My Near Death Experience in 1978

In  1978,   at  age  25,  I  had  a  minor  stroke.    I  was  sound  asleep  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  enjoying  a  very  pleasant  dream,  when  all  of  a  sudden  the  dream  mutated  into  a  horrible,  black  nightmare.   It  got  worse  and  worse,  until  something  forced  "me"  out  of  my  body.   I  found  myself  in  perfect  health  in  a  place  of  subdued  light.  It  was  extremely  comfortable,  except  that  in  the  background  I  heard  what  I  came  to  refer  to,  later,  as  "a  schizophrenic  orchestra"  playing  disordered  "music"  in  the  background.

I  looked  to  my  right,  and  saw  a  tunnel  going  up  at  about  a  30  degree  angle.  The  tunnel  was  about  100  yards  wide.    It  seemed  to  go  up  for  miles.

I  began  to  rise  into  the  tunnel,  as  I  heard  the  "music"  of  the  "schizophrenic  orchestra"   retreating  into  the  background.

As  I  rose,  I  flew  "eyeballs  first."  That's  about  as  well  as  I  can  describe  it.     I  think  that  I  was  naked,  but  I  couldn't  have  cared  less.     Though  aware  that  I  was  dead,   I  was  completely  unafraid,    and  perfectly  comfortable.    I  was  only  intent  on  what  lay  ahead,  as  I  flew  up  at  maybe  50  mph.    I  went  up,  up,  up,    until  at  a  particular  point  I  saw  a  brilliant  light  source  in  the  distance.  I  thought,  "Huh!"  I  stared  hard  at  the  light  source,    trying  to  discern  detail.

As  I  came  within  100  yards  of  it,  my  velocity  upwards  slowed.  I  was  deeply  shocked  to  see   that  the  light  source  was  brilliant  background  light  behind  an  ordinary  rectangular  door-shaped  opening.  The  shape  of  the  doorway  is  what  struck  me.     I  thought,  "Huh!  They  have  that  shape  doorway  up  here ???"

I  continued  slowing  to  a  few  miles  per  hour.

Then,  something  happened.     Something  wiped-out  my  memory  of  what  happened  during  the  next  few  minutes.  I  believe  that  it  was  intentional.  I  deduce  from  where  the  memory  picks-up  next  that  I  was  told  something.     I  have  this  vague,  vague  memory  that  "guys  in  cowls"  --   monks ?  --  talked  to  me,  but  I  don't  know  for  sure  if  that  is  my  imagination  being  over-active.

My  memory  of  the  event  picks-up  where  I  am  still  floating  in  the  tunnel,  but  I  am  very,  very  slowly  starting  to  float  back  down,  feet  first.  I  am  thinking  to  myself,    "I  have  too  much  to  DO !!!   I  have  too  much  to  DO !!!   I  have  too  much  to  DO !!!   I  have  too  much  to  DO !!!   I  have  too  much  to  DO !!!   I  have  too  much  to  DO !!! "  I  couldn't  care  less  that  I  am  rushing  down  the  tunnel,  faster  and  faster  and  faster,  feet  first,  at  what  was  maybe  hundreds  of  miles  per  hour.  I  only  want  to  get  back  to my  body.

At  the  bottom  of  the  tunnel,  I  zzzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiiipppppppppp  back  into  my  body  with  a  kind  of  a  "thump,"  which  forces  me  to  wake-up  in  my  body,  in  my  bed.  From  this  point  on,  my  Near  Death  Experience  has  ended.      I  could  immediately  tell  that  something  had  gone  seriously  wrong  in  my  brain.    I  tried  to  think,   with  words,  "What  is  wrong  with  my  brain?"   But  the  words  got  all  jumbled-up.   I  tried  to  say  something  like,  "Will  my  brain  get  better"  outloud  in  the  bedroom,  but  my  tongue  articulated  the  words  all  jumbled-up,  with  remarkable  efficiency.     The  effect  on  me  of  being  able  to  jumble-up  words  with  my  brain  and  my  tongue  with  wonderful  dexterity  caught  me  so  much  by  surprise  that  I  was  really  amused.  I  tried  to  say  other  things  out  loud,  and  jumbled  them  up  with  the  same  amazing  efficiency.  I  was  pleased.

But  then  I  got  serious.  I  abandoned  the  use  of  words  in  my  thinking,  and  I  began  to  "apprehend"  full  ideas,  without  words.  I  apprehended  that  I  probably  had  a  stroke,  that  it  was  probably  a  small  one,  and  that  I  might  recover.  I  apprehended  without  words  that  the  first  thing  I  should  do  is  finish  my  night's  sleep.  I  laid  down  and  went  to  sleep.

The  following  morning, when  I  awakened,  I  could  immediately  tell  that  I  was  still  "struck  dumb."    I began  thinking  by  that  "apprehending"  of  things  without  words.      Thinking  without  words  was  very  interesting,  and  extremely  efficient.  My  thoughts  galloped  like a  race  horse.

I  went  downstairs  to  the  kitchen.  In  the  presence  of  the  rest  of  the  family,  I  felt  deep,  deep  shame  at  being  struck  dumb,  I  don't  know  why.  When  anyone  asked  me  a  question,  I  just  answered  "HRRRRMMMMPH !!!"    They  concluded  that  I  was  angry  at  something.

Later,  when  the  family  was  out  of  the  house,   I  took  a  trolley  up  to  the  offices  of  the  family  doctor  on  Castor  Avenue  just  south  of  Cottman    in  Northeast  Philadelphia.  The  doctor  drove  me  to  Nazareth  Hospital,     where  they  diagnosed  my  condition  as  "an  ischemic  attack."   He  sent  me  home  with  a  prescription  which  I  never  filled.

