New & Improved(?)

New and Improved(?)

14And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; (Mat 13:)

I drive a 37 year old van. It's got a rusty body (that's rusty, not rusted as in "rusted out," though it's approaching that stage), and looks its age. That is, from the outside it looks like it belongs in a junkyard. But under the hood it has a relatively new motor; a good transmission; new steering gear; new brake drums and system; good heavy-duty truck tires; and a fairly new radiator. It drives and rides like a new van. And it is more reliable than most new vans.

The inside of the van looks very much like a luxury automobile with nice blue carpeting all around, even on the dashboard and the overhead paneling. The side panels are upholstered with large speakers mounted in them; and that which isn't upholstered or carpeted is painted a pretty blue. My van is one of those with a high bubble-top like ice cream vans used to have. It is essentially an RV in miniature with bed, sink, toilet and the like.

All together, disregarding the labor, I would say I spent about 2-3,000 dollars on this van.

Now, you might legitimately say: "Why did you spend all that money on something that's not much more than a rolling outhouse instead of buying a new van."

Yes, I could buy a new van. That is, if I wanted to go into hock up to my ears to buy something that will likely give me more trouble than old Aunt Edna's trick knee. And that brings me to the point of this article.

Up until the middle of this century (oops, that's last century I mean) things were built to last. And if something happened to what you purchased, it was designed to be repaired. And believe it or not, you youngsters who have never seen such things, parts were sold (or manufactured) to repair them.

Today everything is designed to be thrown away. However, the chances are that what you wish to throw away, you can't, because it has lead or mercury or some other substance that is not allowed in the landfills. Of course there are places you can take these outdated, last year's things that aren't throw-away-able, but you have to pay plenty to let them take the old thing (two or three years old even - did I tell you that my van is 37 years old?), unrepairable and containing no parts that can be used to repair something else that is no longer working.

Oh for the days when we could go to the corner market and check our own part and replace those that were no longer working. (Did I tell you that I fix my car myself? You can do that with old cars, you know.)

The car you drive; what did it cost you to repair it last time the computer went out on it and it stalled in the middle of the freeway at rush hour with no way to fix it because it takes a computer wizard and ten thousand dollars worth of equipment to figure out what's wrong with it? (Did I tell you that I fix my car myself? And that the parts for it are very cheap - and repairable?)

Speaking of computers, it's computers that caused me to start thinking of this subject in the first place. I just started out with my van because I wanted to brag a bit.

I have several computers. Two of them, that I have hooked up and running all the time, are library throwaways that I bought for 35 bucks each, with 17" monitors. Actually, I bought two, a third they gave to me because they were anxious to get them off their shelves.

The old things work just fine. I have little to no trouble with them at all. And I run Windows Millennium, supposedly the worst operating system ever invented short of the Edsel, but I like it just fine. (I also liked the Edsel, which shows you what a distorted sense of taste I have in things.)

Besides the cheapies I just described, have what I call my "big" computer with three sound cards, pull-out hard drives (in drawers) and 8 hard drives that I can install in just seconds. In comparison to "Modern" computers it runs at a snail's pace, but having had to repair some new machines that fail at the drop of a mouse, I wouldn't swap for any of them. (By the way, did I mention that my van is 37 years old and still running?)

Two of my hard drives have XP, supposedly a marvelous OS. I have nothing but trouble with both drives, and they do whatever they want to do. I tell it to do one thing, it balks like an obstinate two-year-old, and does just the opposite. And when it decides to quit, it doesn't bother to tell me it is going to quit on me, or even that it has quit on me. Nor does it save that which I have been entrusting to its care. It sits there like a big cycloptic rock and waits for me to restart it or dump it on the floor like I feel like doing.

Do you recall "HAL" in 2001, a Space Odyssey?

Included with frustration that accompanies the XP is the privilege to re-purchase everything we have already spent our last dollar on in order to use a computer. The XP will not recognize my old reliable printer, or scanner, or run the programs I have finally learned to use. I have to buy all new components and programs that do not work nearly as well as my old ones, and are harder to understand than why my old Aunt Edna's knee is so tricky.

Twenty years ago I had one of those Color Computers that you hook up to a TV. It was more like a game consol than a computer as we know it, but it was very interesting. By the way, I still have that computer, with a box full of cartridges. (I also have the old Atari with many cartridges.) The biggest problem with that Color Computer was having to type all the codes to make anything work. Being the computer wiz I am, I got around that problem with little effort. I got someone else to do the typing. (That's not true, but I thought it sounded clever.)

One of the cartridges that I bought for that little machine was a sound device. You typed in the code, and the words you wanted it to say, and a Darth Vader sound-a-like talked back at you.

That was twenty years ago. They had such a thing then - why isn't it available now?

Which leads me to my point. What has happened to the technology and the availability of working products of the past? It is the intention of civilization to move forward, isn't it? Then if this is the case, why do we find something that works, then degrade it or abandon it all together?

Have you ever found something in the store that fit perfectly your needs, and the next time you went back to that same store you discovered they stopped carrying that product? You ask them why, and they give you some off-the-wall explanation that makes no sense. But the one explanation that would make sense they do not give, that being the product wasn't selling. It was selling, you know this because of the line of people behind you ready to ask the same question.

Forty years or so ago I lived in a HUD development in California. This development had cockroaches that were known to carry off small children and hold them for ransom. Not only were these cockroaches big, but they outnumbered us residents a thousand to one.

