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

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Okay, so now it was Saturday. 

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

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My Judgment Day had arrived. And I’m pretty sure that I was questioning whether I was in some sort of hellish spiritual realm in which the world around me was my very own specially-created stage! And maybe everyone around me were merely artificially simulated illusions, all orchestrated to carry out my eternal punishment. 

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

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Yeah, maybe I was in Hell!

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I just didn’t know.

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I just couldn’t tell…

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

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CHAPTER 9:

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“THE LAST PASSOVER”…

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IN AND OUT OF HELLISH TORMENT

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The same (those who receive the Mark of the Beast) shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Revelation 14:10

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This above Bible verse sure seems to fit what I was going through. And in the days following my release from Unit 3600, I was going in and out of such “fire & brimstone” torment. There were times when things were not as terrifying, and during those times I believed I might still be on earth.

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

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SINGING BEFORE MILLIONS…

A friend (the piano tuner who brought up my music equipment to the hospital a few days earlier), was bringing my musical equipment back from the hospital. He was a really nice guy. And as he and I were unloading, he pointed out a scripture from the Bible…

“Behold, the Devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried; and you shall have tribulation ten days: be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life.” Revelation 2:10

He explained that I need to be faithful during my trials, and I would receive eternal life. And then he made a prophecy. He saw that I would someday be singing before millions. And believe me, I thought that was very good news, compared to what the spirit was telling me!

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He also asked me to pray the Sinner’s Prayer as I remember. “So Chuck”, He said, “Now that you’ve prayed that prayer, you are saved! Satan can’t touch you anymore! Satan is just a toothless old lion!

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Well, I would have liked to believe my piano-moving friend (who also happened to be a preacher at some local church). But I really had serious doubts. If what I went through was truly by the Devil, I wouldn’t exactly describe him as “toothless”! 

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

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Now, I was in a rock band back in high school. And a few times we actually did play before thousands. But that was only because we were on the same ticket with a big name band who came through town. (Oh yeah, this photo is of our band, when playing at a concert. And that’s me on keyboards.)

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But millions? “Whoa!”

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

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A NEIGHBORHOOD INCIDENT…

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

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And in our brief conversation, he told me of how he went through a time back at college, when he almost had a breakdown. And as he was leaving, I remember telling him that, “I’ll never try to take my life.” But as he was walking away, I thought I heard him say, “No but I will.” And I remember thinking, “Why’d he say, ‘No but I will’? Is he part of what I’m going through? Will he kill me? Is he one of them?”

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

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

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“ONE MASS”…

That same day, I was talking with a nice gal I knew, and no doubt she was aware of my troubles. Since we both jogged, we decided to go jogging. This was good, since I hadn’t jogged for some time. And as we were jogging up a bike path, I looked in the distance, across the highway and saw a big, newly-constructed commercial building. And because I’d never seen it before, and could barely see it, I asked what the large sign said on the side of the building. “Does it say, ‘One Mass’?” To which she answered, “Is that what you see?”, she continued, “It says ‘Cinemas’. It’s a new movie theater!”

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

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SPIRIT-CONTROLLED SPORTS

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At some point in time, another friend called and asked me to play racquetball down at the gym. Now I wasn’t very good at racquetball, and didn’t play much.

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

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

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racquetball – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain

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MORE CRUEL SHOES… “THE JERK?”…

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One of the first things I did when out of the hospital, was to go down to the book store and buy a copy of the recently published book, “Cruel Shoes”. It was a little book by the same “sooth-saying comedian” I had listened to on the first night of my troubles. I felt this book might have a personal message for me, just like the comedy album seemed to have.  As I was paying for the album, the lady at the counter informed me that, “Did you know this same comedian has a new movie coming out?”

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Immediately the thought came to me, “Maybe this movie also has a hidden message for me, as well as the rest of his works.”…So I asked, “What’s the name of the movie?”