I  avoided  everyone  for  two  weeks,  waiting  for  my  ability  to  speak  to  come  back.  And  come  back  it  did.

Lest  anyone  think  that  I  am  implying  here  that  I  was  "Heaven-bound"  in  1978,   I  should  add  that  in  the  case  of  the  thousands  of  other  people   who  have  had  similar  experiences,  but  who  went  farther,   they  discover  that  on  the  other  side  of  that  doorway,  one  goes  to  judgment !!!  The  person  is  asked,  "What  did  you  do  with  the  time  I  gave  you  on  Earth?"

And,  I  should  add,  I  am  a  sinner.  My  wife  Rise`  observed  that  during  the  blacked-out  period  I  was  told  that  I  have  more  to  do  just  to  avoid  being  damned  to  Hell.

I  think  that  she  is  right.

And  I  think  that  I  still  have  more  to  do.

A  final  note:  Law  was  the  best  experience  of  my  life.  I  got  to  open  the  clock  and  see  what  makes  it  tick,  so  to  speak.   One  of  my  friends  in  the  course  of  that  learning  process  was  Medford,  New  Jersey  attorney  Ed  Hogan.   I  told  him  about  my  near  death  experience.     He  responded  with  silence.

A  few  years  ago,  I  tried  to  refer  a  case  to  him.    Ed  said,  "Pete,  I  can't  take  it.  I'm   quitting  law.  I  had  a  pretty  bad  stroke.     I'm  glad  that  it  is  you  calling  --  I  had  essentially  the  same  experience  you  did.   I  went  up  the  tunnel.  I  made  it  through   the  door.    They  told  me  that  it  wasn't  time  for  me  --  that  I  had  to  go  back  to  Earth  for  a  time.  So,  here  I  am."

To  any  skeptics  who  don't  believe  what  I  have  written  here,  I  can  only  say,  God  damn  my  soul  to  Hell  fire  forever  if  I  am  lying,  here.  I  believe  that  telling  the  story  is  a  sacred  enterprise.

Anyway,  friends,  be  good.   Don't  screw  it  up.    Say  a  prayer  for  me.

Martyrs' Relics in Your Local Catholic Church

One  of  the  really  intriguing  things  about  your  local  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  that  if  you  get  your  pastors'  permission  to  do  so,  you  can  go  up  to  the  altar   and  lift  up  the  altar  cloth  and  you  will  see  one  or  more  small  drill  marks  in  the  stone,  plastered-over.

Why?

The  reason  for  them  is  fascinating.     Holes  were  drilled  in  the  altar  stone,  and  martyrs'  relics   pushed  into  them,  and  then  they  were  sealed  with  plaster.

Why?

Because  nearly  2,000  years  ago,   the  Catholic  Church  was  bathed  in  martyrs'  blood  in  the  time  of  its  formation.   Before  the  Roman  Emperor  Constantine   fully  legitimized  the  Church,   the  emperors,  who  did  not  like  this emerging  new  sect,   would  authorize  persecutions,  to  force  members  to  publicly  forswear  their  allegiance.  Soldiers  would  be  dispatched  to  the  homes  of  those  known  to  be  followers  of  "Christus"   and,  like  the  Nazis  of  World  War  II  going  door-to-door  hunting  for  hidden  Jews,   threaten  loss  of  life  and  property  if  they  did  not  say  the  right  thing.    Many  were  murdered  in  response.     (I  believe  that  this  shall  happen  again,  in  the  not-too-distant  future.)   Soldiers  were  shocked  as  men,  women  and  children   voluntarily  stretched  out  their  necks  for  execution.  Nothing  spread  Christianity  faster  through  the  ranks  of  the  Roman  army   than  asking  them   to  participate  in  hunts  for  Faithful  followers  of  "Christus."  Membership  in  the  Church  boomed.

Many  of  the  martyrs  were  buried  in  the  underground  cemeteries  on  Rome  and  environs,  called  "catacombs."     The  faithful  would  sneak  into  the  catacombs  for  Mass,  which  would  frequently  be  held  on  top  of  the  stone  sarcophagi  of  the  more  prominent  martyrs.

It  was  this  practice  --  consecration  on  top  of  the  martyrs  stone  graves,  an  appropriate  site  since  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  at  Mass  is  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  sacrificed  --  which  gradually  mutated  into   a  rule  requiring  that  martyrs'   relics  be  place  into  altar  stone  assemblies.

At  St.  Martin  of  Tours  Catholic  Church  on  Oxford  Circle   in  Philadelphia,  where  I  went  to  Mass  when  I  was  a  kid,  they  used  to  have   a  portable  altar  --  a  rolling  metal  frame  with  a  small  stone  slab  on  top  for  consecration,    and  a  rack  beneath  for  the  metal  reliquary  box  which  held  a  saint's  relics.

One  of  the  more  famous  ancient  stone  structures  in  New  England  is  the  Newport  Tower,  in  Newport,  Rhode  Island.

I  have  been  to  it.  The  local  consensus  is  that  it  was  a  windmill  belonging  to  Benedict  Arnold's  grandfather.

