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nickyhemmick · 3 years

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A Very Stressed American Jew here again,

Hi! Thank you for taking the time to respond to my ask and yes, I’m someone who loves hearing as many perspectives as possible so I’d love some sources from you. I also very much appreciate the fact you are being very careful to only reblog posts that are anti Israel, not antisemetic (which is frankly a breath of fresh air, the internet has been a bit exhaustingly full of both antisemitic & Islamaphobic content these past feel days as I bet you’ve seen)

I’ve also been to Israel on a Birthright trip. We met people who ( both Palestinian and Israeli) on various sides of the conflict and learned a ton about it, from both perspectives which I was lucky to have the opportunity to do. We even went a little into the Gaza Strip to talk to these people running a pro Palestine peace movement and it was so important to me hearing those stories.

I never said they were on equal footing militarily, they definitely are not, Israel definitely has that advantage. But you are incorrect about Israel always being the aggressor since 1948,they’ve defended themselves about as often as they’ve attacked. Isreal is a small country comparatively to the ones surrounding it, so it makes sense it defends itself heavily in case of an attack.

I 100% agree that there are too many people who are compliant with the mistreatment of many Palestinians! I’m not anti #freepalestine at all! I get why that is a thing. But I also stand with Israel( but that does not mean I condone every action they take. ) Overall I think the situation is extremely complicated and some sort of compromise should be reached.

It’s just been very frustrating to see so many people reblog things on a situation just bashing Israel because so many others are doing it. Especially when then don’t know what they are talking about or using big buzz words that they don’t know what they mean, or spreading misinformation. It’s been on both sides and has been very very draining. I just want peace and some sort of solution. It makes me extremely happy you know what you are talking about and can debate politely yet happily about it. The internet has been so ‘ either agree with me 100% or you a bad person’ about this so it’s refreshing to see you are not like that.

I’ve done a lot of research into it from as many perspectives as I can get my hands on.

Some extremest Israelis are hurting Palestinians

Some extremest Palestinians are hurting Israelis

Both sides are throwing rockets at each other and it’s terrifying.

Both sides claim the other side is brainwashed

There is so much biased propaganda out there on both ends it’s hard to know what is truly happening.

I know people living in Israel who have sent me videos they’ve taken of rockets flying over there heads and I’m so scared for them. I’m so scared for all the innocent people caught in the crossfire on both sides.

Thank you for a more nuanced response and I’d love some of your sources,

A Very Stressed American Jew

Hi anon,

I wasn’t going to respond to this until after my math final tomorrow but I’ve spent the past two days thinking of your ask and the things I wish to articulate in my answer.

I am going to start here: how can you say you support Israel but say you are also pro-free Palestine (as in, you said you are not anti free Palestine). In my opinion, these two ideas cannot coexist. Simply because, the entire establishment of Israel has been on violent, racist, colonial grounds.

(Super long post under here guys)

You said you don’t support all Israel’s actions, and definitely, just because you support something doesn’t mean you can’t criticize it. However, in my opinion, if you do not support Israel’s actions against Palestinians there’s not much left to support? I admit this is a very biased view as I am Palestinian, but many things that people support about Israel have existed before its creation: as in, these are things and qualities that have existed in Judaism and are not due to “Israeli culture.” There is no Israeli culture. There’s Jewish culture--100%. But there is no Israeli culture, because Israel does not only steal Palestinian land, but Palestinian culture, too. Such as claiming Levant food is Israeli; hummus, ful, falafel, shawarma. I mentioned food from this article I know is culturally and traditionally of the Levant, and has been for centuries, it is not something that has come to culinary creation in the past 73 years.

I do not think this is a complicated issue. I said that in the previous ask and I’ll say that again. Saying it is a complicated issue is trivializing the deaths of innocent Palestinians, the violent dispossession our ancestors endured, and the apartheid they live under. I hope if anything comes from this discussion it is you removing the “it’s a complicated issue” phrase from your vernacular.

This is not complicated. A journalist reporting the death of martyrs only to discover that of them include two of his brothers is not complicated. The asymmetry of Israel vs Palestinian armed forces is not complicated, nor is the asymmetry in Israeli vs Palestinian suffering (which I will get to later). It is not complicated. Destroying the graves of martyred Palestinians (or just in general, the graves of the dead) is not complicated. Little children being pulled from the rubble, children being forced to comfort one another as they are covered in the ashes of their decimated homes, attacking unarmed citizens in peaceful demonstrations (you can find videos before this attack where they were playing with kites and balloons), destroying an international media office and refusing to allow journalists to retrieve the work they are spending every waking hour documenting but claiming it was because it was a hide out for a “Hamas base,” fathers who are trying to cheer their frightened children up only to end up dead the next day, while many Israeli have the privilege and the option to go to hotel-like bomb shelters is not complicated.

This brings me to my next point: the suffering of Palestinians cannot be compared to the inconvenience of Israeli’s. On one side, you have children who are happy to have saved their fish in the face of their homes and lives being decimated behind them to Israeli’s in Tel Aviv having to cut their beach day short to get to bomb shelters. You have mothers and fathers ready to set their lives down for their children to save them from bombs to Israeli’s enjoying their brunch only after making sure there are bomb shelters there. You have Palestinian children being murdered to blocking out the sound of sirens in the safety of your bomb shelters. (The first picture of the Palestinian child is not from footage of the recent problems). You have the baby lone survivor of a whole family recovered from rubble. His whole family, gone, before he ever had the chance to realize that he even exists, while Israeli’s decide to flee out of the country,(Translate the caption from Twitter, it checks out), or have to leave the shower due to sirens. Who is really suffering?

I won’t sit here and pretend like the thought of rockets flying over my head, no matter which side I am on, is not terrifying. It is. It’s scary to just think about. But Israeli’s have protection beyond Palestinian’s, they have sirens to warn them (Israel does not always warn Palestinian building members that it is about to be bombed), they have the Iron Dome, they have simply the threat of nuclear power (which I am not saying Israel would use, but the simple fact they have it would make me feel a lot better if I were an Israeli citizen) and they have bomb shelters. What do Palestinians have? Hamas? That smuggles its weapons through the ocean? That only ever reacts to the action Israel instigates? And yet Gazans are branded terrorists and that it is their fault that they “elected” a terrorist organization that only was ever created due to no protection from any armed country? (There are so many links I want to add in this paragraph but it is simply impossible for me to add everything I want, a lot of what I’m referring to can either be found through a Google search, or you can stalk my Twitter account, all that I am posting now is about Palestine, and will include sources of things I cannot add in just this one post.)

Look, I see myself in the genocide happening in Palestine right now. I see myself in this ten year-old girl. In this three year old girl. I see me and my family in videos of cars being attacked in Ramallah and Sheikh Jarrah (I cannot find the Ramallah video, should be somewhere on my Twitter), I see my father in the countless videos of fathers crying out for their children, of kissing the corpse of their loved ones (again, translate the Tweet, the man holding the body is saying “just one kiss”). I see my grandfather in videos like this (old footage). I see my younger brother, I see my grandmother, my mother, my aunts and uncles and cousins. I see myself and my life and my family were my father not lucky enough to get a scholarship to the UK and out of Palestine, were my maternal grandfather not been lucky enough to make it to a refugee camp and build a life in Jordan. I have an unbelievable amount of privilege to be born into the life I was born in to, in terms of I do not have the threat of bombs and violent dispossession around me, and I do not even live in the US. I have privilege and sheer luck that my parents were able to go to the US so that me and my brothers can be born, because now I have both the protection of the most powerful country in the world while at the same time being part of a people to have suffered so generously the past seventy-three years.

On the other hand, you saying that Israel has “defended themselves about as often as they’ve attacked. Israel is a small country comparatively to the ones surrounding it, so it makes sense it defends itself heavily in case of an attack,” I offer you this question: why are they using military grade guns and stun grenades in mosques to “defend” themselves from rocks? And before you mention that Hamas hit Tel Aviv, I remind you that Hamas did that due to the violence in the Al-Aqsa mosque square and the attempted ethnic cleansing in Sheikh Jarrah. The violence didn’t begin with us; the violence was brought out of Palestinians in resistance to the generations of oppression we have endured and the attack on Palestinian Muslims during the holiest night of Ramadan. Hamas has since asked for a ceasefire multiple times and Israel is refusing. New reports say there is a possibility of a ceasefire in the coming days, but Israel could have decided this a long time ago and spared many lives. (Remember, no matter what resistance we make, Israel is the one in power).

Israel has been the aggressor since 1948. Just read up about the Nakba! 700k Palestinian families were dispossessed violently. The only reason Israel was established at all was because it simply declared it was now a country and the US and many other countries recognized it as such. (Of course, there are many other historical details here, like the British Mandate of Palestine, the Balfour Declaration, the Oslo Accords and many others. I am aware of them but these are for a different post all together). My paternal grandfather was a little younger than me when Israel as a state was created. The hostility that followed was due to this independent declaration being listened to over Palestinian voices.

Here is a very, very simplified analogy, one that can also answer some people’s questions as to why Palestinians (not Arabs, we are Palestinian before we are Arab) did not like what happened in 1948 and why they refused a two-state solution (that Israel was never going to go through with anyway). (I am also aware other Arab nations got involved, and that is perhaps what you mean when you said they had to defend themselves, but my response to that would still be we didn't start it, that we only responded to it).

