God's Gift of Redemption

This part is going to get a bit biblical, so bear with me. Redemption from a Jesus Christ point of view sets the principle that guides this application. The general understanding of his redemption is that he paid a price on the cross by his death that grants everlasting life to “all that believe in him.” Hence, the idea that a corresponding or equivalent price, a perfect human life equal to that life Adam lost, (a life that in no way involved the woman, Eve) allowing man to regain possession of something lost. To fully understand what Adam lost we need to understand what Jesus brought to mankind and what he actually gave up that was of equal and corresponding value. The guiding principle is revealed in 1 Corinthians 15:45.

First, it should be understood that you cannot give away something you do not possess. The difference between Adam and Jesus is the difference in what was passed on to man from Adam to Jesus and thereafter – more than 2,000 years later. There were many faithful men and women that believed in and trusted Almighty God to the point of the ultimate self-sacrifice, yet there was one thing they did not possess, the one thing that Jesus did. It is what made Jesus a god. You can get a sense of what this was in the previous verse quoted above and from Jesus' own words at John 8:12-18:

12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." 13 The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid." 14 Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me." NIV (Emphasis added)

What Dad lost with his hay-shocking episode, he could not pass on to his sons, no matter how badly he wanted to. I'm sure he initially believed that his real-world sacrifices he'd made had purchased him the authority to do so. They did not.

What I brought back to Dad was the opportunity to regain his manhood; the value of his compromised soul. That was the ability to transcend into a “spiritual” thinking man. (1 Corinthians 2:14-16) The price I was willing and able to pay served as a covering for his transgressions. He had a responsibility to value, primarily, the life of his sons. That required his continuing to follow Jesus' self-sacrificing example by putting his sons before himself. More importantly, he was required to complete the sacrifice the Apostle Peter failed to perform three times as prophetically demonstrated in these verses contained in Luke 22:31-34; 60-62. Unfortunately, he rejected God's requirements upon all men for respecting and valuing the life God entrusted to him and all men. Unlike Peter, however, he has continued to deny his sons for the past 45 years.

When you read those scriptures about Adam and Eve there in the first part of the Bible, most people believe God is talking about this physical world we live in, the literal creation of the first human man and woman, and how man fell from God's grace to sin and death caused by a failed marriage. To be sure, most marriage relationships fit that description. Most, but not mine! In fact, most individuals fight this losing battle within themselves. A casual observer might think sin had to do with man's disobedience to God – Adam and Eve broke God's Law. The punishment for that was death. A closer examination should reveal that these scriptures are God's curse for something else. The sin was according to God's pronounced judgment: “Because you (Adam) listened to your wife's voice and took to eating ...” Adam's sin was not eating the fruit in disobedience, but “listening to his wife.” Adam listened, compromised his personal will as directed by God and then acted on her desires and wants and as a consequence compromised his integrity to his living soul or “being.” Remember, Adam was created in “God's image” or as a “living soul” or a “living being” and Adam never made it to the “tree of life.” So, there was one glaring difference between Jesus and Adam. That difference is defined by the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 15:45: “It is even so written: 'The first man Adam became a living soul.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” Jesus, like Adam, was a “living being” or a “living soul” until Jesus became a “life-giving spirit.” That happened when God anointed and empowered him with His holy spirit and Jesus became the Christ. At that point Jesus became something more than Adam, he could transfigure. Jesus figurative death at baptism, the death of his own personal will met the equivalent value. God accepted that redemptive value, resurrected him to spiritual life through receipt of His holy spirit to become a “life-giving spirit.” His value as man of light or life was defined by God's personal recognition with power and authority to enforce God's will.

Adam did not possess the “light of the world” or the “light of life” like Jesus Christ. Even so, he was personally recognized by God and possessed a clean conscience, was spiritually perfect and could communicate or talk directly with God. In this regard, Jesus was equal to Adam. By going against his soul, effectively sacrificing it by submitting to his wife's will, Adam lost his value, life or light as a Son of God and his soul died even though he continued to live many hundreds of years.

It should be recognized here, according to the Biblical record, that God had no personal dealings with Eve. Hence she did not share the same relationship with God as her husband. She learned about God's will and His commandments from her husband, Adam. Eve's understanding of God's will came to her from only Adam. When she acted on the Devil's lie she lost her innocence; her clean, undefiled conscience. She betrayed her husband and to justify that right she had to cause him to lose his innocence too. Since she had compromised her integrity to him, she had to get him to compromise his integrity to God – the source of Adam's clean conscience. Only then would she be free to do whatever she wanted without any interference from her conscience; be like God or so she thought. Only then would she actually know in her mind the difference between good and bad because of what she lost with her husband. Since she had lost her husband's trust and her conscience was unable to direct her way, and the both of them had to try to figure out what was and what was not, it now became a battle of wills. This is what they passed on to their children – lifeless or dark souls or dark beings.