In  fact,  it  is  one  of  the  most  astonishing  stone  structures  in  the  United  States.     It  is   the  tower  portion  of  a  fortified  Roman  Catholic  Church   built  in  Newport  by  Roman  Catholic  Vikings   around  the  year  1357.   The  public  records  dispatching  the  mission  from  the  united  kingdom  of  Sweden  and  Norway  to  "Vinland"  --  the  Viking  name  for  America  --  in  1354,  almost  150  years  before  Columbus,  have  been  located.    The  design   of  the  Newport  tower  is  the  same  as  the  design  for  fortified  church  towers  in  the  joint  kingdom  of  Sweden  and  Norway  constructed  around  that  time.  The  mortar  between  the  stones  is  of  the  variety  in  use  in  that  era.  In  the  second  story,  there  is  a  fireplace  on  the  inside,  with  a  chimney  built  into  the  wall  --   a  feature  in  Scandinavian   construction  during  that  era.    On  the  outside  of  the  building  is  a  stone   bearing  the  Norse  runes  for  H-N-K-R-S ...

 ...  meaning  "hinikirs,"   the  Norse  term  meaning  "chair  church,"    which  is  what  "cathedral"  actually  means  --  "church  of  the  [bishop's]  chair."

On  the  inside  wall  of  the  second  story   there  is  a  slot  in  the  stone  wall  for  their  altar  stone  for  Roman  Catholic  Mass,   and  beneath  that  altar  stone  slot  is  a  square  niche   for  their  reliquary  box ...

Joke: The Trouble with Innocence

In  a  first  grade  religion  class  in  the  local  parochial  school,    the  teacher  asks,  "Now,  can  anyone  in  the  class  tell  me  why  it  is  so  important  for  you  to  be  quiet  in  church  on  Sunday?"

A  little  girl  raises  her  hand  and  asks,  "Because  there  are  so  many  people  sleeping?"

The Nativity Story In Luke's Gospel Isn't About What You Think ...

Was  Jesus  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes  and  laid  in  a  manger?  Is  that  statement  in  Luke 2:7,  because  it  is  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  a  perfectly  historical,  absolutely  accurate  statement?

An  uncomfortable  number  of  Christians  would  say  "yes."

The  reason  why  I  say  "uncomfortable"  is  because  Biblical  literalists  are  alienating  millions  from  Christianity.    Simple-minded  Biblical  literalists    (along  with  the  sex  sins  of  Catholic  priests  and  Protestant  ministers)   are  going  to  kill-off   Christianity,  if  we  let  them.

Instead  of,  "Every  jot  and  tittle  of  Luke  2:7   is  absolutely  perfectly  historical,"    the  proper  answer  to  the  question,  "Are  the  divinely-inspired  words  of  Luke  2:7,  saying  that  Jesus  was   wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes  and  laid  in  a  manger,  true?"  is,  "It  doesn't  matter."

Why  doesn't  it  matter?

Because  in  Luke  2:7,    the  Holy  Spirit  wasn't  inspiring  the  words  to  teach  us  history.

Instead,  the  Holy  spirit  was  inspiring  the  words   to  teach  us  that  when  Christ  came  to  the  world,  He  came  to  the  world  to  become  the  Real  Presence   of  Christ's  sacrificed  body  and  blood  in  the  sacred  Eucharist."

Note  well:   When  Mary  is  said  to  wrap   Jesus  in  swaddling  clothes ...

... the  divinely-inspired  story  functionally  has  her  making  Jesus  look  like  the  dead  adult  wrapped-up  in  his  shroud  in  the  tomb  after  his  crucifixion ...

... and  when  Mary  is  said  to  place  Jesus  in  the  manger,  a  feeding  trough  for  yoked  animals  in  Bethlehem,  Hebrew  for  "the  House  of  Bread,"  ...

... the  divinely-inspired  story  functionally  has  her  placing  Jesus  on  a  kind  of  a  "dinner  plate"  in  a  "bread  bakery" ...

Voila!   The  Holy  Spirit  inspired  Luke  2:7   NOT  to  teach  us  history,  but  to  tell  us  that  the  One  Who  Came   came  to  be  this ...

11/26/2014 Cryptogram

U    DUM    IETH    FE   RZH    


XEYFEP    UMX    HUQH,    


“XEY,   Z   RUJT    U    FTPPZCBT    


VPECBTD!   TJTPQ    FZDT    Z    


XPZMS    YENNTT,    Z    ITF    U    


NZTPYT    VUZM    ZM    EMT    


EN    DQ    TQTH!”



FRT    XEYFEP    UMHATPH,    


“RUJT    QEL    FPZTX    FUSZMI    


FRT    HVEEM    ELF    NZPHF?”

TINYNESS GOT ON MARTY MOSS-COANE TODAY !!!

I  call  my  wife  Rise`  (pronounced  "REE-suh")  "Tinyness"  because  I'm  a  big  guy,  and  she's  so  tiny  next  to  me.  When  I  take  her  clothes  out  of  the  dryer,  I  can't  believe  how  tiny   her  shirts  are,  as  I'm  hanging  them  up!

For  years  now  I've  had  Celiac  Disease  --  I   can't  digest  the  gluten  molecule,  because  a  genetic  change   inherited  from  my  parents  --  probably,  from  my  Irish  father  --   means  that  I  lack  the  enzyme  to  digest  it.   Gluten   sits  in  my  bowels  undigested  until  it  --  and  my  bowels  --   rot!

So,  Rise`  learned  how  to  make  me  gluten  free  bread  and  other  gluten-free  concoctions.