Let’s say you are a farmer. You have many fields of trees, ones you have taken shelter under from the sun since you were a child, or hid behind when you wanted to avoid your parents when you misbehaved. You have seen your trees grow from a seed, to a sprout, to a flower, to a large, beautiful tree with fruits the size of a fist. You pluck the fruits from one tree, and make a jam from it. I don’t know how to make jam but I know it takes a lot of energy. So, you make this jam and from it, produce a lovely, mouth-watering pie. Once it has cooled from the oven, you take it with you outside your balcony just so that you can admire the years, months, weeks and hours this one pie has taken to be created. Suddenly, a stranger walks past and yells to you, “That pie looks delicious, I want it!” And you, shocked at their boldness but ready to share, say, “I will give you a bite.” But the stranger says, “No! I do not want a bite or a slice or whatever you want to offer me, I want the pie!” And they grab it from you. You and the stranger start screaming at one another about who the pie is for, who is allowed to decide what happens to it, and who you can share it with. Then, another stranger comes by and says, “Why all the problems? Let’s cut the pie in half and the both of you can share it!” But why should you, who has spent years cultivating the fruit and grain inside this pie, share it? Why should you give up half of the 100% that you already owned? Of what you already had? So you disagree, and now a crowd has formed around you. “What’s the problem?” someone in the crowd calls. “They don’t want to share their pie!” another voice says. Then you become branded a selfish, mean bastard. Again, this is a super simplified analogy, so don’t take it too seriously, but I am trying to show you why Israel is the aggressor.

In addition, I do not know too much about the Birthright program, just that American Jewish people are sent to Israel, all expenses paid. I tried my best to find the Twitter thread but I read it so long ago, about an American Jewish person who went on their trip and they talked about the propaganda that they were exposed to on that trip. I can’t say for sure that it is true, because I haven’t been on it and never will, but that is the first thing I thought of when you mentioned your Birthright trip. Either way, I think it is still great you went and saw the country. However, I must ask you this: are the people you met ones you, yourself, sought out, or ones you were organized to meet?

Now, I haven’t been to Gaza, so I don’t know what you really saw or didn’t, but did you speak to Palestinians who lost their homes to airstrikes? Did you speak to siblings, parents or children of loved ones who had been lost beneath the rubble of buildings and towers? Outside of Gaza, did you speak to Palestinians that live in poor quarters? Ones who have been victims of an IDF soldier shooting them, or who have family members who have died from such attacks? Did they take you guys to Ramallah, to Nablus, to Beit-Imreen, to Jenin, to small villages in the West Bank, far away from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv? Did you speak to people there? Ask them their stories? Because if you did I have a very hard time believing you still think Israel is “defending” itself.

I’ve been to Jerusalem, many times, even Tel Aviv and Jaffa and Haifa. All the times I visited Dome of the Rock there were IDF soldiers with huge guns strapped to their person, standing menacingly outside the courtyard. For what? Genuinely, genuinely for what? It is nothing but an intimidation tactic. The same way we are not allowed in through the airport. If you could see the struggle some Palestinians actually go through just to get into Palestine, through the land border, you would be disgusted. I love Palestine, it is my ancestry land, it is my culture and tradition. But I always hated going to visit because I knew the way to getting there would be hell.

My father worked in Tel Aviv through the first Intifada. My maternal grandfather was forced out of his home in the Nakba and was forced to leave behind his belongings and the orange trees that have been in his family for generations. Hell, the town they lived in was destroyed! It doesn’t exist anymore except in the memories of my aunts and uncles, who never even saw it, but just heard of it from their father!

I’m not saying there aren’t Palestinians who are racist and anti-Semitic (though, tbh, I will direct you here for that) and who support Hamas in killing Israeli’s, but talking about how there are many “extremist” Palestinians who are hurting Israeli’s and in the next line say there are extremist Israeli’s who are hurting Palestinians is not correct. There are extremist Israeli’s killing, lynching, stealing the houses of Palestinians, and there are Palestinians who are fed up and fighting back. (I am not talking about Hamas vs the IDF here, I am talking about the citizens). I have not seen one reported death of an Israeli due to Palestinian violence (if you have, from a trusted source, send it to me), but I have seen countless of the other way around. I have seen images of charred little bodies, of a baby being dug out of the rubble, of a child’s body that had been so mutilated that you can literally see the insides of their body coming out. (I don’t know if it’s on my Twitter, I didn’t want to save that shit). If this was my country I would be absolutely ashamed of myself and my people and what they are doing in the name of my protection. So you have to forgive me, and forgive other Palestinians, who don’t give a fuck about Israeli’s having anxiety over rockets flying over their heads when we see these images. Where is the protection of our kids? Why does no one seem to mention them except when mentioning the poor, innocent ones in Israel? At least more than the majority of them have their parents to comfort and rock them. At least many of them will probably be saved of ever having to be beneath the rubble of a destroyed building, or digging in it, to hope to find the parts of their parents or siblings just so that they can bury them. Just the links from the start of my answer is enough to support what I am saying.

I have soooo much more I can say, like how Israel uses religion to distort the image of what’s going on (tbh, just check my Twitter for that: language is EVERYTHING), but you didn’t mention religion in any of this and so I won’t either. The only reason I decided to respond to you in such length was because you have been one of the few respectful anons in my inbox in the past few years of me being on here talking about Israel, so I appreciate that from you.

As promised, some more sources: decolonizepalestine is a good place to start if you haven’t used it already, it has reading materials, myth busting, and more. Here is a map list of destroyed localities from pre-1948 until 2017, run by two anti-Zionist Israelis. Here and here are the articles I promised of a former IDF soldier-turned Palestinian activist, I read these two last year in June and remember coming out much more informed than before I read them. I suggest looking into the writer and his organization, which, if I remember correctly, collects accounts from previous IDF soldiers. I would suggest not to follow Israel and the IDF accounts on any platform, or any Israel times newspaper, simply because they will not tell you the truth. In fairness, you do not have to follow any Palestinian Authority accounts (which I am not even sure there are), but to follow on-ground Palestinians like Mohammed El-Kurd, who has been speaking out since he was 12 (he is now 22) and he is part of the families in Sheikh Jarrah. I have noticed that this and this account have been translating Arabic headlines and tweets for non-Arabic speakers, I have just started following this person but their bio says they are a Palestinian Jewish person so I am interested in their view of things. You can also follow Israeli’s on-ground and see their perspective on things, but I would also advise to compare the Palestinian and Israeli side of things from the people, and critically analyze the language used in each case. Also, this article references Jewish scholars opposed to the occupation (I have not looked into them myself but I plan to after my exams), and Norman Finklestein is another great Jewish scholar to look into if you haven’t. Twitter is better than Instagram and Facebook, so I would stick to getting live-info from there, Twitter does not censor Palestinian content as much as Insta and Facebook so you’re more likely to see things there.

I will end this by saying I personally do not see any other option for peace than to give Palestinians our land back. Whether we may be Muslim, Jewish or Christian, it has always been and will always be our land. I only hope to see it free in my lifetime.

Free Palestine.

#palestine #israel #west bank #tala gets asks #anon #whew this ask took me like 2-3 hours to respond to #pls read it even if ure not the anon #lots of good links and info #palestine tag #anon there are more reading lists in my #to read #and palestine tag tags #check my likes on twitter too if u decide btw not just what i retweet #like also: imagine palestinians around palestine and the world who are simply waiting to hear if their relatives are dead or alive or #have been striked from a rocket. like i can see my father worried abt his friend in gaza rn like any day #now he can just never hear back from him and have to guess hes dead somewhere beneath the rubble #and israelis are anxious at the rocket sounds? good for them but again that shows the asymmetry in #palestinian vs israeli suffering #and by ‘good for them’ i mean good that thats what theyre worried abt compared to palestinians #my aunt is in sheikh jarrah #my cousin lives right by the al aqsa square #again theres so much more i couldve mentioned and talked abt but theres just so much #theres so many LAYERS i wld say but not that its complicated #and definitely theres more i need to learn and read and watch dont get me wrong! i am not a fountain of knowledge by all means!!!!

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eretzyisrael · 3 years

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On Being Self-Sufficient

You can talk for a long time about what we learned from the Holocaust, but there is one proposition that stands out as important to the Jewish people today:

In response to an existential threat, we cannot depend on other nations for help. Nor can we simply place our fate in the hands of God. Survival depends on our actions in the temporal sphere.

During the Holocaust, even the most enlightened liberal nations turned away ships full of Jewish refugees. American and British bombers flew past Auschwitz in 1944 to bomb a chemical plant 6 km away. The US did not even fill limited immigration quotas from Germany and German-occupied countries immediately before the war. The British issued the MacDonald White Paper in 1939, when it was more than clear that the Jews had no future in Europe, shutting the door to Mandatory Palestine tight; and even after the end of the war fought tooth and nail to prevent the immigration of Jewish refugees there.

Hundreds of Jewish communities in Europe were destroyed by the Nazis. Haredi (both Hasidic and Mitnagdic) communities were not saved by their piety, and sometimes religious leaders even prevented their people from receiving assistance when it was still possible for them to be saved.

Today the State of Israel is the home of about half the world’s Jews, and for some time has been the intellectual and spiritual center of Jewish life. It is geographically highly vulnerable, surrounded by enemies (even Egypt and Jordan, which have signed “peace treaties” are not reliable), and threatened by Iran and its proxies by conventional and (soon, if not already) nuclear weapons. One would expect that if anyone had learned the lessons of the Holocaust, it would be the Jewish state; but sometimes its behavior seems to indicate otherwise.

In particular, it has adopted a strategy of dependence on the United States, very troubling at a time when America is beleaguered by enemies that are more dangerous than the Americans themselves seem prepared to admit, when it is impossible to ignore the twin specters of social and economic instability there, when antisemitism in the general population is growing, and when a large proportion of American elites have turned against Israel.

The recent panic in Israel when $1 billion in funding for the Iron Dome program was held up (even if only for a few days) by a group of anti-Israel members of the US Congress should stand as a warning. Iron Dome itself – or rather, the way it is employed – is an example of a strategic error caused by the addiction to US help.

Iron Dome is a technological marvel, but it is being used to delay the need for Israel to confront her enemies. By protecting population centers from rocket attack, it allows the Israeli leadership to refrain from acting in more than a very limited way against Hamas and Hezbollah, which are continuously adding to and improving their offensive ability. What was once a threat only to areas close to the borders has now become a threat to the entire country; and the introduction of precision-guided rockets promises to become an existential danger.

