Click credit links below each pic, for licensing names/details/tags/etc.. Most pics cropped/reduced in size

.

.

 “Complete List of Daily Devotionals”

.

.

.

Today’s Devotional – NOVEMBER 3RD

.

.

.

.

The Evil-Eyed Pharisee Scorner

.

.

.

.

.

“Enter into the Rock, and hide thee in the dust,

for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of His majesty.

The lofty looks of man shall be humbled,

and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down,

and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

For the day of the LORD of hosts

shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty,

and upon every one that is lifted up;

and he shall be brought low:”

Isaiah 2:10-12 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“THE SCORNER (THE PHARISEE)”

.

Listen to the following revelation concerning the evil which exists within the hearts of men…“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, AN EVIL EYE, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” Mark 7:18-23 

.

.

Please tilt your head to the left. Do you see a man with a very long pointed nose. (Obviously, the sketch to the right is just an exaggeration in order to help you find the face in the photo to the left.)

.

Do you see an angry look? His right eye-brow is raised as if he is judging.

.

This second face in the Moon appears to be that of a combination of a man as well as a fox. Or maybe a wolf. Doesn’t he have a long narrow nose like a wolf or fox? Maybe even a dog. Nevertheless, the expression on his face, as he appears to look down upon the Earth, is that of scorn. Unlike the  first Moon-man’s sad shock and awe; this ‘man/fox/wolf/dog’ appears to be that of anger and scorn. As if he is disgusted at the sinful planet below.

.

He is very moral, you see!

.

Moon – Public Domain – 2nd face Pharisee Scorner – by Cezar Popescu for Wikimedia – Universal Public Domain – cropped, highlighted & rotated photo

.

.

.

.

.

THIS BEAST WITHIN

.

Well, the Bible has much to say about Pharisees. And the Bible has much to say about wolves, and foxes, and dogs. And this wolf-face inscribed in the Moon has much to tell us about ourselves!

.

So if you are a truth-seeker, then this article will be an eye-opener, as we explore just what the Bible has to say about these things. And the fact is, this Pharisee Moon-Beast is in the heart of each and every human.

.

And so, if you (or I) find that this wolf-man has some things in common, please don’t despair! For God is giving us these signs, while there still is time. While there still is hope!

.

.

.

.

.

THE PHARISEES…

.

Now listen to this verse concerning proud scorners…“Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.” Proverbs 21:24

.

Yes this wolf-like beast-face in the Moon, is what the Bible calls a proud Pharisee. They were the morality crowd! They were the finger pointers! They were the scorners! They had an evil eye against others! They didn’t realize that their own pride was even more reprehensible to God than the drunkenness, immorality, or sexual perversions of the unsaved world!

.

.

.

.

.

PHARISEES & SADDUCEES

.

There were two major groups spoken of during the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry: The Pharisees and the Sadducees. While the Pharisees were very big on law and justice, the Sadducees were steeped in unbelief.

But that discussion of the Sadducees should be saved for the next section, “Moon Into Blood Part 3”. 

But for now, this examination of this 2nd face in the Moon should continue.

.

Robert Salmon – Moonlight Coastal Scene – Wikimedia – US Public Domain

.

.

.

.

.

.

WHICH WAY THE FINGER IS POINTING

.

It is true religion that says, “I am chief of sinners.” 1st Timothy 1:15. These are the words of Paul. Paul saw himself for what he really was: a dirty rotten sinner in need of a Savior!

 .

.

It is false religion that says, “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.” Luke 18:11.

.

These are the words of this proud Pharisee in the parable of the Publican & the Pharisee (see Luke 18:9-14).

.

It is true religion that points the accusing finger at ‘myself’. It is false religion that points at the other guy. True religion understands that Satan is the “god of this world” (2nd Corinthians 4:4). But this Pharisee has lost sight of that fact. True Christianity desires to lead others to forsake this world and begin to live for Heaven. False religion wants to clean this world up, not realizing that sin is literally everywhere: because it’s the Devil’s world.

.

This scorner forgets what 1st John proclaims… “…and the whole world lieth in wickedness.” 1st John 5:19

.

Tissot The Pharisee and publican Brooklyn Museum & Wikimedia US public domain

.

.

.

.

.

PHARISEE SITS ON JUDGMENT-THRONE

.

.

But this Pharisee-Scorner enjoys sitting on his judgment throne and pointing the accusing finger down at others. But what this pseudo-Christian does not realize is, that it is impossible to be Christian, while at the same time, judging others.

.

Just listen… “Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, Who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?” James 4:11, 12.

.

So this passage proclaims that whoever judges others, is trying to be God! Because only God is capable of judging a man’s heart. Of course, this Pharisee excuses himself, by saying that he’s only doing a public service by exposing the sins of others.

.

Tissot The Pharisee and publican Brooklyn Museum & Wikimedia US public domain

.

.

.

.

“THE HEART IS DECEITFUL…WHO CAN KNOW IT?”

.

.

Just listen to the following passage…“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.

.

So as this passage proclaims, “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?” But then it goes on to tell us, that God Himself searches the hearts of men (and women). God is the righteous Judge. And God will render back to us, according to our ways.

.

PS Krøyer – Hip hip hurra! Kunstnerfest på Skagen 1888 wikimedia public domain

.

.

.

.

.

THE PHARISEE & THE PUBLICAN

.

.

Listen to this story of the proud Pharisee and the humble Publican…“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” Luke 18:11-13

.

That well-known story of the Pharisee and the Publican presents a basic concept between a correct spirit and an incorrect one. In this story, God presents these two characters, which seem to be polar opposites: the proud Pharisee and the self-abasing Publican. The first, the Pharisee, saw himself as self-righteous, while the Publican realized just what a great sinner he was! Pride is quite often hard to detect. But the Publicans were a scorned class of persons. They knew they were sinners!

.

Tissot The Pharisee and publican Brooklyn Museum & Wikimedia US public domain

.

.

.

.

.

PRIDE ESPECIALLY DISGUSTING TO GOD

.

.

The point to this story is that God abhors human pride. But God contrariwise,  presents the proper attitude, by showing us the humility and shame-facedness of the Publican. 

.

And this little parable ends with the following summation… “I tell you, this man (the publican) went down to his house justified rather than the other (the Pharisee): for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Luke 18:14.

.

Here is a great big, giant concept, which Jesus presented. God loves a humble and contrite heart; but God hates human pride. And because our hearts are so easily deceived, we must exercise constant vigilance against such sins as pride.

.

Tissot The Pharisee and publican Brooklyn Museum & Wikimedia US public domain

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

TO READ PART 3, GO HERE…January 6 (The Evil-Eyed Pharisee Scorner, Part 3: “Worshiping the god of Respectability!”)

.

.

.

. 

. 

TODAY’S PRAYER…

.

“Dear Lord, Help me to understand this fearful message, to come out of Babylon! And if it’s true, then help me to make this great modern-day Exodus…

.

.

.

.

READ MORE…

.

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… Fleeing to the Mountains: The Abomination in the Church, Part 1, or you can also read… “May 12th (Come Out of Her, My People?)”

.

.

.

.

THE END

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN

Info & pics of constellations on this site from Wikipedia & International Astronomical Union (click here)

.

.

.

“THE SCORNER (THE PHARISEE)”

.

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, AN EVIL EYE, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” Mark 7:18-23 

.

Please tilt your head to the left. Do you see a man with a very long pointed nose. (Obviously, the sketch to the right is just an exaggeration in order to help you find the face in the photo to the left.)

.

Do you see an angry look? His right eye-brow is raised as if he is judging.

.

This second face in the Moon appears to be that of a combination of a man as well as a fox. Or maybe a wolf. Doesn’t he have a long narrow nose like a wolf or fox? Maybe even a dog. Nevertheless, the expression on his face, as he appears to look down upon the Earth, is that of scorn. Unlike the first Moon-man’s sad shock and awe; this ‘man/fox/wolf/dog’appears to be that of anger and scorn. As if he is disgusted at the sinful planet below.

.

He is very moral, you see!

.

Moon – Public Domain – 2nd face Pharisee Scorner – by Cezar Popescu for Wikimedia – Universal Public Domain – cropped, highlighted & rotated photo

.

.

.

.

.

READ MORE…

.

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Moon Into Blood Trilogy: 2nd Face: The Evil-Eyed Pharisee Scorner”

.

.

.

.

TOMORROW:

.

“Daily Devotional November 4th (A Rose By Any Other Name)“

.

Click on image credit links below each photo, for licensing names, details, and tags, etc.. Most Images cropped & reduced in size.

.

Click on image credit links below each photo, for licensing names/details/tags/etc.. Most images cropped/reduced in size

.

.

.

May, 1980

(Roughly about 200 days or so, from becoming an Ex-Atheist)

.

.

.

.

“LOOKIN’ FOR A POT OF GOLD!”

(Lyric from the 1969 Creedence Clearwater hit, “Stuck In Lodi Again”)

.

Have you ever wished that God was like a genie in a bottle? And maybe you could get just three wishes: perhaps a long, healthy life, marital bliss, and a financial fortune to enjoy? 

.

Well this little excursion promised to be just that! 

.

Yes, maybe, just maybe God is perhaps a “genie in a bottle”, or some kind of a, “heavenly goose that lays golden eggs”!

.

As the songster once sang…“Seekin’ my fame and fortune, lookin’ for a pot of gold!”

.

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

Genie – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license

.

.

.

.

.

FACT OR FANTASY?

.

Well, I couldn’t make up such a far-fetched and even crazy story; or maybe I should rather call it, “A true account”, which this chapter is.

.

But I’ll simply report it like it happened and you can decide if you’re going to believe it or just decide that, “The writer of this chapter is out of his ever-lovin’ gourd (like this poor deluded individual in an insane asylum, depicted in this very old picture to the right”).

.

Nevertheless, if you do decide that this is merely the work of a crazy man, never fear, you have plenty of established medical and psychiatric professionals who will backup your assertion 100%!

.

Anyway, I’ll mostly recount this true little story, trying not to make too much analysis, and let you decide for yourselves…

.

Insane Asylum – Wikipedia – Public-Domain

.

.

.

.

.

CHAPTER 22

.

“FANTASY ISLAND”

.

.

.

.

.

“DE PLANE! DE PLANE!”

.

We arrived at a little resort on the Pacific ocean. We parked our car, and went over to the little ferry, which would take us to this little island resort (not the island photo here, of course! Just a very tiny island).

.

But just as soon as we boarded the ferry, the spirit began talking in a sort of mocking way, “Oh yeah, this is your fantasy! This is your fantasy!” And actually, it did somewhat remind a person of Fantasy Island. Very beautiful and jungle-like.

.

So we boarded the ferry, and in a very short time, we arrived on the island. But the spirit kept telling me, “Yes Chuck, this is going to be your Fantasy Island!” And so I was somewhat anticipating a sort of exotic mystery (which would be a welcomed respite from the torment which I had been abundantly experiencing!).

.

Maybe I was to find riches here! Or maybe some promise of future glory!

.

Well whatever lay in store for me had great promise of being that proverbial, “pot of gold!”

.

Photo Hawaii, courtesy Wikipedia under share-alike license. Link here to photographer, Julius Silver.

.

.

.

.

.

FANTASY ISLAND TV SHOW

.

By the way, for your information, Fantasy Island was a hit TV series, in which various people went to a certain resort on an unnamed island, to have some semi-magical or semi-mystical dream-come-true experience. And there was often a life-lesson which would be learned by the participants, by the end of the show.

.

Carlos Montalban played Mr. Roarke, who orchestrated these semi-magical experiences each week. Well-cultured and always dressed in white, Mr. Roarke guided his guests into a fantasy which would often change the life of his guest…always for the better. Here’s what Wikipedia says about that show…

.

.

.

WIKIPEDIA, CONCERNING FANTASY ISLAND TV SERIES…

.

FANTASY ISLAND… Airing from 1978 to 1984, the original series starred Ricardo Montalbán as Mr. Roarke, the enigmatic overseer of a mysterious island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, where people from all walks of life could come and live out their fantasies, albeit for a price.

.

Roarke was known for his white suit and cultured demeanor, and was initially accompanied by an energetic sidekick, Tattoo, played by Hervé Villechaize. Tattoo would run up the main bell tower to ring the bell and shout “De plane! De plane!” to announce the arrival of a new set of guests at the beginning of each episode – Information courtesy Wikipedia.

.

Ricardo Montalban – Herve Villechaize – Fantasy Island – 1977 – wikipedia – public-domain

.

.

.

.

.

“WHERE’S ROARKE?”…

.

So we arrived on the island, and immediately rented a little bungalow. It was only $15 American dollars per day, which even back then, was a bargain for an ocean-front resort, not to mention, this was an island resort!

