and on the brink of becoming big business. The firm was very receptive, and I built up that practice area doing privacy work for institutional insurance companies, in addition to running a busy litigation practice,” said Dina. By the time she left private practice to work as a consultant, privacy work made up about 50 percent of her workload.
Next Dina joined a Big 4 accounting firm to manage a privacy and cyber security group. She worked exclusively in privacy, data governance, and data security and was the only lawyer on her team of accountants and risk management consultants.
Finding a balance between creativity and the practice of law
“One day it dawned on me that even though I was really enjoying my work, and I was interested in privacy and building my expertise, I felt like there was something missing,” said Dina. “I felt like I had lost touch with my creative side.”
After much reflection, Dina decided to take a pause to consider her life and career. She took a year to focus on her interests outside of law. She began work on a novel, a fictionalized version of her parents’ early years when they moved to her father’s native Ghana in the late 1960's shortly after the nation’s independence, a story she’s always wanted to write. She also developed a meditation practice and focused on running.
When she was ready to return to her legal practice, she learned about Axiom from a friend from law school and joined the company in February of 2018. She was especially intrigued because Axiom has a client base that includes both Fortune 500 companies and growing startups.
The Axiom model, Dina found, was a great fit for her as someone who wanted to balance her professional and creative ambitions. “Axiom makes you feel like you won the lottery between work/life balance and career choice,” she explained.
She also found that Axiom’s community has been a huge asset to her career. “I feel like I’m very supported,” she said. “Axiom has gone above and beyond in putting me out there in terms of making sure I have opportunities to present, to nominate me for an award, or connect me to really interesting clients. It makes me feel like my efforts are being recognized and appreciated and that Axiom really cares about professional development and their lawyers’ well-being.”
She has found that working for Axiom has been a, “refreshing way to do business and I think that is why lawyers are attracted – you get exposure to really good client work, but you don’t feel like you are lost in the shuffle. I feel Axiom really pays attention to and meets lawyers’ needs.”
Preparing for the future of privacy regulation
Dina joined Axiom just months before the European Union’s General Data Protection Act (GDPR) went into effect and since then she remarks, “There’s been no shortage of really interesting privacy issues.”
Her first two engagements focused on GDPR compliance including policies, technological safeguards, user consent, and data collection. She worked for two very different companies: a social media company that was about six years old and a large accounting firm with offices all over the world. The social media company had millions of users, many of whom were under 16 years old and merited special consideration under GDPR. For this client Dina had to think about how to “build a compliance program for a service where users build their own profile and share the information. I made sure the company was doing their due diligence to ensure the best and safest environment for their clientele.”
For the accounting firm she developed a full-scale compliance program for the confidential information and financial and health data that the company was processing. For GDPR Dina noted that “There are certain issues that are universal, and others that are more relevant depending on the business.”
Dina reminds companies that while privacy regulations can be daunting, working compliance into their business practices is crucial, “Privacy compliance is always evolving – but the key is to get started and tackle the most pressing issues first.”
Her third engagement was a pharmaceutical company in need of a data governance program that considered all the ways that client data could be used and gave customers the chance to consent to the analytical use of their data. According to Dina, they needed a privacy program that was, “not only robust enough to comply with the law, but one that also instills trust in the consumer.” She feels that it’s “really important for companies to consider the ethical implications of their data use - it may be even more important than the legal implications.”
Overall, Dina feels that “a privacy program doesn’t work if a company doesn’t consider all aspects of the business” and that effective attorneys must give advice that takes into account the broader business context. She finds that the Axiom clients she works for are “constantly innovating and improving the services they offer to their clients and are being very proactive about going about it in a privacy conscious way.”
No day is the same for a privacy attorney and Dina remarks that her days vary greatly, “You can have a day where you spend the day drafting policies, reviewing contracts, and answering phone calls, or you can spend your day coaching a client through a privacy breach. Not matter what the day throws at you, your goal is always to help the client navigate these difficult issues in a compliant, ethical, and practical way.”
Dina thinks that privacy will continue to grow and be a “hot button issue,” especially as individual states such as California and Nevada pass privacy legislation and the legal landscape continues to change. She also views cross border data transfer as a growing issue, especially as jurisdictions like Canada are looking to pass more stringent legislation about how consumers are notified about their data being transferred. “These policies are giving individuals more rights and control over their own data but will also impact businesses. Companies will really have to look at the data that they transfer and what circumstances will arise that will need express consent.”
To help your company take a proactive approach to privacy legislation and work with experienced privacy attorneys like Dina, or to join Dina as a colleague, get in touch with us at Axiom.
Get to know Ian Williams, an experienced Axiom lawyer who specializes in labor and employment law in Chicago who benefits from Axiom’s flexible employment model.
Lawyer Sneha Pathak has built a dynamic career in contracts and Intellectual Property law through her Axiom engagements.
Axiom’s innovative approach to law attracts talented lawyers who want to do high-quality legal work with industry leaders worldwide. | English | NL | 4e0683465811f6a8b4c66b9b4dd958a512331ac39c0e525021a28237a45bf540 |
Brewerton received high praise for his part in the Battle of Cedar Creek (19 October). Artillery Chief Captain Henry A. du Pont, realizing that Battery B could be lost during the early morning Confederate surprise attack, ordered Brewerton to load his guns and fire into the enemy as long as possible, then roll the guns into a ravine behind their position. Du Pont told Brewerton that he would have horses and limbers waiting for the battery there that would haul the guns to safety.
Brewerton did as instructed and fired into the oncoming Confederates until the last possible minute, then ordered his men to roll the guns into the ravine. In the ensuing confusion, he succeeded in saving five of the battery's six guns. Unfortunately, he and six other men were captured while trying to get away.
After the battle, Henry Brewerton's Confederate captors sent him south to Richmond, Virginia, incarcerating him at Libby Prison (pictured). Brewerton sent letters out under a flag of truce to let Captain du Pont and others know of his whereabouts and that he was safe and well. He remained at Libby Prison until exchanged in April 1865. Brewerton learned after his exchange that he had been given a brevet promotion to the rank of Captain for his part in the Battle of Cedar Creek.
Image: Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, 1865 (Library of Congress) | English | NL | cc6c0020ddbe95d215fc4235f89e9b9eab6815d13093168795d2862961255e20 |
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