The use of Iron Dome undoubtedly saved civilian lives in Israel. It also saved the lives of Arabs in Gaza, who would have been subjected to heavy bombardment to suppress the rocket fire that Iron Dome intercepted. Without Iron Dome, there would probably have been ground invasions to end the threat from mobile and hidden launchers, as well as those protected by human shields. But after each inconclusive round with Hamas, it came back stronger: more rockets, more powerful warheads, longer ranges, and better strategies. There have only been a few incidents of rocket fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon since the 2006 Second Lebanon War, but Israel’s policy of restraint allowed them to build up their stockpile to several times larger than prior to that war. Although Israel has acted to intercept shipments of precision-guidance systems to Hezbollah from Iran, nobody really knows to what extent they have succeeded in upgrading their “dumb” rockets into “smart” ones.

The result of all this is that if – when – all-out war does come, perhaps if Hamas succeeds in overwhelming Iron Dome by massive simultaneous bombardment, or if the number of precision-guided weapons it has makes it practical to attack multiple key infrastructure locations at once, or if some unexpected event triggers it, then the resulting carnage on both sides will certainly be greater than it would have been if Israel had adopted an offensive, rather than defensive, posture earlier.

The use of Iron Dome to protect population centers is economically unsustainable without dependence on massive American aid. Each time Iron Dome is fired to intercept a projectile from Gaza or Lebanon, at least two Tamir interceptors are launched, at a cost of $40,000 each. The projectiles that they destroy may be Gaza-built rockets that cost a few hundred dollars to build, or even mortar shells that may cost less than $50! As I understand it, much of the $1 billion special allocation that was delayed was intended to replenish stocks of interceptor rockets.

A better use for Iron Dome would be to protect key infrastructure like power plants, gas platforms, and military bases. More traditional – and forceful – military means should be used to deter attacks against the civilian population.

This is just one way in which dependence on the US has determined Israel’s defense strategy. There are others. One of them is the weakening of Israel’s home-grown defense industry. Most of the American aid has to be spent on American weapons, which needless to say are extremely expensive. In 2016, Barack Obama’s administration negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) for the ten years beginning in 2019. At the start, some 26% of the aid could be used to purchase arms outside of the US, which generally meant that they would be made in Israel. But the new MOU includes a clause that gradually phases out this amount, until it reaches zero in 2028. This will greatly affect Israel’s decisions about what type of weapons to deploy. For example, manned aircraft like the fabulously expensive F-35 can be obtained with aid money, while relatively inexpensive Israeli-manufactured drones cannot.

And of course – this should be obvious – for every dollar of aid that we accept, we give up a bit of freedom of action. The Americans expect to be paid back, perhaps in concessions to the Palestinian Arabs, or by tolerance of Iranian nuclear ambitions. I argued in 2016 and 2019 that despite the cost, American military aid should be totally phased out, as soon as is practical. We had a brief respite from American pressure during the Trump Administration, but we can expect it to resume soon.

Survival in a hostile world depends on self-sufficiency, in basic needs like food, water, and fuel, as well as technology and weapons. Israel is doing well in the areas of water and fuel, but recently, the new government has announced financial “reforms” that will increase the amount of imported food products. I have been surprised by the amount of imported products in the markets here already. Food is imported from Turkey, China, the European Union, and other places that someday might not be happy supplying Israel. It is true that food is excessively expensive here, but it isn’t clear that increasing imports will have much effect. On the other hand, it will definitely hurt Israeli farmers, and accelerate the one-way shift of land usage away from agriculture. Agricultural self-sufficiency has a price, but it is well worth paying.

The Jews of Europe on the eve of WWII were precisely the opposite of self-sufficient. The national authorities that they depended on to protect them either were powerless or cooperated with their murderers. Other nations didn’t want anything to do with them. They were alone, and they could not sustain or protect themselves. Now there is a Jewish state, and the responsibility for the Jewish people falls on that state. Its leaders should heed the lessons of the past.

Abu Yehuda

#Israel US Relations #War

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dfroza · 3 years

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A new covenant of grace is illuminated

in Today’s reading of the Scriptures with the 7th chapter of the book of Hebrews that looks back into the ancient book of Genesis:

In the Book of Genesis, we read about when Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he returned from defeating King Chedorlaomer and his allies. Melchizedek blessed our ancestor, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything captured in the battle.

Let’s look more closely at Melchizedek. First, his name means “king of righteousness”; and his title, king of Salem, means “king of peace.” The Scriptures don’t name his mother or father or descendants, and they don’t record his birth or his death. We could say he’s like the Son of God: eternal, a priest forever.

And just imagine how great this man was, that even our great and honorable patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the spoils. Compare him to the priests who serve in our temple, the descendants of Levi, who were given a commandment in the law of Moses to collect one-tenth of the income of the tribes of Israel. The priests took that tithe from their own people, even though they were also descended from Abraham. But this man, Melchizedek, who did not belong to that Levite ancestry, collected a tenth part of Abraham’s income; and although Abraham had received the promises, it was Melchizedek who blessed Abraham. Now I don’t have to tell you that it is the lesser one who receives a blessing from the greater. In the case of the priests descended from Levi, they are mortal men who receive a tithe of one-tenth; but the Scriptures record no death of Melchizedek, the one who received Abraham’s tithe. I guess you could even say that Levi, who receives our tithes, originally paid tithes through Abraham because he was still unborn and only a part of his ancestor when Abraham met Melchizedek.

If a perfect method of reconciling with God—a perfect priesthood—had been found in the sons of Levi (a priesthood that communicated God’s law to the people), then why would the Scriptures speak of another priest, a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, instead of, say, from the order of Aaron? What would be the need for it? It would reflect a new way of relating to God because when there is a change in the priesthood there must be a corresponding change in the law as well. We’re talking about someone who comes from another tribe, from which no member has ever served at God’s altar. It’s clear that Jesus, our Lord, descended from the tribe of Judah; but Moses never spoke about priests from that tribe. Doesn’t it seem obvious? Jesus is a priest who resembles Melchizedek in so many ways; He is someone who has become a priest, not because of some requirement about human lineage, but because of the power of a life without end. Remember, the psalmist says,

You are a priest forever—

in the honored order of Melchizedek.

Because the earlier commandment was weak and did not reconcile us to God effectively, it was set aside— after all, the law could not make anyone or anything perfect. God has now introduced a new and better hope, through which we may draw near to Him, and confirmed it by swearing to it. The Levite order of priests took office without an oath, but this man Jesus became a priest through God’s oath:

The Eternal One has sworn an oath

and cannot change His mind:

You are a priest forever.

So we can see that Jesus has become the guarantee of a new and better covenant. Further, the prior priesthood of the sons of Levi has included many priests because death cut short their service, but Jesus holds His priesthood permanently because He lives His resurrected life forever. From such a vantage, He is able to save those who approach God through Him for all time because He will forever live to be their advocate in the presence of God.

It is only fitting that we should have a High Priest who is devoted to God, blameless, pure, compassionate toward but separate from sinners, and exalted by God to the highest place of honor. Unlike other high priests, He does not first need to make atonement every day for His own sins, and only then for His people’s, because He already made atonement, reconciling us with God once and forever when He offered Himself as a sacrifice. The law made imperfect men high priests; but after that law was given, God swore an oath that made His perfected Son a high priest for all time.

The Book of Hebrews, Chapter 7 (The Voice)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 47th chapter of the book of Jeremiah that pronounces God’s Judgment upon the Philistines:

The word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines, before Pharaoh attacked Gaza, one of Philistia’s five major cities.

Eternal One: Do you see how the waters are rising in the north?

They will become an overwhelming flood.

They will flow across the land, covering everything—

including the towns and the people who live there.

Those people will cry out;

those who live in that land will weep loudly,

For they will hear the pounding hooves of the charging horses,

the clatter of enemy chariots, and the rumbling of their wheels.

Fathers will panic and abandon their children,

their hands limp with fear.

For the time will come

to destroy all the Philistines.

She will find no help in Tyre and Sidon—

these allies, too, will be cut off.

The Eternal will destroy the Philistines,

this remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.

The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning,

for Ashkelon is no more.

You who remain in the valley,

how long will you cut yourselves in grief?

You cry out, “O sword of the Eternal, when will you stop?

Return to your sheath, rest from your destruction, and be still!”

But how can His sword be still

when the Eternal has given it a direct order?

For Ashkelon and those along the coast will be no more!

The Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 47 (The Voice)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Wednesday, September 29 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons that points to Genesis:

Each week in synagogues across the world a portion from the Torah (called a parashah) is studied, discussed, and chanted. Jewish tradition has divided the Torah into 54 of these portions - roughly one for each week of the year - so that in the course of a year the entire Torah has been recited during services. The final reading of this cycle occurs on the holiday of Simchat Torah ("Joy of the Torah"), which immediately follows the holiday week of Sukkot. On Simchat Torah, we celebrate both the completion of the year's Torah Reading cycle as well as the start of a brand new cycle. Each Jewish year, then, we “rewind” the scroll and begin again. The sages have wisely said that you cannot compare studying Torah for the 49th time to studying it for the 50th time....

Our spiritual inheritance is bound up with the Torah: it is part of our story, our history, our heritage (Gal. 3:7; Rom. 4:16; Luke 24:27). The stories of Torah serve as parables and allegories that inform the deeper meaning of the ministry of Messiah: “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come (1 Cor. 10:11). “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom.15:4). "All Scripture is inspired by God..." which refers first of all to the Torah, the Writings, and the Prophets which attest to the Messiah (2 Tim. 3:16-17). You are therefore no longer a stranger or outsider to the heritage of the LORD but a partaker of the covenantal blessings (Eph. 2:12,19). Disciples of Yeshua are called talmidim (תַּלְמִידִים) -- a word that comes from lamad (לָמַד) meaning "to learn." Among other things, then, following the Messiah means becoming a student of the Scriptures He loved and fulfilled (Matt. 5:17-18; Luke 24:44-45). Only after learning from Yeshua as your Teacher will you be equipped to "go to all the nations and teach" others (Matt. 28:19).

