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Okay, so now it was Saturday. 

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And now I had just been released from spending 4 or 5 days in Unit 3600. Yeah, 3600, the same address as our restaurant (3600, South 6th Street)!

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My Judgment Day had arrived.

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And I’m pretty sure that I was questioning whether I was in some sort of hellish spiritual realm in which the world around me was my very own specially-created stage!

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And maybe everyone around me were merely artificially simulated illusions, all orchestrated to carry out my eternal punishment. 

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Yeah, maybe I was already in Hell, and all my surroundings were merely an illusion, created for my everlasting torment!

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Yeah, maybe I was in Hell!

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I just didn’t know.

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I just couldn’t tell…

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The Scream of Nature – by E. Munch – Wikipedia – public domain by edvard munch c.1893

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CHAPTER 9:

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“THE LAST PASSOVER”…

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IN-AND-OUT OF HELLISH TORMENT

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The same (those who receive the Mark of the Beast) shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God…

…which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation…

…and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone…

…in the presence of the holy angels,

and in the presence of the Lamb…”

Revelation 14:10

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This above Bible verse sure seems to fit what I was going through.

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And in the days following my release from Unit 3600, I was going in and out of such “fire & brimstone” torment.

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There were times when things were not as terrifying, and during those times I believed I might still be on earth.

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But before long, my terrors would return, once again being pelted with spiritual hailstones in the form of accusations, threats, ominous comments, and just…plain…weird…spiritually-contrived incidents, all orchestrated by these unseen entities! 

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SINGING BEFORE MILLIONS…

A friend (the piano tuner who brought up my music equipment to the hospital a few days earlier), was bringing my musical equipment back from the hospital.

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He was a really nice guy.

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And as he and I were unloading, he pointed out a scripture from the Bible…

…“Behold, the Devil shall cast some of you into prison,

that you may be tried; and you shall have tribulation ten days:

be faithful unto death,

and I will give you a crown of life.”

Revelation 2:10

He explained that I need to be faithful during my trials, and I would receive eternal life.

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And then he made a prophecy.

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He saw that I would someday be singing before millions.

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And believe me, I thought that was very good news, compared to what the spirit was telling me!

.

He also asked me to pray the Sinner’s Prayer as I remember.

.

“So Chuck”, He said, “Now that you’ve prayed that prayer, you are saved! Satan can’t touch you anymore! Satan is just a toothless old lion!

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Well, I would have liked to believe my piano-moving friend (who also happened to be a preacher at some local church).

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But I really had serious doubts.

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If what I went through was truly by the Devil, I wouldn’t exactly describe him as “toothless”! 

But I really wanted to believe his prophecy that, “Someday, you will be singing before millions”.

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Now, I was in a rock band back in high school.

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And a few times we actually did play before thousands.

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But that was only because we were on the same ticket with a big name band who came through town.

(Oh yeah, this photo is of our band, when playing at a concert. And that’s me on keyboards.)

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But millions? “Whoa!”

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ABOVE PHOTO: The Heavy Company (previously Little John & The Merrymen) opening for the Vanilla Fudge at the Salem Armory via EJD Enterprises (c. 1968-69) (Chuck is on the keyboards).

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A NEIGHBORHOOD INCIDENT…

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At another somewhat peaceful interlude between torments, a neighbor down the street, who I knew from the nightclub, had heard of my troubles, and came ringing my doorbell, to console me over my troubles.

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And in our brief conversation, he told me of how he went through a time back at college, when he almost had a breakdown.

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And as he was leaving, I remember telling him that, “I’ll never try to take my life.”

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But as he was walking away, I thought I heard him say, “No but I will.”

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And I remember thinking, “Why’d he say, ‘No but I will’? Is he part of what I’m going through? Will he kill me? Is he one of them?”

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And so I went back inside, scratching my head over that remark.

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But I would figure it out much later that same night!

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“ONE MASS”…

That same day, I was talking with a nice gal I knew, and no doubt she was aware of my troubles.

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Since we both jogged, we decided to go jogging.

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This was good, since I hadn’t jogged for some time.

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And as we were jogging up a bike path, I looked in the distance, across the highway and saw a big, newly-constructed commercial building.

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And because I’d never seen it before, and could barely see it, I asked what the large sign said on the side of the building…“Does it say, ‘One Mass’?”…

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…to which she answered…“Is that what you see?”…

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…she continued…“It says ‘Cinemas’. It’s a new movie theater!”

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And so, now I was seeing things in a religious context.

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And to tell the truth, I’m pretty sure I didn’t exactly know what a “Mass” was, back in those days, except that it was some sort of religious thing.

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SPIRIT-CONTROLLED SPORTS

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At some point in time, another friend called and asked me to play racquetball down at the gym.

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Now I wasn’t very good at racquetball, and didn’t play much.

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But to my amazement, on this particular day, I was able to play extremely well, doing some really amazing maneuvers, far beyond my normal abilities!

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And even to this day, I am convinced the spirits were controlling my body that day, giving me such enhanced abilities.

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racquetball – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain

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MORE CRUEL SHOES… “THE JERK?”…

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One of the first things I did when out of the hospital, was to go down to the book store and buy a copy of the recently published book, “Cruel Shoes”.

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It was a little book by the same “sooth-saying comedian” I had listened to on the first night of my troubles.

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I felt this book might have a personal message for me, just like the comedy album seemed to have. 

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As I was paying for the album, the lady at the counter informed me that, “Did you know this same comedian has a new movie coming out?”

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Immediately the thought came to me, “Maybe this movie also has a hidden message for me, as well as the rest of his works.”…

…So I asked, “What’s the name of the movie?”

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She answered, “I think the movie’s called ‘The Jerk'”.

.

Well that was a shock. “The Jerk?!” I walked out of the store, shaking my head, not knowing just what to think.

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“The Jerk?”, I thought. “Is that also about me?”

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MI AND L’AU – GOOD MORNING JOKERS – 2009 By Mathieu Linotte share-alike license wikimedia

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CRUEL SHOES, THE BOOK…

So I started reading the Cruel Shoes book as soon as I could.

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And just as I suspected, it too was speaking about my situation, likewise having a personal message.

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First of all, the cover had the comedian looking straight-faced, wearing big black sunglasses.

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And to me, this cover seems to have that kind of “all-knowing” morbidity.

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But it didn’t take long reading Cruel Shoes, that I began to get a message out of it.

BACK COVER…

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On the back cover was a picture of an empty recording studio, with musician-chairs, microphones, and an empty black banjo case.

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To me it seemed like the totally deserted studio represented an “empty Earth” after doomsday.

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The empty black banjo case looked somewhat like a coffin.

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So, I took this to be an omen.

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A very bad omen!

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This comedian “soothsayer” in his deadpan humor was sending this cryptic message out…that the world was soon to end.

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An empty studio with a coffin-like case symbolized the end of the world, and the end of Humanity!

“THE WINTER THAT LASTED FIVE MINUTES”…

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One little very short story, was titled “The Winter That Lasted 5 Minutes”.

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And although this short quip didn’t speak directly about a nuclear  holocaust, but it did kind-of catch the horror of such a catastrophe!

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It was winter…but winter only lasted FIVE MINUTES.

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Then it was Spring (in Heaven).

.

In other words, this was a picture of a “Nuclear Winter” followed by spring (in some Heavenly Realm).

“FOLDING SOUP”…

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Here was a similar comedy bit.

Just as folding soup is impossible, so also, to cheat death is likewise impossible.

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And since the world was about to end, this comedy routine went hand-in-hand with the rest of these not-so-funny “gags”.

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In other words, “folding soup” would be akin to saying, “You can’t take it with you!”

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Painting-Great Day of His Wrath by J. Martin-Wikipedia-Public Domain-

“CRUEL SHOES”…

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This was the same bit that was on the comedy album.

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These excruciatingly painful shoes.

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And those who must wear such shoes will soon be “tormented with fire and brimstone…and the smoke of their torment ascends up for ever and ever.”  Revelation 14: 11

“51st WAY TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER”…

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I think the other stories in the book were interpreted to my mind as being hellish taunts regarding my personal sins.

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For instance, there was one short story about how to dump a girl-friend in some eastern culture.

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This “other culture” way of dumping your girlfriend was something like taking off your shoe and dumping the sand out of it onto your girlfriend’s head.

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And so this condemned me about how I used woman over the years.

(And no, I never literally dumped sand on anyone’s head! But I’m pretty sure a few of them would have liked to dump several tons of… something on me!)

And a few of the other stories in this little book also were twisted in such a way to condemn me regarding my past, personal sins.

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Girl – Depression by Danielzanetti for Wikimedia – cropped image – C.C. Share-alike License 3.0

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“RETURN TO CINDER”

(Wordplay on an old 1962 Elvis hit, “Return To Sender”)

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So from these stories and maybe a few others I concluded that this little book was a well-disguised sooth-saying prophecy about the end of the world.

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God was gonna let the human race end it all.

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And it was gonna be soon.

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Really soon!

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The world was to burn with fire!

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And only those who were the lucky ones would escape this soon-coming fiery Nuclear Winter.

LAST DANCE…

(Title of the 1978 hit by Donna Summer)

 

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OR…

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NOT JUST, “ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT!”

(Title of the 1963 song by Sam Cook, “Another Saturday Night”

My singing partner called to ask if I would play piano for her down at the club tonight (a Saturday Night), and it was decided that we would go ahead.

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But I was informed by the spirit(s) that this would be Earth’s last night before doomsday.

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I was also informed that this nuclear holocaust would happen at midnight.