Eve fell victim to the first energetic parasite; the father of all liars and murderers. She did not become “like” God because God is Truth and Truth is Light and Life. Knowledge and understanding are NOT Truth. They are man's fabrication. They are lies and originate with the first liar. She wanted life or light to come to her the way she wanted it, directly, not the way Adam gave it to her. She wanted life, light or truth the way God gave it to Adam. So she caused Adam to lose that personal recognition, forcing him to become like her, a parasite. To sustain themselves they used the life-force of their children. They used every conceivable way to coerce, intimidate, and bully their children into believing they were so imperfect that only their parents knew the Truth and what was necessary to survive. God's way of sustaining life through love and true freedom as he had ordained was now lost to mankind. Mankind's existence resembled that of the animals. Occasionally, according to the Bible, a prophet or a prophetess would appear through an extreme measure of faith to show man God's Way, His Commandments or Laws. Through faith they completed God's Laws or Will as best as they could know them perfectly and provided the necessary redemption thus allowing man to continue alive on this earth awhile longer. They became the “proof” of mankind's innate nature – lifeless, would-be gods.

Moses was one of these prophetic men. He brought the Old Law Covenant, a supposed blessing for mankind through his people's linage. Jesus Christ fulfilled, validated or “proofed” that Law perfectly and brought or produced its promised and prophesied replacement, God's New Covenant. This happened when he dedicated his life or human will to do God's Will, was baptized in water immersion to symbolize this sacrifice and was personally recognized by God and received His holy spirit. Jesus Christ's brothers and sisters, God's Sons, those living today fulfill that New Covenant perfectly and thus serve as man's redemption today. They are the only ones that freely offer that value or truth and grace. Even though, like the incorruptible Jesus, where their value, life or light is mostly rejected by all the people, they remain a beacon of Truth or Light to anyone willing to accept them.

Shocking hay in the rain equals submission to the parasite. Dad compromised his manhood for the sake of love and peace, or at least that is what he chose to believe. He thought he was proving to everyone what a “better man” he was. In fact, Dad believed that sacrificing for his country and serving his patriotic duty was a rights of passage that gave him personal recognition and respect. That “proof” is NOT what his father, father-in-law or his wife saw or accepted. Unfortunately, everyone demeaned and ridiculed him for what they considered his continually being dictated to and dominated by a woman. What my mother wanted is exactly what Eve desired. Interestingly, that is exactly what my Grandfather offered Mom; the power to decide what she thought was best for herself and her family. What Eve wanted, the ability to decide for herself and make be what is “right and wrong” or “good and bad” – not have to obey God's commandments as revealed or made manifest to her by her husband or masculine logical side. She wanted to circumvent her soul and make her understanding the truth or light as revealed by her feelings, emotions and personal wants and desires. She really wanted immaculate conception. What she got was absolute corruption.

Jesus became a man or woman's redeemer when they could accept his offer – the way for them to become the "truth." So, it was with Dad. Jesus clarified the issue of love or the kind of love that is “truth” and “light.” It, “love,” requires sacrifice, the kind of sacrifice all Jesus disciples and Apostles, in particular Peter, were unable to make. That offer was extended to my father for nearly a lifetime, but not any more. So, what does that say about God, his Son Jesus Christ and their universal mandate of love, forgiveness and mercy?

[Picture source]

Gary.

Hay-Shocking Event

The infamous “hay-shocking event” was about deliberately shocking hay in the rain. Innocent enough, unless you can understand how life molds or sets the basis for the decisions and their long-term consequences we make on any given day of our lives.

Back in those years ranching involved a lot of hard physical manual labor. The hay was mowed then after some time it was stacked in piles by pitchfork in rows to cure then loaded on trucks or trailers pulled behind farm tractors for the barn. Later it was windrowed by a rake pulled behind a farm tractor and left to dry before being baled by machine for transport and storage. It was important that the hay not get wet and if it did to let it dry before stacking, shocking, or baling. The hay would mold and could catch fire when stored wet in the barn. Simply put, shocking hay in the rain ruined the hay.

Dad from ten years on was raised on a large dairy farm involved in all of its day to day operations one way or another as he grew older. He knew intimately how to deal with hay and the adverse consequence of putting up wet hay. Yet, that was the demand put on him that day not long after he returned home from the war.

Dad was forced to deal with a situation he definitely had not planned on. It was his intentions upon returning from the war to take his family where he could make a living the way he wanted without any involvement with either his family or Mom's family. Family support during the war was very important, specially when you had two little boys to take care of. Mom knew exactly what Dad was planning and what he wanted. What he didn't know was that while he and his fellow surviving veterans were away things had changed in America. The women had cast off their chains and were now free to decide for themselves what is and what would be. Despite Dad's instructions to the contrary, Mom had made decisions affecting the family for a period of years and felt she had a say in how the family would operate from that time forward. These guys came home victorious; on top of the world, thinking they were in control only to find out they had been betrayed. They thought their wives and girl-friends were protecting their interests only to find "their interests" were mostly irrelevant now. They had won one war only to lose another. It didn't take the women long to let them know they weren't as free as they thought they were. Neither were they the "REAL" men they believed they were either.