.

And of course, I was totally focused on what the spirit had in store for me, especially with his suggestions that this was gonna be some sort of Fantasy Island experience. I wondered about what might happen, to make this experience like that TV show. I honestly was looking around to see if there was some sort of Mr. Roarke, or at least a “Tattoo”. But there was no Mr. Roarke here to conduct anyone’s fantasy, and not even a little “Tattoo” riding around in a golf cart!

.

Ricardo Montalban – Herve Villechaize – Fantasy Island – 1977 – wikipedia – public-domain.jpg

.

.

.

.

.

“WHERE’S MY FANTASY!?”

.

It was obvious that the spirit had something else in mind. But what? I was hoping for something magical or even a mystical fantasy. After all, I knew I was dealing with spirits possessing powers beyond anything I’d ever imagined! And so I knew these spirits were well capable of bringing about whatever was in-store for me!

.

There weren’t very many people at this resort, as I recall. At least not on the week days. It was almost like we had the place to ourselves! But it was a nice place. Not a five-star resort, mind you. It was a very nice little island though (aside from the restaurant help, needless to say! I’ll explain a little further down this page)

.

Ricardo Montalban – Herve Villechaize – Fantasy Island – 1977 – wikipedia – public-domain.jpg

.

.

.

.

.

ALONE WITH THE SPIRIT

.

Not long after we arrived, Becky decided that some other family members needed to be here. So she went back to Guatemala City. I stayed on the island.

.

And so, with the spirit having such a gift of gab, and always willing to TALK MY EAR OFF, there was not a moment of boredom here, (nor of silence). And so I merely roamed the little island, sometimes sitting in a hammock, under the shade of a palm tree, and talked with the spirit. And mostly, I remember that he went over and over on this burning question, as to just who I was in a former life….Jesus….or Hitler. But I must say, most of the time on this so-called, “Fantasy Island”, he inundated me with the possibilities of me being Jesus (in a former life), and of all the glorious things awaiting me.

.

.

.

.

.

“YOU’RE HAVING MY BABY”…NOT!

(Title from the 1974 Paul Anka/Odia Coates hit, “You’re Having My Baby”)

.

But as I was sitting under a palm tree, he then began to present to me a big story of how, not only I, as Jesus, was reincarnated, but also other Bible people, namely Mother Mary. “Yes Chuck, Mother Mary has also been brought back many times over the centuries. As a matter of fact, remember when you talked your girlfriend into getting an abortion, she didn’t want to have?”

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

“WHAT A LOVELY WAY OF NOT SAYING HOW MUCH YOU LOVE ME”

(lyrics from the 1974 Paul Anka/Odia Coates hit, “You’re Having My Baby” with the word, “NOT” added)

.

This inconvenient event happened a number of years earlier. I was an atheist. But I tried to convince myself that abortion wasn’t murder. In spite of that, the thought kept coming back to haunt me, that having an abortion would be preventing a life from coming into the world. So it was an undeniable fact that this abortion too, would be preventing a life: a human life from coming into the world!

.

So upon deciding to have one anyway, I tried and tried to shake this thought, “Outta My Head!” But I couldn’t! I just couldn’t shake it! This inescapable and inconvenient truth kept coming back again and again to torment me, even though I was pretty much an atheist, back in those years! I would be preventing a life from coming into the world. Dirty rotten MURDER!

.

In my heart of hearts, I knew it was!

.

But on the day of the scheduled abortion, my girlfriend had a miscarriage (at least that’s what I was told at the time.) “That little girl you had, or should I say, almost had, was the soul of Mother Mary. You killed Mother Mary, Chuck! God was going to bring Mother Mary back into the world! And you killed her! You murdered Mother Mary!” The spirit was now telling me, that my insistence on her having an abortion put a stress on her, ultimately causing my girlfriend to have the miscarriage.

.

And so began the spirit to bombard me with guilt about this sad chapter in my past. “Do you know what that little girl’s name was going to be that you killed? I had never really thought about this. “You were going to name her “Heather”.

.

At this point I felt horrible! Not only was I responsible for that miscarriage, but that child had the soul of Mother Mary! And now the spirit was personalizing this by telling me the name that would’ve been given her: Heather!

(NOTE: As I look back on this episode, it seems that this horrible scenario presented to me by the spirit, was possibly a somewhat bizarre twist on that old anti-abortion argument…”What if Joseph had convinced the Virgin Mary into having an abortion of the Savior of the World?”)

.

To explore deeper into this subject, please read…“The 6th Head of the Antichrist Beast: Cruel Compassion Regarding Abortion” or you can also read this…“Hands That Shed Innocent Blood: “God’s Providence in the Womb”

.

The Madonna in Sorrow – wikipedia – public domain

.

.

.

.

.

DIS-FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING…

.

Anyway, I was wearing a ring my former girlfriend had once given me. It was a gold band with my birth-stone.

.

The spirit began coming down on me hard, about how I treated her. “And she gave you that ring with all her love, you schmuck! And all you gave her was that tiny diamond ring! You no good piece of…” s#!@&t !”

.

All I could do was just to take this verbal whipping! And oh man, was I feeling really low! A real creep was I!

.

The Madonna in Sorrow – wikipedia – public domain

.

.

.

.

.

GHOST FROM PAST…

.

Then the spirit reminded me of an incident which I went through a few years earlier, when an old public-school friend from back in Salem came by to visit me while I was working at the restaurant. He just showed up one day at our family restaurant. (This incident was in about 1976 or so, 3 or 4 years prior to this Island experience.)

.

This old friend was dressed all in white: peasant shirt and pants. Clothes you might expect to see on a person living in the tropics. And now that I think of it, he did say he was currently living somewhere in the Hawaiian Islands.

.

RING OF FIRE… My old friend was saying some strange things! And at one point, he saw this very same ring now being discussed. He told me it was a very special ring, and that it glowed with an aura emanating from it. He asked if I would take it off. So I did, and gave it to him. He started dancing around the back banquet room, holding up this ring above his head, saying weird things about the ring: saying that the ring glowed with some supernatural light! He talked about the ring as if it was of great importance. He then climbed on one of the banquet room chairs, and held the ring as high as he could. He was saying something about the ring being “very high” or something like that. Making such a big deal about a ring!

.

“Poor guy”, I thought, “He’s really flipped out!” My old school buddy and his white suit was totally off his rocker!

.

Now, years later, on this so-called Fantasy Island, the spirit was reminding me of this incident from the 70’s, with my old friend and this ring. “He was prophesying to you Chuck. I was controlling him. He was telling you how precious was the love given you by that girl!” I had little trouble accepting what the spirit was telling me. As a matter of fact, I still believe that my old friend in white was being led by spirits. His behavior was so bizarre that day, I can’t attribute it to anything else!

.

.

.

.

. 

”THIS “GOLDEN” RING DOESN’T SHINE FOR ME ANYMORE”…

(play on lyrics from 1965 hit song by Gary Lewis & The Playboys, “This Diamond Ring”)

.

“I want you to take that ring and toss it into the ocean! Toss it, you no good p#$&%e?S%$T” I began to walk down to the black sand beach which was only a hundred yards away, looking at this “special ring”, overwhelmed with guilt of how I rejected her love… “God really hates you because of how you treated her! And she only gave you love! Toss that ring you no good SOB!! TOSS IT!!”

.

And so I took this nice ring and tossed it as far as I could…into the ocean.

.

I really felt bad about the way I treated almost all my girlfriends. And I really never realized how heartless I could be at times.

.

Belize – wikipedia – share-alike license

.

.

.

.

.

CHANGED

.

Well, these flashbacks of the past ended, perhaps as quickly as they began.

.

And I must admit, because of this experience (and others), I became a changed person. In the future, I would try to be more honorable. Not that I was perfect, because I wasn’t.

.

Just better.

.

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

Belize – wikipedia – share-alike license

.

.

.

.

.

”LUNCH IS SERVED”…

.

Now Becky arrived the next day with her family. So things became much more lively.

.

And this little island had several large swimming pools, and an open-air restaurant. Becky’s parents also came there. We all had lunch on this nice restaurant patio overlooking the ocean, just a few hundred feet away, or less.

.

Belize wikipedia share-alike license. By Eseiglihp. (Sunset on Caye Caulker). Click here for link.

.

.

.

.

.

“CHICKEN-SALAD SANDWICH, PLEASE…AND…UH…HOLD THE FLIES!”

.

The waitress took our order. They ordered Spanish food. I, being from the good ol’ U.S. of A., ordered a chicken salad sandwich. The waitress soon brought our food. I opened my chicken salad sandwich to inspect it. Upon opening it, I saw a big fat oversized black fly still in mint condition, laying there in the chicken salad, hidden under the bread. I lodged my complaint in English, and it was interpreted to the waitress And after a little discussion, Becky interpreted to me that the waitress replied, “Just take it out”. I objected. And my objection was interpreted back to the waitress, saying that I wanted another sandwich (Which, of course, would be standard procedure back in the states!)

.

In a few minutes she came back with “another sandwich”. I opened it and thankfully, there was no large fly in it. But upon closer examination, I noticed an indent, very suspiciously in the exact same spot where the fly was located in the “other” sandwich! And after thinking about it for a few moments, I gave up and decided to make no further objections… and just shut up and eat the stupid sandwich!

.

Now why am I telling this little story? I don’t know. I just think it’s a funny story, even though it wasn’t so funny at the time.

.

But anyway, in a few days I would be eating something far worse than flies!

.

Chicken Salad Sandwich – Wikipedia – Share-Alike License

.

.

.

.

.

WHERE’S DE FANTASY, MR. ROARKE?

.

After a few more days, Becky and I got back on that same ferry which brought us to this island. And in a few minutes we were back on the mainland.

.

But I guess it was kind of anticlimactic at that time, considering how I was led to believe this was going to be some sort of fantasy. But that’s what happened. I was somewhat disappointed that nothing semi-magical happened, like it often did on that TV show.

.

And there was no little fella named Tattoo running around the island either.

.

And no Roarke!

.

And no “pot of gold”!

.

And no promise of future glory!

.

Ricardo Montalban – Herve Villechaize – Fantasy Island – 1977 – wikipedia – public-domain

.

.

.

.

.

“WHERE’S DE ISLAND!?”

.

And if that isn’t enough of a wash-out story, I just found out (as I’m writing this) another disappointing fact. WE WEREN’T EVEN ON AN ISLAND! We merely took a ferry across an OUTLET OF WATER ALONG THE COASTLINE BECAUSE IT HAD NO BRIDGE! We were actually still on the mainland of Guatemala.

.

What a disappointment!… NOT ONLY WAS THERE NO FANTASY… THERE WASN’T EVEN AN ISLAND!!! 

.

Ricardo Montalban – Herve Villechaize – Fantasy Island – 1977 – wikipedia – public-domain

.

.

.

.

.

“WHERE’S DE RESORT!?!”

.

Now if that’s still not enough of a wash-out, I was also later informed that some time after we left there, a big Pacific storm came along and completely destroyed the entire resort!

.

Well, it serves them right for sticking that fly in my chicken salad sandwich! Not really! Just kidding! Just kidding! Actually, I would eagerly and enthusiastically go back there, flies or no flies! It was a really nice and inexpensive resort! (Well, of course, I did lose that beautiful and expensive gold ring. And oh yeah, I also went to sleep with a lit Marlboro in my hand on the last day, and caught my mattress on fire, which I paid for.)

.

Ricardo Montalban – Herve Villechaize – Fantasy Island – 1977 – wikipedia – public-domain

.

.

.

.

.

.

”DON’T GO ‘ROUND TONIGHT…

.

IT’S BOUND TO TAKE YOUR LIFE!”

(Lyric from the 1969 Creedence Clearwater hit, “Bad Moon On The Rise”)

.

When we arrived back home at Becky’s parents, the weather became cloudy. During a dark night, there was a thunderstorm. I went up on the roof, because I learned by experience, that the spirit would answer questions using the lightning.

.

And up there. all alone on that roof, it seemed like I could see across all the houses and townhouses for blocks. The night looked like one of Van Gogh’s more dreary paintings! And the lightning put on a show for free!

.

In the distance, the electric air and the kaboom of the lightning caused the dogs around the city to bark and howl, which only made things that much more eerie! And as I said, the spirit would answer simultaneous to the lightning flashing. So I would ask something concerning whether I was Hitler or Jesus, and other such things. I could perceive no time delay between the lightning flash and his answer in my mind. His answers would be either “yes”, or “no”. If he didn’t want to answer, he didn’t say anything.

.

I’m not sure how many nights this went on. Maybe just that one night. But I was bombarded with guilt over the miscarriage I caused, which resulted in the death of “Mother Mary’s” reincarnated soul. Of course by now, I didn’t know what to believe at this point. This spirit was as changeable as a fickle teenager.