Once I visited the people in the apartment directly behind me. The father, the mother, and the four kids were doing the cucaracha. If you are unfamiliar with the word, it is Spanish for cockroach. In the case of my neighbors, although they were Mexican, they were not singing, they were dancing. Well, it looked like dancing, but what they were doing was stomping on the hundreds of cockroaches that were scurrying across the floor. I don't know what these folks put down, but whatever it was, it sure brought out the cockroaches. As the rest of the family stomped, the mother, wielding a shovel, was scooping up all the cockroaches she could catch and tossing them in the lit oven.

Cockroaches were everywhere. Walk outside and you had to step over and around these big black creatures. It's the law. In a HUD development cockroaches have the right of way, don't you know. And if you forget, they will gang up on you, and you surely don't want that.

All this to say, there were a lot of cockroaches.

But not in my apartment.

At that time there were two products out that did an excellent job of keeping cockroaches from entering one's domain. And with the use of them I had not one cockroach although the neighborhood was over run with them. One of these products was a shelf paper that was treated somehow, and the other was a floor wax. Highly effective. But like most, if not all effective and efficient things, once they are discovered by the powers that be to work, they are taken off the market.

Today we are looking for alternative fuels. Or should I say we are supposedly looking for alternative fuels. For years we have known of many such fuels, but once something is known to work, somebody puts the kibosh on it and we don't hear of it again.

When I was young, and that was a long time ago don't you know, somebody came up with a car battery that never needed replacing. The next thing we heard was nothing. Apparently some auto manufacturer bought it out and took it off the market.

In the early '70's I was riding a bicycle around the country. As I was crossing the Straits from Vancouver Island on the ferry I struck up a conversation with a young fellow who owned a farm on one of the small Canadian islands (he had homesteaded it when he was a teenager, raising sheep). He had developed a way to turn manure into fuel - not something particularly new since manure has been used for fuel since they invented animals. But apparently the process he developed was new, and the Canadian government wanted to see it. I guess it worked, because we haven't heard any more about it.

Grain is another fuel that has been used successfully. So successfully in fact that our government burns grain and pays the farmers not to raise it in order to keep the prices high. Now that grain could be used as alternative fuel I'm a thinking. But who am I to argue the wisdom of our honorable politicians?

There was a period of time that farmers paid no heed to the government and made alternative fuel from grain in spite of the prohibition against it. The problem was that the farmers (and others so inclined, which was many) drank the fuel before they could get it to market.

Back to computers, the subject that started this whole mess in the first place.

After my color computer I acquired a Tandy 1000, the elite one with a monster 20 Mb hard drive is what I had. This machine was the ultimate in my opinion. I was using it to write, in other words as a huge word processor. And for that purpose, it was a dandy. It was reliable and easy to use, once I worked my way through all the codes and hard-to-understand instructions.

What I particularly enjoyed about the 1,000 was defragging it. The defrag had lots of colors and lights flashing as it zigzagged its way across the screen. It reminded me a lot of the Fourth of July in Las Vegas. I defragged my machine often just to watch the lights. But it was not only the lights and the colors I found interesting, but what I could learn from the experience. For instance, along with the colors there was text on the screen indicating right were the defragger was putting every file. It was like I could see into the machine and know right where it was keeping my treasured works of literary art. It took the mystery and suspicion away from using that cyclops.

Today watching a defragging is less fun than spilling the garbage can on the front stoop. In fact it has gotten so uninteresting with XP that it does whatever it is going to do, and it doesn't even bother to tell you what it's doing, what it found (in the case of a disk scan) or that it is even through doing what it supposedly has done.

The only thing I can say I like about the new program (XP) is the little doggie on the search engine. I search every chance I get, even when I already know where what I am looking for is located so I can watch the pup dig it up.

It took two upgrades to make this "perfect" OS work any where near satisfactorily, and it still falls far short of its claim. Now I understand they have an even newer version out that, according to the experts I've talked to, has more bugs in it than my HUD neighbors.

Progress. It seems to me that progress is creating more junk we can't get rid of; less fun in the just-for-fun things; more bite to the buck than value; and a higher cost of living with less living for the cost.

Oh, for the Good Old Days when we had value and we had junk, and there was a way to tell the difference between the two.

References

"What do I think of Western civilization? I think it would be a very good idea." Mahatma Gandhi

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed." Mahatma Gandhi

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." William Falconer

"Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide." Napoleon Bonaparte

"Intelligence must follow faith, never precede it, and never destroy it." Thomas Kempis

"Some minds are like concrete: thoroughly mixed up and permanently set." Attributed to the Rev. Denny Brake

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius-- and a lot of courage--to move in the opposite direction." E. F.Schumacker

"They say that the more a person learns, the more they find there is to learn. Therefore the smarter you think you are, the dumber you really are." Chris Hamono

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function." F Scott Fitzgerald

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." Albert Einstein

9Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 10And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. (Mat 13:)

Easter Sunday

*

Easter Sunday

22Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established. (Prov 15:)

Easter Sunday. If there is but one day in the year that a person goes to church, it is Easter Sunday. The men folk put on their cleanest manure-stained overalls; the children scrub behind their ears and hope they don't spill their breakfast on their Sunday fineries; and the ladies dress in attire especially intended to cause all the other ladies to drool with envy.