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

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

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

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CRUEL SHOES, THE BOOK…

So I started reading the Cruel Shoes book as soon as I could. And just as I suspected, it too was speaking about my situation, likewise having a personal message. First of all, the cover had the comedian looking straight-faced, wearing big black sunglasses. And to me, this cover seem to have that kind of “all-knowing” morbidity. But it didn’t take long reading Cruel Shoes, that I began to get a message out of it.

BACK COVER…

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On the back cover was a picture of an empty recording studio, with musician-chairs, microphones, and an empty black banjo case. To me it seemed like the totally deserted studio represented an “empty Earth” after doomsday. The empty black banjo case looked somewhat like a coffin. So I took this to be an omen. A very bad omen! This comedian “soothsayer” in his deadpan humor was sending this cryptic message out…that the world was soon to end. An empty studio with a coffin-like case symbolized the end of the world , and the end of Humanity!

“THE WINTER THAT LASTED FIVE MINUTES”…

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

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And although this short quip didn’t speak directly about a nuclear  holocaust, but it did kind-of catch the horror of such a catastrophe! It was winter…but winter only lasted FIVE MINUTES. Then it was Spring (in Heaven).

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

“FOLDING SOUP”…

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Here was a similar comedy bit. Just as folding soup is impossible, so also, to cheat death is likewise impossible. And since the world was about to end, this comedy routine went hand-in-hand with the rest of these not-so-funny “gags”. In other words, “folding soup” would be akin to saying, “You can’t take it with you!”

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

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“CRUEL SHOES”…

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This was the same bit that was on the comedy album. These excruciatingly painful shoes.

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

“51st WAY TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER”…

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

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For instance, there was one short story about how to dump a girl-friend in some eastern culture. This “other culture” way of dumping your girlfriend was something like taking off your shoe and dumping the sand out of it onto your girlfriend’s head. And so this condemned me about how I used woman over the years. (And no, I never literally dumped sand on anyone’s head! But I’m pretty sure a few of them would have liked to dump several tons of… something on me!)

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

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

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

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“RETURN TO CINDER”

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

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

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God was gonna let the human race end it all. And it was gonna be soon. Really soon! The world was to burn with fire!

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

LAST DANCE…

(Title of the 1978 hit by Donna Summer)

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OR…

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NOT JUST, “ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT!”

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

My singing partner called to ask if I would play piano for her down at the club tonight (a Saturday Night), and it was decided that we would go ahead. But I was informed by the spirit(s) that this would be Earth’s last night before doomsday.

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

Now I was also informed that there were other “safe-houses” elsewhere in the city. (Probably other bars, churches, etc., as well, I don’t know.) Remember that I told you that the bars were my church, as with so many other bar-hopping atheists!

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

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

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“THE LAST PASSOVER”…

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OR…

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

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

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It was decided that I play at the club tonight. And I was informed by the spirits that this was gonna be a very solemn occasion…THE END OF THE WORLD!!!

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

Now as I’m writing this, I can’t help but notice the obvious parallel to the book of Exodus. “And Moses said, Thus says the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die” Exodus 11:14.

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And in this story of the first Passover, the children of Israel were to go into their houses and shut their doors till midnight when the “destroying angel” passed through Egypt and killed all the first-born, unless there was lamb’s-blood on the door-post of the “saved” houses. And the Exodus account states that at about midnight a destroying angel from God went around to all the houses in Egypt, killing the first-born in every house. But those houses which had the blood of the Passover lamb, would escape this coming disaster.

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“For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood… on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.” Exodus 12:23

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Well, as I said, I knew nothing concerning this strange parallel to the book of Exodus’ account of the Passover. I was merely doing what I was compelled to do by this spirit power on that November night in 1979.

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

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

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

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

Unlike the previous week, the house was filled on this most solemn and final evening. I didn’t drink any strong drinks tonight. And I was in a very serious mood. After all, this was the last night of planet Earth’s existence! And in just a few hours, I would be leading out any willing participants in prayer, as the world was being plunged into total annihilation. And not just me, but countless other “sanctuary safe-houses” around the world.