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And if that’s not enough, I was further informed that those who were lucky enough to be in the Stockman’s Social Club at the time, would be saved. (The Stockman’s Social Club was the name of the restaurant/bar/dance-hall we were presently playing.)

Now I was also informed that there were other “safe-houses” elsewhere in the city. (Probably other bars, churches, etc., as well, I don’t know.)

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Remember that I told you that the bars were my church, as with so many other bar-hopping atheists!

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Castle – romeo2 – nuclear bomb – Wikipedia – Public Domain – #9699d9

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“THE LAST PASSOVER”…

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OR…

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“I’M GONNA WAIT TILL THE MIDNIGHT HOUR, WHEN MY LOVE (AND THE WORLD) COMES TUMBLING DOWN!”

(Wordplay on lyrics of the 1965 Wilson Picket hit song, “The Midnight Hour”, with the words, “and the world” added)

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It was decided that I play at the club tonight.

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And I was informed by the spirits that this was gonna be a very solemn occasion…THE END OF THE WORLD!!!

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As previously stated, those in the club tonight (And other similar “sanctuary safe-houses”) would escape the doom which would sweep over at midnight.

Now as I’m writing this, I can’t help but notice the obvious parallel to the book of Exodus…

…“And Moses said, Thus says the LORD,

About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:

And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die”

Exodus 11:14.

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And in this story of the first Passover, the children of Israel were to go into their houses and shut their doors till midnight…

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…when the “destroying angel” passed through Egypt and killed all the first-born…

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…unless there was lamb’s-blood on the doorpost of the “saved” houses.

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And the Exodus account states that at about midnight a destroying angel from God went around to all the houses in Egypt, killing the first-born in every house.

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But those houses which had the blood of the Passover lamb, would escape this coming disaster…

…“For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians;

and when he sees the blood… on the two side posts,

the LORD will pass over the door,

and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.”

Exodus 12:23

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Well, as I said, I knew nothing concerning this strange parallel to the book of Exodus’ account of the Passover.

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I was merely doing what I was compelled to do by this spirit power on that November night in 1979.

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Foster Bible Pictures – The Angel of Death and the First Passover – Wikipedia – Public Domain

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DOWN AT THE CLUB…UH…I MEAN, THE SANCTUARY SAFE-HOUSE

Well, it soon became time to go down to the club.

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Or I should rather say, it came time to go down to the “sanctuary safe-house” (well, why not, since nightclubs had most always been my “church”!?)

Unlike the previous week, the house was filled on this most solemn and final evening.

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I didn’t drink any strong drinks tonight.

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And I was in a very serious mood.

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After all, this was the last night of planet Earth’s existence!

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And in just a few hours, I would be leading out any willing participants in prayer, as the world was being plunged into total annihilation.

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And not just me, but countless other “sanctuary safe-houses” around the world.

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Listen to this verse concerning the fiery, soon-coming end of the world…

…”But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;

in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,

and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,

the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

2nd Peter 3:10

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“IF YOU READ BETWEEN THE LINES…”

(Lyrics from Gordon Lightfoot’s 1970 hit song, “If You Could Read My Mind)

As this night began, the songs took on an eerie symbolism concerning all that I was going through. Perhaps, each and every song had a message!

.

This was so uncanny!

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Prior to all this, I seldom ever interpreted things in a symbolic sense.

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When I listened to a song on the radio, I just couldn’t figure out if there was an allegory or not.

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But now I could!

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And tonight, I was!

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I mean, for a guy who tried to compose songs, I was like the Poster-Child for the “Allegorically Challenged” (hence, this picture of that great clueless one, Alfred E. Neuman).

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But now…tonight…everything had special meaning!

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Every song had hidden significance!

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And everything else seemed to be some symbolic doom-saying harbinger, all pointing to the end…the fiery demise of the world!

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Alfred E Newman – Wikipedia – Public Domain-Click here for link.

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“LEROY BROWN”…

(Title of the 1978 song by Jim Croce)

This song was about, “the baddest man in the whole damned town”, obviously symbolizing Satan, of course!

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“And it’s bad, bad Leroy Brown,

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The baddest man in the whole damn town,

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Badder than old King Kong,

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And meaner than a junkyard dog!”

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Satan presiding at the Infernal Council wikpedia us public domain

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“SEPTEMBER SONG”…

(Title of a 1938 old standard, redone by Willie Nelson in 1978)

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As I said, it seems that every song we played that night had a double meaning, all concerning the world’s end.

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But I guess the song that kind of summed up this entire evening of doom was the “September Song”.

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This would probably be the theme-song for this last night of Earth.

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It just seemed to be so appropriate as I looked out on tonight’s very large S.R.O. crowd…

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

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SEPTEMBER SONG

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“Oh it’s a long long time…from May to December…

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“And the days grow short…When you reach November… (It was currently the month of November)

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“When the autumn weather…turns leaves to flame… (like a nuclear-winter flame!)

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“One hasn’t got the time…For the waiting game… (If ya wait, it’ll be too late!)

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“Ohh-h the days dwindle down…

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“To a precious few…September…November…

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“And these few precious days… I’ll spend with you… (Till about midnight, to be exact, when somebody pushes the wrong button!)

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“These precious days…I’ll spend…with…you.”

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My very lovely partner was singing this haunting melody very beautifully tonight.

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As a matter of fact, we’ve never had a better night as far as performance.

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It was like I was just sitting here, and higher powers were moving my fingers.

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My partner was also singing well.

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But she was just doing one song after another.

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She didn’t clown around with the audience like she usually did.

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Probably she didn’t want to do anything to get me upset, in my fragile mental condition.

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Little girl in bomb shelter – Wikimedia 

Atomic Bomb Operation Castle – Romeo – wikimedia – public domain

 

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“I dreamed my soul rose Unexpectedly, and looking back down on me, smiled Re-assuredly”

(Lyrics by Paul Simon’s 1973 song, An American Tune)

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The entire evening was kind of surreal.

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The crowd, on this standing-room-only night was somewhat subdued.

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It was like I was just watching this whole story.

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I wouldn’t go so far as to call it an “out-of-body experience”.

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But I was just kind-of melancholy and totally at peace with all that was happening.

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Almost like floating.

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Everything almost seemed slow-motion.

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Definitely this evening was controlled by higher, unseen powers.

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Well, needless to say the hours came and went.

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Midnight finally arrived.

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But nothing happened.

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No holocaust.

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No public prayers.

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No destroying angel.

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Totally fizzled out!

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A COMPLETE DUD!

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Photo: Operation Upshot – Knothole – Badger – wikipedia – public domain

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WHOOPS! SORRY ABOUT THAT BROKEN GLASS!

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When I got home that evening, I began thinking about the comment made by my neighbor.

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You know…the guy who came by that afternoon to console me.

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To which I said, “I’ll never try to take my life”, to which he answered, “No, but I will”.

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As I thought about his response, I suddenly figured it out.

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When he said “No but I will”, he was saying “No but I will (take his own life)”.

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So, I jumped up, “Oh no, he’s gonna take his own life!!”

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As I thought about what to do, I decided to go down to his house, and see if he’s okay.

.

Maybe his new girlfriend dumped him and he’s depressed.

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Maybe his coming over today, was his way of reaching out for help!

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I knocked on his door.

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No answer! “Maybe he’s overdosed and passed out”.

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So, I went around to his back door, and it was locked too.

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So, I decided to break one of the little windows of his country-style rear door of this large and very nice home-on-hill.

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So, I did.

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I went in and looked around.

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No one was home.

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While I was relieved that he was okay,

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I nevertheless felt dumb for doing this!

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Understandably so!

Fortunately, when I saw my neighbor the next day, I apologized to him for the broken glass.

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And he graciously said, “Not a problem” … he’d have someone fix it.

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Broken window – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

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CONCLUSION…

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So, the world didn’t blow up that night and my neighbor didn’t commit suicide.

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Yes, one could appropriately end with what some dude once said…”All’s well, that ends well”.

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Sunrise from Burrow Mump, Burrowbridge, Somerset – cropped image – wikimedia – share-alike license

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To go to the next chapter, just click here …

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Ch. 10: Left Behind! – One Tin Soldier Rides Away    

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Maybe I’m the only person to have gone through the Rapture…left behind, that is!

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Okay, so now it was about Friday…or maybe it was Saturday.

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Anyway it was the eighth day or thereabouts, after discovering just what a deluded fool I was, all these years…regarding my atheistic leanings.

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Now I found myself in some sort of spiritual realm in which unseen beings were orchestrating every moment of my past eight days.

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And let me tell you!

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If there’s one thing that’ll squeeze every last drop of Darwinian-Atheism out of you, this’d be it!

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Yeah, it’s really hard to maintain one’s atheism, when unseen beings are all playing Soccer-Ball with you!

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And you’re their soccer ball!!!

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Or as my dad’s baseball analogy joke, they were, “using me as First-Base!” Yeah, Dad’s joke was correct!

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But this was no joke!

.

It was for real!!!

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The Scream of Nature – by E. Munch – Wikipedia – public domain by edvard munch c.1893

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And now I had just been released from spending 4 or 5 days in the Kookoo’s nest.

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Well, I’ll try not to call it the “Kookoo’s Nest” anymore.

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Oh yeah, there were one or two patients who could be classified as “Kookoo” (three, counting me, of course!).

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But most all the patients were suffering from very dramatic and sad hopelessness, and physical and spiritual difficulties beyond their ability to cope with.

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So anyway, I was discharged.

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CHAPTER 8:

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“BORN FREE?”…

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NO STRAIGHT-JACKET OR LOBOTOMY

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As I said, I was discharged from the hospital, because I was doing so well.

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I had no idea just why all these things were happening! But at least I now had hope!