Easter Sunday is the day we all, even non believers, celebrate Jesus. And surely this is only just; after all, the resurrection is the only day we are given with any certainty that effects the life of Jesus here on earth. There are other days we celebrate, but we can not be certain that the day we celebrate is actually the day the event took place. For instance, the birth of Jesus is not indicated in the Bible, nor is there even much of a hint of it in the Old Testament as there is the Resurrection. Even Jesus' crucifixion is speculation, assuming He was crucified on a Friday before the Sabbath Saturday. But this is only speculation, and there are theologians who have strong evidence that it was either a Wednesday or a Thursday that Jesus died. And as for Christmas, we don't know when Jesus was born, the only thing we can be sure of is He wasn't born on the day we celebrate His birth.

Easter Sunday. If there is one day we can call the Lord's Day, it's Easter Sunday.

I went to church this Easter. It's rare that I go to church on any day, but I went to church this Easter Sunday. It was not my church I attended, but another popular church in the neighborhood.

Such a large church is the church I attended. Not such a large church for a large city, but for a small town, it is a large church. And it is an elaborate church. Not so much more elaborate than many of the other churches, but it is evident that they are trying to be. And as for the denomination of this church? That is not important; let it suffice to say it was a well-known and accepted Fundamental church, long established and respected by just about all the other denominations.

I was running late this day, having decided at the last moment to go to church. I hurriedly made breakfast, which I gobbled down, and searched my wardrobe for suitable clothes for Easter Sunday in a highly respected and fancy church. I was sure I couldn't wear my usual sweats that I normally wear to the tiny, informal church I attend. I decided to wear a rather westerny outfit I hadn't even attempted to wear for over 30 years. To my delight, they fit perfectly, indicating to me that my diet and exercise program is working. It also showed me that thirty years ago they made clothes intended to last at least thirty years. I looked for an Easter bonnet, but all I could find was an expensive 10x beaver pelt cowboy hat I have had for years but never wore and has been serving no other purpose than to feed moth larva.

I decided to forego the hat and attend church without suitable headgear.

It was raining this Easter morning; that is to say it was just like every other morning in this coastal town, so I decided to drive across the street to church. I felt rather silly driving two blocks to church instead of riding my bike; but I didn't want to get my Easter duds wet; and I couldn't be sure that a little rain might cause the seams to fall apart on those old clothes.

I was running late that Easter Sunday. I left the house at the time the meeting should have begun. When I arrived I parked to the far end of the parking lot in order to allow all the regulars to park up close to the building. That was when I was afforded my first impression of the church - the parking lot was nearly empty.

However the church building was not. I entered the church and asked where the Sunday School class was meeting. I was directed to a room with about ten men, all my age or older, sitting around the edge of a room - dressed in their everyday duds, much to my surprise. I found myself to be overdressed for the occasion. I was glad I had decided not to wear a tie.

About ten minutes or so later, after a round of talk about cars and RV's and the problems they can engender, the class began.

I rather enjoyed the Sunday School class, and I liked the fellows I met there.

Then to the Service. I like a good sermon. Contrary to most people, at least so it seems to me, I go to church to hear the preaching, not to socialize. If I had my way there would be no singing, no skits, no nothing but preaching. And don't you know, if I had my way, church would be such that no one would bother to go but me.

The services had not begun, so I perused the appointments of the lobby. I saw the standard assortment of bulletins, books, and flyers. I also observed the Easter table were there was an assortment of cookies, sugared Easter bunnies, and children running about. I appropriated more than my share of Oreos, suppressed the inevitable guilt for having done so, and wandered into the chapel.

In order to get a good view of the service, I sat in the back pew with the other folks who wanted to be as close to the door as possible. While I waited for services to begin, I scrutinized the parishioners who had come to this mementoes event. There was nothing out of the ordinary that I could see; couples, singles; and groups clustered here and there.

I also noticed that, like in the Sunday School class, and the other churches I have attended, almost nobody had Bibles. I suppose Bibles have a way of getting in the way of shaking hands and nibbling on cookies. But whatever the reason, Bibles are rare in the churches anymore. Don't get me wrong; Scripture is read, but it is read from Bibles that are secreted away behind or under the seats or pews. And even more often the Scripture is read from a bulletin or a magazine that uses some translation I am unfamiliar with. In fact when the Scripture is read I find myself frantically flipping through my Bible in order to find anything remotely similar to the verses the reader says we are to read.

I suppose this new style of Bible reading is ok, I don't know. It certainly seems acceptable to everyone else in attendance, so who am I to judge otherwise? I'm supposin' it, along with the rest of the modern church services is just another sign of the times that I am only now becoming acquainted with.

I am in the back pew. I am not alone in the back pews as it turns out. Those kids who were scurrying about and rattling on in the lobby, were scurrying about and rattling on in the back pews. This surprised me. When I was a kid in church, little kids were either in some other room during the services, or in the front row, dressed in their finest finery, pretending to pay close attention to the goings on up on the platform, and keeping their little mouths and their little hands tightly closed and in their lap. (Their mouth closed and their hands in their lap, not the other way around.) Not any more, I'm guessing, because now little kids do in church service what they would not be allowed to do in a kindergarden class, and paying no more attention to the Pastor than they do their parents who are doing nothing to quiet them down.

Oh well. I said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm glad I'm single and childless. Just a grumpy old man criticizing the now and dreaming of the past.

Service began. Well, sort of it did. I sat the Bible down that I was studying and prepared myself for a good, old-fashioned Easter sermon.

Well, don't you know, first there had to be the customary singing by the choir. So the choir sang; and they sang; and they sang; etc, etc.