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Listen to this verse concerning the fiery, soon-coming end of the world…“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2nd Peter 3:10

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“IF YOU READ BETWEEN THE LINES…”

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

As this night began, the songs took on an eerie symbolism concerning all that I was going through. Perhaps, each and every song had a message! This was so uncanny! Prior to all this, I seldom ever interpreted things in a symbolic sense. When I listened to a song on the radio, I just couldn’t figure out if there was an allegory or not. But now I could! And tonight I was!

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

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But now…tonight…everything had special meaning! Every song had hidden significance! And everything else seemed to be some symbolic doom-saying harbinger, all pointing to the end…the fiery demise of the world!

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

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

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“LEROY BROWN”…

(Title of the 1978 song by Jim Croce)

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

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“And it’s bad, bad Leroy Brown,

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The baddest man in the whole damn town,

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Badder than old King Kong,

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And meaner than a junkyard dog!”

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

Satan presiding at the Infernal Council wikpedia us public domain

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“SEPTEMBER SONG”…

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

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As I said, it seems that every song we played that night had a double meaning, all concerning the world’s end. But I guess the song that kind of summed up this entire evening of doom was the, “September Song”.

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This would probably be the theme-song for this last night of Earth. It just seemed to be so appropriate as I looked out on tonight’s very large S.R.O. crowd…

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

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SEPTEMBER SONG

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

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

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

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

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“Ohh-h the days dwindle down…

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“To a precious few…September…November…

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

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

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My very lovely partner was singing this haunting melody very beautifully tonight. As a matter of fact, we’ve never had a better night as far as performance. It was like I was just sitting here, and higher powers were moving my fingers. My partner was also singing well. But she was just doing one song after another. She didn’t clown around with the audience like she usually did. Probably she didn’t want to do anything to get me upset, in my fragile mental condition.

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

Little girl in bomb shelter – Wikimedia 

Atomic Bomb Operation Castle – Romeo – wikimedia – public domain

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

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

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The entire evening was kind of surreal. The crowd, on this standing-room-only night was somewhat subdued. It was like I was just watching this whole story. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it an “out-of-body experience”. But I was just kind-of melancholy and totally at peace with all that was happening. Almost like floating. Everything almost seemed slow-motion. Definitely this evening was controlled by higher, unseen powers.

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Well, needless to say the hours came and went.

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Midnight finally arrived.

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But nothing happened.

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No holocaust.

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No public prayers.

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No destroying angel.

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Totally fizzled out!

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A COMPLETE DUD!

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

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

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WHOOPS! SORRY ABOUT THAT BROKEN GLASS!

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When I got home that evening, I began thinking about the comment made by my neighbor. You know…the guy who came by that afternoon to console me. To which I said, “I’ll never try to take my life”, to which he answered, “No, but I will”. As I thought about his response, I suddenly figured it out. When he said “No but I will”, he was saying “No but I will (take his own life)”. So I jumped up, “Oh no, he’s gonna take his own life!!”

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As I thought about what to do, I decided to go down to his house, and see if he’s okay. Maybe his new girlfriend dumped him and he’s depressed. Maybe his coming over today, was his way of reaching out for help!

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I knocked on his door. No answer! “Maybe he’s overdosed and passed out”. So I went around to his back door and it was locked too. So I decided to break one of the little windows of his country-style rear door of this large and very nice home-on-hill. So I did. I went in and looked around. No one was home. While I was relieved he was okay, I nevertheless felt dumb for doing this!

Fortunately, when I saw my neighbor the next day, I apologized to him for the broken glass. And he graciously said, “Not a problem” … he’d have someone fix it.

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

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CONCLUSION…

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

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

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

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To go to the next chapter, just click here …

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

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

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