We read V'zot HaBerakhah ("this is the blessing") at the end of Simchat Torah, which is the final portion of the entire Torah itself... After reading this portion, we "rewind the scroll" back to the beginning to begin reading parashat Bereshit. We do this every year because Talmud Torah - the study of Torah - is an ongoing venture in the life of a Jew. In this connection, it is interesting to note that the very first letter of the Torah is the Bet (בּ) in the word bereshit (בְּרֵאשִׁית), and the very last letter of the Torah is the Lamed (ל) in the word Israel (יִשְׂרָאֵל). Putting these letters together we get the word lev (לֵב), "heart," suggesting that the entire Torah - from the first letter to the last - reveals the heart and love of God for us... Moreover, the first letter of Scripture is a Bet (בּ), as explained above, and the last letter is a Nun (ן) in the word "Amen" (אָמֵן), so the whole Bible - from beginning to end - reveals the Person of God the Son (בֶּן) for us...

Since we begin the Torah again for a new year, it is worthwhile to remind ourselves that the Scriptures speaks from an omniscient, "third person" perspective. When we read, "In the beginning, God (אֱלהִים) created the heavens and the earth," we must ask who exactly is speaking? Who is the narrator of the Torah? The very next verse states that the Spirit of God (רוּחַ אֱלהִים) was hovering over the face of the waters (Gen. 1:2), followed by the first “direct quote” of God Himself: i.e., "Let there be light" (Gen. 1:3). The creative activity of Elohim (God) and the presence of Ruach Elohim (the Spirit of God) are therefore narrated by an omniscient Voice or "Word of God." Obviously the Spirit of God is God Himself (who else?), just as the Word of God is likewise God Himself, and therefore the first verses of the Torah reveal the nature of the Godhead. God is One in the sense of echdut, “unity,” “oneness,” and and so on, though not “one” in the monistic sense of a solipsistic mind (νοῦς). God is beyond all theological predications: there can be no sense of “person” apart from relationship, and therefore God’s Personhood entirely transcends all our finite conceptions - and yet God forever is One..... [Hebrew for Christians]

and another about Hebraic significance:

The “appointed times” of the Scriptures (i.e., mo’edim: מוֹעֲדִים) were given by God to help us turn away from the omnipresent urge within the human heart to embrace vanity: "Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father and guard (שָׁמַר) my Sabbaths (שַׁבְּתתַי)... Do not turn to worthlessness (i.e., אֱלִיל) or make for yourselves any molten gods" (Lev. 19:3-4). In other words, the Biblical holidays - including Shabbat, Passover, and so on - were intended to help us to sanctify ("set apart," "make holy") the times and seasons in order to remind us of God’s Presence (Psalm 104:19). Therefore they are called mikra’ei kodesh (מִקְרָאֵי קדֶשׁ), “times in which holiness is proclaimed” (Lev. 23:2). The Torah’s declaration that these days are holy implies that they are set apart for special activities, such as commemorating God as our Creator (Shabbat), our Redeemer (Passover), our Resurrection (Firstfruits), our Lawgiver (Shavuot), our King (Rosh Hashanah), our High Priest (Yom Kippur), our Sustainer (Sukkot), and so on. In this connection it should be noted that it is a mistake to assume that the divine calendar was somehow abrogated with the cross of Yeshua, since all of the Jewish holidays center on Him, and indeed the advent of the Ruach Ha-Kodesh (Holy Spirit) occurred after the resurrection of Yeshua, precisely during the prescribed 50th day Jubilee of Shavuot or “Pentecost” (Acts 1:8; 2:1-4).

Presently our lives “suspended” between two worlds - this world with its illusions (olam hazeh), and the real world of spiritual substance and meaning (olam haba). We exist in an “already-not-yet” state of expectation and yearning where we must consciously mediate the truth of heaven by bringing it “down to earth.” This is a truth war, and by truth I do not mean intellectual knowledge as much as the living truth that marks the lifestyle and vision of a follower of Messiah. We consciously remember Torah truth; we choose to always "set the LORD before us," and take "every thought captive to the passion of Messiah..." May God help each of us heed the call to walk in holiness by the power of His love and grace. Amen. [Hebrew for Christians]

9.28.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

September 29, 2021

Knowing Christ

“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11)

When Paul speaks of knowing the Lord Jesus, he stresses the process involved in reaching the desired level of knowledge. These particular points of awareness (knowing the resurrection power, the fellowship of sufferings, and being conformed to His death) are not mere academic achievements but part of the process of experiencing life and personal study of God’s Word that produces confident knowledge.

John’s letter gives several key signs on how to “know” the Savior, one of which is keeping God’s commandments (1 John 2:3-5). The lifestyle of obedience (process of godliness) provides the experience that produces the knowledge.

Paul’s reference to the power of the resurrection is reflected in the wonderful promise of Ephesians 1:17-21. There, Paul says we can know the “exceeding greatness of his power” that was demonstrated in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus—that very power being beyond anything that can be observed in this or any age to come.

The fellowship that we now share in Christ’s sufferings is merely the process by which we are “being made conformable unto his death” (today’s verse). Paul noted that we were “crucified with Christ” but are still alive since Christ “liveth in [us]” (Galatians 2:20). Our bodies are to be “living [sacrifices]” so that we can prove the “good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God,” having been transformed by our renewed minds (Romans 12:1-2).

These many life processes are what our gracious God has decreed for our ultimate eternal possession—being “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). HMM III

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the-record-columns · 5 years

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Sept. 11, 2019: Columns

A forgotten father-in-law

The grave marker for Albert L. Hamby in the cemetery of Stony Hill Baptist Church in Purlear

By KEN WELBORN

Record Publisher

Anyone who reads this space knows I like to write about mother-in-laws.

For a guy who has managed to get married every time he turns around, I have lots to choose from.

Father-in-laws, however, are another matter entirely. My relationship with them all was good to downright wonderful. I have often written stories about my favorite father-in-law, Dr. William L. Bundy. He is the one with whom, I by far, spent the most time, both during my stint with his daughter, and thereafter—when he would make me feel good by still introducing me as, "Kenneth, my son-in-law."

But today, I want to talk about my first father-in-law, Albert Hamby. Al for short.

Yes, the husband of my famous mother-in-law of the family reunion/burning hot dogs.

Albert was born in1916 in the Purlear area of Wilkes. While his education was very limited, Al had a talent for sizing up a stand of timber like no other, and made a good living doing just that. He was a World War II Army veteran who was on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944. While he was pretty closed mouth about the war, later on he did share one story with me.

And one only.

It was several days into the Normandy invasion and he was among thousands of troops fighting their way inland. Al, like all his brothers, was a crack shot with his rifle, an ability borne of hunting the forests of Wilkes from his early childhood. He was proud, he said, that when he sighted in on a target, he knew it was going to be a deadly hit most every time.

To that end, his story begins. Again, his aim was deadly and as he approached a dead German soldier he had just killed, he thought about getting a souvenir or two. He said he had walked by several men he knew he had just shot, but never stopped and for the life of himself, he couldn't say why he stopped this time. A German Luger pistol was an oft taken prize and he took one off that soldier.

Then he saw a wallet in a coat pocket. He took it out, opened it up, and his life changed forever that day. Thinking about retrieving some German money, he instead was struck like a bolt of lightning by a photo of the soldier, his wife, and his three children staring up at him. Albert said he threw down the wallet and the gun and ran to another place for cover. For seven days he didn't fire his rifle. When there was someone who might notice, he said he pretended to be on guard and prepared to fire, but never did.

All he could see was those five folks staring up at him in that wallet as if from a grave, and the realization that the soldier he killed was doing just what he was doing—as he was taught, and as he was told.

At some later point, as he basically went through the motions of being a soldier until an artillery round came so close to him that the sound of the explosion practically deafened him and killed several soldiers near him. From that moment on, he resigned himself that it was kill or be killed, and resumed being an active soldier for the duration of the war.

I don't know why Albert Hamby was on my mind this morning. Perhaps it was the fact that today is September 11, or that this year is the 75th anniversary of D-Day, but he is a good man to remember any day.

While I was still married to his daughter, Albert sold off his logging equipment and got all his affairs in order. He then told his family he just didn't feel well, and it turned out he had a massive brain tumor that robbed him of his life in 1974.

He was just 57 years old.

He was the proverbial good old country boy.

His handshake was his bond.

He was proud of his service to his country.

He signed a note to help a scrawny son-in-law buy a car.

He died too soon.

Albert Lee Hamby

May 29, 1916-March 24, 1974

Rest in Peace

Incentive to kill

By AMBASSADOR EARL COX and KATHLEEN COX

Special to The Record

Most would agree that crime doesn’t pay, and they would be right, unless the reference is to jailed Palestinian murderers and terrorists. You see, if a Palestinian murders a Jew and is captured, tried, convicted and incarcerated by the fair and impartial Israeli judicial system, they and their families will receive hefty lifetime monthly payments from the Palestinian Authority. There’s something very wrong with this picture.

As a reference point, almost 16 years ago, Palestinian terrorists from Gaza carried out two consecutive suicide attacks in Israel; one at a bus stop near a hospital and military base and the other at a cafe on a busy street in Jerusalem. A total of 75 Jewish people were injured, some losing limbs and eyes, and 16 others lost their lives. Since that time, the Palestinian Authority has paid 3,248,900 NIS (New Israeli Shekel) in financial rewards to those who carried out these two attacks. In U.S. dollars, that equates to more than $800,000. To put this in a context to which all can relate, that’s more than $32,000 per year for 25 years with no end in sight. Quite a nice retirement pension and this is in addition to the payments received by the families.