Every dollar Mom got from Dad she invested right back into her father's ranch in Covelo, CA. He had made her an offer she couldn't refuse. He needed the money and they needed a place to stay and work to support it. It would be a family run business. Unfortunately, Mom's Dad never intended to accept Dad as an equal partner. As far as my Grandfather was concerned, Dad and Mom owed him that money.  He had done Dad wrong and never set the matter right. In fact, he multiplied the wrong many times over and planned on using this arrangement as an opportunity to justify the loss and injury he caused everyone. There were absolutely no circumstances he would ever be obligated to his daughter and her worthless husband. There was an added incentive in Mom's younger sister and her husband's influencing by Grandfather to disavow his agreement with Mom too. They wanted the ranch and weren't about to let Dad and Mom get away with it. In the end it did go to them.

In the ensuing years I spent a lot of time with both my grandfather and grandmother and a lot of time with just my Grandfather. Time I never begrudged, because I learned a lot of things I needed to know. I also learned his take on what it meant to be a man. As the years passed, it didn't take me long to figure out exactly what my Grandfather thought of and how he felt about Dad. Dad had justified everything he, my grandfather, ever did to Dad and the family. It was when he tried to pull the same things on me that he'd used on Dad to discredit him that he learned it didn't work with me. By then his loss was never recoverable.

Veterans like Dad, coming home from the war were at the peak of their manhood; self-confident, mostly in the moment and quite powerful. They believed that they had proven themselves by fire and were worthy of taking control of their lives and families – taking control of America. They also believed that they had overcome the stigma put upon them and their generation by their parents and grandparents for getting them into self-serving war and expecting them, as a commitment to their patriotic subservience to make the necessary sacrifices, like so much worthless cannon fodder, to get them out. They believed the fathers, their mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, teachers, priests and preachers that the would "have the good life." All they had to do was stop the Nazi, Fascist, Imperial hordes trying to take it away from them. They believed!

It didn't take the women, the wives, the girl friends, the parents, the grandparents, employers, politicians, friends, neighbors, you name it, to put it right to these guys to see if they were the “men” they thought they were. Were they really entitled to that "good life"? How much more would they give up to prove to everyone how much they really loved their wives and families; their country? It was only then that they realized how valuable their war sacrifices were really worth. They had willingly gone along with what everyone demanded of them. They had compromised their manhood, self-worth, integrity, given up their individuality and their legitimacy to their country's war machine. They lost everything they thought or believed they had earned or won back.

The coup de grace for Dad was shocking hay in the rain. Over the period of time from his return home it had been one constant imposition after another to get him to go along with some adverse proposition my grandfather was demanding. As I remember Dad was incensed and offended when Mom's Dad told everyone they were going to work in the rain. To Dad that was utterly ridiculous and he would look like an idiot. Dad refused and a big argument ensued between Dad and Mom. I can remember Dad telling her it was a total waste of time, that it would ruin the hay, hay they desperately needed and that it was just plain stupid. So Mom played her trump card. Mom ask Dad if he, for the sake of peace in the family, would he do it for her. So, he did.

It may not seem like much, but my Grandfather ridiculed my father for being a gutless and worthless all his life. I did not matter what my father did, according to my grandfather, it was doomed to failure. In time, some of that attitude bled over on me and my brother. The sins of our fathers can sometimes be a heavy load to bear.

Sadly what he did that day never brought any peace in the family – in any family. It certainly never brought him any peace, that's for sure. Dad compromised his soul when he partook of the forbidden fruit and paid the consequences for his sins.

In the true sense of Adam and Eve of the Holy Bible, my parents lived out their lives as prophesied. "To the woman he (God) said: 'I shall greatly increase the pain of your pregnancy; in birth pangs you will bring forth children, and your craving will be for your husband, and he will dominate you.' And to Adam he said: 'Because you listened to your wife's voice and took to eating from the tree concerning which I gave you this command. 'You must not eat from it,'; cursed is the ground on your account. In pain you will eat its produce all the days of your life. And thorns and thistles it will grow for you, and you must eat the vegetation of the field. In the sweat of your face you will eat  bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return – Genesis 3:16-19.

Life has its way with humanity and Dad's value as a man was tested again giving him another opportunity to redeem himself before God and man.

God's gift of redemption.

[Picture Source]

Gary.

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The Sanctity of Being a Peacemaker

On Saturday, March 29, 2010, I answered a knock on my front door to be greeted by two well dressed men and offered the posted invitation. It says as you can see:

"JESUS GAVE HIS LIFE FOR MANY - Why did he need to do that? What must you do to benefit from it? - We invite you to find out on Tuesday, March 30, 2010" That was 13 days ago.

The invitation was printed by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. This of course was an invitation by Jehovah's Witnesses for their annual Memorial Celebration wherein they "commemorate Jesus' death on its anniversary."