On  Marty  Moss-Coane's  pre-Thanksgiving  show  today,  she  was  discussing  Thanksgiving  recipes.   When  the  program  turned  to  cooking  for  Celiac  cases,  Rise`  e-mailed  in  that  she  made  turkey  stuffing  edible  for  me,  again,  by   substituting  kasha  for  bread.  Marty  Moss-Coane   read  Rise`'s  e-mail  aloud  on  the  show.  "That  sounds  really  good!"   the  guest  commented.

This  year,  Rise`  also  did  this  for  Thanksgiving ...

That's  a  Reese's  chocolate  peanut  butter  cup  cheese  cake  on  gluten-free   crust.

I  told  Rise`  that   we  have  to  have  a  supply  of  insulin  ready  inside,  and  an  ambulance  waiting  outside,  before  anyone  gets  to  eat  any  of  it.

Joke: The Rich Old Contractor

A  geriatric  specialist  had  a  75  year  old  contractor  as  a  patient.  When  the  patient  was  in  for  an  exam  one  day,   the  doctor  commented,  "You're  getting  quite  old  --   you're  really  up   there.  Maybe  it's  time  to  retire."

"Eh ???!!!"   the  old  contractor  said,  cupping  his  ear  to  hear  better.

"I  SAID,"  the  doctor  yelled,  "YOU'RE  GETTING  QUITE  OLD  --  YOU'RE  REALLY  UP  THERE.  RETIRE!"

"'It's  really  cold,   and  I  should  get  a  sweater  and  be  near  a  fire'???"   the  old  man  asked.

"Oh,  for  Heaven's  sake,"  the  doctor  said,  listening  to  the  man's  chest  with  his  stethoscope,  "Just  listen:   YOU'VE  GOT  A  HEART  MURMUR !   BE  CAREFUL !"

The  old  man  looked  surprised,  nodded  agreement,  and  left.

A  few  weeks  later,   the  doctor  received  an  invitation  to  the  old  contractor's  retirement  party  at  the  local  country  club.

When  he  entered  the  dining  room,    there  was  the  old  contractor,   standing  next  to  one  of  the  most  sexy  young  ladies  God  ever  put  on  Earth,  wearing  a  beautiful,  clingy  gown.  She  was  holding  the  contractor's  arm.

The  doctor  hurried  over  to  them.  The  old  contractor,  beaming  with  pride,   said,  "Doctor,  I'd  like  to  introduce  you  to  my  wife!"

The  doctor  grabbed  the  old  man  and  pulled  him  aside.  "YOU'RE  WIFE ???"  the  doctor  yelled.  "WHAT  ARE  YOU  DOING  WITH  A  BABE  LIKE  HER ???"

The  old  contractor  looked  at  him  shocked  and  said,  "YOU  TOLD  ME  TO  DO  IT !!!"

"I  TOLD  YOU ?"  the  doctor  asked.  "WHEN ???"

The  old  contractor  said,  "AT  MY  LAST  VISIT  TO  YOUR  OFFICE,  YOU  TOLD  ME  TO  GET  A  HOT  MAMA  AND  BE  CHEERFUL !!!"

"NO!  NO!  NO!"  the  doctor  corrected,  "I  SAID,  'YOU'VE  GOT  A  HEART  MURMUR!  BE  CAREFUL!'"

"Oh,"   the  old  contractor  muttered.

"HOW  DID  YOU  GET  A  GIRL  LIKE  THAT?"  the  doctor  asked.

"I  LIED  ABOUT  MY  AGE!"   the  rich  old  contractor  explained.

"YOU  TOLD  HER  THAT  YOU  ARE  55?"  the  doctor  suggested.

"NO!"  he  smiled,  "I  TOLD  HER  THAT  I  WAS  95!"

Joke: The Medical Exam

A  doctor  gives  his  patient  a  careful  medical  examination,  and  finally   the  doctor  says,  "I  hate  to  have  to  tell  you  this,  but  you  have  rabies.  You'll  be  dead  soon."

The  patient  says,  "Quick!  Give  me  a  pencil  and  some  paper!"

"Why?"  the  doctor  asks,    "To   write  your  last  will  and  testament?"

"No,"  the  patient  answers,  "To  make  a  list  of  the  people  I  want  to  bite!"

My Masada Relic

Years  ago,  a  good  friend  of  mine,  Gerald  C.  Davis,  took  a  trip  to  Israel  with  his  family.    He  told  me  that  among  other  places  they  would  be  visiting  Masada,   the  fortress  just  south  of  the  West  Bank,  a  short  distance  west  of  the  Dead  Sea,  in  which  the  ancient  Jews  successfully   held  off  the  Roman  army  for  a   substantial  period  before  committing  suicide.  Josephus  relates  how  how  the  Jewish  families  holding-out  in  the  Masada  fortress  --  about  1,000  people  altogether  --  committed  mass  suicide  rather  than  allow  the  Romans  to  take  them  prisoner.    I  asked  Gerry  to  retrieve  for  me  a  stone  from  the  top  of  Masada,  where  the  Jews  held-out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masada#mediaviewer/File:Israel-2013-Aerial_21-Masada.jpg

The  stone  Gerry  retrieved  for  me  is  palm-sized.   I  glued  a  portion  of  the  speech  of  Eleazar  of  Masada  to  his  followers,  before  their  deaths ...

It  is  a  wonderful  relic  from  a  desperate  age.