Among the victims of the cafe attack were Dr. David Applebaum and his daughter Nava, who was to be married the day after the attack. American-born Dr. Applebaum was chief of the emergency room and trauma services of Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center and a specialist in emergency medicine. Before the attack he had just participated in a symposium where he taught terror-trauma procedures to medical professionals. It’s important to note that Israeli medical professionals treat the victims of suicide (homicide) attacks as well as the perpetrators, if they survive their evil deed. Ironically, in the emergency room, the innocent victims may be receiving treatment right next door to the person who perpetrated the crime and Israeli doctors do not discriminate. Their job is to save lives and they do it well. Any judging is left to God and the justice system.

Alon Mizrachi, the security guard at the café, was killed when he identified the suicide bomber and shoved him toward the door just as he exploded. While Mr. Mizrachi died, his quick actions saved many others. Alon Mizrachi was the uncle of Ziv Mizrachi, an IDF soldier who was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in November 2015. There is virtually no one in Israel who has not been impacted by Palestinian terrorists in some way yet the olive branch of peace is constantly extended only to have the Palestinians trample it underfoot.

The PA has vowed to continue paying martyrs and terrorists and has even taken their “pay for slay” program to a higher level. Those who manufacture the suicide belts used by the terrorists now also receive monthly salaries of 7000 NIS or approximately $1750.00 USD per month. The average Palestinian could work a 60 hour work-week and not earn this much!

So, back to the question of, “Does crime pay?” The answer is yes, crime does pay if you happen to be a Palestinian who wants to kill Jews.

Payments to terrorists are guaranteed by Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Mazen) and his Palestinian Authority (PA). In addition to guaranteeing terrorists in Israeli prisons a monthly salary, the PA passed the “Law of Prisoners and Released Prisoners” act which prohibits the PA from signing any peace agreement that does not include the release of all the Palestinian terrorists being held in Israeli prisons and this includes the murderers.

The world is insane to expect Israel to live side by side with such evil-minded people. The days are long behind us when we could count on people, especially our elected officials, to “do the right thing.” Those who know the truth have a duty and an obligation to speak out in support of Israel by using our voices, our pens, and our votes.

Pass the Pawpaw Please

By CARL WHITE

Life in the Carolinas

Carolina days in late summer provide us with humid warm weather, afternoon showers and the anticipation of a colorful fall season.

This time of the year also provides a forgotten or little know tasty treat.

As with all things, there are those “in the know” who are glad our largest native American fruit remains somewhat elusive. It means less competition in finding and consuming this vintage delicacy.

In case you haven’t guessed, I’m talking about the Pawpaw fruit. While it is grown in about half the nation, due to its short harvest season, ease of bruising and short shelf life, the pawpaw is not found in common grocery stories. You may find them at local farmers markets and even then, only for a few weeks during the year.

I have had the opportunity to introduce the curious fruit to several people this year. Some have said that it will take some getting used to and others have proclaimed their profound gratitude for the introduction. To me, the Pawpaw has the blended flavor of a mango, banana and pineapple.

A few words of wisdom to those new to the Pawpaw: It’s a bit like a custard. It’s important to pick them when they are ripe. They are best when the flesh is yellow and soft, but not too dark and mushy, unless that’s the way you love them.

It’s flexible and can be used in just about anyway you like. It’s like anything else, you just need to experiment and see if you find something that works for you. Pawpaw ice cream is a favorite of many. A cup and half of mashed Pawpaw, two cups of cream, two cups milk, a cup of sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla extract and five egg yokes. Apply your ice cream making method and then you will have an amazing treat.

For those of a certain age, the Pawpaw Patch Song will bring back memories. The Pawpaw Patch Song has several regional versions. This is one of more common versions of the youthful folk song:

Where, oh where is pretty little Susie?

Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.

Come on, boys [or girls, or kids], let’s go find her,

Come on, boys, let’s go find her,

Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.

Pickin’ up paw-paws, puttin’ ‘em in her pockets,

Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.

It’s hard to say how many Pawpaws you can get in your pocket because they vary in sizes.

Dr. Greg Reighard, a Professor in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at Clemson University, is conducting research on Pawpaws. Clemson Musser Fruit Research Center has a good size grove of Pawpaw Trees with a variety of cultivars. The fruit can be small or up to a pound or more. So, you might only get one of those in your pocket.

While the flesh is good to eat, you should not eat the skin or the seeds. A lot of research is being done on the tree leaves and bark as they seem to have anti-cancer properties.

Another note of nature wonderment; The beautiful Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly comes for the larvae that take its primary food source from the leaf of the Pawpaw tree.

Please pass the Pawpaw; It’s warm outside and I need to make some ice cream.

Carl White is the Executive Producer and Host of the award-winning syndicated TV show Carl White’s Life In The Carolinas. The weekly show is now in its 11th year of syndication and can be seen in the Charlotte market on WJZY Fox 46 Saturday’s at noon and My 12. The show also streams on Amazon Prime. For more information visit www.lifeinthecarolinas.com. You can email Carl at [email protected]

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tardisgirlepic · 7 years

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Ch. 3: “World Enough and Time” Analysis Doctor Who S10.11: Doctor’s OMG Hair, Meet Delilah’s Mr. Razor & More

<- Read previous chapter

Samson & Delilah: Doctor’s OMG Hair, Meet Mr. Razor

OMG, I could not believe how long the Doctor’s hair had gotten at the beginning of “World Enough and Time.” From now on, to distinguish Doctors, I’ll refer to the Doctor’s hair that we saw at the beginning of the episode as “OMG hair.”

In fact, it was even funnier that I had mentioned it in the previous analysis with my sudden revelation about Samson & Delilah, where River was Delilah.

Yes, DW is playing out this Old Testament story.

Due to time, I didn’t get to talk about the entire Samson & Delilah story and how it fits in. But I’ll show you in a few minutes how this fits together with River.

Funny: “A Thing Happened…”

First, though, a funny thing happened while watching the episode. I was so intent on getting subtext and trying to pick up dialogue that I wasn’t looking for John Simm. I’m not sure I would have recognized him under the makeup anyway. However…

Once he said

RAZOR: People, people, people, people, people! People, they are people.

I knew he was John Simm because only his Master has spoken this way before.

However, here’s the funny part: I didn’t catch his name on the first viewing. Once I watched with subtitles, I had another OMG moment when I realized his name was Mister Razor!

Wow! Ha..ha!

Mr. Razor & Delilah Will Give Samson a Haircut

There’s some additional information about the story of Samson & Delilah that’s quite important, so I’m going to weave it together here from different sources, including the razor part I mentioned from the previous analysis:

Wikipedia says

Samson had been dedicated as a Nazirite, "from the womb to the day of his death"; thus he was forbidden to touch wine or cut his hair.

While the 11th Doctor did abstain from alcohol, he had a shaved head in his last episode “The Time of the Doctor” and was wearing a wig for most of the time. Now, I see that the Samson and Delilah story was playing out then with Clara metaphorically asking God to restore Samson’s powers to defeat the Philistines.

The 12th Doctor drinks alcohol.

According to BibleStudyTools.com:

The summary from Scripture starts with Samson's birth was announced by an angel during a dark time for the Israelites. Israel was under the rule and oppression of the Philistines. Samson was born a Nazirite and was set apart with supernatural strength from God to do His work in the nation of Israel. Samson became great in his own eyes and began to pursue women outside of God's plan for his life. During his wedding sermon to a Philistine women, Samson was so humiliated by her and the wedding guests that he sought revenge by killing 1,000 Philistine men.

We’ve certainly seen the Doctor’s pride and ego take over, at times.

Anyway, regarding Samson, Wikipedia says

He then falls in love with Delilah in the valley of Sorek. The Philistines approach Delilah and induce her with 1,100 silver coins to find the secret of Samson's strength so they can get rid of it and capture their enemy.

We saw this money scene playing out with River in THORS. However, as we also saw how not everything was as it looked. We saw the Roman cross behind the money ball with access to all the banks, as River is really trying to save the Doctor from this alternate universe.

Delilah keeps trying to figure out the source of his strength, and Samson keeps telling her different sources, which she tries to exploit. But they are all lies.

This is mirrored with River. She said the Doctor’s name in “The Name of the Doctor,” which would have led to his torturous death, except Clara saved him. River knows this alternate universe has to die.

Eventually after much nagging from Delilah, Samson tells Delilah that he will lose his strength with the loss of his hair. God supplies Samson's power because of his consecration to God as a Nazirite, symbolized by the fact that a razor has never touched his head. Delilah calls for a servant to shave Samson's seven locks, then woos him to sleep "in her lap" (either literally or figuratively). With this, Samson has finally broken the last tenet of the Nazirite oath; God leaves him, and Samson is captured by the Philistines, who blind him by gouging out his eyes. After being blinded, Samson is brought to Gaza, imprisoned, and put to work grinding grain by turning a large millstone.

Here’s where the Doctor is blinded by eyes being gouged out, like we heard and saw in multiple ways with other characters and references in “The Empress of Mars” analysis.

Ohila, in “Hell Bent,” told the Doctor that he had broken every code he ever lived by, and we see his fall in one way, kind of sort of, in that episode. We’ll see it from a different angle in this last upcoming episode of the season. So Missy may be playing Delilah, or will it be River or Clara? Or is there something else?

I’ve often wondered about Missy’s 3W Institute in the finale of Season 8 where we see Danny Pink die. While the episode suggest 3W stood for “I love you,” I also saw it potentially as being Missy, River, and Clara, where 3W stands for “3 Women.” Vastra and Amy fit in here, too, but that is beyond this right now.