.

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

Cloud-to-ground_lightning2_-_NOAA-wikimedia-public-domain.jpg

.

.

.

.

.

”I SEE EARTHQUAKES AND LIGHTNING”…

(Lyric from the 1969 Creedence Clearwater hit, “Bad Moon On The Rise”)

.

One night, Becky and I were going to her Father’s church service. He had a very active church, which met seven nights a week, plus twice on Sunday! And as usual, there were many people gathered together on this weeknight service. Of course I couldn’t understand anything they said. It was all in Spanish. But there was lots of music, lots of singing, and an abundance of hand-clapping!

.

KA-BOO-O-O-M…

.

After much music and singing, it came time for Papa to begin preaching. During the service, the lightning began to flash outside. They had left the entry double-doors open, so I thought I would use this opportunity to ask the spirit more questions, and wait for the lightning and the spirit’s response. I figured that such a holy place as church might be the perfect place to get the answer I needed. And so I would look back at the open doors and ask a question, and wait for the lightning to flash. Now I can’t remember exactly what was happening right at the moment, as far as the church service. But I distinctly remember asking the question “Did I really kill the Mother Mary?” The lightning would flash, and a simultaneous answer would come, “Yes!”, or “No!”.

.

.

.

.

.

“SPEAKING WORDS OF WISDOM, ‘LET IT BE'”

(Lyrics from Paul McCartney song “Let It Be”)

.

And as I recall, I repeated this question several times. “Did I kill Mother Mary?…..Did I kill Mother Mary?” And about the second or third time…as soon as I asked the question, The spirit shouted, “NO-O-O-O-O-O!!”… and simultaneous to his answer, both the lightning and thunder cracked so loud, it was both blinding and deafening!

.

But at the very same moment as that answer, the lightning completely turned the neighborhood white with the loudest crack you might have ever heard, resulting in the lights going out in the church and throughout the entire neighborhood!

.

The lightning had caused the lights in the church and all through the neighborhood to go completely out! Now I was convinced that somehow the spirit had control over the lightning, in some way.

.

Needless to say, the power outage brought the church service to a screeching halt! The noise of the ceremonies was quickly replaced by questioning voices throughout this darkened sanctuary. At least for 20 or 30 minutes, the service had ended until the power came back on throughout the neighborhood. Until it did come back on, everyone went outside the church in order to wait.

.

As I said, the spirit shouted “NO-O-O!!”, totally in-sync with the lightning flash/thunder and the neighborhood power-outage. This was a loud answer from Heaven, as far as I was concerned. “NO” came the answer I was hoping for! “NO” I didn’t kill Mother Mary, after all!

.

But then the spirit began to somewhat confuse the issue by saying, “Did God say “NO!”, or did He say, “KNOW!”???

.

Well, what could I do with such an ominous and confusing answer as this? And so, I decided to just, “Let it be”.

.

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

The Madonna in Sorrow – wikipedia – public domain

.

.

.

.

.

GOD NOT A MAGIC GENIE!

.

Nevertheless, that lightning storm put the “final lid down tight” on all this “Me killing Mother Mary” nonsense!

.

But also, this excursion to “Fantasy Island” put the final “cork in the bottle” on all this idea about God being some sort of, Ponzi-scheme”, in which you stroke some brass lamp, and “VOILA!”, a magic genie appears and offers you three wishes!

.

No, as we left, I was disappointed there was no mystical experience!

.

No earthly riches!

.

No promise of future glory!

.

Only the knowledge of what a miserable wretch and scoundrel I really had been through much of my “adult” life! 

.

Genie – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license

Ricardo Montalban – Herve Villechaize – Fantasy Island – 1977 – wikipedia – public-domain

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

To go to next Chapter, just click here…

.

Ch. 23  “On A Train Bound For No-where”  

.

This was more than just a bumpy ride! This was an excursion to No-Where’s-Ville!

.

Click on image credit links below each photo, for licensing names, details, tags, etc.. Most images cropped/reduced in size

.

.

.

.

Ever had a “Vacation From Hell”?

.

Well…I think this one might just out-do yours!

.

Because…well…just read the next few chapters, and decide for yourself…

.

The Scream of Nature – Wikipedia – US Public Domain

.

.

.

.

.

ESCAPING THE IRON CITADEL OF ATHEISM

.

So now it was February, as I recall. And it was about 120 or so days after being “tossed out on my ear” from that sad and hopeless, “Iron-Citadel”, commonly referred to as “Atheism”.

.

Such a dreadfully depressing ideology! And it eventually drowns its captives in hopeless despair, “who, through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hebrews 2:15

.

Oh yes, the proponents and hucksters of atheism promise freedom for all who join their ideology. But truth-be-told, if you happen to be a thoughtful and sensitive individual, you eventually realize that atheism only gets more distressing, increasingly hopeless, and really depressing, the older you become!

.

And those who live under atheism’s cruel tyranny, like I did, often resort to drinking ourselves into a temporary state of blurry-eyed blissfulness (or perhaps drugging themselves, which was not my chosen means of escape), all in attempt to forget about that eventual, “date-with-fate” and our inescapable, “appointment with The Grim Reaper”! (My means of escape was mostly with a little bourbon/cigarettes/television. And also, of course, managing an all-you-can-eat buffet often allows incredible middle-of-the-night “refrigerator raids”!)

.

Atheism – Descent of the Modernists, E J Pace, Christian Cartoons, 1922 – Wikipedia –

Weird Tales – Grim Reaper – The Man Who Lived – Wikimedia – Public Domain (2)

.

.

.

.

.

“THE BIGGEST FOOL TO NEVER HIT THE BIG-TIMES!”

(Word-play on lyrics from the 1963 Buck Owens song “Act Naturally”, changing “ever” to “never”)

.

But now I was being given, not only songs from the spirit, but also being told a very glorious narrative on just how greatly God was going to bless me in the music world, which industry, by the way, was largely controlled by God Himself! WOW!!!

.

Oh, to think that a short time ago I was being mercilessly tormented in a mental ward by demons, swan-diving onto a hard floor, falling onto sharp objects, and going in and out of hellish illusions and devilish delusions!

.

And now…BUT NOW…instead, I was being told just the opposite! I was informed that I was soon to find fame and fortune in the L.A. music scene!

.

And if that’s not enough, I was JESUS…in a former life!

.

This might possibly make that classic, “rags-to-riches” story about the “Count of Monte Cristo”, look like a mere, “50-cent-burger-joint-pay-raise”!

.

Ah yes, this was the turn-about of all turn-abouts! This was the lottery ticket of all lottery tickets! 

.

This was…uh…it was….sufficed to say, “My prospects for the future were looking much better, thank-you.”

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

THE BIG TUMBLE!

.

But little did I know, nor suspect, that I was once again to be the “butt-end of a cruel joke” by the spirits.

.

Little did I realize or was aware, that I was unwittingly being set up like a “bowling pin” by “Team-Lucifer”, only to knock me down flat, for a strike at the “Unlucky-Lanes Bowling Alley”! 

.

And these super-intelligentsia (who, by the way, were extremely cunning beings), were gonna take me up to the very top of the tallest temple in Belize…That infamous Jaguar Temple, only to kick me down, down, down… about a couple hundred very steep steps…down onto my head!

.

And then thrust me back down into the open-arms of Hell’s awaiting flaming-furnace-inferno, once again!

.

Temple of the Great Jaguar Temple – by Dennis Jarvis from Halifax, Canada – for wikimedia – share-alike license

.

.

.

.

.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves!

.

Let’s leave TIKAL for now, and back up a month or two; back to that day in February, 1980, in Klamath Falls, when a very special person walked into my life…

.

.

.

.

.

.

CHAPTER 21:

.

“VACATION FROM (or rather, ‘IN’) HELL”

.

.

.

.

.

“ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT AND I AIN’T GOT NOBODY! (except for the spirits, that is!)”

(First line from the 1964 Sam Cooke hit song, “Another Saturday Night” with parenthetical comment by this website)

.

Well, there I was! In a nice little home, all tucked away in a beautiful little woodsy neighborhood in the hills around Klamath Falls.

.

No longer was I being terrified with the prospects of being cut up into little pieces! No more was I scorched with the eternal sentence of being, “tormented with fire and brimstone”, for all time and eternity by an angry God!

.

And so, it’s not hard to imagine that I was beginning to get lonely, especially after getting dumped by my ex-girlfriend, just prior to when “all Hell broke loose” on my life (actually, I believe she was providentially taken away, to spare her from having to deal with what I was soon to be suffering back in that Unit 3600).

.

Oh yes, I had the spirit. And he (or they), was constantly communicating with me!

.

Nevertheless, I felt I needed companionship…human companionship! Female companionship!

.

And so, I began to pray that God might bring someone into my life. “Oh God, please bring me someone!”

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

ENTER THE LOVE INTEREST…

.

Well, one day, not too long after I began praying about this, the phone rang…

.

“Hello?”  

.

There was a female voice on the other end of the phone line. But because of her heavy accent (and her obvious shyness and nervousness), I had trouble understanding what she was saying. Something about singing for someone’s wedding. Finally, after asking her to repeat herself a number of times, I figured out that she wanted to hire me to sing at a family member’s wedding.

.

Of course, I said, “Okay”.

.

.

.

.

.

PROBLEMS SOLVED

.

I’m not quite sure what happened, but before I knew it, this very pretty lady was bringing pots and pans over to my house, and cooking absolutely great Spanish-style food.

.

And so ended my loneliness issues.

.

One less thing!

.

And now I also had someone to sing my songs to. And she was convinced I was going places with my music! And so ended my lack of an appreciative audience.

.

Two less things!

.

.

.

.

.

THE LAND OF ETERNAL SPRING?

.

And before I knew it, we were planning a trip to her beautiful little country of Guatemala, which borders southern Mexico and Belize. The trip was to last 30 days. This was in February. And the trip was planned for…I can’t really recall…I’m gonna say…in May. Yeah, I think we left in May till June, 30 days. So now I could take a well-deserved “R & R” away from the horrible, horrible, torment I went through up there in Unit 3600!

.

Three less things?!

.

.

.

.

.

“IT AIN’T HEAVY…IT’S MY PENNANCE!”…

(Word-play on the 1969 Holies hit-song, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother“)

.

When the big day came for us to leave, Becky had managed to fill a large old Army-issue duffel bag with used clothes to take to the people in her father’s church in Guatemala. Her father was a pastor of a Church of God, a somewhat Pentecostal church in Guatemala City. I didn’t know that this heavy bag would have to be dragged for miles…by me!

.

The old Army-green bag seemed 4 or 5 feet tall, and as much as maybe 30 inches wide. Well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Anyway, it was extremely heavy and just as awkward! I couldn’t believe how many clothes she got into that bag! We couldn’t even cinch up the top of the bag for all the tightly packed clothes.

.

But bringing clothes to people in need was a good deed! Right? Right! And considering all the condemnation I had gone through for the last 7 months, I figured any check-marks in my plus-column couldn’t do me any harm! So I cheerfully pulled this bag along. Not a problem!

.

And anyway, it beats playing organ in Hell! Correct? (see Chapter 15, almost the bottom of that page for explanation)

.

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

.

.

.

.

“THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT !”

.

During this time of getting to know Becky, the spirit was still communing with me. And so, at various times my head would nod “yes” or “no”, or rolling my eyes, or even rolling my whole head (Well, I guess that I’ve already mentioned this phenomenon in one of the previous chapters.) But anyway, I tried as hard as I could to suppress this phenomenon. But I couldn’t stop it! I’m not sure whether Becky noticed it or not, but she made no comment about it (But even though it was probably not even a tiny bit noticeable to others, I could really feel him make my head nod, making me apprehensive when in their company.)

.

And to add to this really annoying phenomenon, the spirit would sometimes use my head to make his own commentary on what Becky was saying. So he would involuntarily roll my head back and forth in a circular motion (ever-so-slightly, remember), as if to say he was challenging the veracity of what she was saying. You know, kind-of like when rolling one’s eyes in doubt, at something someone is saying. Only he was doing it… not me! And sometimes I could just barely keep from laughing, because the spirit would make me laugh with his incredible sense of humor.

.

.

.

.

.

“THANK YOU…THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!”

.

The spirit gave me a song one day when Becky was visiting me. The song came all of a sudden. Just spontaneously. Oh yes, it was a simple song. I suppose it’s not too much to expect that a musician could easily do this. But anyway, here it is…

.

When I look into your eyes, I find myself in love—-

And when I look into your eyes, I find myself in love—

Hold me close…hold me tight…always stay with me.

Hold me close…hold me tight…say you’ll stay by me.

When I… etc, etc…

.