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Not to mention having gotten a much-needed rest in the mental ward, Unit 3600!

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And why was there now hope?

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Because this trip to the mental ward turned out to be, not what I thought it would be!

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I actually kind-of had a nice time!

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Would I have rather not gone there? Oh infinitely!

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But at least my trip went smoother than it did for the guy in the song, “They’re Coming To Take Me Away”.

Remember that old song? (if you can even call it a song!)

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And at least I came out of this experience in better condition than that guy in the movie, “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.”

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If you’re old enough to remember that extremely well-done movie, he was given a lobotomy at the end, and wound up as a human vegetable (Little did I know what would be waiting for me in just a couple of days, back up there at Ward 3600!)

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But all that hope and all that good time I experienced in Ward 3600 was short-lived.

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Really short-lived!

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Photo Lobotomy courtesy Discover magazine Jan-2007 & wikipedia GNU user license.

Straight jacket Wikipedia. Public domain.

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“BORN FREE”

(Title of the 1966 song)

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Yeah, my rest and reprieve was coming to an abrupt halt!

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Right now!!!

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Because as soon as I got in my dad’s car, to take me home from the mental ward, it started all over again!

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As soon as we were rolling down the street away from the hospital, Dad put in a music cassette into the car stereo.

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It was the song, “Born Free”, a song from some movie about animals, I think.

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My dad probably put in the cassette to break up the silence.

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But as soon as he did, I went into a deep, deep, and very horrible state of mind!

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And even though I’d heard that innocuous and benign little song many times, it nevertheless played differently this time around.

.

Now this song was like it had been ignited by the fires of Hell…

“Born free, as free as the wind blows… As free as the grass grows… Born free to follow your heart…

As as we drove the short distance to home, I couldn’t tell whether I was on earth, or in some sort of artificial parallel world in Hell!

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Judgment and Hell now enshrouded me!

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You see, I never felt compelled to live by God’s Law.

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In many ways, I lived free, like an un-caged wild animal.

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I smoked pot (a little)! I bought and sold “pep pills” (a lot, but only between friends, and probably never for profit)!

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I was free from God’s law. “I did my own thing”, as they often say.

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I followed my own heart!

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And my heart was corrupt: as corrupt as this Bible verse reveals about the condition of the human heart…

…“The heart is deceitful above all things,

and desperately wicked: who can know it?

I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins,

even to give every man according to his ways,

and according to the fruit of his doings.”

Jeremiah 17:9, 10. 

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Although I wasn’t aware of this Bible passage at that time, it nevertheless speaks plainly of the condition of the human heart… “Desperately wicked.”

.

And I was no exception!

(song continues…) “Live free, and beauty surrounds you… The world still astounds you… Each time you look at a star…

Normally these breezy and benign lyrics might even have been inspiring to me; and uplifting too!

.

But now, it was like I was being pelted with giant hailstones from Heaven!

.

Something like this verse from Revelation…

…”And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven,

every stone about the weight of a talent (approx. 100 pounds each):

and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail;

for the plague thereof was exceeding great!”

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I was now being condemned!

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My godless past was coming back to bite me!

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My godless life was filled with lust for every lady who winked at me!

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I wasn’t the least bit loyal!

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Whatever I could get away with!

…With whoever I could get away with!

…“Monkey Business” was my game!

(song continues…) “Stay free, where no walls divide you… You’re free as a roaring tide… So there’s no need to hide…

 That’s right…There was no place to hide!

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And so, this “harmless little song” continued.

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And like a tsunami, the Judgment of God was just now sweeping over me, like a giant roaring tide!

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Now there was nowhere to run!

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It was the Day of the Lord’s wrath…at least it was for me…

“…and the rich men… and every free man,

hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us,

and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne,

and from the wrath of the Lamb:

FOR THE GREAT DAY OF HIS WRATH IS COME;

AND WHO SHALL BE ABLE TO STAND?”

Revelation 6:15-17. 

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I didn’t know this verse at the time (nor any other Bible verse).

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But it certainly was appropriate to my fearful situation!

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Oh no, there were no literal rocks falling.

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Nevertheless, I did not have The Rock of Ages to hide me. (see Psalm 32:7)

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Nor could I hide inside the “ragged rocks” of God’s Word, the Bible!

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I just never bothered to read that Book, nor hide its “Exceeding great and precious promises”, in my heart.

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(the “heart” being the “treasure chest” of the mind, and not to be confused with the blood-pumping organ) (see 2nd Peter 1:4 & Isaiah 2:20-22) 

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(song continues…) “Born free, and life is worth living… But only worth living… Cause you’re born free!”

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Here again, I loved this present selfish world!

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And because I thought I was free from God’s Law, I thought life was worth living in all my selfish ways!

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I didn’t realize that true freedom could only be found in the Heaven-sent joy and contentment received by following Jesus, as one of His disciples, onward to everlasting life!
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(Song finally ends, thankfully!)

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My dad still driving, not aware of the terror I was now suffering because of these fearful lyrics.

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I can’t say for sure just how long after this song, that all this incredible terror lasted; nor even what horrifying events happened immediately after this!

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But the terror, no doubt continued…

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Photos marijuana public domain . click here for link. Wikipedia.

Born Free Poster wikipedia fair-use-rationale, click here for details, rationale, etc…

Photo of foolish monkey 

Betty Boop courtesy Wikipedia. Public Domain

Painting-Great Day of His Wrath by J. Martin-Wikipedia-Public Domain-Click here for link.

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JUDGMENT DAY, THE GIANT TRAP…

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I was born a free-spirit alright!

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Free from God!

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Free from His Holy Commandments!

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And this song only taunted and terrorized me!

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And why not?

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After all, my sins, which, needless to say, were many, together with my biblical illiteracy, placed me in a very vulnerable predicament!

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A totally helpless situation!

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Oh, to be tormented under the heat of God’s fiery wrath!

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And now there was someone who was mocking me!

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And at this moment, I was like a wild animal, caught in a cage by the hunter.

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I may have been “born free”.

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And I may have lived free!

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But right now, I was trapped in an inescapable prison-cell of Judgment: GOD’S JUDGMENT!

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Just listen to this next verse! It really “nails it”!

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It really captures what I was going through!

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Just listen… 

“For man also knows not his time:

as the fishes that are taken in an evil net,

and as the birds that are caught in the snare;

so are the sons of men snared in an evil time,

when it falls suddenly upon them.”

Ecclesiastes 9:1

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I would suppose a psychiatrist might diagnose what I was going through, “A classic state of psychosis, if I’ve ever seen one!”

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Nothing is real!

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It was horrible!

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Worse! It was HELL!  Hell on Earth!

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And I was learning that you DON’T need matches, nor kindling-wood, nor newspapers to ignite the fires of Judgment!

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No, no, the fire on that day burns within your very own soul, down to the depths of Hell…“the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth ignite it.”

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And only God Almighty can put that fire out!

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Just listen to this next verse!

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It really speaks of the Day of Judgment…

…”For Tophet is ordained of old; yea,

for the King it is prepared;

He hath made it deep and large:

the pile thereof is fire and much wood;

the breath of the LORD,

like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.”

Isaiah 30:33.

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Like so much of the Bible, this verse must be speaking metaphorically.

In other words, there was no literal fire and no literal wood, at least not in my case.

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But the fire now burning in my soul, was just as hot as any literal fire, or so it seemed to me!

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(Oh yeah, I understand that actual fire & brimstone completely destroyed Sodom & Gomorrah on their final day, creating a deep and wide crater, now filled with water. And you can still find little balls of brimstone on the ground outside of the now water-covered grave where Sodom & Gomorrah once were, before they were blasted by God.)

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Oh, and what does “Tophet” mean, you ask?

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Well, it was simply a name given to the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem, in which the citizens would sacrifice their children to some false god, like Baal.

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Again, this verse is actually metaphorical (symbolic) language.

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“As Fish Are Caught In an Evil Net” Casanatense_ Wikipedia public domain

“Birds that are Caught In the Snare” – Wikipedia – Public Domain – 806E9E~1

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NO MORE LAUGHING AT JUDGMENT DAY!

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Now at this point in time, I didn’t know a single thing about this preceding Bible verse about birds and fish!

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And up to a couple of weeks earlier, if someone had spoken this Ecclesiastes 9:1 passage to me…well…I would’ve said …

…”Birds caught in a snare?

Fishes taken in an evil net?…RUBBISH!

Fodder for those fools: ‘numb-skulls’ called, Christians!

Judgment Day? NONSENSE!”

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Nor did I know about this next verse which is very similar…

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“For as a snare shall it (Judgment Day) come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.”  Luke 21:35.

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Not only did I NOT know these verses about these things, but I had altogether stopped believing in the Bible…and in God!

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Public schooling and my atheistic schoolbooks, friends, teachers and college professors had pretty much wiped away all that “religious rubbish” outa my head!

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I was now an “enlightened individual”!

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A “higher order of intellect”!

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A bit above all those superstitious ‘Neanderthals’, who call themselves “Believers”!

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Balderdash!! FOOLS, EACH AND EVERY ONE!!

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“But there I was!” (as one popular songster put it). However, this was no Hollywood movie!

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This was no Steven King novel!

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No, this was for REAL!

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Now I didn’t “talk so loud”!

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Now I didn’t “act so proud”, as another songster sang!

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“WON’T YOU TAKE A RIDE ON THE FLYING SCROLL?”