Masada  took  place  during  the  great  Jewish  Revolt  against  the  Romans  during  the  first  century,   as  the  Older  Brother  Church  of  Christianity,  the  Old  Testament  Church,  Judaism,   was  being  bludgeoned  to  death   by  the  world  around  it.  Though  it  was  time  for God's  people  to  shed  the  fig  leaf  clothing  of  Judaism,  Genesis  3:7,  and  put  on  the  sacrificed  victim  skin  clothing  of  Christianity,   Genesis  3:21,   the  people  of  Judaism  were  loved  by  Christ  in  a  special  way,   so  that  He  wept  over  Jerusalem  as  He  considered  the  horrors  to  come ...

41   As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it,

42  saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.

43  For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.

44  They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Luke  19:41-44

One  of  the  things  one  sees  in  the  Bible,    as  it  is  read  through  the  lens  of  Bible  typology,  is  that  God  definitely  viewed   Judaism  as  the   first  Church.   That  is  the  concept   comprising  the  basis  for  the  Visitation,  Luke  1:39-56,  where  we  see  the  last  prophet  of  Judaism,   John,  jumping  for  joy  in  Elizabeth's  womb   at  the  arrival   of  the  Savior  of  Mankind  and  future  Invisible  Head  of  New  Testament  Church  --  the  Church  of  Rome.

Christ  Himself,  in  his  Eschatalogical  or  "End  of  the  World"  Homilies,  foretold  when  we,  in  the  New  Testament  Church,  would  be  reviled,  and  some  would  be  put  to  death.  Luke  21:12-19.

I  personally  believe  that  that  time  has  come. 

And  so  my  Masada  relic  is  very  dear  to  me.   Do  not  miss-out  on  the  adventure.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson Joke

Sherlock  Holmes  and  Dr.  Watson  go  camping  together.   At  about  3:00  a.m.   Watson  is  sound  asleep  in  his  sleeping  bag  when  Holmes  nudges  him  to  wake  him  up.

Holmes  says,  "Watson,   look  up  and  tell  me  what  you  see."

Watson  responds,  "A  sky  full  of  stars."

Holmes  asks,  "And  what  do  you  deduce  from  that  sky  full  of  stars?"

Watson,  anxious  to  impress,  responds,  "Well,  Holmes,    astronomically,  I  deduce  that  our  Sun  is  only  one  of  millions  of  stars  crowded  into  our  galaxy,  with  many  of  them   being  orbited  by  planets.

"Paleantologically,   I  deduce  that  many  of  the  inhabitable  planets  out  there,  much  younger  than  ours,  may  have  life  forms  on  them  similar  to  those  which  we  see  in  our  fossil  beds.

"Evolutionalogically,   I  deduce  that  many  of  the  older  planets  may  have  life  forms  on  them  that  resemble  the  bipedal   hominids  which  on  our  planet   became  mankind.

"Theologically,   I  deduce  that,  if  He  was  willing  to  do  so,   some  of  those  extraplanetary  hominids  may  have  been  ensouled  by  almighty  God,  although   being  made  of  flesh  and  blood  they  probably  are  afflicted   with  the  condition  we  call  Original  Sin,  and  so  need  saving.

"Mathematically,    I  deduce  that  the  stars  in  our  galaxy,   which  number  around  100  billion,    probably  have  more  than  1  trillion  planets  and  planetoids  around  them,  and  each  of  those   is  made  of   octillions  of  atoms  and  dectillions  of   sub-atomic  particles.

"Astrologically,  I  deduce  that  Mars  is  passing  through  Scorpio,  but  scientific  thinkers  like  us  should  deduce  little  if  anything  from  that  fact.

"Finally,   as  a  matter  of  aesthetics,   I  deduce  that  the  sky  is  incomparably  beautiful,   and  something  which   even  the  best  of  impressionistic  painters   can  only  hint  at."

Certain  that  he  impressed  Holmes,    Watson  concludes,  "And  what  do  you  deduce  from   that  sky  full  of  stars,  Holmes?"

Holmes  answers,  "I  deduce  that  our  tent  has  been  stolen."

I'll Get into Trouble for This One ... The Two Golfers

Two  guys  are  playing  golf.    One  of  them  hits  his  ball  into  a  copse  of  trees.   "Don't  worry,"  he  says,  "I'll  get  it!"

So,  he  runs  into  the  trees,  but  a  few  minutes  later  he  runs  out  of  the  trees,  in  a  big  sweat,  and   without  his  golf  ball.

"I  can't  get  it!"  he  explains.  "It's  on  the  green,  on  the  other  side  of  the  trees,  and  my  wife  and  my  mistress  are  there,  standing  there  together,  talking.     One  doesn't  know  that  the  other  exists,  so  how  can  I  walk  in  front  of  them?!"

"Don't  worry,"   the  other  golfer  says,  "I'll  get  it!"

So,  he  runs  into  the  trees,  but  a  few  minutes  later  he,  too,   runs  out  of  the  trees,  in  a  big  sweat,  and   without  the  golf  ball.

He  says,  "Small  world !"

WEIRD STUFF: "Aliens" Are Alienating Christians from the Faith !