It was a nice little song, but bothered me because it vaguely reminded me of that old Presley song, “Love Me Tender”, (same tempo, but somewhat different chords and melody).

.

.

.

.

.

THE VACATION FROM HELL

.

(or should I rather say, “in Hell”?)…

.

DOUBLE PENNANCE POINTS…

.

And soon came the day to depart for Guatemala. From Reno Nevada to Miami Florida. Then from Miami Florida to Guatemala City, Guatemala. And oh yes, me dragging that large, clumsy, and very heavy duffel bag through the concourse of both airports. But my “heavenly brownie points” were adding up fast (or so I surmised), with every huff and every puff I made.  There went me… facing backwards…pulling this Army-issue monstrosity through the airports, and Becky leading the way!

.

Photo: jetliner – Wikipedia – public domain.

.

.

.

.

.

NEW REVELATION…

.

The spirit soon began something very new with me. This fresh new insinuation began like this… “Oh Chuckie-Me-Schmucky, have you ever considered that maybe…just maybe you weren’t Jesus Christ in a former life?”

.

The spirit now had my full and undivided attention at this point… “I thought that might get your attention, Me-Chucko.”

.

I was now getting really afraid. The needle on my terror-meter was now hitting a solid 10 out of 10! The spirit was being very threatening with these kinds of taunts… “Did you ever consider that you might not be Jesus after all? Did you ever consider that you might have been somebody else in a former life? Somebody such as…say…like…uh…Adolph…uh… Hitler?”

.

Okay, I was now in full-throttled fear at this new allegation via my spirit “friend”.

.

Anyway, this suggestive torment (or maybe I should say, ‘torment-via-accusations’) lasted through most of the plane trip with me sinking lower and lower into my seat (or I might better say, “sinking into my hot-seat“).

.

Adolph Hitler – Wikimedia – Public Domain

.

.

.

.

.

PREPARE FOR ROUGH LANDING…

.

But finally, many of the passengers no doubt looked intensely out their window to get their first glimpse of Guatemala. And we buckled our seat belts to get ready for landing (And I buckled my “mental seat belt”, to get ready for what I feared to be, the ultimate “Vacation From Hell”: or better said, my, “Vacation IN Hell”, in spite of the fact that we were going to such a beautiful little tropical country.)

.

Photo of Hitler courtesy Wikipedia. Public domain.

.

.

.

.

.

“ ONE PERSON’S PARADISE IS ANOTHER PERSON’S PURGATORY”

.

We arrived in Guatemala City in the afternoon. We somehow found a municipal bus to take to her parent’s house.

.

I don’t know how I got the duffel bag on this crowded bus. But I must have… somehow.

.

And in a few moments, we were rolling through the crowded streets of that great place…Guatemala City!

.

Guatemala the land of Eternal Spring!

.

But for me, it would be the land of ETERNAL TORMENT!

.

Photo: Guatemala birds eye view – Wikipedia – public domain.

.

.

.

.

.

“A MOTHER & CHILD REUNION”

(Title of the 2009 song by Paul Simon)

.

I remember that we were standing up on the packed bus. I don’t know. Maybe we were sitting down. No, standing as I recall, holding on tight to the vertical hand-rails, as the bus kept stopping to let passengers on and off.

.

While at one stop, as new passengers got on, all of a sudden, Becky cries out, “Mamasita! Mamasita!” I was startled. I looked to see who this person was.  It was a somewhat middle-aged lady. The woman began politely (but excitedly) hurrying her way through the crowded bus to get to Becky. Obviously it was Becky’s Mother. The lady began crying and hugging Becky. (Wow! I’m a little teary-eyed right now, just recalling that joyful reunion!)

.

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

Transmetro Guatemalan bus – Wikimedia – share-alike license

.

.

.

.

.

TRIPLE OR EVEN QUADRUPLE HEAVENLY PENANCE POINTS !!!!…

.

We got off the bus. I managed to get the duffel bag off the bus, still hoping for some more heavenly penance points for my efforts. Still being taunted by the spirit as to just, “Who I was in a former life”.

.

After getting off, we began walking through this older neighborhood toward Becky’s parent’s home. I can’t remember how I managed to get that duffel bag down the rough sidewalks. I don’t know. Maybe someone helped me (at least the airports had smooth floors! And actually, I probably used a cart through those places, now that I think of it). But at this point, the duffel bag was “light duty”, compared to the heavy burden this spirit was now laying on my shoulders, about me “maybe” being Hitler in a former life.

.

Photo of Guatemala City – courtesy wikipedia – share alike license. Click here for link.

.

.

.

.

.

“DORCAS NO HABLARA CON EL GRINGO’”…

.

We soon arrived at the home. It was an older town house in a humble, but fairly nice Guatemalan neighborhood in which each house was about 25 or 30 feet wide, and somewhat long, eventually leading out to small backyards. And each house adjoined one-other. Kind of “shotgun style” floor plans, if you’re familiar with those types. Long and narrow houses with a hallway down the middle. But this townhouse had an open-air foyer inside the front door (of course, the temperature never much fluctuated here, so an open air foyer works in Guatemala. They sure wouldn’t work back in K. Falls!). This foyer had plants (photo on left). And there was a big parrot named “Dorcas” in the foyer.

.

And this large flower-laden foyer with a big parrot perched in the middle, made for a dramatic entry. They first introduced me to Dorcas, and tried to get him to talk. But Dorcas was being shy. No talking from Dorcas! This shy parrot was not in a cage. He was just sitting on a perch in the garden-like foyer. Pretty cool! 

.

But Dorcas was determined to give me no greeting, try as we did to encourage him to do just that (however, little did I know that this now speechless parrot would give me a very loud, vocal farewell on the day of my departure!)

.

(Parrot photo courtesy Brian Snelson for Wikipedia. For Brian’s link, just click here.)

Photo on left of foyer. Photo is greatly damaged.

.

.

.

.

.

PAPA FELIX

.

Now as far as being shy and not talking, Becky’s father was a different story. I met Becky’s family, and Becky had to translate for me and for them. Her brothers spoke fluent English, however. Her family was very gracious. Her father (“Papa”) however, was a Pentecostal pastor, and very serious-looking. Not that he was ill-tempered. But he was much too stern-looking for me. He made me somewhat really uncomfortable. Kind-of like, say, for example, my old high school vice-principal, an ex-marine with a crew-cut…Mr. Edigar (who btw, one day, picked me up by my shirt and held me up against my locker, and asked me, “Don’t you think your hair is getting a little too long?”, to which I no doubt answered, “Uh, yeah, I guess so”).

.

There are just some people who make ya wanna do a wide swath in order to avoid them. 

.

Oh it’s not that Papa was impolite. But what did I expect? After all, I was a perspective son-in-law, who, by the way, was going on a vacation with his daughter! Totally unbiblical! But I was oblivious to all these things. “ethically challenged”, someone might euphemistically put it. Perhaps “morally clueless” might be an even more accurate assessment. Actually, “A full-blown idiot” probably hits the proverbial “nail on the head”!

.

.

.

.

.

.

“AIN’T GOT NO CIGARETTES!”…

(Lyric from the 1965 Roger Miller song “King of the Road”)

.

Now I was a heavy smoker, and I apologized for my habit. I told them I would like to quit. I told them that I was hoping the Lord would help me quit.

.

Becky’s dad instantly latched on to that comment! He told me that the Lord could help me RIGHT NOW! “Uh…uh…Yeah…uh..I guess so”, I said.

.

“Drats!” I knew I had been caught in my words! And before I could get another word out, he began to pray for me right then and there (not more than few minutes into our arrival!). I couldn’t understand what he was saying in his prayer for my smoking. But even though he spoke in Spanish, I nevertheless could tell he was a “professional pray-er”!

.

And so, after the short prayer, I was asked to forfeit my cigarettes. I suppose I reluctantly forfeited my pack of Marlboros (I had extra packs in my suitcase).

.

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

Marlboro – Wikipedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

.

.

.

.

.

“SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME”…

(1926 song composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin)

. 

But soon I wanted a cigarette. So I went into my newly-assigned bedroom and smoked (Remember this was back in 1980. Attitudes have changed since then about smoking indoors).

.

Now, this bedroom only had one window. And this window was close to the ceiling. Outside the window was a stairway which led to the roof (which roof also served as a patio). And before long, Becky’s Dad climbed the stairway and peeked through the window to see if I was smoking. So I just held my cigarette by my side whenever he peeked in at me. This went on each time I smoked a cigarette. And he would peek at me three or four times each cigarette. I got used to it. It was actually kind-of funny and cute. I would see this head slowly rise up and look at me. I would simply hold my cigarette down until his head disappeared. Then about 30 seconds later his head would slowly re-emerge in the window. This went on for, oh, I don’t know how long. But Papa was no fool! He knew!

.

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

Marlboro – Wikipedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

.

.

.

.

.

“OKAY…WARM COLA I CAN DEAL WITH…BUT THIS!!!…”

.

As with many smokers, I liked to drink cola when I smoked. So after a few days, upon running out of American smokes, I found a little neighborhood quick-mart. Actually it was just a little wooden shed that faced the sidewalk. It was like a hot-dog stand you might see at a carnival, only more primitive. Anyway, they sold my brand of cigarettes and Coca Cola in small bottles. The cola was warm, however, and I, being a spoiled Americano, had to suffer this inconvenience.

.

But the cigarettes? No! They were NOT tolerable!

.

Even though they had my brand, they were specially made differently for Guatemalans. They were like puffing on a pencil! “NO TASTE!”

.

Coca Cola ad – ca. 1943 – Wikipedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Photos of Marlboro logo and Coke glass – Wikipedia – public domain.

.

.

.

.

.

“TEN DOLLARS FOR A CARTON OF CIGARETTES!?! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING!?!”…

.

So it wasn’t too long till I asked Becky if there might be somewhere we could get American cigarettes. So we took buses into the city. And this trip for cigarettes turned into a great sight-seeing tour through Guatemala City.

.

We came to the city center, and found an import-shop in the nicer section of the metro area. They had my brand! “Far out!” So I went to pay for a carton. But I couldn’t believe what they wanted for a carton of Marlboro’s. “Ten dollars?!” I said. “What a rip-off!”  This was about two or three times what I paid for a carton of Marlboro’s back in the U.S. (remember, this was 1980). But I knew I was stuck.

.

So I reluctantly paid the ten dollars for each carton. (I won’t let this little story end without telling you about my bout with Emphysema. Emphysema is appropriately nick-named the “Living Hell”. This was how God finally cured me of smoking.)

.

Photo of Guatemala City post office – courtesy wikipedia – public domain.

Street fair wikipedia & Elvind share-alike license.

.

.

.

.

.

“TO BE OR NOT TO BE (ADOLPH)?”

.

“THAT IS THE QUESTION!”

.

We managed to rent or borrow a little car, a little old “Hillman” station-wagon (a station-wagon was the old-school forerunner of the SUV). And so began a tour through Guatemala City. We went to a giant street-market. We went to restaurants. We bought tostadas from street-vendors. This all would’ve been great, except for the spirit’s insinuations regarding my “past life” as Adolph. Or not Adolph. The spirit would constantly taunt me. Sometimes he would present me with evidence that would lead to the conclusion that I was Jesus in a former life.

.

I remember going to a restaurant one evening (while under a heavy barrage of devilish taunts, assaults and condemnations), where a marimba ensemble was playing in this rather overdone, flower-laden but dark establishment. The whole scenario began to take on a really devilish aura to it! And the very adept marimba player began sounding really evil, playing satanic music like something skeletons might like to dance to! You know, kind-of like the theme music-intro to Alfred Hitchcock’s old TV show, if you’re old enough to remember that.

.

As I recall, that entire dinner experience seemed as if I was in the pit of Hell!

.

At other times he would present evidence that suggested that I was indeed Adolph. “Yes Adol…I’m mean, Chuck, you were born in 1950, Just a few years after Adolph died. Did you ever think that maybe God is bringing you back to pay for the 3 million Jews that you killed. If you were Adolph Hitler. But I’m not saying you were. I’m just supposin’.” So you can just imagine how these kinds of ominous and foreboding taunts made miserable, what should have been a wonderful vacation! This kept up pretty much day and night! Life was Hell on Earth! Literally! It was like finding out that you had a terminal illness, and only had a few weeks to live!

.

“…and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name.” Revelation 14:11

.

As this above verse reveals, “no rest, day nor night” was the fate which I was now suffering!

.

Sometimes however, the spirit would show his sense of humor. Really funny stuff! But these were greatly outnumbered by the constant barrage of attacks he was making concerning my being Adolph Hitler in my last life. “Now suppose, just suppose what kind of  punishment which you, or should I rather say, Adolph would deserve, for those 3 million Jews you/he killed. I suppose, Chuck, that God would have to bring you back three million times only to suffer three million horrible deaths. Just like Adolph made three million Jews to suffer.” With every new charge the spirit made, I sank lower and deeper into despair.