(Word-play on lyrics from the Creedence hit song, “Out My Back Door”)

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Thinking back, I guess this experience I was going through, reminds me of a fiery passage from the Prophet Zechariah concerning Judgment Day…

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…“Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes,

and looked, and behold a flying roll (scroll)…

This is the curse that goes forth over the face of the whole earth:

for every one that steals shall be cut off as on this side according to it;

and every one that swears shall be cut off as on that side according to it…

and it shall enter into the house of the thief,

and into the house of him that swears falsely by My name:

and it shall remain in the midst of his house,

and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.”

Zechariah 5:1-3.

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Yeah, it sure seemed like God’s law had come to my house, just like the flying scroll in the above verse from Zechariah.

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This law had come to judge me!

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I was a thief!

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I was an adulterer!

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I was a cheat!

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Heaven’s Judgment had definitely entered my house!

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This flying scroll had come to visit me!

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It was now the day of God’s visitation!

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And there was nowhere to run!

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And there was certainly no place in which I could hide!

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Artist’s conception of Zechariah’s Flying Roll courtesy www.breadsite.org Public domain image.

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Well anyway, while taking the tour, the elderly owner told me of a book which would offer me a formula for getting rich: “Think & Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.

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The power of positive thinking!

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It inspired me to plan for success.

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Reading and following that book was like taking pep pills!

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Well, this book turned out to be really, “heap good medicine!”, as far as I was concerned! 

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Yeah, I began to apply its principles to my life.

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And because I had no belief in God, this book gave me something to live for…

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…structure!

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I needed to have some sort of structure over my life…

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Napoleon_Hill_holding_book_1937

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“GIVE ME MONEY!…THAT’S WHAT I WANT!”…

(1963 Beatles song)

On the other hand, one of the “perks” to being an atheist, is that you have the firm belief…or should I rather say, the firm “confidence”…yes that’s the word: confidence...

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…yes, an atheist has the firm confidence that he or she can get away with something, as long as nobody’s watching, especially God!

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And this confidence allows the atheist certain…uh-hum…freedoms, liberties, or should I rather say, ‘inhibitions’, not afforded to those of a more religious bent.

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And so, for many years, at any convenient moment, I’d just skim off money from the cash register down at work.

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At first, I took a little.

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But after a while, it became so easy, I just took several hundred here, and several hundred there.

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My conscience no longer bothered me about all this.

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And so, this went on for about five or six years.

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I always had money.

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I lived quite well.

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And I socked most of it into real estate.

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You might say, I was very good at playing ‘Monopoly’.

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And I controlled the bank too; “several hundred here, and several hundred there”…

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MY VERY FIRST ROBBERY

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But stealing from the cash register wasn’t my first gig in the world of crime.

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You see, many years previous, when I was about 4 or 5, I still vividly recall walking into Clark’s Market, a small convenience store on the corner of 25th & State streets in Salem, back in the 1950’s on the bank of old Mill Creek.

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For some unknown reason, I decided to steal a small 5-cent pencil eraser.

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But upon leaving the store, I ran smack-dab into Mr. Clark, standing there with his Clark-Kent-style round wire-rimmed glasses, clerk’s apron, bow tie, posing like an angry father with fists on hips.

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I guiltily looked up at this giant avenger and asked…“Is something wrong?”, to which he replied, “No, what’s the matter? Do you have a guilty conscience?”

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I nervously muttered, “No”, and continued on my way down the sidewalk, back home, terrified with my close encounter with getting caught.

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Well, after this incident, I would lie in bed for a number of nights, overwhelmed with guilt because of my very first theft. 

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But this experience cured me of ever wanting to steal again, for many years following.

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Yeah, it was hard to erase the memory of that incident at Clark’s Market, and the guilt and condemnation which followed!

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Pink Pearl eraser – edited image – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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“FIVE YEAR PLANS AND NEW DEALS”…

(Lyrics from Creedence hit song, “Who’ll Stop The Rain?”)

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Ah, but the years went by, and I grew older, no longer plagued by a guilty conscience.

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And even though I was very liberal with myself, I also became somewhat of a good investor.

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You see, I had this five-year-plan.

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I was going to make enough money to retire at forty…(Okay, a fifteen-year plan!)

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And when I retired, I wanted to have a yacht to sail away into the sunset.

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Now, I didn’t want to think about death.

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No atheist does!

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So, I simply squinted my eyes, took another swig of forgetfulness, and envisioned me and my yacht and a good-looking babe or two, sailing off into the sunset!

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And as for death—well, I would cross that bridge later…hopefully much, much, later!

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(Oh yes, whenever I felt some reoccurring pain somewhere in body, I couldn’t shake the thought that maybe I had cancer or something. But a drink or two was usually enough to quell those fears for the night).

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But now my bubble was burst!

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Now my atheist armor had a great big hole in it.

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I was (it seemed) just like that atheist in that comedy album.

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You know—the atheist who died and was standing before God Almighty.

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And now I was that clown-in-shock on the album jacket. (These remarks refer to the comedy album, “Comedy Is Not Pretty“ )

“…WRAPPED IN GOLDEN CHAINS…”

(Lyrics from Creedence hit song, “Who’ll Stop The Rain?”)

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So, I went to my bank and withdrew all the money in an account (most of my money was invested in real estate).

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The lady gave me 20 thousand dollars.

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(Remember, this was 197o’s money. $20,000 would be like—I don’t know—maybe $60,000 or $80,000 in today’s money. Let’s put it this way, I bought one 1,800 sq. ft. house for $25,000, which would cost maybe $200,000 or more, today.)

Anyway, I had the teller put it in the form of a cashier’s check.

I took the check and put it into an envelope and addressed it to the IRS in Ogden Utah.

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I then took it out to the big mailbox in front of the restaurant.

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I figured that was enough money to get me right with Uncle Sam.

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I must admit, this was not exactly normal behavior.

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But just imagine when Judgment Day does finally come upon the entire world!

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Just think of all the people who will try to do the same thing!

I must have told my brother or mother, because I much later found out that they called the local post office and got the mailman to come out and retrieve this check.

Which reminds me, if you didn’t listen to that song yet (“Sinnerman”), just click the following link to my other web-sight

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(But be sure to come back here after the song… Click here (“Sinnerman, where ya gonna run to?”))

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

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“SINNERMAN, YA PAID TOO LATE!”

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I also was overwhelmed with the guilt that I had mercilessly overcharged the very nice owner/bartender of the Stockman’s Social Club, for my services as keyboard player/singer.

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And since I was in sheer terror about my present circumstances, I was desperately determined to make everything right!

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And so, I went down to his club (which had not yet opened at this hour of the morning) and slipped an envelope containing $500.00 under the entrance door ($500.00 in 1979 is about $1,500-$2,000 in 2020).

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As I carefully slipped the envelope under the front door of the bar, I thought to myself…“Sure hope this $500.00 finds its way to Ed (the owner of the bar)!

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To go to the next chapter, just click here …

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Ch. 9: “The Last Passover” 

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This chapter tells of the last night of Planet Earth’s existence, and the “sanctuary safe-house” we need to be in at that moment!

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I was now in Unit 3600!

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And looking out this lock-down ward’s wall-to-wall picture window, at that big, beautiful, and beckoning Mount Shasta!

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Towering above the distant southern horizon, I longed, no, I LUSTED to be up there once again, skiing carefree in my blissful ignorance, down those massive slopes!

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Yes, I mourned and sighed for the former days of my utter cluelessness concerning the awful truth: the unnerving reality that, “the days of our naivety”, which I always took for granted, were GONE FOREVER!

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And now, those past, “old days” had turned to “dust in the wind” (as the songsters sang) and presently, were only fleeting memories.

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Now, the sub-title of this chapter is “Catch A Wave!”

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And the reason for this title is the really odd phenomenon: that so many societal changes come and go like the swelling/receding tides of the ocean.

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And now, at last, I understood the truth, the stark reality, that this world was and is controlled by unseen spiritual powers!

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And now, the “how’s” and “why’s” of these societal tsunami-like tidal-waves began to make sense.

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And by reading this chapter, you, dear soul, might just find yourself agreeing with this assessment of how and why these societal and cultural tsunamis come and go as they do… 

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Mt. Shasta – snow capped – public domain – wikipedia

The Scream – by E. Munch – Wikipedia – public domain by edvard munch c.1893

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CHAPTER 6:

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“ONE FLEW “INTO” THE CUCKOO’S NEST”

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PART TWO: 

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“CATCH A WAVE!”…

(Title of the 1963 Beach Boys mega-hit)

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

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ANOTHER DUDE NAMED CHUCK

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As already mentioned, my public schooling had a big impact on my spirituality, because it constantly pressed Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution on us kids.

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As a matter of fact, in the 5th and 6th grade I attended a Special-Ed. class in which various atheistic evolutionary sciences were taught to about a half dozen children of our school: paleontology, anthropology, geology, etc…

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THE SAND-DOLLAR

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One day, our little Special-Ed. class went on a field trip outside of Salem, into the little community of Turner, to do some digging for fossils where the road was excavated, about 15 feet below the surrounding terrain.

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And, while digging I discovered a fossilized sand-dollar shell.

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And as I carefully unlogged it.

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And upon inspecting it, I was somewhat surprised that even though this fossil was probably considered to be maybe millions of years old…

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…it looked exactly like the sand-dollars one might find after an outgoing surf at the seashore: same size, same 5-leaf design on its surface.

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No evolution on that particular specimen!

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“Hmmm, very interesting, wouldn’t you agree, Oh, Mr. Darwin?

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Charles Darwin – by John Collier (artist) – www.wikimedia.com – Public Domain

Charles Darwin – Snake shaped like Question Mark – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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 A CLEAR-CUT CASE OF BRAINWASHING

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Needless to say, because of my very atheistic public schooling, my spiritual life (which wasn’t that good to begin with!) was kind-of like the Moon, when it begins to wane thinner and thinner…dimmer and dimmer.