Jesus is considered the great peacemaker, yet Christianity, millions of people that claim to be Christians in the name of Jesus Christ have brought more war, death and destruction to this earth than any other people or religion. When they are not butchering innocent women and children and justifying that debauchery in the name of freedom and democracy, they wage war on one another. Even now, look at the enmity between progressive thinking more liberal Americans than the conservative more old-age believers in America and its God-given right to exist. What attracted me to the “way” of Jehovah's Witnesses all those many years ago was the story I was told by a participant, of how military inductee's both in America, Briton and in Germany and Italy, without any instructions from anyone, refused to take up a weapon against a fellow brother. Back at that time, World War I, inductees were already in the army at their induction. At some point in time after receiving uniforms etc. they were lined up and given a rifle. Jehovah's Witness who were called Bible Students put their hands behind their backs and refused to take the rifle. No one could mistake that statement. Well, you can guess what happened to them. Most of the time that rifle was used to beat them senseless. So the next person in line that was a Bible Student knew exactly what was going to happen to him. Can you imagine being that man? Yet, time after time they took their beatings and remained faithful to their Christianity and their Christ-like stand for peace and brother. You can't have war if no one will fight, specially Christian against Christian. These men were hardly cowards and they served as a profound example to me what real courage and conviction was. So when I went to school and refused to salute the American flag, it was, to say the least, traumatic. It took some time for all my classmates to learn that I was not a pacifist, a gutless coward or someone that wouldn't and couldn't defend himself. I commemorate Jesus death everyday as I enforce his peace.

What about Jehovah's Witnesses? Were they truly the people of peace, willing to make the necessary sacrifices Jesus commanded as demonstrated by those early martyrs? (Matthew 5:43-46) Obviously, those courageous souls were. Many of these same faithful men sacrificed their lives at the hands of Hitler in the second world war for making the same stand. The question I ask is, are there any real Christian men among Jehovah's Witnesses that would make the same unabated stand today? Do so of their own free will without being told first? Considering what's happened to them as a people in the past 100 years, I am doubtful.

Jesus' death, according to the Bible, was significant for the "many" because by and through it he inaugurated the New Covenant. Covenants are legal, binding contracts and in this case in many ways like Constitutions. The fundamental laws enforced here, however, are about "LOVE." Jesus' life and death defined the meaning of that "love." Very few people, not "MANY" as the Witnesses purport, actually meet Jesus' standards. His standards are clearly written in the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and the rest of the New Testament explains them.

It is interesting to note what they say inside the invitation.

“Jesus Christ told his followers that he came to earth, 'not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his soul a ransom in exchange for many.' (Matthew 20:28) He willingly gave up his life for the benefit of others.” [Emphasis mine]

Notice that Jesus, in the above quote, in fact answering a question that was dealing with the Way of the “old self” or personality, the physical or literal thinking demonstrated by the constant contention between his 12 disciples of who would be the greater and get preferential treatment or blessings. It is plain by what he says in Matthew 20 verses 17-28 (part of the verse quoted above) that what Jesus endured, the giving of his “soul (or human life) a ransom in exchange for many” that he also required the same of his spirit-enlivened disciples. To be a Christian requires the same sacrifice. Jesus' ransom sacrifice “in exchange” for others was given willingly because, as he says, he had control over it. (John 10:17, 18) In this regard, Jesus differed from all mankind. Mortal men do not have control over their physical life; all men and women die. Therefore whatever God requires of man that was equal in the eyes of God to what Jesus sacrificed to be accepted so as to enter into His New Covenant must be the one thing equal in value that they do control. It is clear that the New Covenant was inaugurated by the blood and body of Jesus – his human life. Jesus showed us the way – the way to satisfy God's requirement of all men and women that would enter into His New Covenant by blood, or life, the equivalent living soul. – Genesis 2: 7.

Since Jesus controlled his life, his equivalent value to that of Adam was his enlightened “soul” or “life.” This was the gift he received when God literally recognized and accepted him as his “son” and granted him by virtue of God's Holy Spirit to become the “light of the world.” (John 1:4; Matthew 3:16, 17; John 8:12) What man controls that is acceptable to God as an equivalent life is his carnal or fleshly way of thinking; a physical or literal personality. This “old personality” is defined as: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, and they are fornication, uncleanness, loose conduct, idolatry, practice of spiritism, hatreds, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, contentions, divisions, sects, envies, drunken bouts, revelries, and things like these.” Also, “...those who practice such things will not inherit God's kingdom.” (Galatians 5:19-21) The Bible writer continues and makes the clear distinction between those outside the New Covenant and those that “belong to Christ Jesus” in a “newness of life” by virtue of God's Spirit. “On the other hand, the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Moreover, those who belong to Christ Jesus impaled the flesh together with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:22-25) And therein contains our equivalent value.