Then the Pastor came to the podium. Again I sat my Bible aside and prepared myself.
Then the choir sang; and they sang; and they sang.

Again the Pastor came to the podium; only to turn his back on us and face the choir. Then the Pastor and the choir performed a skit that someone had written where they sort of enacted the crucifixion in sounds and sound effects.

This skit lasted at least as long as the singing. I looked about me to see if the congregation was as frustrated as I, but by all appearances they were content with the service being presented. The adults sat attentively, so it seemed, with their eyes turned toward the stage. Meanwhile the kids scurried and chattered away like children do at kindergarden recess, so I guess they, too, were just as pleased with the skit as they would have been a good fire and brimstone message.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not judging the quality of the skit. I wouldn't like the skit if it was an Academy Award winner. I just have never liked skits. Besides, as I said earlier, I came for a good Easter message, not a skit.

Finally the Pastor once again turned to the congregation. Once again I lay my Bible aside and prepared myself for the message.

And then the Pastor dismissed the congregation.

I was left wondering what had happened! Where was the Easter service I had prepared myself for? All these years not going to church; only to go to church - and the church was not there!

I bridled my frustration and retreated to the lobby. I grabbed a handful of Oreos to pacify my disappointment, and watched as the people streamed through the door and into the rain. I waited behind with the intent of asking the Pastor a question about the Scriptures, but after a while I ran out of cookies, and followed the stream of people into the rain.

Easter Sunday.

A sign of the times.

Quotes

"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope." Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything." Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

"Burning desire to be or do something gives us staying power - a reason to get up every morning or to pick ourselves up and start in again after a disappointment" Marsha Sinetar

"What is public history but a register of the successes and disappointments, the vices, the follies and the quarrels of those who engage in contention for power" William Paley

"Disappointment is the nurse of wisdom" Bayle Roche

"Mean spirits under disappointment, like small beer in a thunderstorm, always turn sour" John Randolph

"How disappointment tracks the steps of hope" Letitia Landon

"If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment." Henry David Thoreau

"Age does not diminish the extreme disappointment of having a scoop of ice cream fall from the cone." Jim Fiebig

"We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment." Jim Rohn

"Old age is not a disease - it is strength and survivorship, triumph over all kinds of vicissitudes and disappointments, trials and illnesses." Maggie Kuhn

"Suspense is worse than disappointment." Robert Burns

"I shall take all the troubles of the past, all the disappointments, all the headaches, and I shall pack them in a bag and throw them in the East River." Trygve Lie

"The sudden disappointment of a hope leaves a scar which the ultimate fulfillment of that hope never entirely removes." Thomas Hardy

"The greatness comes not when things go always good for you. But the greatness comes when you're really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes." Richard M. Nixon

"Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in their proper figures." Joseph Addison

"Trials, temptations, disappointments - all these are helps instead of hindrances, if one uses them rightly. They not only test the fiber of character but strengthen it. Every conquering temptation represents a new fund of moral energy." James Buckham

"The misery of the middle-aged woman is a gray and hopeless thing, born of having nothing to live for, of disappointment and resentment at having been gypped by consumer society, and surviving merely to be the butt of its unthinking scorn." Germaine Greer

"Hope is tomorrow's veneer over today's disappointment." Evan Esar

"How disappointment tracks the steps of hope." Letitia Landon

"Ambition has its disappointments to sour us, but never the good fortune to satisfy us. Its appetite grows keener by indulgence and all we can gratify it with at present serves but the more to inflame its insatiable desires." Benjamin Franklin

"If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment." Henry David Thoreau

"Oft expectation fails and most oft there Where most it promises, and oft it hits Where hope is coldest and despair most fits." William Shakespeare

"Anytime you suffer a setback or disappointment, put your head down and plow ahead." Les Brown

"Anytime I am looking to somebody else as my source, I'm coming from scarcity. I am no longer trusting God, or the Universe, for my harvest. It's reasonable for me to have expectations based on what somebody I trust has committed to. And it's natural for me to feel disappointed when that somebody doesn't come through. But when I feel more than disappointment, when I also feel anger, it's because I deviated from my truth. It's because I compromised my truth to get what somebody else promised. Because when I'm really following my truth, I will be at peace with the consequences -- whatever they are. I can accept somebody else's truth, but I must live my own truth. And sometimes that means walking away from a relationship." Jan Denise

"Awake, thou wintry earth-- Fling off thy sadness! Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth Your ancient gladness! Christ is risen." Thomas Blackburn

"Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer; Death is strong, but Life is stronger; Stronger than the dark, the light; Stronger than the wrong, the right; Faith and Hope triumphant say Christ will rise on Easter Day." Phillips Brooks, D.D.

"Hail, Day of days! in peals of praise Throughout all ages owned, When Christ, our God, hell's empire trod, And high o'er heaven was throned." Fortunatus

"Come, ye saints, look here and wonder, See the place where Jesus lay; He has burst His bands asunder; He has borne our sins away; Joyful tidings, Yes, the Lord has risen to-day." Thomas Kelly

"'Twas Easter-Sunday. The full-blossomed trees Filled all the air with fragrance and with joy." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"O chime of sweet Saint Charity, Peal soon that Easter morn When Christ for all shall risen be, And in all hearts new-born! That Pentecost when utterance clear To all men shall be given, When all shall say My Brother here, And hear My Son in heaven!" James Russell Lowell

"In the bonds of Death He lay Who for our offence was slain; But the Lord is risen to-day, Christ hath brought us life again, Wherefore let us all rejoice, Singing loud, with cheerful voice," Hallelujah! Martin Luther