.

Hitler-car – wikipedia – public domain

Adolph Hitler – Wikimedia – Public Domain

.

.

.

.

.

THE SIGHT-SEEING TOUR OF ANTIGUA…

.

Becky had an itinerary worked out for me to see her country.

.

We drove to a town called Antigua one day. It was an old town, the original capital of Guatemala.

.

Antiqua!

.

A town rich with history!

.

A city of quaint beauty!

.

A place of historic intrigue!

.

A town that might sprain the trigger-happy finger of any photo-snapping tourista!

.

And we were gonna see it close up!

.

But little did I know that the only thing that was gonna get “sprained” on this little excursion was MY POOR LITTLE BRAIN!

.

Antigua guatemala_- 2009 – by chensiyuan for wikipedia – share-alike license. Click here for link.

Antigua, Guatemala – by Pedro Szekely from USA for Wikipedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

.

.

.

.

.

C.I.A. SERENADE FOR MANUEL…

.

OR…

.

“HEY, WHY DON’T YA PLAY, ANOTHER SOMEBODY DONE SOMEBODY WRONG SONG?”

(line from the 1975 B.J. Thomas song of the same name)

.

Do you remember that famous South American drug-lord…Manuel Noriega? Remember how, like the CIA had him trapped in some strong-hold? And in order to get him to surrender, they began playing loud and blaring non-stop heavy-metal, or perhaps some other kind of music as well? And eventually he did surrender.

.

He probably couldn’t take hearing any more of that Heavy-Metal “music”!

.

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

Photo of Manuel Noreiga – Wikipedia – Public domain.

.

.

.

.

.

“EVERYBODY’S TALKIN’ AT ME…ONLY THE ECHOES OF MY MIND”…

(line from the 1968, Nillson song, “Everybody’s Talkin'”)

.

Well, I soon found out that the spirit had a similar little serenade planned for me! This was truly an unforgettable day! The entire day, the spirit (or spirits?) were making all sorts of noises in my head. It sounded like bombs exploding, screams, sirens, bells, whistles, chipmunks singing in 3-part harmony, etc…! You name it! I heard it!

.

This went on for the entire tour through Antigua. All the while, Becky led me to various sightseeing destinations there in Antigua.  We went to an ancient church that was some sort of museum. It maybe even had a dead person, a cardinal or someone like a cardinal. He was enclosed in glass. Embalmed I think! Why, I know not?

.

Anyway, it was impossible for me to enjoy this tour. My head had become a veritable “torture chamber”! The spirit(s) could quickly drive any person to suicide with these torturous plague of noises, especially if the person didn’t know the source of such noises!

.

But I knew.

.

And yet, when we returned home that evening, the sounds went away. And I’ve never had that phenomenon occur since, to this day. Thank God!

.

Other phenomena? Oh yeah! Just not that particular one!

.

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

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

.

.

.

.

.

YOU CAN KEEP THE CHANGE…

.

As a matter of fact, there were constant torments and spirit-induced phenomena which I went through during this month-long “vacation”. I’m just relating the more memorable and dramatic ones.

.

Anyway, one such phenomenon occurred in the form of the spirit having me perform deeds of “faith”. For example, at a very crowded neighborhood restaurant/bar (somewhat similar to this photo), when I paid for something that cost a few dollars, I gave a cashier a $20.00 bill and the $18.00 or so as a tip. Believe me, the Devil made me do it! (maybe $60.00-$80.00 in today’s money, and probably $200.00 in Guatemalan value back then!). Of course, the cashier remained completely straight-faced, as if she didn’t know how much I was giving her!

.

Las Puertas, Flores Guatemala – Wikimedia – Creative Commons license

.

.

.

.

.

MORE TORMENT…

.

The spirit presented me with more logic that I was Hitler (in my last life). For instance, one of his big arguments in favor of the “Hitler theory” was that I was being brought to the last place that Hitler lived before he died: Guatemala (I know the prevailing rumor was that he actually hid out in Argentina). But who was I to argue? This was a spirit talking to me, maybe God himself! Regardless, the intelligence of this spirit-being far surpassed that of any human. “Oh Chuck, doesn’t it make sense that Hitler escaped here after the war. And doesn’t it make sense to bring you back to this place, in order to pick up where you left off?”

.

All his arguments seemed flawless. He not only talked to me, but also put thoughts into my mind. So he seemed to have control of both the front and rear doors of my mind (as they say in the computer world). How could I resist the logic and power of this vastly superior being!

.

Adolph Hitler – Wikimedia – Public Domain

.

.

.

.

.

”OUR EX-SEVEN”…

.

The spirit was constantly taunting me about my sports car. “Ya know ‘Chuckie-me-#%$&’y!, your RX-7 could mean that you’ve just plain run outa luck!  The number “seven”  being the symbol of luck. Maybe that’s just your ex-number. Maybe your new number is “two”. You know, like…snake-eyes.”

.

I never really played the game, “craps”. But I knew that snake-eyes (two) meant, “you lose!” So I got his point really well about my Rx-7. But what about the “LTD” at the end of my license plate? “Yes, yes, Chuckie-ex-lucky, that’s right. It says “LTD”. And that means ”limited”. Maybe that’s because this Judgment Day is just “limited” to you. Think about it. You, Adolph Hitler (maybe). You being the worst human to ever live. You killed three million Jews!  Think about it! Three million Jews! But maybe you’re not Adolph. I’m just sayin’.” It’s really hard to describe the horror that the spirit was putting me through. If you, the reader, have ever experienced a time of complete hopelessness and death, then maybe you can kind-of understand.

.

Photo of RX7 courtesy Click here for link.

Snake eyes wiki…pub. dom.

.

.

.

.

.

LAKE ATITLAN…

.

Not every day was filled with torment. There were some days, which I call my “Jesus Days”. This was when the spirit was telling me that, “No I was not Adolph Hitler in a former life. But I was Jesus in a former life.”

.

Sounds crazy? Yes indeedy! But this was not at all the torment of my own making. NO, NO!! I was merely enduring the torment which was being dished out to me… by these unseen spirits!

.

But as I said, there were some days which were tolerable. There was one day in particular, which was one of my best days there in Guatemala. 

.

With rented car we drove over really bumpy, sometimes dirt roads to Lake Atitlan. Hemingway, (somebody told me), once called this lake, “perhaps the most beautiful lake in the world”. I think the key word here is, “perhaps”. And maybe it was the most beautiful lake back in his day. But I would like to have invited Hemingway to some Oregon’s mountain lakes.

.

Anyway, we drove into a Mayan Indian village (similar to this photo). The town was very primitive, with little home-made brick huts. There were a few conventional buildings, such as a tavern and store.

.

Becky and I found a lady making tapestry in front of her little hut. Becky worked out a deal with her on a number of tapestries to give to friends and relatives. The Guatemalan Indians have their own special pattern. It’s easy to spot a Guatemalan tapestry as this photo shows.

.

Volcanoes at Lake Atitlan – wikimedia – share-alike license

guatemalan weaving – wikimedia commons

.

.

.

.

.

MESSIAH MOMENT…

.

This happened to be one of the days in which the spirit was presenting “Jesus” logic to me. “Oh Chuck, why would I give you all those nice songs if you were Hitler?”

.

Since this was a good day I decided to get my guitar out and sing some of those nice songs which he gave me, to the locals. Becky, at the same time had bought a beautiful hand-made tier. And as soon as I started singing and playing, a large crowd of people collected. I’m not sure if it was more for Becky that they collected, or for me. And with her vivacious personality, they probably were more attracted to her (as this old photo shows).

.

Becky had purchased a “tier”, and the large crowd was intent on watching the lady help Becky put it on. It kinda felt like we were famous, the way they crowded around us. I sure wish I could’ve stuffed this really great and appreciative audience with me in that Army duffel-bag, to every gig I performed at, back here in the States.

.

.

.

.

.

“I KNOW YA ARE, BUT WHAT AM I!?!”…

.

Just one more little incident of interest.

.

You see, while playing before this happy crowd, I happened to notice a young American lady maybe in khaki shirt and shorts and braided hair, and possibly a red bandanna, walking by about 30 yards away. As she passed by she gave me a big scowl, as if to say “You ugly American”. It kinda took the edge off the moment for me. But I just kept playing and singing. And hey!… I’ve dealt with crowds of hecklers at gigs back home! I just kept right on singin’!

.

As we drove our little rented 1960′s “Hillman” away from this quaint village, we waived goodbye to our “fans”, and in a moment, this experience became just a little vibrating blur in our rear-view mirror.

.

And oh yes, I might add that the spirit was very well-behaved on this great day as well!

.

Makes ya wonder, “What’s he got cookin?”.

.

“Chuck Roast”, no doubt! “Yeah, and burnt to a crisp!”

.

.

Photo of lake Atitlan courtesy wikipedia & Emilio Piovasan. To link, click here.

.

.

.

.

.

.

To go to the next chapter just click here:

.

Ch. 22 “Fantasy Island”…  

.

Fantasy Island always made people better by the end of the show. This Fantasy Island was no exception!

.

Click on image credit links below each photo, for licensing names/details/tags/etc.. Most images cropped/reduced in size

.

.

.

Have you ever wondered why one nation rises to power…while another crumbles?

.

Why does a great kingdom fall, just like a castle made of sand down by the seashore?

.

Perhaps this chapter will be of interest.

.

“At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.” Jeremiah 18:7, 8

.

.

Anyway, let’s get back to the story…

.

Sand castle at Cannon Beach Oregon. Cropped image – Wikipedia share-alike license. Click here for link to Photographer’s web page.

.

.

.

.

.

CHAPTER 23…

.

“ON A TRAIN BOUND FOR NO-WHERE”…

(Lyric from the 1978 Kenny Rogers song, “The Gambler”)

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

We were dropped off at the train depot in Guatemala City. We found a place on this very old train. The seats were just wooden benches, and most of the windows were broken out! But primitive as it was, this little locomotive was filled with passengers! Excitement filled the morning air! People were chattering! Chickens were clucking! And the spirit still talking at me…NON-STOP!!!

.

Each person going to his or her own special destination. And we were no exception! And Becky, being a very gifted conversationalist, no doubt had already found someone to chat with and to laugh with, along the way.

.

We were just about to embark on a trip to the Eastern Guatemalan Coast. Our big destination was Tikal, to see the Mayan temple ruins. The ancient temples! The jungles! The tropics! Mystery and exotic intrigue!

.

And fortunately, this train-ride happened to be one of my “Jesus days”. And the spirit didn’t let up! He didn’t get tired!

.

But on this particular day, his rhetoric was all about me…being Jesus in a former life!

.

Yeah, this spirit was all about talk, talk, talk! He just didn’t let up with all his talking! I was exhausted, to say the least! But thankfully, he wasn’t condemning me for being Hitler at the moment! And so this was definitely a step up from that! I mean a HUGE step up!! I mean…I’ll take being Jesus in a former life, rather than Hitler, AAANY ol’ day of the week, thank you!!! 

.

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

 Guatemalan train station by Nils Oberg share-alike license.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“GOOD MORNING GUATEMALA…HOW ARE YA?”…

(Wordplay on the 1972 Arlo Guthrie great train eulogy, “City of New Orleans”)

.

This old relic of a train began to roll down the rickety tracks, taking us to an otherwise wonderful and colorful adventure within that tiny but beautiful little country… Belize (I say, “otherwise wonderful and colorful adventure”, because this excursion would also be part of my “Vacation From Hell”).

.

.

.

.

.

.

A BUMPY RIDE

.

Before long, this bumpy train-ride became very uncomfortable. Wooden benches for seats, after all! But we stopped at various times, and I was no doubt glad to get off the train for a few minutes of relief!

.

At one lingering stop, I remember that Becky befriended a little boy, who followed us everywhere on that 30-minute stop.

.

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

Photo of Guatemalan train courtesy Wikipedia. click for link to photographer – Nils Öberg.

.

.

.

.

.

PRIMITIVE, PRIMITIVE, PRIMITIVE!!!

.

But we were soon back on the train, and the big steel wheels were rolling once again, down those rickety old tracks, chugging steadily closer to our final destination. 

.

But as morning turned into afternoon, the passengers began to thin out. We looked at all the scenery. I was kind-of disappointed that there weren’t more trees in Guatemala, at least in the parts that I saw. Oh yeah, there were lots of fields! But I had Guatemala figured for jungle-like terrain. Guess I was wrong!

.

There were big grass huts in some of the fields. I was a little surprised at how primitive some of these country-folk were. 