The same Bible writer explains what it means, as a literal act of faith, to “impale the flesh,” enjoin God with an acceptable sacrifice, be resurrected to spiritual life or light by spirit, the absolute confirmation of God's acceptance and personal recognition. Read Romans 6:1-7: “Consequently, what shall we say? Shall we continue in sin, that undeserved kindness may abound? Never may that happen! Seeing that we died with reference to sin, how shall we keep on living any longer in it? Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him through our baptism into his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised up from the dead through the glory of the Father, we also should likewise walk in a newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall certainly also be [united with him in the likeness] of his resurrection; because we know that our old personality was impaled with [him], that our sinful body might be made inactive, that we should no longer go on being slaves to sin. For he who has died has been acquitted from [his] sin.” This is the human reality of God's Sons today.

He further defines the distinction between the two persons or personalities and how the workings of the spirit empower one over the other in 1 Corinthians 2:11-15.

“For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of man that is in him? So, too, no one has come to know the things of God, except the spirit of God. Now we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that have been kindly given us by God. These things we also speak, not with word taught by human wisdom, but with those taught by the spirit, as we combine spiritual [matters] with spiritual [words].

Notice one of the distinguishing characteristic of the “physical” or “natural” man.

“But a physical man does not receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot get to know [them], because they are examined spiritually. However, the spiritual man examines indeed all things, but he himself is not examined by any man.”

As it turns out, by an act of faith, an act that literally put their physical lives in jeopardy, 50 days after Jesus resurrection only 120 people consequently benefited directly from his death. All the rest of mankind benefited from them and today from their fellow spiritually resurrected brothers and sisters that meet the standards and perfectly fulfill God's New Covenant. These are the ones that become the perfect embodiment of Christ's love – they are the only ones whose sacrificed souls God accepts. They don't just talk a good talk, they actually live it and that's where Jehovah's Witnesses come up short. While they sincerely believe everything they preach and teach, they never get around to actually becoming that reality, not as an individual or as a group. Because salvation or personal recognition and acceptance by God comes only through inclusion within their organized Congregation, remaining in good standing as judged by their local elder-body, they are never required to serve and worship Almighty God by acceptable acts of faith. – Romans 5:1-5.

The New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus Christ changed the way man came to “know” and be “known” by God; communicate with God. (Hebrews 8:6-13) The Old Law Covenant did not apply to the individual. What made the individual human legitimate before Almighty God was his inclusion as a citizen of the Jewish nation state of Israel that God blessed through that Old Law Covenant. The visible sign of His presence was contained within the Most Holy Sanctuary in a literal temple within the capitol city of Jerusalem. The individual Israelite was only recognized by God when he or she was a part of the Nation State or collective and only as long as that collective remained faithfully obedient. When the Nation kept or complied faithfully with the Old Law Covenant the collective was blessed or recognized and accepted by God. This, incidentally, is what Jehovah's Witnesses believe and teach, collective salvation. “You will not survive the final battle of Armageddon unless you are safely ensconced within the walls of their (our) organized religion.”

Their presence at my door has the appearance of a kindly gift. On the contrary, it is, in and of itself, their personal and public judgment of me and my family for not conforming to their will – to how they would have us believe. We stand outside the protective walls of their Congregation, consequently rejected by Jehovah God and doomed to destruction by Him. So while they profess their good intentions as brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, they in fact, are a living contradiction, repudiating themselves and Jesus' ransom sacrifice. They are incapable, therefore, of acquiring the one quality or state of spiritual being that allows them to become peaceable. It was for the reason of that inherent condition that my wife and I did not accept their invitation to attend their Memorial Celebration for 2010. – Romans 5:1; 14:17; 1 Peter 3:8-12.

That one quality is the “peace” of Jesus. (John 14:27) I am sure there are people on this earth that have experienced that peace as have I. Interestingly, in my 57 years of searching I have found no one!
I realize this breaks from my story about Dad and “hay shocking,” but in many ways it touches the essence of why I am what I am. My father stood before many hundreds of people for many years, with all the authority granted by God to speak of the sanctity of this celebration as he answered the questions offered in the invitation. He presided over that solemn celebration with dignity, honor and as an example of what it meant to be a peacemaker in the true essence of Jesus manifesting the value of his sacrifice in everything that he represented. Regardless of whatever I thought or believed, as his son, I shared in that reality.

Now to the hay-shocking event.

Gary.

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Dad – The Last of the “Greatest Generation”

One can see the “living” past in one's parents and grand parents; that old and older generation. Even better yet, if one is lucky enough, one can get a real good picture of the past from one's great-grandparents. One can also see the present in their brothers and sisters. One can see the future in one's children because they usually take after their grandparents. My Dad is a great-grandparent.


Here is where something needs to be said about Dad. Ninety years old and still going strong is a real milestone for any man in this day and age. Specially when you consider he survived combat in Europe where men died right beside and all around him, made his living in the timber industry as an old growth fir and redwood logger and survived a heart attack when he was in his early 40's. Logging in those years was the most dangerous profession in the world. He used to tell my brother and me that “loggers were rough and tough and hard to bluff and the women were darn glad of it.” That became the Johnston Family Motto. Looking back on my brother's and my life, I'd have to say that pretty much sums it all up too. It was all about respect.