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And anyway, I was now just becoming a teenager.

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My interests were turning toward other things besides pets (pets like good ol’ Sammy, the Samoyed).

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I now had new and better things to do, exciting places to go, and new people to meet!

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“Goodbye nightly prayers! Goodbye church! And goodbye God!”

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Headsets – France in XXI Century School – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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“SURF CITY, HERE WE COME!”

(Lyrics from the 1963 hit by Jan & Dean, “Surf City”)

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At this point in time, a new musical genre had just taken the world by storm: that is, a storm on the sea of pop music: Surf Music!

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And Hot-Rod Music!

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This new cultural phenomenon opened up a brand-new way-of-life here in America for those of us who were coming-of-age in the manufactured Americana-culture of the 1960’s.

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Fast and heroic songs about hot-rod races and daring surfers!

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And syrupy-sweet love-ballads about surfer girls and falling in love under an amber summer sunset on a warm California beach (“Warm” Oregon beaches? Uh, not so much). 

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Ed Sullivan Show – Beach Boys wikipedia public domain

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“…AND UPON ALL PLEASANT PICTURES”

Isaiah 2:16

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And this music, with its exciting and romantic songs with flawless harmonies, and pleasant portraits of surfing, and oceans, and pretty girls, was just about as intoxicating as, well…as intoxicating as…well, I didn’t know how intoxicating it was!

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Because up to this point, I never tried any intoxicant.

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But this new music was incredible!

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It was fresh!

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It was original!

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It was romantic!

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It was “really neat” and “very cool”!

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And it painted such a wonderful image of the romanticism currently being attached to the ocean, and to surfing, and to being young…and in rapturous lust…uh, I mean “rapturous LOVE”!

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Surfer Girl wikimedia public domain

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LOVELY ANNETTE!

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And even my very first childhood sweetheart, Mickey Mouse Club-er, Annette Funicello (who btw, I was 100%, head-over-heals in-love with, but also had just a little competition! You see, every other boy in America also had a crush on Annette!).

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She had all grown up, and traded in her Mousketeer hat for a swimming suit, and was now making surf movies!

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Well, I too got on board this giant wave, known as surf-music.

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Oh no, I didn’t take up surfing.

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Nor did I take up hot-rod racing (I was only 12 or 13)!

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But I (and everyone else) listened to that incredible music, day and night!

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And of course, with such romantic ballads, and other similar tunes, at a time, when I was entering teenhood, this was like nitro-to-glycerin, as far as I (and everyone else) was concerned!

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Annette Funicello Former Mouseketeer 1975  Wikipedia – Public Domain

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GIANT TSUNAMI OF SURF MUSIC!

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Yeah, Sammy the neighborhood gone-rogue-Samoyed was no more.

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But now, I myself had turned into a love-sick puppy dog!

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And my all-consuming desire had turned to finding a girlfriend…and finding one ASAP!

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But I was no different than any other teen of that period of time.

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And this entire nation of teens was swept up in this giant wave, called Surf Music. 

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And in addition, in the not-too-distant future, I would find myself singing pop songs to the pretty, young girls.

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Oh yeah, me and a few other guys began imitating those surf-music groups, and we began singing to our girlfriends at parties, and on snow-ski buses, etc…

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And then eventually we formed a musical combo, and began to play dances.

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And what better way is there to find a girlfriend, than to play in a dance band!?

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The Beach Boys Lost Concert public domain

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MICKEY-MOUSE-CLUBBED BY CUPID

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(“IN DREAMS YOU’RE MINE…”)

(Lyrics from Roy Orbison’s 1963 song, “In Dreams”) 

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And speaking of Annette, I remember on one of our family’s summer camping trips, when I was in the 5th or 6th grade.

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It was probably at beautiful Big Lake (or Suttle Lake or maybe even Blue Lake, I can’t remember which) up in the Cascades. 

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But one day, I wandered out into the forest a short distance from camp.

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And as I sat on a fallen log, I began to envision Annette coming out into this little clearing in the woods, and then we passionately embraced and kissed!

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Well, this little scenario repeated in my teenie-tiny brain for about one rapturous hour.

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And the incredible thing about all this, was how intoxicating it was to me!

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I mean, it was like an overwhelming wave rushing over my little brain!

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Words can barely describe it!

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Now, thinking back on it, I finally understand that it really wasn’t just me in charge of this narcotic-like fantasy, but actually was that old, “Hope-you-guessed-my-name” dude, now posing as Cupid!

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And let’s not forget, that “Cupid” rhymes with…“_____”

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Annette and Frankie – Wikipedia – Public Domain

Devil-goat – wikipedia – public domain

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“EVERYBODY PLAYS THE FOOL SOMETIMES!”

Chorus lyrics from the 1973 hit by Main Ingredient, “Everybody Plays The Fool” 

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Now about this same time, there was a new girl in school.

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Wow, was she ever pretty!

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And I was so absolutely smitten by her, that I would often go about 4 blocks out of my way home from school each afternoon, just to stand there, leaning nonchalantly on the guardrail of the old Mill-Creek Bridge, hoping to see her as she passed by on her way home.

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I even remember asking a friend, who delivered newspapers to her house, if I could go with him one day.

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Well, as his paper-route finally arrived by her house, I asked him if I could throw the newspaper onto her porch (just hoping she’d see me in such an action-hero pose, tossing her newspaper to its appointed destination, twirling though the air, finally lighting itself nicely and neatly and oh-so-gracefully down upon her front-doorstep like a love-letter sent from Heaven!).

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But as I threw the paper, I lost my balance, and went crashing to the street.

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And much to my embarrassment, my dream-girl, her mother, and older brother all came hurrying out to help peel me off the pavement.

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And so, that little episode probably cured me of following her around like a love-sick little puppy dog!

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And well, this was the first time this young kid made a fool of himself over a female.

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But do you think it would be his last time?

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Well, you’re absolutely correct, of course! 

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Paperboy – by Derzsi Elekes Andor – cropped image – Wikipedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license (click link for licensing details)

Broken Bike in YNU – cropped and rotated image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

monkey – wikipedia – public domain

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“AH, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, WIPE OUT!”

(Opening lyrics of the 1963 Surfaris song, “Wipeout”)

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Well, a few years passed by, from my bicycle “wipe-out” accident. 

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But there was another wipe-out coming.

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And this time it was coming for all of America…and even for the entire world!

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Yeah, just about as fast as the surf music tsunami swept over the USA, there came another tsunami, which just about wiped-out surf music in a single day!

.

Actually, it was more like a pestilence!

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A swarm of beetles and crickets and locusts and etc., in the form of British music!

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And immediately, almost the entire teen population around the world, it seemed, were smitten by these British invaders!

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So, everybody ditched their imaginary surf boards and not-so-hot rods, and grew out their crew cuts, and the young people in many nations were led away by these pied pipers from Liverpool.

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And so was I. 

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But in the process of time, these mopped-haired magician-musicians began a Magical Mystery Bus Tour, to lead the world’s young people into drugs as they began weaving hallucinogenics into their music.

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And millions of teens around the world hopped on board that Magical Mystery Bus Tour and began tripping out on drugs.

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And so did I.

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

The Beatles wikimedia – creative commons – share-alike license

The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour album cover – Wikipedia – Fair-Use Rationale – click here for details

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‘SUMMER OF LOVE’ IN HAIGHT

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Well, after a few more years, and this drug-music found its way into the new Hippy movement.

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But I won’t go too much into this third wave which swept over the younger generation in the late sixties.

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The Hippy Scene: Haight Ashbury, Woodstock, and all those drug-induced, long-haired rock groups.

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Oh yeah, I got caught up in that movement too!

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As a matter of fact, our band ditched all our danceable songs, and began playing what was dubbed, Acid Rock.

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Yeah, we had all the colored lights and vomit-inducing strobes and un-danceable, “heavy music”.

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“FAR OUT, MAN!”

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Junction of Haight, Ashbury wikipedia by Nancy, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike

Flower Power Demonstrator – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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“THE FOREVER 27 CLUB”

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But that whole drug-filled and really creepy Hippy music scene didn’t last long.

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No, it all seemed to come to an abrupt halt when three very giant super-stars met their untimely deaths, while on drugs.

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And they became the progenitors of, “The Forever 27 Club”, because they were all 27 years old when they, one-by-one, each got wiped-out in a one-year, 365-day span, to the day!

(Plus, along with Rolling Stone, Brian Jones, also 27. Unfortunately, more club-members later joined, in the following years).

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27 club – Graffiti Tel Aviv – Khayim Ben Atar St – zoom – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

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“WHEN THE MUSIC’S OVER, TURN OUT THE LIGHTS!”

(Title of the 1967 Doors song)

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As a point of interest, I got to see Jim Morrison and The Doors at an outdoor concert in Eugene Oregon, in 1969, roughly two years prior to his untimely demise.

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And just before singing his opening song, with his back to the crowd he apparently shot something into his veins, and then ripped off the tourniquet from his arm, swung around to face the crowd, let out a long scream as the raw, throbbing music commenced.

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And that began his show.

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And at the time, this teeny-tiny brain of mine thought that was a “very cool” way of opening his musical act.

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But as it turned out, the only “very cool” thing about all that, was Jim’s body, as it cooled down to room temperature, one fateful night in which the Grim Reaper kept his one-time appointment to Mr. Morrison’s house, on his closing night, July 3rd, 1971!

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Yeah, those three mega-stars (plus Brian Jones) died one after another!

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It was a triple shock to society.

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And it no doubt served as a wake-up call to the younger generation.