Anyway to finish Samson’s story, according to BibleStudyTools.com:

The Philistines brought Samson out before a great crowd of rulers and thousands of people gathered in the temple to celebrate his capture. Samson's hair had begun to grow back and as he leaned against the pillars of the temple, he prayed to God for strength once more to defeat the Philistines. Samson used all of his might and pushed down the temple, killing himself and thousands of Philistines and rulers.

God forgave Samson and still accomplished great things through Samson. It was through Samson's destruction of the temple and his death that the Israelites were freed from Philistine rule.

So Mr. Razor is the metaphorical symbol of the razor in this Old Testament story.

And this is foreshadowing the rescue and the Doctor’s fall and death. This is just more evidence of what we’ve examined over and over. While he’s not supposed to fall in love, as we examined before, it is necessary for the rescue.

Wow, how cool is that!?

Anyway, there’s a lot more to this. It’s a truly epic love story that spans all of DW, but I’ll save this for later…

Operation Exodus & Genesis of the Cybermen

Wow, I’ve been geeking out, since the airing of the episode, about all the cool things that are coming together!

Operation Exodus explains why we saw all those robots in Season 8, including the half-faced man in “Deep Breath” wanting to go to the Promised Land – Heaven. However, that’s the wrong Book. We’re not in the 2nd Book of the Old Testament right now. Before that, we have the Fall of Man and the Doctor.

We’re back in the 1st Book: Genesis.

As we’ve examined in various chapters, we are, indeed, going back in time and telling the backstory of the Doctor.

This is the epicenter of the Time War.

Don’t Make the Doctor Angry: “The Unicorn and the Wasp” & 1056

We keep seeing Floor 1056 come up in “World Enough and Time.” But what does it mean? It has a connection to “The Unicorn and the Wasp” and is from The Devastator series of Doctor Who: Battles in Time trading cards, meaning the Vespiform sting.

I’ve been wanting to talk about “The Unicorn and the Wasp” since the very 1st episode of Season 10 aired. However, I ran out of time to put it in “The Pilot” analysis. I would have put it in “Knock Knock,” but I ran out of time there, too. Anyway, this is the 10th Doctor story with Agatha Christie in 1926 (yet another 1926 reference) where a murder takes place after the Doctor and Donna crash a garden party. The odd thing is that later we see a giant wasp that turns out to be the murderer.

The Hybrid

Well, it’s not quite that simple because it turns human, and the Doctor can’t figure out whodunit right away. The wasp is actually a hybrid, who doesn’t realize he is a hybrid for 40 years of his life because he grew up in an orphanage. Normally, he lives the quiet life as Reverend Arnold Golightly, the vicar of a small English village until his death in 1926. He is the son of a human mother and Vespiform father. Vespiforms are an ancient and wise insectoid species.

In 1926, some time after his 40th birthday, his church had a break in. His temper flared when he caught the bandits in the act, discovering he had the ability to change from a humanoid appearance into a wasp-like alien.

The thieves are associated with a Greek Cross, meaning they represent Doctors. From all the subtext story, this suggests to me that the Doctors intentionally are driving the Doctor over the edge, so he has something to fight for. We saw that with Missy using Clara to push him over the edge and go hell bent through the universe.

As far as insects go, Clara has called the 12th Doctor a stick insect. Of course, there’s the insectoid shadow that we looked at prior to the airing of TRODM.

The Unicorn

The Unicorn refers to Scotland. In fact, according to Wikipedia, “The Lion and the Unicorn are symbols of the United Kingdom. They are, properly speaking, heraldic supporters appearing in the full royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom. The lion stands for England and the unicorn for Scotland.”

Why the Wasp? & What’s “Knock Knock” Got to Do with It?

In 1991, Peter Capaldi appeared on the TV series Agatha Christie’s Poirot with David Suchet who played Poirot. Suchet also played the landlord in “Knock Knock.” These appearances by both actors are important.

Capaldi played Claude Langton, who was being set up for murder by someone who wanted to commit suicide in the episode “Wasp’s Nest.” Therefore, having David Suchet in “Knock Knock” was a strategic move to bring in a bunch of subtext.

The Patriarchal Cross

The connection to “The Pilot” comes in with the Patriarchal cross, which I haven’t talked about before since I have yet to post my Religious metaphors chapter. Due to lack of time, I’m going to skip the images. However, there are crosses on the university building that match the cross the reverend’s mother is associated with. Bill actually is associated with the Patriarchial cross. By the metaphors, that would make Bill the parent of the reverend, the Doctor. But there’s more pointing to this…

In “The Lie of the Land” analysis, we looked at the woman with the son at the beginning, who was taken away with the shoebox. The subtext showed she was a mirror of Bill. And the boy had a rabbit, a symbol of redemption.

Also, interestingly, Mr. Razor says

RAZOR: You are dear to me. You are my dearest person. You are like BILL: I know. RAZOR: A mother to me. BILL: Definitely not a mother. RAZOR: Or an aunt.

Mr. Razor is playing the 24th Doctor.

I have no doubt that Bill and the Doctor are related. She is playing, among other things, various Doctor’s faces. And she is the namesake of the 1st Doctor, William Hartnell, while Heather is the name of Hartnell’s wife.

Episode Title References: a Poem, a Book, the Apocalypse & Rescue

The title “World Enough and Time” is a brilliant reference, and obviously DW has had this reference in mind for a long time. The title references multiple things, but it initially alludes to a line from the 17th-century poem, "To His Coy Mistress," written by English author and politician Andrew Marvell. The bolded words are ones that I want to give more information about.

To His Coy Mistress

Had we but world enough and time,

This coyness, lady, were no crime.

We would sit down, and think which way

To walk, and pass our long love’s day.

Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side

Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide

Of Humber would complain. I would

Love you ten years before the flood,

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversion of the Jews.

My vegetable love should grow

Vaster than empires and more slow;

An hundred years should go to praise

Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;

Two hundred to adore each breast,

But thirty thousand to the rest;

An age at least to every part,

And the last age should show your heart.

For, lady, you deserve this state,

Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear

Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;

And yonder all before us lie

Deserts of vast eternity.

Thy beauty shall no more be found;

Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound

My echoing song; then worms shall try

That long-preserved virginity,

And your quaint honour turn to dust,

And into ashes all my lust;

The grave’s a fine and private place,

But none, I think, do there embrace.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue

Sits on thy skin like morning dew,

And while thy willing soul transpires

At every pore with instant fires,

Now let us sport us while we may,

And now, like amorous birds of prey,

Rather at once our time devour

Than languish in his slow-chapped power.

Let us roll all our strength and all

Our sweetness up into one ball,

And tear our pleasures with rough strife

Through the iron gates of life:

Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run.

So world enough and time is about the poet wishing he had more time with the coy lady. There are 4 other references that I highlighted worth mentioning here. We’ve seen lots of birds of prey lately. There’s the mention of the sun: the Doctor running with his companions to avoid the sunset and the passage of time.

Wow, how interesting the poet uses “My vegetable love”! That’s interesting when compared to the normal “animal love.” This most likely refers to a couple of things in DW. First, since we are talking about the Garden of Eden, garden goes along with vegetables. In fact, the Doctor mentions “garden”:

DOCTOR: Short version. Because of the black hole, time is moving faster at this end of the ship than the other. It's all about gravity. Gravity slows down time. The closer you are to the source of gravity, the slower time will move. (Jorj looks blank) If you're standing in your garden, your head is travelling faster through time than your feet. Don't they teach you this stuff at space school?

However, vegetable love may also come back to something we looked at with the “Heaven Sent” analysis in Chapter 17 of Fairytales and Romance in Doctor Who the 4th Doctor story “The Seeds of Doom,” where 2 alien pods land on Earth. One opens and creates a jungle-like environment. They can possess animals and take revenge on animals eating them. Plants and trees have an important place in the story. The basic plot is playing out in this finale. Just substitute people for plants.

The other reference in the poem is much bigger – “before the flood” – and alludes to multiple things.

Genesis & Noah, “Before the Flood,” & a Rainbow

With all the talk of the Book of Genesis, the line with “before the flood” takes on new meaning in DW. It’s a flood on a grand scale – an apocalyptic event, a Ragnarök of sorts. Of course, it refers to the story of Noah’s Ark, where God instructs Noah (a righteous individual) to build an ark to spare him and his family, along with some animals from the flood that will destroy the world before its rebirth.

The poem’s line also alludes to the Season 9 episode “Before the Flood,” where we see the Fisher King creating ghosts. So this flood is meant to destroy the source of the ghosts, the Fisher King, who actually puts his arms out and makes himself into a cross before he dies. He’s being crucified. The Fisher King, as we’ve examined, is supposed to be a good character from Arthurian Legend.

Because the flood was so devastating and people would fear rain, God made a promise to Noah and all Earth that he would never send another flood to destroy all life again. The visible sign he sent was a rainbow.

We saw a rainbow at the end of “The Eaters of Light,” just before everyone got in the TARDIS. While the episode was mostly about another view of “Face the Ravens,” it showed the outline for this week’s “World Enough and Time” (with people united together, pawns in the Chess game), and the rainbow to show the results of “Hell Bent” and the upcoming final episode.

The Flood & “The Unicorn and the Wasp”

The flood and waters relate to “The Unicorn and the Wasp,” too. Golightly’s mother Clemency told the story of how she had had an affair. When she came back to England, she locked herself away, saying she had malaria, to hide the pregnancy, even from her husband.

CLEMENCY: It was forty years ago, in the heat of Delhi, late one night. I was alone, and that's when I saw it. A dazzling light in the sky. The next day, he came to the house. Christopher, the most handsome man I'd ever seen. Our love blazed like a wildfire. I held nothing back. And in return he showed me the incredible truth about himself. He'd made himself human, to learn about us. This was his true shape. (A giant wasp.) CLEMENCY: I loved him so much, it didn't matter. But he was stolen from me. 1885, the year of the great monsoon. The river Jumna rose up and broke its banks. He was Taken At The Flood. But Christopher left me a parting gift. A jewel like no other. I wore it always. Part of me never forgot. I kept it close, always.