That's only part of Dad's story though. As the story goes when he was three years old, his father and mother were living in a remote logging camp back up in the mountains in the state of Washington. It was winter when his father, for some reason, had to travel to Portland, Oregon and leave him and his mother home alone. She apparently was sick with pneumonia. When his father returned he found him all alone with his dead mother. They believe he survived with her for three freezing days. The year would be 1923.

Soon after that his father left him with his mother's parents in Oregon. They raised him until he was 10 years old when his father, who had remarried decided, according to Dad, he would make a good farmhand on their dairy. His father had remarried and the new family included an “a typical” stepmother, two half-sisters and one half-brother. Since he was the bastard of the bunch he was bunked out with his grandfather (his dad's father) in the milk house. In all Dad was essentially raised by his grandparents. When his new stepmother tried to raise him as a Catholic, however, his mother's parents drew the line and said no. In the end they prevailed too. That experience, he said, soured him on all religions.

After the war Dad was considered and respected in the business community as an honest, decent and hardworking man. That is what I grew up believing too. He was independent and a self-starter. He came home after the war very disillusioned by the lies the American government was telling everyone what had happened in Germany at the end of the war, when he knew the truth to be different. He said because of what the government was doing, basically a sell-out, good men lost their lives for nothing. He believed that if he survived the war he would be in a position to strike out on his own, go into business for himself and raise his family, so he prepared for that eventuality. In the interim his father and father-in-law had other plans. Ultimately, they both made him and my mother promises and offered him opportunities to work with them, and at the same time, own and run his own business. Both lied. In the end he moved to Southern Humboldt County, California and bought 40 acres of brushy hillside, built a nice home and ran his own logging and trucking business during all my growing up years. Building a new home was a family project, so we all worked. No time for after school activities, no television or other time-consuming affairs. In the evenings, when Dad wasn't working on the house he would read to everyone whatever book he was interested in at the time. It was at that time I became acquainted with the Bible. Which was unusual for Dad because he was extremely anti-religious and neither Dad nor Mom attended any local church group.

My mother's grandmother was a member of the first small group of people, 12 I believe, beginning at the turn of the century, in Eureka known as International Bible Students. The people that sold Dad the property were also Bible Students and knew my great-grandmother. In time they convinced Dad to read some of their literature and begin studying the Bible with them. This became a weekly family event. For our part, my brother and I were given a scripture or two every week to memorize. We had to state the location, where it could be found in the Bible, and recite the text word for word. Over the course of study I memorized many Bible scriptures. I still remember the first two as they had the most to do with setting my priorities in life. In time the group of Bible Students grew and other families began coming together to study the Bible from Garberville, Redway, Salmon Creek and Weott. When the group grew large enough to warrant a meeting hall to accommodate all the new students, one was eventually found between Redway and Garberville, CA. By this time a congregation was formed and associated with the National Bible Students. Up until then Dad, who was oldest male Bible Student, conducted or directed the Bible study group. As I remember the group had grown to 40 or 50 by this time. Before this, we occasionally we would travel to Eureka to attend a weekend meeting. That is when my public speaking began. One of the weekly meetings was a school to prepare members for their duties as a Bible Student; to adequately preach and teach what they learned. For new speakers, the assignment was a 10 or 12 minute Bible reading with a short introduction and conclusion. There were twice to three times the people at those meetings in Eureka. That was tough for a ten year old looking out at all those faces and trying to remember what you were supposed to say and pronounce all those tough words. When it came to the Bible Students, our family all started out together. In time Dad become the presiding Congregation Minister in Southern Humboldt soon after the group affiliated with the world-wide organization and determined that if my brother and I wanted to pursue that ministry full time the family would support us. For me, my life's course was set.

During our growing up years Dad often spoke to my brother and me about his father and his father-in-law. He told us how both men, who were dairymen and farmers had enticed him and my mother to come live in homes they provided and work for them at a good wage as a way to be deferred from the war only to pay them nothing, provide no housing and then tell him if he quit he would be drafted. In the end when he objected, his father-in-law set it up so he was drafted anyway. Dad always said he believed his father-in-law secretly hoped he would get killed in the war. He also said, there were a few times he almost got his wish. Dad would occasionally tell my brother and me that he would never do to us what was done to him.

What did I learn about the “Greatest Generation”? Later on in life as a consequence of my ministry I met another member of this so-called “Greatest Generation” who later became my father-in-law. He like my Dad was a combat World War II veteran. He had landed on the beaches of Normandy in the second wave, got to land on the backs of dead men, was awarded a Bronze Star and a couple of purple hearts among other medals. Both men survived the war only to come home to become casualties of another war. Over the course of years, I knew and worked with many war veterans. It was a common understanding that those that survived the war, unless physically injured or handicapped, came back normal people, “no worse for the wear.” Time revealed that none of them were normal. While it may have looked like most of them picked up life where they left off, they all had lost some if not all their humanity.