"Hallelujah! Hallelujah! On the third morning He arose, Bright with victory o'er his foes. Sing we lauding, And applauding, Hallelujah!" John Mason Neale

"I think of the garden after the rain; And hope to my heart comes singing, "At morn the cherry-blooms will be white, And the Easter bells be ringing!" Edna Dean Procter

"The fasts are done; the Aves said; The moon has filled her horn And in the solemn night I watch Before the Easter morn. So pure, so still the starry heaven, So hushed the brooding air, I could hear the sweep of an angel's wings If one should earthward fare." Edna Dean Procter

"Spring bursts to-day, For Christ is risen and all the earth's at play." Christina G. Rossetti

"God expects from men something more than at such times, and that it were much to be wished for the credit of their religion as well as the satisfaction of their conscience that their Easter devotions would in some measure come up to their Easter dress." Bishop Robert South

"Christ is our Passover! And we will keep the feast With the new leaven, The bread of heaven: All welcome, even the least!" Dr. A.R. Thompson

"Christ the Lord is risen to-day," Sons of men and angels say. Raise your joys and triumphs high; Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply." Charles Wesley

Matthew 28
1In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 5And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. 8And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. 9And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 10Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

Mark 16
1And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 3And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 8And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
9Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. 10And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. 12After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. 13And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.

Luke 24
1Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. 2And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. 3And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. 4And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: 5And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. 8And they remembered his words, 9And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. 10It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. 11And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. 12Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.

John 20
1The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. 2Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. 3Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. 4So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. 5And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. 6Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, 7And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 8Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. 9For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. 10Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
11But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, 12And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 14And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. 17Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. 18Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

$64 Question

The $64 Question

*

12Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. (Mark 13:)

How many of you are old enough to remember when the $64 question was a big event? Remember how excited the contestants were to finish in the "big money"?

How times have changed. Sixty-four dollars wouldn't even pay for the gas it takes to get to the studios where prizes are given away.

Gas was 19¢ a gallon as I recall; but if you drove an old clunker like I did you had to pay 10¢ a quart for a can of someone's old throwaway oil recanned and called "reclaimed oil" because the crankcase leaked so badly. Now gas is well over $3 a gallon, and from what the experts say, it should reach $4 a gallon before the year is out. And as for reclaimed oil? If you want it you had best can it yourself. Not that the lack of reclaimed oil is a bad thing, only that oil prices are raising right along side gas prices.

Speaking of prices raising, I had an interesting enlightenment from the postman today. I received my bill for my Post Office box, one of those tiny boxes that two letters and a circular has to be crammed into. Last year the rent was $26 for the year. This year it's $36! That's quite a jump, wouldn't you say? I asked about this, and found that Post Office box rental is not rental as we know it, it's real estate. That's right, real estate.

There has been a building boom going on the past couple years, especially here. Because of this boom, prices have gone through the roof, as they say. And that is a bad thing, because who can afford to repair a roof these days? Building materials have gone up 10 times what they were 5 years ago. Trying to make a simple repair yourself will cost your first born, and to pay someone else to do the job will cost your second born as well.

Luckily I got my piece of terra firma just a few months before people went crazy and decided to spend more dollars than they had sense for property that was already overpriced; over and over priced in fact. Those who bought at top dollar can't afford to live here, and they can't sell their property in order to move out because the bottom fell out of the property market, and the economy is so bad (I know, not according to the politicians in office, but then the economy is always good for them) that no one can afford to buy even a cheap house if there were such a thing available.

Elsewhere I spoke about this little tourist town, how it seems to think (I should say the Mayor and the city council thinks) it is Manhattan and has fallen sway to the contractors and the speculators who sell them on more and more building. It is said that the fire department only has ladders that will reach the second floor of a building, and has warned against allowing buildings higher than two stories. Well, who pays attention to logic and rules anyway? Certainly not city officials. Amidst the quaint 100 year old style buildings in Old Town, tourist trade being the only source of revenue this towns has, there stands overshadowing the town several three story condos selling for $500,000 to $600,000 a piece. Keep in mind, we're talking 2 bedroom apartments here.

I know, you can spend that kind of money for a condo in Palm Beach or San Francisco. But in almost any other city there are jobs, some places to go, some things to see, and a hospital that doesn't have the worst record possible.

This town is a summer resort town that has no sun in the summer. Nor does it have a beach that you can visit without a jacket but two or three days a year. Folks who buy here (most) come for the summer, then retreat to their winter retreat just as quick as they can. During the summer months its hard to cross the street because of all the 60 foot monster RV's pulling tow cars and driven by 80 year old half-blind Grannies. To see these huge rigs with the top of cottonball heads peering over the dash board is frightening. And considering that I am a bicycle rider....!

[I know, you're a hundred years old and just as sharp as you were when you were a teenager, you drive a big rig, and you've never had an accident. But you've also seen what I have and know not everybody should be on the road. I'm a cottonball head myself, and I drive, so I'm not condemning cottonball heads to a highwayless hell. But there are those like my father who was blind as a bat and still driving a truck hauling long RV trailers across country. You wouldn't want to be on any road he was on! After a very long time of this they finally pulled his license, and was he mad!]

These rolling behemoths make me think of another area of discontent in our generation. It has been but a very few years ago when elderly ladies and gentlemen, after retiring from work, and sending their children into the battlefield of the World, sold their big house and settled into a small cottage to raise flowers and rutabagas. Their purpose was to alleviate stress, live well within their means (which also relieved stress), and to build up a small nest egg that they could leave to their progeny.