.

As I looked out the train window, my eyes “bugged-out” as I saw one peasant lady outside of her grass hut, just standing there, with not one stitch of clothing, looking at us rolling by! As I said, these country folk were very primitive (This photo I got from the Internet shows a grass hut which was similar to what I remember seeing along the way).  

.

similar-type hut (not guatemala) – wikimedia-commons – share-alike-license

.

.

.

.

.

“WE WERE BOTH TOO TIRED TO SLEEP”…

(Lyric from the 1978 Kenny Rogers song, “The Gambler”)

.

As the day wore on, the passenger cars became desolate. It was kind-of eerie, being pretty-much the only souls on this antique train, except for perhaps a few others. Yeah, most all the passengers had already gotten off at their appointed destinations. But we still had a long way to go, till we reached our final destination. 

.

At some point it started raining. And not just your average rain! This was an incredible torrential down-pour! It was like someone upstairs decided to dump a giant bucket of water down onto the earth!

.

And just now, as I’m writing this, an old childhood memory is flashing back in my mind: Yeah, I can still recall asking my beloved Grandpa Frank, one day as we both walked along (probably after one of those proverbial Willamette Valley, Salem Oregon rainstorms), “Grandpa, does God pour out a bucket of water when He wants it to rain?” Well, all I remember is, he gave me some nonsense about “atmospheric conditions” or something! But still, that answer didn’t convince my little 4 year-old mind! No, I confidently held fast to my “God’s rain-bucket theory”!

.

But that was years ago! And right at the moment, I’d have to say, this Guatemalan rainstorm we were now riding through, quite possibly made those rainstorms back home in Salem, merely seem like a bad drizzle! And this wouldn’t have been much of a problem for Becky and me, except that most of the windows were broken out on this little old relic of a train, as already stated! So we were forced to search the cars for a seat with windows. But since mostly all the passengers had already gotten off the train, we pretty much had our choice of where to sit!

.

By now it was dark. Can’t remember if the train had stopped, but it probably did, to let off the last few remaining passengers (or, at least I thought it let off the last passengers!) But somehow, we made it to another train-car. And we found a dry seat. And though there was no way to escape from those hard wooden seats, we were just happy that we had found a DRY wooden seat!

.

But even though we solved the water-through-the-windows problem, a new dilemma now arose! 

.

A dilemma in the form of a mystery!

.

This is because, when we did finally find a seat with windows in-tact, we immediately glanced up to notice this big dark silhouette looming about four or five seats in back of us. Other than this dark lone figure, there was probably not another living soul on the train (not counting the Engineers of course!)

.

Hard Rain – wikimedia – public domain

.

.

.

.

.

“I MET UP WITH A GAMBLER”…

(Lyric from the 1978 Kenny Rogers hit song, “The Gambler”)

.

Okay, okay, so this was no gambler (like the above title suggests). Actually, he looked like a man who didn’t like to take chances. From his appearance, he looked like a guy who made sure the job got done, whatever that job happened to be!  And even though the dim lights inside this train-car were possibly kind-of flickering, as I vaguely recall, I glanced back to get a more detailed perspective of this foreboding-looking “mystery man”.

.

His out-of-place apparel appeared like he was an American. He had on a dark business suit and an overcoat. He was wearing a Dick Tracy style hat. He just sat there, kind-of intently looking down. Very morose! I thought to myself, “This guy has to be CIA or Mafia! One or the other!” He somewhat resembled Luca Brazzi (remember that “hit-man” in “The Godfather”). Definitely the destroyer-type! A real Apollyon! A formidable Abaddon!

.

Becky and I were both nervous with this mystery man in back of us.

.

.

.

.

.

BECKY GOES RIGHT TO WORK TO GET INFORMATION!

.

After a while Becky said, “I’m going to talk with him”. So she went back there and sat down in the seat just in front of him, as I recall.

.

As I said, Becky was a gifted conversationalist. But I couldn’t hear what she said. I suppose the rain was making such a loud sound on the roof above us, that it would have been impossible for me to hear (not to mention, the sounds of the steel wheels rolling down and stressing against those rickety old tracks below).

.

When she returned, I whispered, “What did he say?”

.

But to my disappointment, when she came back she didn’t have much to say about her conversation with this stranger. She probably did most of the talking.

.

Nevertheless, this mystery-man was most likely on a mission! That seemed for sure! I didn’t need anyone to tell me that! And it didn’t look good for somebody! But just who was that “someone” gonna be? That was, “the $64.00 question!” (as my old high school math teacher, Mr. Finneran (who btw, didn’t like me too much), always used to say!)

.

.

.

.

.

“SOMEWHERE IN THE DARKNESS”…

(Lyric from the 1978 Kenny Rogers mega-hit song, “The Gambler”)

.

Eventually we arrived at the end of the line, which was the eastern seacoast of Belize. It was about 10 pm or so. About 14 hours of travel. Hooray!!! No more wooden benches!!! 

.

The rain had finally stopped.

.

And as we got off the train (my entire body, no doubt, still vibrating from those hard wooden seats), I immediately noticed that this part of town was dark and completely deserted.

.

Well, maybe it was completely deserted. Hopefully so!

.

From all appearances, we were probably in an old industrial section of town. Or maybe the docks and fish canneries, by the ocean.

.

Yeah, it was the fish canneries, no doubt! 

.

We walked through the dark, wet, empty streets. And beside us, the only sounds were probably the echoing of our shoes, as we nervously (and hurriedly) made our way through this (hopefully) desolate area, on the other side of town.

.

And all the while, I probably listened intently, so as to make sure there weren’t an extra pair of shoes echoing!

.

But fortunately, the long row of tall buildings probably amplified every little sound. Thus, I would have immediately known, had there been somebody following us!

.

But maybe still, a cold chill ran through my already-adrenaline-laced veins! On such occasions, it always did! And I’ve been beaten up in similar surroundings. And robbed as well!

.

And really, what are ya gonna do, even if there were an extra pair of shoes echoing? Do you look back? Ya really can’t run! You’d feel stupid doing that! And ya just can’t hide! That would look even stupider! And so we simply…kept…walking. Quickly, quickly!! (maybe occasionally glancing behind us, like this above drawing attempts to portray.)

.

ABOVE DRAWING: Chuck and Becky hurry through the dark streets, Chuck glancing behind them.

.

.

.

.

.

“SOMEWHERE IN THE DARKNESS, I MET UP WITH A…A PIZZA PARLOR!?!”

(Wordplay on the lyric from the 1978 Kenny Rogers song, “The Gambler”)

.

We finally found a room. Fantastic!

.

The night-clerk told Becky about a nearby restaurant.

.

Shortly we found it; a large pizza parlor, miraculously still open!

.

First of all, I was astonished that there was an Italian restaurant here, much less being open at this late hour in an seemingly deserted section of that town! So we were happy about that! The old building which currently housed this large Italian restaurant had big rooms and tall ceilings and totally void of patrons; and there were only several employees, at this late hour.

.

.

.

.

.

“I MET UP WITH A GAMBLER”…AGAIN!!!

(Lyric from the 1978 Kenny Rogers song, “The Gambler”)

.

But as we entered, we were somewhat shocked at what we saw inside! Yeah, over in the corner, sitting at a table, was the Destroyer (the CIA/Mafia man)! Alone, still looking down, this time at his table, as if he were waiting for his next contact, to give him his final instructions!

.

Now Becky could liven up any room, and I’m sure she did…to a certain extent in this mostly empty restaurant, talking to the one or two employees still working.

.

But still, “The Destroyer” just sat there, off in the distance…still looking down. The shadows in the far corner of this restaurant possibly providing him with an extra cloak of darkness. Even the light above some persons seems to emanate only Darkness. Either he was trying to find something or someone….or trying to not be found! But if he was trying not to be found, he probably wouldn’t look so CIA-ish! The business suit and hat made him stand out like a pit-bull at a poodle-picnic! So logic would insist that he must be trying to find something…or someone!

.

.

.

.

.

“THE GAMBLER HE BROKE EVEN”…

(Lyric from the 1978 Kenny Rogers song, “The Gambler”)

.

Well, happily, we never spoke to, nor saw that mystery man again.

.

But that’s not quite the end of the story. Yeah, as that wonderful old radio story-teller always used to say, “Now, for the rest of the story!”

.

You see, one day, some time later, upon mentioning that incident, Becky informed me that she had heard “There was a murder in that sea-town…at that very same time!”

.

Okay, so I guess my gut instincts were right about that guy! Sometimes you can tell about someone by just looking him in his eye!

.

.

.

.

.

AN INCIDENT LONG AGO: “DOS MUY MALO HOMBRES!”…

.

And speaking of getting the “heebie-jeebies” about someone, I recall one time, a few years earlier, at our all-you-can-eat-buffet, when two guys walked in. I could tell that they were from out-of-town. But the moment they walked in, they just stood in the hallway, glaring at my N.C.R. cash register like it was a New York Steak!! Medium Rare!! I knew that these two cool customers wanted to cash-in on my cash register, real bad! But since I was standing there like a Rooster, guarding the hen-house…well… they probably just figured they’d have to fight me for it, and gave up on that idea! So nothing happened that day!

.

But those two bad hombres had hungry eyes! And not merely for the buffet!

.

Yeah, sometimes ya just get the chills…when ya realize that a man’s got murder in his eye!

.

And this guy was no exception! This Destroyer was sent. He was following orders… orders from the Boss! His orders were to get the job done and apparently he did get it done! I guess this Apollyon has been getting the job done for a long, long time!

.

So now that his job was finished in this town, where would this hit-man go to next? To the next job, no doubt! This Abaddon would find the next person… or group of persons who weren’t holding up their end of the bargain…with the Commander!

.

NCR cash register – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

The Destroyer on a “Train Bound For Nowhere”

.

.

.

.

.

.

“The lion is come up from his thicket,

and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way;

he is gone forth from his place

to make thy land desolate;

and thy cities shall be laid waste,

without an inhabitant.”

Jeremaih 4:7 

.

.

.

.

.

.

To go to next chapter, just click here…

.

Chapter 24: “The Lost Isle of Thunderbolts”

.

Chuck turns into a “Right-Turn” extremist, and also, buys the world’s costliest gum! 

.

Click on image credit links below each photo, for licensing names/details/tags/etc.. Most images cropped/reduced in size

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

As told in the previous chapter, Becky and I boarded a little “choo-choo train”, taking us from the hustle-bustle of Guatemala City to the east coast, and onward to the tiny, but beautiful tropical country of Belize.

.

Our ultimate destination was Tikal and the incredible temples of the ancient and mysterious Mayan civilization.

.

But as the title of this and the previous chapter reveal, we were actually riding on “A Train Bound For Nowhere”…

.

Photo of Guatemalan train courtesy Wikipedia. click for link to photographer – Nils Öberg.

.

.

.

.

.

“THUNDER AND LIGHTNING…OH YEAH!”

(“Thunder and Lightning” is a 1972 Chi Coltrane song)

.

But little did I know, that this, my “bound for nowhere” experience would be preceded by a strong warning from Heaven!

.

A warning to not wander away from home!

.

An ominous threat in the form of, “Thunder and Lightning…Oh Yeah!”

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

CHAPTER 24

.

“ON A TRAIN BOUND FOR NOWHERE”,

.

CONTINUED:

.

“THE LOST ISLE OF HOT THUNDERBOLTS!”

.

.

.

.

.

Lightning FL courtesy Craig O’neal for wikipedia creative commons license 2.0

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“They kept not the covenant of God,

and refused to walk in His law;

And forgat His works…

Therefore… their days did He consume in vanity,

and their years in trouble…

and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

He cast upon them the fierceness of His anger,

wrath, and indignation, and trouble,

by sending evil angels among them.”

Psalm 78:10, 11, 33, 48, 49 

.

.

.

.

.

“MERCY? SORRY, I’M FRESH OUT!”

.

The next day, after that dark and mysterious night, and running into that darker and even more mysterious stranger, Becky bought two tickets for a commuter boat.

.

I had absolutely no idea where we were going. I was kind-of “in my own little world”. I was preoccupied with the spirit and his incessant talking.

.

The boat was filled with passengers. Maybe 30 people! Maybe 50! (It looked similar to this Wikimedia photo, but possibly about twice the size, or more, with a walking-isle down the middle, with seats on either side of the middle-isle, as I recall).

.

Now, the spirit was really coming down on me hard, at this moment! I distinctly remember that this was definitely a Hitler Day! And as I said, I was in my own little world. This was because, on this particular day, the spirit condemned me really heavily that, “You just might have been Hitler in your last life”. The spirit was probably coming on stronger than on any previous day, except maybe for that day back in Antigua, when I was bombarded with noises all day. But once again, he was literally crushing me under the weight of his accusations and con-damnation!