ROBINA: Just like a man. Flashes his family jewels and you end up with a bun in the oven. AGATHA: A poor little child. Forty years ago, Miss Chandrakala took that newborn babe to an orphanage. But Professor Peach worked it out. He found the birth certificate.

There is a geographical connection with the poem, as both have aspects set in India: Delhi and the Ganges, respectively. The poem, therefore, is meant to relate to Clemency and Christopher, the hybrid’s parents. Since we have multiple faces of the Doctor, who is whom?

Also, Golightly’s father died in a great monsoon, and the son, himself, drowned. The 2 characters who have drowned or nearly so, are Rory in “The Curse of the Black Spot” and the 12th Doctor in “Heaven Sent.”

The Poet & the Daughter

There’s even more to glean from this title reference. The poet and his tutoring give us some very important subtext, too. According to Wikipedia:

"To His Coy Mistress" is a metaphysical poem written by the English author and politician Andrew Marvell (1621–1678) either during or just before the English Interregnum (1649–60). It was published posthumously in 1681.

This poem is considered one of Marvell's finest and is possibly the best recognized carpe diem poem in English. Although the date of its composition is not known, it may have been written in the early 1650s. At that time, Marvell was serving as a tutor to the daughter of the retired commander of the New Model Army, Sir Thomas Fairfax.

Sir Thomas Fairfax Gives Us Information about the Rescue & Apocalypse

The Doctor is mirroring Marvell, who is tutoring Sir Thomas Fairfax’s daughter, played by Bill. According to Wikipedia, Sir Thomas Fairfax’s nicknames are “Black Tom” and “Rider of the White Horse.”

We’ve examined the Rider and the White Horse in connection with the New Testament Apocalypse in “The Lie of the Land” analysis. The White Horse symbolizes Conquest and there is a debate by some on whether the Rider is Christ or the Antichrist. DW is playing both sides of the war, which comes back to what we’ve examined in multiple ways: the Horse and Rider, along with the name Lucifer, CAL’s world and “Turn Left.”

In one universe, the Doctor is seen as the savior of the universe. However, in the other universe, he would be the Antichrist, the Destroyer of Worlds. According to Wikipedia,

Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 1612 – 12 November 1671), also known as Sir Thomas, Lord Fairfax, was an English nobleman, peer, politician, general, and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War. An adept and talented commander, Fairfax led Parliament to many victories, notably the crucial Battle of Naseby, becoming effectively military ruler of the new republic, but was eventually overshadowed by his subordinate Oliver Cromwell, who was more politically adept and radical in action against Charles I. Fairfax became unhappy with Cromwell's policy and publicly refused to take part in Charles's show trial. Eventually he resigned, leaving Cromwell to control the republic. Because of this, and also his honourable battlefield conduct and his active role in the Restoration of the monarchy after Cromwell's death, he was exempted from the retribution exacted on many other leaders of the revolution. His dark hair and eyes and a swarthy complexion earned him the nickname "Black Tom".

In the DW world, it sounds like Bill’s father (the Rider of the White Horse) is trying to rescue her. With the gender change, it could be her mother. Since Bill is a face of the Doctor, the Doctor’s Mother metaphor would apply to her. The Doctor, himself, has to be rescued, too.

This all foreshadows redemption and rightful restoration after the DW revolution.

Robert Oppenheimer & the Righteous War in the Bhagavad-Gita

I can’t get this relevant quote out of my head, so I’m adding it:

“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds” – Robert Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer, according to Wikipedia, was an

American theoretical physicist and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Oppenheimer was the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and is among those who are credited with being the "father of the atomic bomb" for their role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II undertaking that developed the first nuclear weapons used in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

…

Oppenheimer later recalled that, while witnessing the explosion, he thought of a verse from the Bhagavad Gita [shown above]

The Bhagavad-Gita is Hindu scripture in Sanskrit, which Oppenheimer could read. It is often just referred to as Gita. This is very appropriate to the Doctor and what is happening.

The Gita is set in a narrative framework of a dialogue between Pandava prince Arjuna and his guide and charioteer Lord Krishna. Facing the duty as a warrior to fight the Dharma Yudhha or righteous war between Pandavas and Kauravas, Arjuna is counselled by Lord Krishna to "fulfill his Kshatriya (warrior) duty as a warrior and establish Dharma." Inserted in this appeal to kshatriya dharma (chivalry) is "a dialogue ... between diverging attitudes concerning methods toward the attainment of liberation (moksha)".

This passage reminds me of the Ice Warriors and the Doctor in “The Empress of Mars,” pledging their duty as warriors.

Science & World Enough And Space-Time

Being that we are talking about Black Holes, space-time science is important. DW is using real science on the spaceship, when talking about time dilation. Time would be slower closer to the Black Hole due to the immense gravity. However, I do question the almost negligible space distance of 400 miles against the force of gravity of a Black Hole. I’m no expert and I’ll leave it at that.

Having said that, this is all metaphorical, and we know we are in the alternate universe, so it doesn’t matter. There’s plenty of other stuff that tells us other things aren’t right. The 400 miles, refers to the Library, once again.

I actually do see this spaceship-Black Hole relationship in the episode as brilliant. I’ll show you why in a bit.

Anyway, the title of the episode relates to a 1989 book by the American physicist John Earman called World Enough And Space-Time: Absolute vs. Relational Theories of Space and Time.

Goodread’s description says

Earman introduces and clarifies the historical and philosophical development of the clash between Newton's absolute conception of space and Leibniz's relative one.

It leads into Einstein’s theories on relativity.

BTW, I do love the title World Enough And Space-Time in relation to DW. It’s so appropriate.

Black Holes & the Eye of Harmony

Since we are touching on science and relativity, it seems appropriate to examine the Black Hole metaphor here, which includes the Eye of Harmony. The existence of the Black Hole metaphor in “World Enough and Time” is a reference to “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit,” so we know, from our previous examinations, that slavery and the Beast are involved. These last 3 Season 10 episodes have been about facing one’s beast.

The Doctor, Nardole, Missy, and Jorj are looking up at the Black Hole, which really is the Eye of Harmony. And it’s a djinni with an octagon. From “The Impossible Planet,” we learned that people could go mad by looking at it.

We need to revisit the definition of the Eye from the Wikia because it tells us what can happen. According to the TARDIS Wikia, regarding the Eye of Harmony in the TARDIS Cloister Room in the Doctor Who movie in 1996:

It was a stone structure shaped like a hemisphere which appeared to open outwards like an eyelid. While inside the Cloister Room of the TARDIS, the Master described the Eye as "the heart of this structure". The Doctor said it was "[t]he power source of the heart of the TARDIS." Both the Doctor and the Master claimed to Chang Lee that it belonged to the Doctor; the Doctor referring to it as "my Eye" and the Master saying that "now it belongs to him". The Eye responded to a physical linking device. The particular structure of a human eye had the effect of opening it.

Opening the Eye allowed the Master and Lee to see a visual projection of the Doctor's past and present forms and let them see what the Doctor saw so that they could find him. It also assisted in returning the amnesiac Doctor's memories. The Doctor claimed that if he looked into the Eye, his "soul" would be destroyed, and the Master would be able to take over his body. Leaving the TARDIS' Eye open for too long would result in space-time distortion, and any nearby planets would be "sucked through it".

Here’s where I find this situation with the Black Hole and the spaceship brilliant. From the movie, opening the Eye allowed the Master to see a visual projection of the Doctor’s past and present forms. This is exactly what is happening due to time dilation. On his TV, the Master has found the Doctor and is viewing him and others in their past and present forms at the same time, due to time dilation near the Black Hole in the Eye of Harmony. This is such a brilliant way to do this! It’s so elegant.

The Eye of the Black Hole is most likely the Doctor’s, as the movie suggests. That means the Master can take over the Doctor. There are multiple Doctors, so things aren’t the way they may seem. The Doctor has been taken over, but I’ll talk about that in another chapter.

Is the Doctor in the Opening an Imposter?

The Doctor in the opening appears different than we’ve ever seen him. OMG hair and fierce look. He also does something strange.

The Tardis materialises in a snowstorm. The Doctor steps out, falls to his knees and starts to regenerate. He cries out in pain.) DOCTOR: No. No. Nooooo!

The Doctor not wanting to go is a big red flag to me, especially for a Doctor who has been suicidal. I could possibly see that this is really him if he were in the middle of saving someone.

However, this is very much a Master thing to do. We know the Doctor has been usurped, so chances are that this is not the real Doctor.

BTW, the Doctor is wearing his raggedy 11th Doctor-type jacket again.

In the Next Chapters

We’ll take a look at how “World Enough and Time” is applying concepts set up in “Heaven Sent,” along with “Face the Raven.” Also, we’ll look at the meaning of “Doctor Who” as the Doctor’s title, how. We’ll also look at the Master, some really creepy subtext in the Hospital metaphor, the meaning of solar farms, Mondas, and more.

Read next chapter ->

#doctor who #twelfth doctor #bill potts #nardole #river song #clara oswald #eleventh doctor #missy #master #world enough and time #meta #analysis

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raystart · 7 years

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Fatherhood Forces a Selfish Creative to Grow Up

A friend called the other day. His partner is expecting their first child within the week. Two years ago they were living in a yurt. Now they’ve got wish lists of baby shower gifts on all the major e-commerce sites.

“I’m cranking on projects as fast as possible and remodeling the basement and replanting the yard,” he said, a little breathless, like a guy on too much Adderall. “But, really, I can’t wait! I’m super excited.”

I’ve never had an expectant parent tell me they were scared to death and kind of resentful, or worried that their entire way of being was about to change, or that their career as an artist/writer/musician/creativist was about to nose dive into a lumpy sea of incredibly malodorous baby poop…at least not within the first two paragraphs of a conversation.