Twice  in  the  last  six  months  --  the  second  time,  only  last  Saturday  --  I  have  happened  into  a  very  strange  phenomenon:   Devout  Catholics  alienated  from  The  Faith  by  the  H2   History  Channel  program  Ancient  Aliens,  produced  by  Prometheus  Entertainment.   Ancient  Aliens  is  that  program  frequently  hosted  by  "that  guy  with  all  of  the  hair,"  Giorgi  Tsoukalos ...

http://www.battledrawnradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/tumblr_m5s8tnt6yw1rpahgko1_1280-e1355063756128.jpg

I  think  that  larger  forces  are  actually  the  main  contributors  to  the  slow  collapse  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  other  Christian  and  Jewish  congregations:   The  security  of  Western  Society:    the  values  of  Secular  Humanism  --  "Common-Sense-Nice-Guy-ism"  --  with  which  our  media  inculcates  us,  day  in  and  day  out,  on  computer  and  television  screens;   the  preoccupying  power  of  ubiquitous  screen  programming;   the  almost  irresistible  allure  of   contraceptive-protected  sexual  pleasure,  which  some  churches  --  most  of  all,  the  Catholic  Church,  with  Humanae  Vitae  --  are  opposed  to;   and  finally  the  great  Catholic  and  Protestant  church  sex  scandals,  in  which  those  priests  and  ministers  who  were  attracted  to  the  clerical  function  as  a  good  hiding  place  for  their  pre-wired  sexual   mis-inclinations  --  "He  doesn't  date  much  because  he  has  a  vocation"  --   become  the  "wolves  in  sheep's  clothing,"  caving-in  to   the  terrible  forces  within  and  start  grabbing  and  engaging  in  various  sex  acts  with  the  gullible  lambs  in  their  flock  --  almost  always  young  males,  despite  the  fact  that  female  altar  servers  have  outnumbered  the  male  servers  for  decades.

And  so  I  think  that  Catholics  or  other  Christians  falling-away  because  of  "ancient  alien"  ideation   are  more  akin  to  sickly  and  weak   young  being  culled  from  the  wildebeest  herd  by  leopards  --  the  "weakest  link"  Christians  whose  faith  has  already  been  eroded  because  of  the  less  exotic  influences  listed  above.

I,  personally,  spent  years  wrestling  with  the  problem  of  the  UFO  Abduction  Phenomenon,  which  I  am  absolutely  certain  at  this  point  isn't  an  "alien"  phenomenon  at  all,  but  rather  an  interestingly-organized-and-modernized  form  of  demonic  possession,    which  I  will  write-about  in  the  future.  (I  maintain  that  I  can  prove  that  the  UFO  Abduction  Phenomenon  is  a  demonic  phenomenon  predicted  in  inspired  Scripture.)

But,  I  watch  Ancient  Aliens  myself  not  because  I  think  that  there  were  ancient  aliens,  but  rather  because  I  am  an  amateur  epigrapher,  and  the  program  Ancient  Aliens  comprises  a  fascinating  collection  of   ruins  and  inscriptions  --  the  subject  matter  of  epigraphy  --  from  around  the  world.

I  have  to  admit  that,  years  ago,    I  was  astonished  by,  and  stumped  by,   some  of  the  things  we  see  in  the  Ancient  Aliens  program  --  mostly,  the  enormous  walls  of  interlocking  stone  blocks  around  the  world ...

http://hiddenincatours.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/004.jpg

http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/yolka/yolka1011/yolka101100053/8303651-sacsayhuaman-ruins-cuzco-peru-sacsayhuaman--fortress-in-the-north-of-cusco--megalithic-structures-th.jpg

http://www.raisingmiro.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/megalithic.jpg

https://photos.travelblog.org/Photos/103267/380914/f/3557613-The-megaliths-of-Saqsayhuaman-0.jpg

http://www.world-mysteries.com/mpl_9_giant_stones_Sacsayhuaman.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTscsuuDvOwCICu1N5JVlT_A3bpSBwoJRFijPSmJQ5qATzTCk2jICguYzeWr5fB_ug5OrDLbKmb-smpBuDJAyDrwEhiEVhCIOAez2JcUEY-vIib4rAYsourlv5gMP4VLMsfvkGWJIM6d0/s640/EI+23.jpg

http://www.andrewcollins.com/pics/Alaca%20Hoyuk%20polygonal%20wall.jpg

However,   I  began  to  come  across  bits  and  pieces  of  evidence  respecting  seemingly-impossible  ancient  megalithic  stonework,  suggesting  that  humans  could  have  done  it,  not  ancient  aliens  with  super-duper  stone-cutting   "photon  torpedoes"  and  lasers  and  with  stone-lifting   "tractor  beams."


(1)  If  you  look  at  the  megalithic  walls,  there  are  relatively  consistent  patterns  in  the  construction  work  which  accommodate   human  weakness  and  the  need  to  economize  on  construction  costs ...

(a)  The  biggest  stones  are  almost  always  on  the  bottom  course,  so  that  the  builders  need  only  have  raised  them  up   by  tilting  them  into  position  --  not  by  lifting  them  into  place  by  "tractor  beams"  from  flying  saucers.

(b)  It  takes  very  little  imagination  to  see  how   the  builders  relied  on   easy  access  of   the  upper  surfaces  of  in-place  lower  stone  courses   to  cut  the  notching   on  them  to  accommodate  the  angular  shape  of   upper-course  stones  placed  upon  them.  In  other  words,  most  of  the  actual  corners  are  cut-into  the  lower-course  stone's  upper  surface.  Where  it  is  the  upper-course  stone  which  has  the  angle  cut  into  it,    that  stone  is  small  enough  to  cut,  turn-over,  and  place  upon  the  stone  beneath  it.    In  other  words,  you  rarely-if-ever  sea  a  "jillion ton"  stone  with   amazing  angular  cuts  on  the  bottom  edge  which  would  have  then  had  to  have  been  lowered  into  place  with  some  kind  of  hyper-powerful  lifting  force.


(2)  The  Epigraphic  Society  had  a  tongue-in-cheek  saying:   "Just  because  we  don't  know  how  they  did  it  doesn't  mean  that  'aliens  did  it.'"