.

Photo of  Belize commuter-boat courtesy wikipedia & Mrcveliz  share-alike license. Click here for link.

.

.

.

.

.

“MERCY’S JUST A LADY WHO LIVES DOWN THE STREET!”

.

As the boat cruised across the water, I just couldn’t take his threats and condemnation any longer! It became way too much! Finally, out of sheer desperation, I pleaded for mercy… “God please have mercy!!”, I silently cried out!

.

“Oh you want mercy, do you?” said the spirit, pointing me to a rather large Belizean lady passenger, squeezed into this crowded boat, “Well that’s Mercy sitting over there! You see, Chuck, Mercy’s just a lady who lives down the street!”

.

But I still kept pleading for mercy (silently of course…in my thoughts). But each time I did, the spirit kept repeatedly pointing me to that same heavy-set middle-aged lady, saying, “Mercy’s just a lady that lives down the street!” Well at the time, I took this to mean that God had no mercy left for the likes of me! You know, just like saying, “Mercy? Sorry, I’m fresh out!” 

.

But it wouldn’t be till much later, that I would find out what that was all about. I was to eventually meet the real Mercy! And lo and behold…she actually did live just down the street! But I’ll have to tell that story much later.

.

Lightning FL courtesy Craig O’neal for wikipedia creative commons license 2.0

.

.

.

.

.

”I SEE EARTHQUAKES & LIGHTNING…

.

I HEAR THE VOICE OF RAGE & RUIN!”

(Lyrics from the 1969, Creedence Clearwater Revival incredible mega-hit song, “Bad Moon Arising'”)

.

After some time, the boat lands on an island. I guess they call them “cays” here in Belize. Anyway, about a dozen skinny little jet-black, bare-foot boys, only wearing shorts, come running up to the boat and are all fighting to take our luggage. I look at all the very big wide eyes, staring at us…obviously working for tips! But there are no smiles. They’re all business! Vying for our luggage! A bunch of little right-wing capitalists, no doubt!

.

Anyway, we give the two or three of the “winners” our luggage, and they lead us to a motel on this island. It actually is a pretty nice two-story motel in an otherwise primitive looking…uh…jungle island-village, I guess you might call it.

.

Our motel room is very well-kept, complete with a great balcony overlooking the beautiful ocean! Actually, nicer than most modest-priced motels back in the States! 

.

To tell you the truth, under different circumstances, this could be a dream place to hole-up in, for a while!

.

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

Dinosaur lightning – Wikipedia – Photo by Hallie Larsen, National Park Service – Public Domain

.

.

.

.

.

“HOT THUNDERBOLTS”

.

But before long it grew dark. And the rain began to fall again.

.

But this time it wasn’t just rain, like on the previous night’s train-ride!

.

No, this time, the rain was accompanied by thunder and lightning. And not just yer run-of-the-mill flash of lightning, followed by a delayed peal of thunder! No no NOOO! This thunderous lightning-flash was super bad! And super loud!

.

”KARRACK!!!” “KABOOM!!!”…

.

It sounded directly over our heads! I can’t think back of ever hearing thunder as loud as it thundered that night! Perhaps it was amplified by the sea which surrounded this little cay.

.

This went on for much of the evening as I recall. It was so loud, we had to cover our ears! And even the walls shook, as I recall! And because of the intensity of this lightning and thunder, it really seemed like God was angry with me!

.

”KARRACK!!! “KABOOM!!!”

.

Okay, okay, I can just hear you (the Reader), thinking to yourself, “This guy is bending everything against himself…now even the thunder and lightning!”

.

Alright, alright! I get it! I get it! But let me just say this: if you ever go through such an intense lightning storm, while at the same time, an unseen spirit entity is accusing and condemning you…then you’ll probably understand why I felt the way I did! 

.

And even listen to Scripture…“Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out Thine arrows, and destroy them…The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of Heaven shall He thunder…” Psalm 144:6 & 1st Samuel 2:10.

.

So, see!? I’m not so crazy, after all! As these above verses reveal, thunder and lightning are used in the Bible as pictures of God’s wrath upon His enemies! (I’m sure glad I didn’t know about these two verses back there in that motel room!) 

.

Lightning FL courtesy Craig O’neal for wikipedia creative commons license 2.0

Lightning 1882 – Wikimedia – US public domain commons

Chariot of Orion – copyright of www.signsofheaven.org

.

.

.

.

.

“FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD”…

.

In the morning, the forgiving sun came out once again, as if the previous night’s storm had never even happened!

.

I guess the tropics can be very like that! Because now the ocean was a peaceful and beautiful turquoise blue. The sand was white. The breeze was soft. The air warm. It was as if that previous night’s storm was just a bad dream!

.

And this tropical place, or island, or whatever… could’ve been used on a “Gilligan’s Island” episode. (Pretty much like this Wikipedia photo!)

.

Island photo courtesy wikipedia. click for link.

.

.

.

.

.

“As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place”

Proverbs 27:8

.

And so I decided to go for a walk, to get the lay of the land…to survey the world. The beautiful sunny new morning made me forget the severe warnings which I got from the previous night’s thunder and lightning. And on this very pleasantly warm and seemingly friendly day, it was very easy to simply wander away from home-base…

.

But that was my first mistake!

.

I should never have wandered off by myself!

.

Not knowing where I was going, I found a path, not too far from the light blue sea. And so I began to follow that path. It led into a thick jungle. But where it would take me, I just didn’t know!

.

Maybe some adventure!

.

Who knows, maybe I’d run into Ginger or Mary Ann (of Gilligan’s Island fame)!

.

Yeah…who knows?

.

Dawn (Mary Ann) Wells Gilligan’s Island 1964 – Wikipedia – Public Domain

.

.

.

.

.

“DEFINITELY A RIGHT-TURN EXTREMIST !”

.

But no sooner than I set foot on my new journey, the spirit began a really odd phenomenon with me!

.

At this moment, the spirit began leading me to believe that this little excursion was some kind of quest to find something valuable. A kind of mystery hunt for hidden treasure or something. And for some reason, he made it impossible for me to turn to the left. I simply could not turn left. I could only turn right. As I walked through this very primitive little jungle village (much like this photo), I had to turn right. If I wanted to make a left turn, I soon realized I could only do so by turning right for a three-quarters turn. The problem was, I had to do it inconspicuously, so no one else would notice! Because, there were other people, local villagers, also walking along this pathway!

.

Now if I wanted to turn right, this was no problem. But to turn left—that was a different story! So I would kind-of hesitate, as if I was just examining something off in the distance. You know, like a tourist might do. Then I’d turn right a little more. And then a little more. Still pretending to be examining. And finally I would make that three-quarter turn necessary to go left. Ah-ha! I did it! Nobody thought me strange! LOL!

.

This jungle was very beautiful, and very overgrown! With just a beaten path to walk along. The residents of this island were walking back and forth, going about their daily business, no doubt. Some more capitalist-right-wingers, I suppose!

.

similar-type-jungle-wikimedia-public-domain1.jpg

.

.

.

.

.

“YOU CAN KEEP THE CHANGE!”

.

Anyway, the various little huts were interspersed within the thick jungle. I finally found a “Seven/Eleven” quick-Mart. Well not exactly a “Seven/Eleven”. Okay, so it was just a grass hut with one side open with a little counter. But I couldn’t be choosy at this moment! IT WAS THE ONLY STORE IN TOWN!! So I bought what ever it was I bought. Actually just a pack of gum. Why gum? I just wanted to buy something! And after making a rather quick inspection of her inventory, I opted for the gum! 5 or 10 cent gum! 

.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This “7-ONCE” drawing to the right does not depict nearly as much foliage as the actual island had. The artist (me) was just too lazy to draw in all the extra trees and bushes!)

.

.

.

.

.

.

WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE GUM!

.

Okay, so 5 or 10 cents for gum! Not a problem, right? Well, there was a problem! You see, this otherwise simple transaction became complicated, when the spirit overwhelmed my mind, insisting that I “show my faith”, by not getting my change! A five dollar bill (about $15.00 or $20.00 in 2020 money, and maybe as much as $50.00 or more in theirs!) For 10 cent gum! With a straight face, the lady accepted the rather large tip.

.

But I suppose I was purchasing goodwill from these quaint folk. Probably not! They, no doubt, decided they were dealing with just another idiot or something! Imagine that!!

.

But whatever this lady thought of me, one thing was for sure! The gum that I bought from her was the most expensive gum I would ever buy! And she unflinchingly took my money as if she were taking my soul!

.  
 “Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house. But whoso commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding: he that does it destroys his own soul.” Proverbs 6:30, 31

(This verse seems irrelevant and will not make sense until You read “Part 2” of this e-book, should the Lord graciously permit me to write it)

.

But then having bought that gum, I proceeded forward on this treasure hunt, or whatever in the world it was! By now I knew better than to trust this unseen being! He was just too changeable to put any confidence in!

.

Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit – Wikipedia – share-alike license

.

.

.

.

.

“YELLOW BRICK ROAD IN REVERSE!”…

.

And so, after this 2-minute pause, I resumed my quest to find whatever it was I was searching for. Still only making right turns. It kind-of started feeling like I was in that old movie, “The Wizard of Oz” walking along that infamous “Yellow Brick Road”.

.

But unlike that brainless Scare-Crow in that old movie classic, I was going backward…away from OZ! Me more brainless!

.

And instead of the road getting larger, the road only got narrower and narrower! Eventually, my right turns became sharper until my path finally came to an abrupt end.

.

This not-so-yellow-brick-road ended and I could go no further!

.

Was there a pot of gold here?

.

Was this the end of my rainbow?

.

Wizard of Oz – wikipedia – US public domain

.

.

.

.

.

“YOU GOTTA KNOW WHEN TO HOLD EM,

.

KNOW WHEN TO FOLD EM”…

(Lyrics from the Kenny Rogers song, “The Gambler”)

.

Well, as I said, I finally came to the end of the path! And was I ever surprised at what I found there! No, there was no OZ! No, there was no Wizard! No, there was no rainbow! And no, there was no pot of gold either!

.

So where was this?

.

What was this?

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

DESOLATION

.

The place I came to, looked like an ancient ruins. It was obvious that some structure had once been here…long ago! But now, only the crumbling foundation-footings remained (somewhat like this photo I found on the net). I sat down on the stone footings, lit a Marlboro, and contemplated what this building might have been at one time. Maybe this was once part of an ancient civilization!

.

But now, only the ruins remained, crumbling by reason of the moist, salt-laden air from the surrounding sea!

.

Well, whatever it once was, one thing was for sure. It was now long gone! Now only this monument of a broken foundation remained as a reminder of its former days of glory! And even that was mostly destroyed! I felt like all this time I spent getting here was a waste of valuable time! And all these right turns! It was a lose-lose situation! What nonsense! The building was long gone! It was too late! A civilization gone…or destroyed! Too late to revive it!

The cards were all laid out on the table as far as this treasure hunt on this unknown Island!

.

As the songster sang, “Ya gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em!”

.

IT LOOKS LIKE THE “DESTROYER” (the mystery man on the train) HAD ALREADY BEEN HERE TOO!

.

I guess this group of people hadn’t been holding up their end of the bargain either!

.

You know…their bargain with “the Commander”!

.

They hadn’t held up their bargain with the Commander!

.

Jungle covered ruin (4374410534) wikimedia share-alike license

.

.

.

.

.

.

“KNOW WHEN TO WALK AWAY,

.

KNOW WHEN TO RUN!”…

(Lyrics from the Kenny Rogers song, “The Gambler”)

.

So after deciding that there was nothing more that I could do here, I knew it was time to walk away, back to home-base. I guess I should never have wandered off, away from home-base! And so I went back to home-base.

.

I could once again turn right or left. Whichever way was more reasonable. That’s the way I once again turned. And hopefully, this strange devil-inspired phenomenon would never ever plague me again!

.

Oh yeah, I lost precious time. And though it all lasted only 20 minutes or more, looking back it seemed like 20 years lost! But I was forever cured of wanting to turn to the right (or even to the left!) The experience taught me a valuable lesson I’ll never forget!

.

And the thing that must be remembered is this: even if I could have only made left turns, instead of right turns, I would no doubt have ended up in this very same place! And though this may have once been a great society, now it was just a No-Wheres-Ville, no matter which way you turn!

.

Truly, truly, our train ride the previous day was only just a “train bound for nowhere”!

.

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

Tourist train at Alto Mire Olga by Nils Oberg – cropped image – wikipedia – share alike license

.

.

.

.

.

.

“But Nothing Can Change The Shape of Things To Come”

(Main lyric from the 1968 song by Max Frost & The Troopers, “Shape of Things To Come”)

.