It has now become the fashion to retire into, not one but two, huge mansions on opposite ends of the country, and to travel from one to another in rigs that dwarf Mac trucks, and have absolutely no resale value whatsoever.

All of this on money that doesn't exist, and never will exist, causing their children to try and sort out the problems their parents have created, and worry about how they are going to deal with all the influx of bills and demands placed upon them.

And who benefits from all this tomfoolery, that is besides the real estate company, the credit card company, the tax collector and the RV manufacturer? Why the doctors and the therapists these elderly people had to visit because of the stress they were experiencing, and that the children are now experiencing because of the "inheritance" they have inherited.

But it's not only bills and stress we are leaving to our next generation, who we supposedly care so much about and "sacrifice" for. No indeed. We are leaving them Global Warming, polluted air, water that is undrinkable, forests barren of trees, land that is worn out and poisoned with chemicals, food that is not much more than plastic, diseases that defy cure, and the very possible end of the world.

And are these highly blessed children thankful for all they have been given?

Certainly not.

Three story buildings I was talking about. Three story condos that are built, and some still in the process of being built - and there is no market for property any more, especially in this town. Now, tell me, what do you think is going to happen to these condos?

Wait? Did I say three story condos? Well, I watched one going up, right behind a three story condo that had recently been completed, and it just kept going up! Now we have the ugliest four story building taking up a full city block I have ever seen. Sixty units. Count them on your fingers, use your toes if you have to. Sixty units costing $500,000 to $600,000 a piece, uncompleted, in a town that most people want to get out of and can't, and at a time when there is no market for real estate.

Correction. There is a market for real estate, and it's real estate I am renting. Not my home, I own that. But my Post Office box.

Real Estate prices go up, my Post Office box goes up. But what happens now that Real Estate prices are going down? Does my rent go down? Do property taxes go down, that has also been raised because of the inflated prices? Make a guess. I'll give you three guess, and the first four guesses don't count.

Signs of the times. How did I get off on to Real Estate? After all, the high cost of Real Estate surely has nothing to do with the signs of the times, does it? This is nothing new; after all, I recall the history books talking about another time such things happened in this century: the mid to late 1920's as I recall, but don't quote me on that.

It was 64 dollars I was talking about. A time when 64 dollars was considered a lot of money and people were thrilled to get that much.

I don't gamble. It's not that I condemn gambling. It's not that I don't have the money, even though I don't. It's because I have an obsessive-compulsive personality and I know better than to start anything that I will regret when that thing overtakes me. But I know there are a lot of people who do gamble. Some gamble at the races, some at the tables in Reno, and some on Indian Reservations, and especially many gamble at the lottery. [By the way, isn't it interesting that things the Government considers illegal isn't illegal if the Government deems it legal to do those illegal things that the Government can collect taxes for?] And apparently, the biggest money comes with the greatest risk, and that is with the lottery. But the lottery is making millionaires and multimillionaires by the droves. The distance between the rich and the poor is widening vastly and quickly because of the lottery.

And not only the lottery, but another form of gambling is helping to make the poor rich, and the rich jealous. The Stock Market.

Like the Real Estate market, that the bottom has fallen out of and people are not only losing their shirt, but their pants and socks as well, the Stock Market is a basket of eggs. Eggs may hold a person's weight for some time, but when they give way, they can make an awful mess.

My father worked for 35¢ a day digging graves, and considered himself lucky to be working at all. I fared much better; I made 75¢ an hour as a stock clerk for Woolworths. Of course at that time I was only paying $75 a month for a tiny apartment overlooking Santa Barbara, and gas was only 19¢ a gallon, and a candy bar was merely a nickel. It was a time when just about anyone would stoop to pick up a dime laying on the sidewalk.

I grew up in a barn. And by the way, that old saw: "Close the door, were you born in a barn?" doesn't ring true. Believe me, people who live in barns are a lot more likely to close a door than those wealthy enough to have been living in houses all their life. My father converted that barn (at least sorta he did, it was never ever finished), into a living quarters for his family. And were we appreciative of his efforts? Not on your life. We felt deprived and cheated as we looked at our neighbors who lived in regular houses. Even the ultra-poor people who lived behind us across the alley lived in a regular house, though not much more than a cracker-box of one.

$64 dollars. In those days $64 meant something. One thing it meant was $64 dollars. Now $64 will hardly pay for a couple week's worth of cigarettes (which, by the way, cost $2.50 a carton when I was young) or a couple pint bottles of filtered water a day.

But not being able to buy stuff with $64 is not the greatest problem with the degradation of money. There's another factor that is even more significant than that. It's the lack of appreciation of what one has and what one receives that is the biggest tragedy. We are never satisfied. Whatever we have, we want more of. And not just more, but more than anybody else has.

When did this start? I mean, when did we people take on the attitude that we must have more and bigger and better than our neighbor?

I suppose it's always been that way. Adam and Eve wanted more than they had or was allowed and given, and that was their downfall. And we know Cain was so envious of his brother that he rose up and slew him.

But surely such an attitude was not the accepted norm as it is today. The media, the talk on the street, and even the schools teach that we should get all the "gusto" life can possibly give us. Is there a time we can look back on, at least a time that effects this generation, and see what caused this attitude of wanting more than we have or that we can afford?

I think there is.