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They most likely realized that infamous, “Magical Mystery Tour”, was actually just a “dead-end trip”, a “Tour-de-Sheol”, and a “date-with-fate”!

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Oh yeah, it all lasted a few more years.

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But it was now like a receding tide in the “Sea of Humanity”.

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“Maybe drugs aren’t such a cool thing”, we surmised (and besides those three, also losing several high-school buddies to drugs).

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Jim Morrison print on canvas – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Dore – The Vision Of Death – creationism.org – public domain

Jim Morrison – Denkmal in Winter – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

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“CINNAMON GIRL”…?

(Title of the 1970 Neil Young’s much-loved hit song)

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P.S. – And oh yeah, by the way, Jim Morrison’s long-time girlfriend, Pamela Courson also died…of a heroin overdose…two years after Jim…at the untimely age of…you guessed it…27.

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Pamela Courson – Wikipedia – Fair-Use Rationale – click here for details

 

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THE FLOODS OF SATAN

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Now I’ve touched on this mid-twentieth-century American history for several reasons.

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And one big reason is to make a point about those gigantic musical and cultural waves which swept over the younger generation of the 60’s: Surf Music, the British Invasion, and the drug-filled Hippy Scene.

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“And what point is that?”, you ask.

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Well, as one looks at all the various cultural waves which have swept through the land, (and still do), one must ask his or her self this following question: “Why do these societal tidal waves happen?”

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Now are we really supposed to believe that these phenomena all just happened by accident?

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Are we really supposed to accept the absurd notion, that a mere handful of pimple-faced teenagers, can possess so much hypnotic power, that they and their music can actually lead an entire generation down into the moral and spiritual abyss?

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Or did they have help?

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Yes, did they perhaps have UNSEEN HELPERS? 

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Was the same type of spiritual entities, who were now causing me all this fire & brimstone torment in the mental ward, belong to a much greater legion of unseen spiritual beings, who are leading humanity in and out of one spiritual/cultural tidal-wave after another?

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Listen to this passage…

“I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised:

so shall I be saved from mine enemies. 

When the waves of death compassed me,

the floods of ungodly men made me afraid;

The sorrows of Hell compassed me about;

the snares of death prevented (or, came against) me;”

Psalms 22:4-6

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Now this above passage begins to make sense of these phenomena which sweep over society like giant waves from time to time.

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And don’t these incredible cult-hero-phenoms seem like giant destructive waves?

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But the fact is, the Bible compares the activity of Satan’s orchestrating powers to waves and to waters as the previous passage reveals!

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Listen again to another passage…

“And there appeared another wonder (sign) in heaven;

and behold a great red dragon…

And the serpent (i.e., the Dragon, Satan) cast out of his mouth water as a flood…”

Revelation 12:3, 15, 16

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So, this passage also lets it be known just who is behind these floods which seem to carry away entire generations into moral and spiritual depravity, and often into destruction.

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His waves come, and then after a time, the earth seems to swallow them up.

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But after a while, another wave comes along to carry away all the naïve ones down into the bottomless pit of destruction.

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But hey! If you wanna believe that these mega-cultural-tsunamis are merely accidental or coincidental, you are certainly free to believe that way!

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But maybe you’re also being just a bit too naïve!

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Do ya think, maybe?

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Mavericks Competition Wikimedia share-alike license

ABOVE PICTURE: Revelation 12 Dragon – Winter – Hyades, Pleiades, etc. – not for commercial uses

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WHY DID GOD ALLOW THESE THINGS TO OCCUR?

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But another question which many perplexed humans ask is, “Why does God allow all these various forms of evil to manifest themselves?”

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And to this question comes the Bible’s answer…“O LORD, Thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, Thou hast established them for correction.” Habakkuk 1:12 

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Yes, God allows Mankind to experience various governments, religions, ideologies, philosophies, fads, fashions, and lifestyles, all for the express purpose of allowing us, by personal experimentation…

…to discover for our own selves, that all such false ways of mankind eventually result in unhappiness, failure, and eventually in destruction and ultimately in death.

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And we can all agree with Solomon, the wise man’s declaration…

“And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom

concerning all things that are done under heaven:

this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man

to be exercised therewith.

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun;

and, behold, all is vanity (futility) and vexation of spirit.”

Ecclesiastes of Solomon 1:13, 14

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Yes, King Solomon discovered the futility, stress, and unhappiness and ultimate destruction resulting from this world’s great experiment in sin.

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So also, humanity has been suffering for the past millenniums, going from one government to another, from one philosophy to the next, from one religion to a new one.

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And further humanity has been experimenting with numerous cultural fads and societal whims, various lusts and lifestyles.

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And ultimately, on Judgment Day, when this unseen spiritual battle is finally done, as it is written…“As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” Romans 14:11

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Yes, on that great final Day, when all mankind’s works shall cease, and we all stand with bowed heads before God…

…”every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess to God” (Romans 14:11)…

…confessing that our rebellion against Heaven was a great big giant flop!

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Because the failure of our self-seeking ways only proved that Heaven’s unselfish ways comprise the one true pathway to health, happiness, brotherly love, and everlasting peace and never-ending joyful contentment!

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And all the redeemed multitudes will be (as one songster sang)…FOREVER YOUNG!

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Question Mark – Wikimedia – Public Domain

Marines at Prayer by Alex Raymond – Wikimedia – Public Domain

Every Knee Shall Bow – Confession of the Centurion – James Tissot – Brooklyn Museum – Creative Commons License

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TWENTY YEARS AFTER…

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Well, all those cultural waves from the fifties, sixties, and seventies, were now merely faded photographs, crumpled and flattened under the stark reality which I was now immersed in at this moment, in the mental ward in 1979!

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Those childhood and teen days were now long gone forever!

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And so now, after almost 20 years of doing my own thing…well…here I was! Ward 3600!

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The mental ward of Merle-West Medical Center!

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I had now come full circle, as they say!

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And presently, it was no longer my dying Sammy-dog whom I was just now praying for, in this multi-purpose room of the Unit 3600 mental ward!

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Now it was for me!

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I was the one who was now in heap-big trouble!

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I just had the ultimate rude awakening, of all rude awakenings (as I’ve already stressed)! 

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And now I knew that God was for real!

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And now I realized that atheism was an utterly bogus ideology, and a big fat lie by that great unseen deceiver, Lucifer, also called Satan, and the Devil!

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And I really, really needed God’s mercy and help…badly! 

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And so, I fell to my knees, lifted my hands together, like a wounded soldier begging for mercy from his sword-wielding conqueror!

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And in the quietness of that multi-purpose room, but in the raging terror of my heart, I lifted my hands and cried out for His mercy… “Oh God help me! Oh God please help me!”

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My 20-year moratorium on praying had now come to an abrupt halt!

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I can’t remember how long this prayer went on for, nor how many times I went there to pray.

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And though this was the “Multi-purpose Room”, nevertheless my prayers had a very singular purpose: GOD’S MERCY!

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That’s what I needed now!

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God’s mercy!

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That’s what I needed more than anything else in the world…at this very terrifying moment in time!

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To go to Part 3, just click here…

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CH. 7 One Flew Into The Cuckoo’s Nest, Part 3: “Do You Believe In Magic?”

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 This next part 2 has more old memories of supernatural events from my past

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I was now in the mental ward, Unit 3600! And, as soon as my family left, I could no longer resist the heavy drug injected into my blood.

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And I went to sleep. 

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But what would be waiting in store for me here in this high-security mental ward?

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And what frightful encounters/experiences did the spirits have planned for me?

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Well, I was about to find out what these unseen ones had in store for me…

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Yeah!

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I was about to find out…

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Unit 3600 Judgment Day RX-7 – inspired by Munch Painting, ‘The Scream of Nature’

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CHAPTER 5:

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“ONE FLEW “INTO” THE CUCKOO’S NEST”,

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PART ONE

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“OLD DAYS!”

 

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NOT SO MUCH THE CUCKOO’S NEST…

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I woke up a very short time later, smack-dab in the mental ward! Unit 3600! I looked around at my new environment.

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Where was the “shock-treatment room”?

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Where were the “ice baths”?

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Where was McMurphey?

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And where was Nurse Ratched? (The two characters from Ken Kesey’s novel, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”)

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It actually looked pretty comfortable in here! There were couches and overstuffed chairs. There was a TV and a stereo system.

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And a pool table! 

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There was a kitchen and dining area, and a refrigerator loaded with snacks, and trays of food!

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And best of all, there was no icy, cold-hearted Nurse Ratched!

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Unit 3600 Judgment Day RX-7 – inspired by Munch Painting, ‘The Scream of Nature’

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest poster – wikipedia – “Fair Use” Copyrighted – click here for details

Nurse Ratched – Fair-Use Rationale – click here for details – Wikipedia

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NOT TOO SHABBY! NOT…TOO…SHABBY!…

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Since it was now very late…or possibly very early, the lights in the ward were turned way down low in this somewhat large place.

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And all was quiet.

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The patients must have all retired to their sleeping quarters. (These patient rooms were all in a row down two hallways:

one hallway of maybe 5 or 6 sleeping rooms on one side of this ward.

And the other hallway of about an equal number of sleeping rooms on the other side.

It was a very well-designed ward, and very open…

with the nurses’ station at one end of the ward

and a very large living area on the other end.)

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At some point, I was issued hospital pajamas, which I immediately disliked, to put it mildly.

You know, the kind that are open in the back and come down to the knees.

I guess hospitals prefer that kind, so they can access your back-side for readings.

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And as far as going back to sleep, I just can’t remember what happened on this, my first night.

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But somehow, I managed to make it through the night.