So yes, truly this Lost Isle of Thunderbolts  experience cured me forever! Yeah, I never ever wanted to turn to the right again! (or even to the left, for that matter!)

.

And truly, this little experience turned out to be, “the shape of things to come!”

.

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

Lightning FL courtesy Craig O’neal for wikipedia creative commons license 2.0

.

.

.

“Keep thy heart with all diligence;

for out of it are the issues of life…

Ponder the path of thy feet,

and let all thy ways be established. 

Turn not to the right hand

nor to the left:

remove thy foot from evil.”

Proverbs 4:23.26, 27

.

.

.

.

.

.

“TIME ENOUGH FOR COUNTING…WHEN THE DEALING’S DONE”

(Lyrics from the Kenny Rogers song, “The Gambler”)

.

.

“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity…

.

One generation passes away, and another generation comes:

.

…and there was no profit under the sun.”

.

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 4 & 2:11

.

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

-Sand castle, Cannon Beach Oregon – Wikipedia – share-alike license. Click here for link.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

To go to next chapter, just click here…

.

Ch. 25  “Return, O Promised One”…

.

The Mayans would’ve been proud! NOT!”

.

Click on credit links below each photo, for licensing names/details/tags/etc.. Most images cropped/reduced in size

.

.

.

.

.

Well, our “train bound for no-where” delivered us to the door-step of the little tropical paradise of Belize. 

.

And up to this point in time, my “Vacation From (In) Hell” was going, so-far, about as enjoyable as perhaps… say… for instance, A SWIM IN THE LAKE OF FIRE!!!

.

…All the various tormenting experiences I suffered through here in Guatemala/Belize:

.

The tour of Antiqua (the insane noises),

.

…or, the “Right-Turn Only” phenomenon. .

.

…or the “Lost Isle of Hot Thunderbolts”.

.

…or the “Fantasy Island” accusation of me murdering Mother Mary!

.

Etc…etc…

.

But why was all this happening?

.

I had absolutely no explanation, except for the constantly changing stories which my unseen spirit “companion” was telling me!

.

Tourist train at Alto Mire Olga by Nils Oberg – cropped image – wikipedia – share alike license

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

.

.

.

.

.

WHY THE CHANGE?

.

And here’s another question:  “Why did the spirit change his explanation of ‘Eternal Torment in Hell’ to ‘Re-Incarnation’?”

.

I was getting assaulted by these spiritual “Fiery Arrows”!

.

And besides being agonizing beyond belief, it was confusing, to say the least! It was like being taken up in a “Whirlwind”… a “Hellish Cyclone”!

.

But it wasn’t a whirlwind or even a cyclone of my own imagination! Oh no! This all became so real, because of the manifestation of these spiritual powers, which were in full control of this cyclonic tempest which I was now caught up in!

.

110413 – NOAA – tornado -National Weather Service/F. Smith – 02 – public domain

.

.

.

.

.

.

CHAPTER 25:

.

“ON A TRAIN BOUND FOR NOWHERE” CONTINUED:

.

TIKAL…

.

”RETURN O PROMISED ONE!” 

.

.

.

.

.

THE ROLLER-COASTER RIDE TO HELL-AND-BACK!

.

We continued on our journey toward the Tikal ruins.

.

But Becky had set up another side-adventure. This little excursion began when we climbed into a long narrow boat.

.

Our guide was taking us to… somewhere.

.

But, instead of enjoying this boat-ride, I was so preoccupied with the spirit, I really didn’t know nor even care where I was going! Either I was Jesus, or I was Hitler. Hitler or Jesus! Jesus or Hitler!

.

These were his on-going assertions and assaults whirling about in my head like a Midwest tornado!

.

And so, as our guide took us up and down the channel of some river, the spirit was taking me up and down on a spiritual roller-coaster ride, to Hell and back!

.

Adolph Hitler – Wikimedia – Public Domain

Jesus over Jerusalem – Enrique Simonet Flevit – 1892 – Wikimedia – Public-Domain

Hide Thyself in thy Chambers – Inspired by Tornado-Over-Kansas by John Curry

.

.

.

.

.

THE IMPENETRABLE FORTRESS

.

But though I was being plagued by the spirit, I was still aware enough to remember riding in this boat (actually a very long and wide motorized canoe) along the banks of a jungle. And I do remember that we came to the ruins of an old fortress which was built at a point of an entrance to the ocean.

.

As I remember, we got out and walked around this fortress. Or maybe we didn’t. But nevertheless, this great stone-and-mortar citadel had probably stood silent for centuries. There was no town nor even any sign of human life anywhere.

.

This strong fortress, no doubt, protected a people from their enemies. Well, it looked like it did, for maybe centuries! But now it stood as silent as the stones it was built with!

.

Yes, these individuals conquered every enemy but one: “Father Time”. Oh yes, Father Time had won the final battle.

.

He always does, you know!

.

Fortress – Belize – Wikipedia

.

.

.

.

.

THE ‘PROMISED ONE’ FINALLY ARRIVES…

.

WHOOPS! JUST A MILLENNIUM TOO LATE! 

.

My memory at this point is a little fuzzy. I’m just going to have to assume that we took a bus toward Tikal. And I recall that Belize was like what I expected Guatemala to be: thick tropical jungle!

.

And so, eventually we finally arrived at Tikal. Again, it was like a jungle. And very beautiful! We rented a sleeping bungalow at the park. It was really nice, with a thatched roof and open-air style, but with bug screens. It was really a very well run park. All the grass and shrubs were nicely trimmed. All the accommodations well-cared-for. 

.

The next morning, after eating a big buffet breakfast with all sorts of fresh fruit and granola and pastries, we went for a tour of the ruins. Not a guided tour: just our own personal walking-tour (I was never the type to want to be in a structured setting).

.

There were beautiful and colorful tropical birds in the trees. There were little monkeys in the trees too.

.

Walking along the big wide pathway, we came upon the ruins. This was definitely a Jesus day. It was not a Hitler day. And the spirit was really laying it on thick...

.

“Oh Chuck, these people built all these temples for you. You were the long-awaited One!”

.

As I walked along, trying to see all these grand structures, the spirit was now in high gear, plaguing me with comments, questions, assertions, and things I couldn’t combat nor resist! He was really talking up a storm on this particular day! But as I said, it was mostly benign conversation at this moment, even though it was driving me crazy.

.

Chuck attempts to reach out to shy monkey at Tikal

.

.

.

.

.

THE MAYAN RUINS

.

These temples had been mostly buried for many centuries, partly by dirt, partly by shrubs and trees, but mostly by that ultimate bury-er, “Father Time”.

.

But somebody finally discovered them in the mid-nineteenth century, and they were uncovered and eventually made into this incredible park in the mid-twentieth century!

.

These Mayan ruins have enough to see that really makes it an awesome sight for any tourist! I only wish I could have seen it under different circumstances!

.

Tikal Plaza And North Acropolis – by Bjorn Christian Torrissen for wikipedia – GNU license

.

.

.

.

.

THE “PROMISED ONE” CLIMBS JAGUAR TEMPLE…

.

In the main plaza, was a courtyard, surrounded with various temples. But the main temple seemed to be the Jaguar Temple, towering above all the rest. I decided to climb the steps of this temple.

.

So I did.

.

As I ascended up these ancient temple steps, the spirit was telling me that these ancient Mayans built this temple, in hopes that, some day, the long-awaited Messiah would come here. And me, being “Jesus”, was the fulfillment of their prophetic hopes (of course, I was obviously late in arriving, by a millennium or so! “Oops! Sorry guys!”)

.

I finally reached the top. I stood there on high, gazing out across this very grand and impressive temple complex, the spirit telling me, no, SCHMOOZING me, perhaps, something like this: “Oh Chuck! Oh Jesus! This is such a long-awaited moment! You…Jesus Christ, have returned! I think I’m gonna cry! I’m getting all choked up! Somebody give me a hankie!” As he was saying these kinds of similar things, I couldn’t tell if he was mocking me or not. But by now, I was extremely suspicious about anything he said! 

.

Temple_of_the_Great_Jaguar-by-Dennis-Jarvis-from-Halifax-Canada-for-wikimedia-share-alike-license.jpg

.

.

.

.

.

THE “PROMISED ONE” HAS A MARLBORO MOMENT…

.

Anyway, I stood at the top. It was a great view! I decided to make it a “Marlboro moment”. So I lit up, and took in this grand and memorable scene.

.

Now, whether or not I was Jesus, I couldn’t honestly say, as I listened to his non-stop rhetoric. After all, I didn’t know a single thing about the Bible! So what could I do, except to just take the spirit’s word!? Or not take it! And frankly, he changed his story so many times, I didn’t really know what to think or believe!

.

Oh yeah, I desperately wanted to believe him!

.

Because, “Choice B” was that I was Hitler (in my previous life).

.

And I sure didn’t want that to be!

.

Temple-1-tikal – feb-2006 – wikipedia – GNU free-use license

.

.

.

.

.

‘THE PROMISED ONE’ MAKES HIS “NOT-SO-REGAL-DESCENT”…

.

Well, after the cigarette, there wasn’t much else to do up there. (That door at the top, in the above photo, was just a “dead end”, and it was really disappointing that there were no inner-doors nor some secret descending inner-stairway.)

.

And so I began my descent the same way I came up.

.

But just as soon as I tried to take my first step downward, I immediately realized that these steps were tall and narrow! And very steep! And it made me somewhat dizzy, trying to descend.

.

So I decided to scoot down on my rear end, one step at a time. I’m sure this proud civilization, had they been here to behold their “messiah”, would’ve been scratching their heads, and shrugging their shoulders at me. I, no doubt, would’ve been a big disappointment to them, as I cautiously scooted myself down these steps.

.

“Some Messiah!”, I probably thought to myself.

.

To tell you the truth, I was even embarrassed at myself for being so wimpy about my descent! But hey…better to be a safe messiah, rather than a dead one! Right? And I was frankly glad these ancient people weren’t around anymore! The embarrassment over my less-than-majestic-descent woulda been much-too-much!

.

(Just a point of interest. I heard later, on the news, that these steps were closed to the public after someone had fallen to their death while, no-doubt, walking down these steep steps!)

.

And so, looking back on all this, as I stood high atop this grand monument, all the while being told that this was all built for me, was likewise exhilarating! And though these Mayan ruins were truly the highlight of this…uh…“vacation”, the next days and weeks would bring me down, down, down, to the depths of Hell! And if ever there was some self-aggrandizing moment in which I had developed any sort of ego bubble, the spirit was standing by with a very big and extremely sharp needle, eagerly waiting to burst it!

.

Ramphastos sulfuratus – Belize Zoo – by Snowmanradio for wikipedia – share-alike

.

.

.

.

.

“HOW DOTH THE CITY SIT SOLITARY, THAT WAS ONCE FULL OF PEOPLE”…

Lamentations 1:1

.

The question has to be asked… “Where did all the people go? Why did they abandon this great and impressive city?

.

Did they move on because of some famine or pestilence? Did they become a licentious society, and die off from some new virus or venereal disease? Maybe their enemies became too strong and scattered them. Perhaps they simply moved on, merely ceasing from building up their ambitious society. Or maybe they just crumbled from “the enemy-within“. These deserted temples were guarding this secret from a curious planet.

.

And so, these deserted temples remain as a now-silent monument, to a once-mighty-and-ambitious society, and a people who probably eventually gave up their pagan religion, to once again return to a humble agrarian culture.

.

Now, this place was totally deserted (except for us tourists). I mean, here was a bunch of nice old buildings (Oh yeah…fixer-uppers, to be sure…but with a whole lotta potential for temple-flipping!). You’d think that somebody woulda taken over this town, wouldn’t you?

.

My guess is, that the man on the train had been here too! You know, the hit man on the “train bound for nowhere” (see previous chapters).

.

I guess that the Destroyer has been paying visits to disobedient cities and states…and nations, for a long, long time!

.

This guy named Apollyon …he really gets around, doesn’t he!?!

.

“But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD…the ‘Destroyer’…is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.” 

Jeremiah 4:7 & 12:17 

.

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

Temple_of_the_Great_Jaguar-by-Dennis-Jarvis-from-Halifax-Canada-for-wikimedia-share-alike-license.jpg

.

.

.

.

.

.

To go to next chapter, just click here…

.

Ch. 26 “RX-7″

.

Finally I find out what “RX-7” actually means!

.

Click on image credit links below each photo, for licensing names, details, tags, etc.. Most images cropped/reduced in size

.

.

Now began the start of the last leg of our return trip to Guatemala from Tikal Mayan Indian temples. And also began the climactic finale of the torment which I was experiencing on this Vacation From Hell!

.

Things were going to get hotter!

.

Much hotter!

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

.

.