Before World War Two very few people had anything at all. Jobs were scarce, and kids (boys particularly) were essentially kicked out of their homes because the parents couldn't afford to feed all the family - if the father was so fortunate as to have a job.

The war changed all that. There was work for everybody. For the men there was work as soldiers at war. For the women there was the welding and riveting of bombers and battleships. Everybody worked. Even small children were encouraged to work, even if it was just picking up newspapers, collecting lard, or scrounging up scrap metal for the war effort. Everything and everybody was definitely needed, and was made to feel like they were an important part of their country's endeavor.

Here in the US of A we had another advantage that the rest of the world did not. We weren't dodging bullets. Just about everywhere else it was a daily routine to watch for enemy fighter planes and to scramble into bomb shelters, only to emerge to find yet another building destroyed and in flames. Meanwhile we Americans were using our new-found money and motivation to create. And what did we create? Things. Lots of things. Originally those things were designed to provide freedom for the poor mother who spent here evenings cleaning up the house, and her days behind a riveting gun. Dish washers and dryers, refrigerators instead of ice boxes, garbage disposals and indoor toilets were becoming all the rage.

And although new cars were being displayed in ads, there were few if any to be found because all metal, rubber and machinery was used in the war effort.

While women wore overalls and held welding torches, fashion did not fall to the wayside. There were still those with money to burn who wanted to look good while they burnt it. For these the fashion magazines sported the newest elegance in effort to entice the rich to cast some of that singed money their way.

Overseas, while folks hid from enemy soldier's rockets and dive bombers, they saw the magazines and the catalogs we Americans produced, and assumed that all Americans wore furs, fancy clothes and attended concerts every night. Those people overseas were not the only ones who looked on with envy at those who had. So did the have-not but wish they had's of the USA.

After the war, thousands of ex GI's were released from the service to enjoy that which they had fought for. Thousands upon thousands of young men flooded the land.

What to do with a sudden onslaught of high strung, ambitious youths ready to make a go of their new-found freedom. Where to live, where to work, how to support a family?

Towns sprung up throughout the nation, all looking exactly like all the other new towns. Everything looked the same in every neighborhood. People were content to have a decent roof over their head and food on their table.

And this lasted, oh, maybe a few weeks.

Then the Jones' moved in next door. And the Jones', don't you know, had a new car. Newer than yours.

Then TV came out. The picture was lousy, hardly visible on the 9" screen, but to be anybody at all, you had to have one.

The $64 question.

The US is good about "helping" other countries. One thing other nations lacked was envy. To solve this problem, we provided a certain number of rice pickers in China with a car, TV and a decent crackerbox to live in. Before this every rice picker had just what every other rice picker had. No difference, no Jones', no envy.

Now the world wants what they don't have, and they want more of what they don't have than anyone else has or doesn't have. No one is content with what they have, except those who have given up what they had and choose to live with as little as possible.

We are in a mad rush to fall over a cliff into oblivion, and now there is no way to stop it. The world is like lemmings on their way to the sea. The only option any one of us has is to step out of the crowd and reevaluate that which we have.

It's a sign of the times.

References

"The study of economy usually shows us that the best time for purchase was last year." Woody Allen

"The trouble with a budget is that it's hard to fill up one hole without digging another." Marleen Dan Bennett

"Economy is a way of spending money without getting any pleasure out of it." Armand Salacrou

"Nothing is cheap which is superfluous, for what one does not need, is dear at a penny." Plutarch

"A penny saved is two pence clear, A pin a day's a groat a year." Benjamin Franklin

"The world abhors closeness, and all but admires extravagance; yet a slack hand shows weakness, and a tight hand strength." Thomas Fowell Buxton

"Have more than thou showest, Speak less than thou knowest." William Shakespeare

"It is of no small commendation to manage a little well. To live well in abundance is the praise of the estate, not of the person. I will study more how to give a good account of my little, than how to make it more." Joseph Hall

"Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship." Benjamin Franklin

"Ere you consult your fancy, consult your purse." Benjamin Franklin

"The man who will live above his present circumstances, is in great danger of soon living beneath them; or as the Italian proverb says, 'The man that lives by hope, will die by despair'." Joseph Addison

"Economy is for the poor; the rich may dispense with it." Christian Nestell Bovee

"Without economy none can be rich, and with it few will be poor." Samuel Johnson

"I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers ." Thomas Jefferson

"Let honesty and industry be thy constant companions, and spend one penny less than thy clear gains; then shall thy pocket begin to thrive; creditors will not insult, nor want oppress, nor hungerness bite, nor nakedness freeze thee." Benjamin Franklin

"There can be no economy where there is no efficiency." Beaconsfield

"He who will not economize will have to agonize." Confucius

5And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. (Rev 6:)

5Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. 6And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them. 7Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you; 8Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. 9And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations. 10Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds. (Ezek 12:)

24And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. 25And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. 26And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. 27And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? 28And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. 29So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. 30And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. 31Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day. 32But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master's feet behind him? 33And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer? (1Kings 6:)

2And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee, 3And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle. 4Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents; 5They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: 6Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter. 7And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. 8And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. 9And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them. (Jer 19:)

11Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. (Amos 8:)

16And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Rev 12:)

6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. (1Tim:)

4And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.. (Mat 24

Introduction

Introduction

*

3O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? (Mat 16:)

As the name implies, this series of studies is on the signs of the times and what they mean to us. Of course many of the other studies could just as well fit here, since just about anything and everything that happens in these last days are in one way or another a sign of the times.