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Unit 3600 Judgment Day RX-7 – inspired by Munch Painting, ‘The Scream of Nature’

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“OLD DAYS, GOOD TIMES I REMEMBER”…

(First line from the 1975 hit song by Chicago, “Old Days”)

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The next morning, the ward was filled with patients. Everyone was pretty-well behaved, as I recall.

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While inspecting the living area, I couldn’t help but appreciate the big picture windows on the far end of the ward, overlooking Klamath Basin.

Out there in the far distance, was majestic Mount Shasta, towering above the southern horizon! (Oh, what I would’ve given to, once again, be back up on those shining white slopes with a lift ticket!)

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Mt. Shasta – snow Capped – public domain – wikipedia

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“TAKE ME BACK, TO A WORLD GONE AWAY!”

(Further lyrics from the song, “Old Days”)

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But I knew those “old days” were now over! At least they were for me! Gone forever were the carefree and “good times, I remember”!

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Now only judgment hanging over my head…judgment as big as that mountain, far off in the distance…ready to squash me like the proverbial bug!

Worse! Eternal Torment!

Hour after hour of fiery torment awaited me!

Year after year of unceasing punishment!

Then as the years turned into centuries, and those into millenniums…my punishment would still continue on…and on…and on…forever!

No rest! No mercy! No chance to repent!

(Ohhh, that I could once again be flying down those shining slopes of Mount Shasta, sparkling like diamonds!

I can just feel the crisp wind on my face!

Oh, that the knowledge of all this horror-show I was now experiencing could somehow be swept clean from my memory-bank!

Then I could return to my blissful ignorance, and simply go back to my former selfish little life!)

 

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But now my last and final end was gonna be this mental ward! Now these mysterious spirit beings had me into this strange place!

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And what did they have in store for me? 

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The world outside carried on. And anyone who knew me, probably just shook their head… “Did ya hear about Chuck?” “Yeah, I guess he went completely beserk!”

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(Ohhh, I could just picture myself on that chair-lift, going up, up, up to the top.)

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But now, I was on my way down, down, down! (Oh, to be skiing on those slopes! Silently swishing down that big beautiful white mountainous wintery wonderland!)

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

Mt. Shasta – snow Capped – public domain – wikipedia

Hell – Gustave Dore – Wikipedia – US Public Domain

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WARD WAS SECURED

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There were two hallways, one on either side of the nurse’s station, each leading to large double-door exits.

I found out later that the nurses didn’t like patients to loiter too close to the two exits, for obvious reasons. 

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Oh yeah, they were both locked and had alarms.

But there was always the possibility that someone from the outside would enter one of those doors, inadvertently allowing a patient to slip out and escape from the hospital.

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Unit 3600 Judgment Day RX-7 – inspired by Munch Painting, ‘The Scream of Nature’

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“SINNERMAN, WHERE YA GONNA RUN TO?”

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After some time, I was given a written examination.

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Two of the questions on this mental evaluation, stood out above the others, making me think that the spirits were somewhat in charge in the making of this examination!

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One question was “What do you do when in a crowded theater, and you see smoke?”

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As to this first question, I began to wonder if maybe the spirits dreamed up these questions.

After all, if the theater represented the world.

And if the world was soon to become a fiery inferno.

Well, the question, “What do you do in a crowded theater if you see smoke?” has a simple answer…

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Yeah, obviously, you jump up and shout as loud as you can, to warn people, “Run for your lives and save yourselves! Because this “theater’s” on fire! The world’s soon to be burned up!”

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Nuclear Bomb – wikimedia

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“And the LORD…said, Write the vision…plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak”

Habakkuk 2:2  

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It just seemed like such a loaded question (“What do you do when in a crowded theater, and you see smoke?”).

A very loaded question, indeed, requiring the obvious answer…“RUN! FLEE! HIDE! SAVE YOURSELVES!” 

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On the other hand, I now know that the spirits were controlling my thoughts, somewhat. So under normal circumstances, I would never interpret these questions in such an ominous and foreboding manner!

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But hey, even the Bible sounds this same alarm, about fleeing, in many places…

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation,

spoken of by Daniel the prophet,

stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

Let him which is on the housetop not come down

to take any thing out of his house…

For then shall be great tribulation,

such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no,

nor ever shall be.”

Matthew 24:15-17-21

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This and many similar passages warn the world to flee at this special time of the end.

Of course, at this particular time, I was not aware of these passages!  

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Picture – Lot Escapes – www.thebiblerevival.com offers free Bible clipart – Public Domain.

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“LIKE A ROLLING STONE!”

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The next question went along with the first.

And this second one asked the question…to complete the following sentence, “A rolling stone….”

Now normally, I would merely answer with, “A rolling stone…gathers no moss.” and be done with it! 

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Simple!

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Right?

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WRONG!

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This is because that question was a very appropriate commentary on my current…uh…situation.

This question reminded me of that song by Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone”.

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“Once upon a time ya dressed so fine, ya threw the bums a dime, in yer  prime…

now ya don’t talk so loud. Now ya don’t act so proud,

about havin’ to be scroungin’ yer next meal…

how does it feel…to be on yer own, with no direction home…

like a rollin’ stone?”

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Definitely this psych-ward question was really a complicated question!

At least it was for me!

And that song (“Like A Rolling Stone”) seems to have “hit the nail on the head”.

Because until November of this year (1979), I had all the things a person could hope for in this world:

I had money!

I had houses!

I had talents!

I had girlfriends! I had a nice car.

I ate the best food (and plenty of it!).

I saw the best live entertainment down in Reno, Tahoe, and Vegas. 

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I ignored the poor. I mocked the crippled (only twice!)

I made faces as I passed by extremely fat people (probably).

I ate and drank like a king.

I lived a reckless life.

I had an envious job.

I played piano at steak houses on the weekends.

I moved from one girlfriend to the next.

I moved from one house to the next (and each house bigger and better than the previous house).

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Yeah, I was a rich man!

And it all went to my head!

And I just moved on…like the proverbial rolling stone that gathers no moss!

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss – Wikipedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Photo of Dylan courtesy wikipedia share alike license. Click here for link.

Hands Toasting Drinks – Cheers! – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

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THE RICH MAN & LAZARUS

Luke 16:19-31

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But now the tables had turned. Now I didn’t, “talk so loud!”

Now I didn’t, “act so proud!” 

Now, invisible spirit beings had captured me.

Now I was bankrupt before an angry God!

Now my judgment had come!

Now I was sentenced to Hell!

Now I was doomed to eternal torment…suffering intensely in never-ending hot flames of fire! 

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Oh yeah, I was like that rich man in that Bible parable.

You know…the “Rich Man & Lazarus”. “The Rich Man & Lazarus” is a parable in the Bible about a rich man who lived in luxury while a very sick beggar named Lazarus desired to eat the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.

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And Jesus explained this parable by saying that “it came to pass, both Lazarus as well as the rich man died”.

And Jesus explained further that poor sick Lazarus was carried off into eternal bliss, while the rich man was sent to Hell, where he was tormented in flames of fire.

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Anyway, the rich man begged…“

Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.“…

but Abraham reminded the rich man that all his life, he enjoyed the best of everything, while poor Lazarus only received the dregs in life. (see Luke 16:24)

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Now it must be noted that Jesus was telling this parable to the rich Pharisees (a proud, strict moral Jewish sect), to shake them up a little.

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You see, the Pharisees believed that it was God who blessed them (the Pharisees), with earthly riches, because they were so wonderful; but they also believed that poor folks were poor because they were cursed by God. 

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Now I wasn’t aware of this parable back then, but looking back, it sure seemed to fit me very well!

I was being condemned because of my godless, decadent, arrogant, and self-indulgent life.

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And now my judgment had come.

Oh no, there were no literal flames of fire.

But the torment I was now going through was extremely painful.

And there was no Lazarus, nor anyone else, to bring me even one tiny little drop of water (that is to say, not even one tiny drop of mercy)!

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And so, for me, the words of this song, “Like a Rolling Stone” which said… “Ya threw the bums a dime in yer prime, now didn’t you?” seemed to fit my circumstances pretty well at this moment.

Yeah, that Dylan song kind-of paralleled the Parable of the Rich Man & Lazarus.

At least it did in my case! 

And just like that rich man in that parable, I too, “threw the bums a dime…in my prime”. 

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Lazarus – www.wikigallery.org – Jacopo Bassano

Rich Man & Lazarus-Wikigallery-Public-Domain

Unit 3600 Judgment Day RX-7 – inspired by Munch Painting, ‘The Scream of Nature’

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“Now you don’t seem so proud…About having to be scrounging your next meal”

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But now the tables were turned. Now I didn’t “talk so loud”.

Now I didn’t “seem so proud”.

And now, just like that rich man in that Bible parable, I was in Hell!

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Oh no, there were no literal flames.

No netherworld caverns.

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But I was being tormented just the same!

Oh yeah! Now I was being roasted in SPIRITUAL flames of fire, for the past days!

And very soon, my torment would continue…right here in Ward 3600!

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“How does it feel? To be on yer own? Like a complete unknown? With no direction home?”

I was truly like a rolling stone!

But I was also like the Rich Man in that Bible parable (of course, as I’ve already said, I knew nothing about that parable during this spiritual-hellish-crisis I was now going through!)

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ROCKS THAT WON’T ROLL! NO ROLLING STONES HERE!

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But there was a much bigger stone which had now dropped on me.

And this stone weighed about a hundred pounds or so…

“And the seventh angel poured out his bowl (of God’s wrath) into the air…

And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven,

every stone about the weight of a talent (approx. 100 lbs)…”

Revelation 16:17, 21   

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Yeah, these were the Judgment stones of God Almighty!

And His stones of judgment don’t rock, and they don’t roll!