Easter  Island  turned  out  to  be  the  perfect  case-in-point  substantiating  that  logic.  

Despite  the  fact  that  the  Ancient  Aliens  program  included  the  enormous,  wonderful  statues  of  Easter  Island  as  examples  of  ancient  stone  work  which  probably  could  only  have  been  cut  and  moved  by  ancient  aliens,    explorer/archaelogist  Thor  Heyerdahl's 1958  book,  Aku Aku,   tells  how  Mr.  Heyerdahl  simply  asked  the  people  of  Easter  Island  to  please  show  him  how  their  ancient  ancestors  made  the  statues,  and  how  they  happily  took  out  their  little  stone-age  stone  tools  and  cut  him  a  large  statue  out  of  solid  rock,  as  he  watched  and  photographed  them  doing  it !

See?   See?  No  photon  torpedoes  or  lasers  necessary !

Above,  Easter  Islanders  photographed  by  Thor  Heyerdahl  in  the  act  of  cutting  him  a  large  Easter  Island  style  statue  out  of  a  cliff  on  their  island  with  their  little  stone  tools.   No  photon  torpedoes  or  lasers  necessary!

Then,  they   raised  it  up   for  him,    using  sticks,  dust,  pebbles  and  rocks !

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/arqueologia/eastern_island/images/moai6.jpg

See?  See?  No  tractor  beams  from  alien  space  ships  were  necessary !

http://vmguld.se/ufo-game/screen.png


(3)  With  respect  to  "aliens"  portrayed   in   ancient   rock  art ...

http://www.otherworldmystery.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/ancient-aliens/alien-rock-art-petroglyph.jpg

http://www.ufo-contact.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/uamcconkie3.jpeg

http://www.ufo-contact.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ancient-rock-art.gif

http://www.alien-ufo-pictures.com/big-alien-head.jpg

http://www.ufo-contact.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/uamcconkie8.jpeg#ANCIENT%20ALIEN%20ART%20342x400

http://puertoricoufos.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/ancient-alien-art-4.jpg

http://anasaziphoto.com/img/s8/v75/p1354877936-3.jpg

http://www.ufo-contact.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/uamcconkie6.jpeg

http://www.ufo-contact.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/uamcconkie2.jpeg

http://ancientarchives.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/comstock-texas-indian-rock-art-paintings-in-panther-cave2.jpg

http://www.dannorrisphotography.com/Other/Ancient-Rock-Art/FreemontSego/687193100_DAmEv-L.jpg

... the  Ancient  Aliens  program  argues  that  the  ancient  artists  "simply  painted  what  they  saw  --  aliens."  Shouldn't  it  bother  us  that  Ancient  Aliens  portrays  the  world  as  "the  Grand  Central  Station"  of  alien  visitations,  with  dozens  of  different  aliens  wafting-in  from  all  over  the  place,  troubling  our  ancestors  --  so  that  Earth  looked  more  like  the  Men  in  Black  headquarters  in  the  movie? ...

http://locoxelcine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/men-in-black-3-set-photo-aliens.jpg

Where  are  these  dozens  of  different  species  of  "aliens"?    What  --  did  the  world  fall  out  of  favor  as  an  "alien  vacation  spot"?

The  bottom  line  message  to  all,  here,  is  "Don't  start  breaking  out  the  candles  and   worshiping  supposed  ancient  alien  visitors."

THEOLOGY: The Christian God: The Fluffy, Wuffy God of Flowers and Butterflies?

For  years  now,  when  I  talk  about  God,  especially  to  young  people,   I  introduce  the  subject  by  discussing  "basics"  about  God.     On  the  subject  of  God's  love,    I  quote  my  favorite  line  from  John's  gospel ...


I  no  longer  call  you  slaves,  because  a  slave  does  not  know  what  his  

master  is  doing.  [Instead,]  I  have  called  you  friends.  John  15:15.


I  say  to  the  group  I  am  addressing,   "Think  about  that:  Here  is  the  One  and  Only,  the  Almighty  Creator   and  Destroyer  God  of  the  Universe,    coming  to  us  dirty  rats  in  the  gutter,  with  our  weaknesses,  or  secrets,  our  lies  and  our  sins,   and  He  reaches  down  to  us,  and  holds  out  His  hand  like  a  little  kid,  and  He  gently  says,  'Pwease  be  my  fwiend.'"

I  call  Him  "the  Almighty  Creator   and  Destroyer  God  of  the  Universe"  to  portray  the amazing  nature  of  Christ's  words.

When  I  say  this,  however,  in  any  given  audience  there  are  those  Christians  --  usually  the  really  devout  ones  --  who  take  issue  with  my  choice  of  words.

"'The  Almighty  Creator   and  Destroyer  God  of  the  Universe'?"  they  ask.    "God  is  a  'Destroyer '  God?  You  make  him  sound  like  Shiva  the  Creator  and  Destroyer  God  of  the  Hindus ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva#mediaviewer/File:Shiva_as_the_Lord_of_Dance_LACMA_edit.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva

Typically,  these  Christians,  both  Catholic  and  non-Catholic,    believe  that  God  is  a  God  of  love,  only,  who  can't  destroy  in  the  same  sense  that  God,  because  logic  is  "in  and  of"  God,   can't  make  a  square  circle.  These  Christians  will  flat  out  say,  "He  doesn't  destroy.  He  can't  destroy."  For  them,  God  isn't  "The  Almighty  Creator   and  Destroyer  God  of  the  Universe."  Although  they  would  never  adopt  such  terminology,  for  them  God  is  "The  Fluffy,  Wuffy  God  of  Flowers  and  Butterflies."