Signs of the Times is intended as a compromise between the Bible studies and the Tumbleweed sections of this website. The studies have the trappings of Tumbleweed and quotes from philosophers throughout the world as do the Checkerboard introductions; and they include references from the Bible as well. After all, how could any study about these end times not include what the Creator of the times has to say about them?

Some of the stories and the studies in Signs will be serious and well-studied; while other stories might be humorous and written as a spoof picking fun at the Times. Regardless, the intent is to bring attention to the probable consequences of our actions, and the possible cause of them.

Fore warned is be fore armed; at least it can be so if we pay heed to the warning signs. There is little any of us as individuals, or even as groups and armies, can do about the signs; they have been written in stone, as the predictions of them in the Bible and other sources, from ancient times to more recent of days prove. Doing something about the signs and the days is not my concern with these studies, but rather I am warning any one who will listen as to what I believe the signs indicate. Whether you choose to believe the signs, or at least believe my interpretation of the signs is outside my capabilities. If you disagree with any of my conclusions, who is to say that you are not right, and I am way off base? But I believe it is far better to prepare for a fire that does not occur but is heading my way; than it is to ignore and deny the fire and be consumed by it.

References

"Slight are the outward signs of evil thought." Proverb

"Certain signs are the forerunners of certain events." Charles Churchill

"All signs are misleading." Yiddish Proverb

"For him who does not believe in signs, there is no way to live in the world." Russian Proverb

"Old signs do not deceive." Danish Proverb

"Certain signs precede certain events." Marcus Tullius Cicero

"He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" Jesus

"A minister who moves about in society is in a position to read the signs of the times even in a festive gathering, but one who remains shut up in his office learns nothing." Duc de Choiseul

"Language is the only instrument of science, and words are but the signs of ideas." Samuel Johnson

"Prophet of evil! never hadst thou yet A cheerful word for me. To mark the signs Of coming mischief is thy great delight, Good dost thou ne'er foretell nor bring to pass." Homer

"Her rash hand in evil hour Forth reaching to the fruit, she pluck'd, she eat; Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat Sighing through all her works gave signs of woe That all was lost." John Milton

"These signs have marked me extraordinary, And all the courses of my life do show I am not in the roll of common men." William Shakespeare

"We are living "between the times" -- the time of Christ's resurrection and the new age of the Spirit, and the time of fulfillment in Christ. Life in the Spirit is a pledge, a "down-payment", on the final kingdom of shalom. In the meantime, we are to be signs of the kingdom which is, and which is coming." David Kirk

"We may all be inclined to think of man's countless foolish and selfish intentions, his twisted and mischievous words and deeds. From all these, sin can be known, as a tree can be known from its fruits. Yet these outward signs are not sin itself, the wages of which are death. Sin is not confined to the evil things we do. It is the evil within us, the evil which we are. Shall we call it our pride or our laziness, or shall we call it the deceit of our life? Let us call it for once the great defiance which turns us again and again into the enemies of God and of our fellowmen, even of our own selves." Karl Barth

"The law is a strange thing. It makes a man swear to tell the truth, and every time he shows signs of doing so, some lawyer objects." Anon.

"About the time we think we can make ends meet, somebody moves the ends." Paul Dickson and/or Herbert Hoover

"This is no time for ease and comfort. It is the time to dare and endure." Winston Churchill

"We live in a time of transition, an uneasy era which is likely to endure for the rest of this century. During the period we may be tempted to abandon some of the time-honored principles and commitments which have been proven during the difficult times of past generations. We must never yield to this temptation. Our American values are not luxuries, but necessities - not the salt in our bread, but the bread itself." Jimmy Carter's farewell address.

"All the world 's a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard; Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side; His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything." As You Like It - William Shakespeare

"The inaudible and noiseless foot of Time." All 's Well that Ends Well - William Shakespeare

"Like the sun, truth is self luminescent. It is reality, self evident, needing no external defense. It is immediately recognized by resonant hearts. It can be hidden for a short time by clouds or by imprisoning others indoors.. but inevitably truth conquers all, as does love." Anna Niemus

From the Bible

48Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. (John 4:)

28And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 30And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:)

14And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. (Gen 1:)

11And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them? 12I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. (Num 14:)

20And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you? 21Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: 22And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: 23And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. 24And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. 25And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us. (Deut 6:)

10Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. 11For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, 12Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 13Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.16Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. 18Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. 19And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? 20To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 21And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. 22And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness. (Isa 8:)

1Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 2Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. (Jer 10:)

26Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, 27Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me? 28Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it: 29And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger. 30For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD. 31For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face, 32Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. 34But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it. 35And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. 36And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; 37Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: 38And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: 39And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: 40And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. 41Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. 42For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them. 43And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. 44Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD. (Jer 32:)

1Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. 2I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. 3How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. (Dan 4:)

3And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?4And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 23Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25Behold, I have told you before. 26Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.32Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 42Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 24: see also Luke 21: & Mark 13:)

16But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 22Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 25For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. (Acts 2:)

14Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.19So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (Mark 16:)

3The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.4Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;5Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely. (Psalm 58:)6And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. 7For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (James 3:)

3And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. 5And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. 6Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god. (Acts 28:)

42And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. (Acts 2:)

26The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 27For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 28For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. 29And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 30By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. 31And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:)

3Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles. (Acts 14:)

17I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God. 18For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, 19Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. (Rom 15:)

5Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 6Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 7And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; 10When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. (2Thes 2:)

1Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 2For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; 3How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; 4God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? (Heb 2:)