They just fall on you!

And they were now falling on me for the past days!

And those stones were grinding me to powder! (“And whosoever shall fall on this Stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” Matthew 21:44)

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Painting-Great Day of His Wrath by J. Martin-Wikipedia-Public Domain-Click here for link.

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“MULTI-PURPOSE” INCLUDES THE “SINGULAR-PURPOSE”: PRAYER…

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As I walked around the ward, I opened a door just off the main living area.

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I peeked in to see where it led to.

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I discovered it to be a nice multi-purpose room off the main sitting area, which also had a couch and chairs.

And it was empty.

So, I decided this would be a good place to pray.

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And I did.

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With the door open just enough to give a little light, I knelt down before a couch and began to cry out for mercy.

As far as I remember, this was the first time during this 3-day ordeal that I engaged in serious prayer.

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I hadn’t prayed in years. Well, why should I?

After all, I was told, all through public schooling, that we were descended from apes!

From the first grade onward and upward, this theory of Darwinism was shot into our little veins, in our public schooling!

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SO, WHY PRAY TO GOD IF HE REALLY DOESN’T EVEN EXIST!?

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Question Mark – at a loss – Wikimedia – Share-alike license

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BUT I USED TO PRAY!

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Oh yeah, I used to pray.

I used to pray when I was a little boy.

I faithfully prayed the Lord’s Prayer every night on my knees before bed.

Yeah! Me! That’s right!

I even went to church in those days! (This nice painting to the left, of a little boy praying, is of course, not me. But since I don’t have any photos of me praying back then, this one from Wikimedia will have to do. And this is just about the same prayer-posture I took each night, as a little guy (of course, minus that old-fashioned, long night-gown kids once wore in the earlier decades)).

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I even attended church with my family every Sunday.

And Sunday was great day for me and my family!

Our pastor was a young guy, Pastor Capalungo.

Pastor Capalungo was a modern-thinking guy.

Not a traditionalist! Not at all!

Very outgoing, upbeat, and energetic. Full of life!

He could have easily been a CAMP COUNSELOR for a kid’s summer-camp.

He was good.

No, he was GREAT with kids!

He made you think to yourself, “I never knew that church could be so fun!”

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And so, we liked church. And we were crazy about Pastor Capalungo!

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Anyway, after church, we would all descend on my grandparent’s house, for a big Sunday afternoon dinner.

And Grandma put on an incredible spread!

It was like a holiday feast every week!

And then after that, my brother, sister, and cousins would all go out into the big back yard and run and play and hide and seek and whatever other games we invented!

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Child at Prayer by Eastman Johnson, circa 1873

Norman Rockwell-“Freedom From Want” Wikimedia “Fair-use Rationale” (click here for licensing details)

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“Those were the days, my friend! We thought they’d never end! We’d sing and dance forever and a day!…Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days!”

(Lyrics from the 1968 song, “Those Were The Days”)

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Yeah, those were the days of swimming in the nearby creek, blowing on spindly dandelions, catching frogs and crickets in grassy lawns, and climbing trees, exploring old barns, shooting marbles, playing army with tiny rubber WWII soldiers, and a bunch of other childhood joys!

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Oh yes, those were the days!

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Good years! Very good years indeed!

And in the late 50’s, early 60’s, we were about as normal as this Norman Rockwell painting!

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Jukebox – Wikimedia – cropped image – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Global license

shooting marbles – Wikimedia Commons – US Govt. Public Domain

Norman Rockwell-“Freedom From Want” Wikimedia “Fair-use Rationale” (click here for licensing details)

 

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“SAMMY COME HOME”

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I even had a dog. Dad got us a snow-white Samoyed Husky, which we appropriately named, “Sammy”.

Beautiful dog with long white fur and a great big smile!

Us kids loved that dog, in spite of the fact that he was a bit of a rogue, often sneaking out of the yard, and off into parts unknown. 

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SAMMY GOES ON EXTENDED ROMP

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Oh yeah, Sammy was a very welcomed member of the family.

He chased sticks and brought ’em back! Jumped through a Hula-Hoop!

A very smart dog, too!
But for his one failing in life (being a rogue), he was just about a perfect dog: perfect, as far as I was concerned, anyway.

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But when Sammy thought there was no one around, he would slither out into the street, with his tail tucked between his legs, kind-of looking back to see if he was being watched.

But ol’ Sammy seemed to somehow see an imaginary line in the very middle of the street.

Because once he crossed that imaginary middle line, if nobody had already yelled at him “Get back here!”, ol’ Sammy would take off like a lightning bolt!

Snow-white fur flying in the wind until he’d disappear completely out of sight!

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And that’s the last that we’d see of him till evening, when he came happily trotting home. (Of course, when he saw us waiting angrily for him, with tail tucked, and with ears down, he would slither back into the yard to get his spanking!) 

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(“These…things doth the LORD hate… feet that be swift in running to mischief…” Proverbs 6:16, 18 [condensed])

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And so, this went on for however long we had Sammy.

Sometimes we’d catch him slithering across the street.

And we’d yell at him, and he’d slither back into the yard, knowing that a spanking was awaiting him.

But once Sammy crossed that imaginary center-line in the street, there was no amount of yelling that could get him back!

He was gonzo!

And then, at evening, he would come trotting back home once again, like a miniature Clydesdale pony on parade!

And why not be happy?

Because, whatever he did all day, out there in the unknown wilds, he no doubt had a great time doing it! 

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But as I’ve said, Sammy had his good aspects too! He was lovable, and playful, fun to chase.

And he could fetch sticks and baseballs as good as any dog could!

And us kids would often wrestle with Sammy in the living room, while watching any number of TV shows during the very early 60’s.

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But then one time, he didn’t come home for days!

We feared he was gone for good.

I was really worried I would never see him again.

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And so, I prayed and prayed for Sammy to come home.

But it seemed like Sammy was gone for good.

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And then, a few days, or even a week later, I remember walking to school one morning, and running smack-dab into him crossing my path, as he was gallivanting through a near-by neighborhood!

He was so muddy, I could hardly recognize him!

Nevertheless, I was completely overjoyed to find him!

I excitedly held on tight to his collar, and happily ran him back home, about 4 or 5 short blocks away in this older section of town, which we then lived! 

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Sitting Samoyed wikimedia share-alike license

Siberian Samoyed dog. Image- EduardoVela Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Samoyed dog headshot wikimedia share-alike license

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LAST ROGUE-ROMP

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Back in the early 60’s, it was somewhat of a “do-whatever-you-like” world in many aspects of everyday life.

After all, Salem Oregon was a small, quiet town in those days.

Things were pretty safe, back then.

As I recall we didn’t even lock our cars at night (which were parked on the street!).

Oh yeah, there was crime.

And there probably were drugs in certain corners of the city.

And immorality too!

But the occurrence of those things was just fractional compared with now!

And they were pretty much “kept in the closet” as the saying goes.

At least back in Salem they were. 

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But in some ways, people were more responsible than they are now.

For example, you hardly even needed to lock your doors back then!

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However, in other particular areas of life, people were sometimes very irresponsible. 

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Things were not like they are today.

And my mom and dad were both full-time career people (Mom, a secretary for an attorney, and Dad a manager for a large insurance company).

And they were so busy working, that Sammy’s security was left pretty-much up to us kids.

But we didn’t lock him up like we would in today’s world.

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Well one day, after one of his usual romps into parts unknown, Sammy came home, as he normally did.

But this time, he perhaps didn’t come trotting home like a finalist in a dog show.

And every day thereafter, he seemed to get sicker.

We feared he either accidentally ate something poisonous, or perhaps, someone got tired of his playboy antics in the neighborhood, and simply fed him some poison, to get rid of him.

Nobody ever knew for sure.

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But whatever the reason for getting sick, wasn’t important right now.

I just wanted him to get better!

And so I prayed for his recovery.

And I prayed!

And I cried out to God for his recovery! 

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(“For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.” Job 6:4)

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But in spite of all my prayers, Sammy just kept getting sicker. “Oh God, please make Sammy well again! Oh God please!”

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Finally, after a week or so later, our dear Sammy died. 

Needless to say, I was devastated. Man, did I ever cry for my loss!

Sammy was gone!

Wow, did I ever cry!

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Sidewalk in autumn – Salem, Oregon wikimedia by M.O. Stevens  GNU Free Documentation License

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THINGS TO DO, PLACES TO GO, PEOPLE TO SEE!

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A little time passed by.

And as I earlier stated, each night before going to sleep, I would kneel down beside my bed, and faithfully pray the Lord’s Prayer.

Night after night I would faithfully pray the Lord’s Prayer.

And it’s hard to remember how long this went on.

But perhaps it continued during all those early years when me and my family were faithfully attending church each Sunday.

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But us kids were beginning to become teens.

And now there were many things to do.

And even church began to lose its importance.

And not just for me.

My entire family began to fall away from regular church attendance.

And Pastor Capalungo even moved on, and another pastor took his place.

And so church was eventually put on the back-burner, as they say.

First my parents, and then, eventually us three kids quit going altogether (Oh, maybe my sister kept going, as I vaguely recall).

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But I had other things to do: better things to do!

And after a while, I decided that the Lord’s Prayer was too long of a prayer.

So I substituted “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, etc….”

This was a shorter prayer, than the Lord’s Prayer.

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But even that “went by the wayside”, after another year or two.

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I eventually stopped praying altogether.

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The First United Methodist Church in downtown Salem. wikimedia public domain

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To go to Part 2, just click here…

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CH. 6 One Flew Into The Cuckoo’s Nest, Part 2:”Catch A Wave!”

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 This next part 2 has more old memories of supernatural events from my past…