The  problem  isn't  the  word  "destroy,"  per  se.     The  problem,  for  these  Christians,   is  the  attaching  to  God  of  a  characteristic   which  many  regard  as  "innately  bad"  or  "innately  sinful."

Rather  than  throw-at  such  challengers  Bible  verses  quoting  God  predicting  that  He  will  "destroy"  this  or  "destroy"  that,    since  the  real  problem  is  not  the  word  "destroy,"  per  se,   I  ask  them  about  a  set  of  verses  they  rarely  hear  about  because  the  Catholic  Church  and  most  other  Christian  churches  regard  them  as  "too  difficult"  for  the  Faithful,  or  pay  attention  to  even  if  they  are  Bible  readers ...

"I, in my turn, will laugh at your doom;

I  will mock when terror overtakes you ...  !"   

Proverbs  1:26.

Then the just shall rejoice to see the vengeance

and bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked!   

Psalm  58:10.

The one enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord derides 

them,

Then  he  speaks  to  them in his anger, in his wrath he 

terrifies them!  Psalm  2:4-5.

The wicked plot against the righteous

and gnash their teeth at them;

But my Lord laughs at them,

because he sees that their day is coming!  

Psalm  37:12-13.

"Go  and  cry  out  to  the  gods  you  have  chosen! 

Let  them  save  you  in  your  time  of  distress!

Judges  10:14.

I  ask  them,    "Do  you  think  that  a  God  who  talks  like  this  is  not  a  destroying  God  in  addition  to  being  a  creator  God?"

Typically,   those  who  treasure  the  concept  of   "The  Fluffy,  Wuffy  God  of  Flowers  and  Butterflies"  answer,   "That's  all  Old  Testament  talk.   The  ancient  Jews  had  a  defective  understanding  of  God.   The  Old  Testament  is  not  valid.  It  was  supplanted  by  the  New  Testament."

That  is  when  I  pull  out  my  New  Testament  quotations.  Very  few  Christians  who  treasure  the  concept  of  "The  Fluffy,  Wuffy  God  of  Flowers  and  Butterflies"   read  all  of  the  New  Testament.  They  only  read   half  of  them.  Here  is  some  of  the  other  half ...


“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. 

I have come  not to abolish [the  law],   but to fulfill  [it].

"Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the 

smallest letter   or the smallest part of a letter will pass from 

the law, until all things have  taken place."  Matthew  5:17-18.



I tell you, on the day of judgment people will render an account

 for every   careless word they  speak.  Matthew  12:36.



"... whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna."

Matthew  5:22.



"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it 

away. It is better for  you to lose  one of your members 

than to have your whole body thrown into   Gehenna.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it

 away. It is  better for you to lose one of your members than to 

have your whole body go into  Gehenna."  Matthew  5:29-30.



Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—go outside 

that house or  town and shake the dust from your feet.

Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of 

Sodom and Gomorrah on the day  of judgment than for that 

town.  Matthew  10:14-15.



“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. 

I have come to  bring not peace but the sword.  

For I have come 

to set  a man ‘against his father,

a daughter against her mother,

and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;  

and one’s enemies will be those of his household.’"   

Matthew  10:34-36.



Let them grow together until harvest   then at harvest time I 

will say to the harvesters,   “First collect the weeds and tie 

them in bundles for burning; but gather the   wheat into 

my   barn."   Matthew  13:30.



Just as weeds are collected and burned [up] with fire, so will it 

be at the end of the age.

The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out

 of his kingdom all  who cause others to sin and all evildoers.

They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will 

be wailing and  grinding of  teeth.   Matthew  13:40-42.



Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, 

which collects fish of every  kind.

When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is 

good into buckets. What is bad  they throw away.

Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out 

and separate the wicked from the righteous

and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be 

wailing and grinding  of teeth.  Matthew  13:47-50.



 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me 

to sin, it would be better for him  to have a great millstone 

hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of 

the sea.

Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such 

things must come, but woe to the  one through whom they 

come!

If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw 

it away. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or 

crippled than with two hands or two feet  to be thrown 

into eternal  fire.

And  if  your  eye  causes  you  to  sin,  tear  it  out  and

throw  it  away.   It  is  better  for  you  to  enter  into  life

with  one  eye  than  with  two  eyes  to  be  thrown  into

fiery  Gehenna.   Matthew  18:6-9.


That  is  only  a  small  sample  of  how  Christ  talks  in  the  gospels.   It  goes  on  and  on  and  on  and  on.   That  doesn't  sound  very  much  like   "The  Fluffy,  Wuffy  God  of  Flowers  and  Butterflies,"  does  it?  In  fact,  it  sounds  exactly  like  the  same  God  talking  in  the  Old  Testament.

One  of  the  great  Protestant  televangelists  once  said  that  the  Hebrew  root   for  the  "wrath"  in  the  term  "wrath  of  God"  is  a  Hebrew  word  that  more  or  less  portrays  the  God  of  Justice  at  the  End  of  Time  as  "the  enraged  mangler"!

So,  in  addition  to  being  the  God  of  Love,  Who  comes  to  each  of  us  like  a  child  saying,  "Pwease  be  my  fwiend,"  He  is  also  "the  enraged  mangler"  on  Judgment  Day.

So,  take  advantage  of  His  love  while  it  is  available  to  us  not-yet-saved.  Come  to  Him  through  the  sacraments  of  His  Church.     Beware  of   "the  enraged  mangler"  --  He  is  out  there.