It didn't take long for their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives and girlfriends to put their manhood to the test. Dad was mustered out of the Army at Sacramento, CA. My grandfather had a ranch in Covelo, CA and my Mom lived nearby. I remember it was in the winter and the road out to the main highway was not very good, but Mom made it. After a couple of days they came home and as I remember, Dad was not happy at all with what he encountered. He was faced with working for his father-in-law again and it did not take him long to put it right to Dad. He had gotten away with all the money Dad had sent home and his car was up on block with no tires. His father-in-law was using them. Tires were rationed in those years. As a soldier's wife, Mom could get tires, gas and other things when no one else could.

What I learned about this “Greatest Generation” is that, to a man, they were all neutered or emasculated. They were all compromised souls. In every family it was the wife that wore the pants. Most of the time these wives considered there husbands worthless. That same consideration passed on the their children. How do you get anything of value from a worthless, gutless, weak and spineless man? In time nothing had any value. Nothing except one thing, Momma getting her way. This was demonstrated in the Johnston Family by what I called the “Hay-Shocking Event.” It turned Dad's life around and he was never the same again.

Hay-shocking event: ...

Gary.

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Living Life Backwards

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Does it teach us anything?
Whenever life starts to get me down and the future looks bleak, I've found going back to the beginning and reexamining my original goals and commitments helps reorganize my priorities, give me confidence and hope for the future. What is, is – there certainly is no going back. What we are is the sum total of what we were. And, I might add, that includes all of our ancestor's lives that went before us. We carry all that was good and all that was bad in our predecessor families. There is a price we all pay for that. For those of us of the Christian Faith, Jesus Christ showed us the Way to redeem that price. So, what does my life teach you? What did my father's life teach me?

For sure, when I was ten to twelve years old, I knew exactly what I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a minister of God; not a member of the clergy, a priest or a preacher, but a minister. That's what I envisioned Jesus Christ and his faithful Apostles were, ministers and teachers. I was committed, and I organized my life around that pursuit. In the end I did attain that goal. That "life" was everything to me, however “Life” has its ways and I was forced to reevaluate my life and my commitment to that way.

I happened to watch an interesting movie about my same dilemma made in 2006 with Jacob Pitts, Amy Acker, Alan Arkin, and Frank Langella called Crossroads a.k.a. The Novice. In fact it very easily could have been a story about me for I, too, had determined to remain celibate. It is the story of a young Catholic seminary student whose goal is to become a Jesuit. He spends some time working in Brazil then later, while continuing his studies in Louisiana, encounters a beautiful young woman that embodies everything he envisions in the ideal woman. I spent time in Brazil as a missionary too. Learned to speak and write Portuguese fluently; could even pray in the language. I even learned to understand the local Rio slang, “Carioca.” The young people my age thought that was great, an American could actually understand and talk their lingo.

I, too, was confronted with a choice. While I was not a Catholic aspiring to become a Jesuit, for me the religion and the Jesuit goals were the same; required the same committment. Becoming a Jesuit requires four oaths or “solemn vows.” The first three are, the solemn vows of “perpetual chastity, poverty and obedience.” The Fourth vow, unique to Jesuits, was of special obedience to the pope in matters regarding mission, where they could be asked to journey to any place on earth to act as missionaries without money or transportation. Not all Jesuits took this “Fourth vow.” Those that did were considered “special,” a mark of approval by the Church and the Jesuit Society's hierarchy.

There is an interesting quote about a certain aspect of Jesuit's ministry that defines my oath, as well:

“The founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius of Loyola, opened its charter and rule with this famous line: 'Whoever desires to serve as a soldier of God beneath the banner of the cross in our Society, which we desire to be designated by the name of Jesus, and to serve the Lord alone and the Church, his spouse, under the Roman pontiff, the vicar of Christ on earth, should, after a solemn vow of perpetual chastity, poverty and obedience, keep what follows in mind. He is a member of a Society founded chiefly for this purpose: to strive especially for the defense and propagation of the faith and for the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine.' Rule 13 of Ignatius's 'Rules for Thinking with the Church' said: 'I will believe that the white that I see is black if the hierarchical Church so defines it'.”

It is the statement: “I will believe that the white that I see is black if the hierarchical Church so defines it” that caused the eventual dilemma that required a “savior.” At that time I had no problem with accepting this principle from the churches hierarchal equivalent to the “Pope” as these men considered themselves the “real successors of Peter.” However, my understanding of their documented teachings contravened many local church hierarchy's beliefs and teachings. They thought to impose themselves spokespersons for the Church's spiritual leaders. I learned later in life that it was because my vow or oath was made to Almighty God by the authority and through the auspices of Jesus Christ that allowed me to see the difference in teachings and understanding. In time I was able to see that the Church's “white” was neither “black” nor “white.” That His truth was most evident in what I always believed was his gift to me in my time of need, my perfect compliment, that beautiful person that became my friend and later my wife.

My walk with Almighty God became a shared walk. In that reality we were never impoverished. I thank God each day for showing me the Way, for the opportunity to maximize my life and the time allowed to share it with someone special.

The past, put together with the present is a good indicator of the future.

Gary.

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What Got It All Started

Today is a rather special day in the Johnston family. This is my father's 90th birthday.

The picture was taken this September, 2009.

He's still very active, drives and flys all over. The picture was taken at his granddaughter's wedding in Seattle, WA.

As his firstborn son, I hope he lives another 90 years!

Happy Birthday,
Dad.

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Gary's Way

After 66 years I developed a Way -- My Way.

That Way is Me.

Of course, a lot of older people, most actually, are set in their "way." I believe the term is: "cast in stone." I guess that's why they got old. And, thank God, died. All you get are rigid beliefs and stiff necks, no flexibility, no movement, no heart and no minds that know; totally intractable beings.

Personally, My Way is about staying young. When new and challenging thoughts, ideas and beliefs pop up, I try to keep an open mind and a fortified heart. Such things like, this Earth belongs to our children and grandchildren, none of us, regardless what we do, has a lock on heaven and the so-called evil Muslim are all terrorists.

My Way started when I was eight years old when I began my search for the truth. Life became a laboratory; a place to test and experiment, to prove and to experience the revealed truth. Later that "Truth Revealed" took on capital meaning. My Way was not like the ways of those around me, my "older generation" or my contemporaries. They didn't like new ideas and certainly did not like being challenged. They were totally locked into their belief systems. Their realities were all in their minds. They looked at the mathematical equation, for instance, and said four is NOT the result of adding two plus two. Even though they were provided with mountains of proof to the contrary, they continued to believe what they wanted. They all claimed the right answer, whatever they wanted it to be, WAS THEIR TRUTH! They were all trying to get life and people to fit into their small-minded understandings -- understandings they believed were their immutable truth. It didn't take me long to figure out all that did was create problems, specially if I didn't agree or go along. Someone was always trying to get me to accept them as some authority when they had absolutely nothing to back it up or back them up. That was when I encountered my first bully. It didn't matter what the facts were or what truth was revealed, any resistance or question to their monumental "BS" was considered an overt assault on their manhood or womanhood. That was a serious matter for a young person.

It was about this time I was acquainted with the teachings written in the Bible of Jesus the Christ. His ideas seemed to make sense to me and I figured that if I could duplicate him I just might survive this life. Maybe even receive a blessing or two from God. My Way took on a new direction. I looked at what he said, for instance, "Just let your word Yes mean Yes, your No, No; for what is in excess of these is from the wicked one." (Matthew 5:37) and that is exactly what I endeavored to do. I put those words into practice and made them real in my life. In time, as I grew, I became recognized as a person of integrity.

Life is what it is and as I grew I learned the meaning of these words Jesus spoke as recorded at Matthew 5:27: "You heard that it was said, 'You must not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone that keeps on looking at a woman so as to have a passion for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Notice he did not say "mind," but rather "heart." My thoughts, dreams and fantasies were no different than any other young boy, teenager, burgeoning young man or eventually full grown male. Putting those words into practice was not easy, and then there were the young women that made sure of that, but eventually putting those words into practice provided the safeguard that allowed me to meet and marry the one woman that had also set those Christ-like standards.

Living Jesus' Way caused considerable problems as you could well imagine. So these words of his took on a rather personal and meaningful significance, "Happy are the pure in heart, since they will see God. Happy are the peaceable, since they will be called 'sons of God.' Happy are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, since the kingdom of the heavens belongs to them. Happy are you when people reproach you and persecute you and lyingly say every sort of wicked thing against you for my sake. Rejoice and leap for joy, since your reward is great in the heavens; for in that way they persecuted the prophets prior to you." (Matthew 5:8-12) Am I "pure in heart"? Have I seen God? Am I called a "son of God"? Do I possess the "kingdom of heavens"? Have people all my life reproached and persecuted and lyingly said every sort of wicked thing against me for Jesus' sake?

What does it mean "for Jesus' sake"?

To know the answer to that question is to personally know me, for Jesus said, "Likewise let your light shine before men, that they may see your fine works and give glory to your Father who is in the heavens." (Matthew 5:16)

My Way is not about thinking, theorizing, believing, postulating, contemplating, imagining, fantasizing, or speculating. My Way is about BEING.

Now about that picture. When I first came across it I was immediately taken by the Adam and Eve reality. And sure enough that is exactly, I learned later, the title. Bruno Pasqualini lives in Australia and you can contact him here.
[Picture Source is: [ 930 x 1522 - 129k - jpg - www.brunopasqualini.com/.../Adam&Eve-1984.jpg ]
This is a rather interesting place: http://missiodeiscandia.wordpress.com/ Missio Dei Scandia

For me it is a refreshing and hopeful sign to see young and old people coming together in simple, practical and meaningful ways to replace old, outdated, flawed and failed systems with something that works -- self. Old societies are replacing the democratic systems controlled and governed by the patriarchs, the matriarchs and the oligarchs.

Don't ask me what Missio Dei Scandia means because I don't know. This is what he says about himself: "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. Søren Kierkegaard"

In those simple words are revealed Gary's Way.

Gary.

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