This time it took about three minutes. My friend is 35. Because parenthood is a place that you can’t quite begin to imagine before you’ve found yourself marooned there (no matter how many books you’ve read), the only thing he really understood at this point about the coming years of self-sacrifice was the specter of sleep deprivation.

“I need a clear head to work,” he bemoaned. “There’s a certain flow to my day. How am I supposed to get anything done? What have I gotten myself into?”

***

Like many an aspiring artist before me, I entered the writing game, in part, because I fancied myself capable of making some kind of mark on the world. I started working at my craft with serious intent beginning around 11thgrade.

Later I followed my muse through the seamy underground milieu that became my journalistic beat—sometimes I pictured her as one of my idols, the anthropologist Margaret Meade, updated for the task with black jeans and Dr. Martens, a stainless steel throwing knife strapped to her ankle. I lived with a crack gang in LA, hung out with pitbull fighting middle schoolers in the ghetto of North Philadelphia—the most disappointing of the dogs were hung with electrical wiring from rafters of abandoned houses. I embedded with the Animal Liberation Front on a raid of a federal research facility—29 cats and seven miniature African piglets were saved that night. I lived inside a refugee camp in Gaza during the early days of the Palestinian Intifada. I even risked a days-old marriage engagement to my future ex-wife with an assignment at a swinger’s convention on the Gulf coast of Florida. I shall never forget one husband from Alabama, his greenish teeth: You gonna get with my wife, ain’t cha?

By the time I was 35, I felt like I was beginning to make some progress—the work I’d produced was the evidence, little darlings that had come alive and could speak for themselves.

When the idea of actual children came up, however, I was pretty militant: I believed I had a higher calling on this mortal sphere than mere parenthood– which, after all, is something anyone who is physically able can do. I wanted a quest, not an heir. To devote so much time and effort to the vain purpose of reproducing myself seemed a waste of my talent. I was, after all, the great river of Mike. I had a turbine to spin. Work to produce. A legacy to leave. To waste one drop of energy on such a mundane pursuit as child rearing seemed unthinkable.

That scene in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s? Where Paul (George Peppard) goes with Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) into the New York Public Library and takes out is own book? And she makes him sign it?

I could have died happy right there.

***

After no small amount of drama, I learned that nature takes its course, despite one’s grander plans. I might have considered myself an artist, but I was still human. My wife wanted a kid. I wanted my wife. I suppose that’s nature’s plan.

Going into fatherhood at 37, I remember being super excited—furiously baby-proofing the outlets and toilet seats, adding gates on the antique hand-tooled staircase, upgrading the master bathroom, equipping the whole house, upstairs and down, with air conditioners against the impending summer of high pregnancy.

I also remember being deeply fearful that I’d inalterably screw up this human life I’d so selfishly created. Or this human life I’d so selfishly created would inalterably screw up the artistic life I’d so selfishly created for myself.

At the time, I had some understanding of the sacrifices that were about to be made as I entered parenthood. I knew there would be no more staying up to all hours partying or reading, sleeping until the early afternoon. No more bragging about how, as a self-employed creative, I owned every hour of every day and nobody owned me. No more spontaneous smoky salons, full of deviant artistic types, taking place in my dining room. No more unplugging the clock, no more ignoring the needs of others, no more onanistic pursuit of the creative brass ring.

No more pandering to the spoiled and ill-behaved bon vivant who represented my inner creative.

For fifteen years, my talent had been my child. And there was nothing I wouldn’t give to him, do for him, sacrifice for him.

And believe me, he could be a crazy little fucker.

***

The first night we brought home my son from the hospital, we put him to sleep between us in the bed. Exhausted, my now-ex fell asleep immediately. I lay there wide awake, afraid I would roll over and crush him. As the hours wore on, I noticed my kid had a stuffy nose—kind of like both sides of the family, we’re all allergic. I stayed up all night, watching his chest move up and down, terrified he would stop breathing.

Over the next months and years of my fatherhood, the selfish creative inside of me was forced to grow up, though not without a fight. We don’t need to go into all the sordid details—let’s just say I was left with enough material to write a novel called Deviant Behavior, which I like to think of as a memoir of male post-partem depression.

But as time passed, and I realized exactly how much this kid needed me—and how rewarding, in the most elemental way, time with him could be—my creative self managed to mature and become a mensch, which is a Yiddish word that means, in a nutshell, “a person who does the right thing.” There was a new baby in the house. Everyone else had to grow up.

And so it was that I began to keep regular hours. I would stop work every so often to take a baby break, often interrupt my work entirely because some super-important errand had to be run (one of my crucial designated duties). Over the next two decades, hours of perfectly good creative time were spent sitting in doctor’s offices, on the floor playing with toys, on the couch watching Pokemon, in tiny chairs and then bigger chairs in school classrooms, on buses going to fieldtrips, in godawful bleachers, in a car driving back and forth from college.

Along the way, I learned that the mighty river of Mike could be diverted and that more tributaries could be formed, additional turbines supported. The old maxim about getting more done when you have more to do? I had a kid to help raise. Soccer and basketball teams to coach. Carpet wrestling to engage in. Homework to supervise. Ice cream to dip. Story time. Jump shot. Junior Prom. The Talk. Driving lessons.

Oh, and my career.

I have a photo on the wall of my office bathroom, one of my favorite hero shots—a selfie I took in a motel room in central California at six or seven in the morning. I was with my son at a basketball tournament. He’d played two games the evening before and was still asleep. I had a column due Monday morning. I wheeled the desk chair into the bathroom. The counter made a decent desk. The photo records the moment, the hero in a true life setting, daddy getting it done.

My son is 23 now. My services as a father are still needed, most often via text; we do on occasion collaborate on projects as colleagues, though that’s a piece for a different day. Sometimes, looking back on the years of his childhood—the early mornings, the school projects, the usual family sturm und drang—I wonder how I ever got anything done, much less managed to create some lasting pieces, and, yes, to make a small mark. Sometimes I also think about the way my son’s life changed the course of my career entirely. Because my son needed me, and because I wanted to be there for him, I made different choices, I stayed close to home and kept my travels to a minimum.

But I also know, without a doubt, that of all the stories I’ve done, of all the places I’ve gone and the people I’ve met, nothing has taught me as much as fatherhood.

Because raising a child is the ultimate creative act.

#startups #text #startup #advice #busieness #howto #news #tech #love

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yhebrew · 7 years

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The constellations give witness when men will not. This same signal was in the skies for two years when Yeshua Jesus was born in -3 BCE. It has been in our skies for two years since the Sabbath year 2014-15.d The Lunar Tetrad signaled the beginning of the fight for Jerusalem. The 8.21.17 solar eclipse signaled the troubles of Virgo’s water breaking.

Hurricane Jason was number 11…. Hurricanes: Paul ‘Harvey’ is telling us the ‘rest of the story’ being #9.a number of severing.. and Irma is #10…(yood..hand of G-d). There are nine stars making up Leo and three planets sit at his paw for a total of twelve (tribes of Israel) and twelve shakings.

Venus (Morning Star – Yeshua Jesus), Mars is next (Michael The Archangel of War). and the closest to the virgin is Mercury (Gabriel The Messenger Archangel). The messenger brings the message of WAR…who fill fight with Yeshua…to bring Jupiter’s (Father God) peace to the world. Michael was delayed 21 days as he was fighting with the Prince of Persia (Iran) earlier in scripture. He is the Warrior angel. Twenty-one days is that 20.6 half hour of silence that is spoken of in Psalms. Jacob was with Laban 20 years and came out of his silence from his family bringing forth Benjamin in the 21st year. Twenty-one years will end the silence….or it begins the silence…depending which end of it you’re on. Don’t think Greek…but think patterns…and Hebrew and Middle Eastern. Know the signals…

As I type Jupiter, (Father G-d) is half out of the birth canal of the virgin Virgo. The Hurricanes and earthquakes show the water breaking and the earth shaking. The total alignment of these constellations like this have not been seen for 7000 years.

Rosh Hoshanna is the Feast of Trumpets….September 21, 2017. Open your bibles….Draco the dragon (Satan) will swipe his tail and drop one-third of the hosts of heaven (evil spirits) to the earth. Comets?

Everyone should look up and take Revelation 12 very seriously. The woman is hidden…not taken…for 1260 days…42 days…3.5 years. The battle is won by the man-child (Yeshua) returning…but not before two witnesses intentionally speak more stress on the earth. The earth kills these witnesses and even give each other gifts in celebration of it. There are 144,000 virgin male Jews that also will be martyred for the cause The Torah. They represent the twelve tribes of Israel…the nine stars and three planets that make up twelve shining object in Leo…The Lion of Judah. This Lion leads Virgo that has the sun bathing her for all to see…and the dark moon at her feet…as she crushes the one at her heel…Satan. Do you know of any religion that uses the sliver of the moon as their symbol?

These witnesses have tried to bring God’s instruction back to the earth. Many are killed for this testimony and then it’s done…The earth is purified with Satan and demons locked up for 1000 years…one day…so men will be shown how to REST in The Anointed One…The Messiach.

2015 – Wars begin just before Rosh Hoshanna…the trumpet was blown. Eclipse warnings began that Feast of Tabernacles….two years ago…as I sat watching a couple share their wedding vows at Lake Paradise. It pictured what our Creator has meant for us to be…joined with him in a marriage covenant…that is seen in The Feast of Tabernacles..15 days later.

2016 – The struggle for leaders that will love Israel…. The last Trumpet of G-d was Trump… But, he can not divide Israel…there is NO two-state solution. The day his son-in-law was there and acted as an outlaw to Israel…Hurricane Harvey formed and then hit quickly. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina formed the day the last Jew was removed from Gaza. She hit the day the bulldozers plowed under their Gaza homes. They promised the Palestinians that Gaza/Hebron would be their new home. The Jew was never to return. When you remove someone’s home…they can NOT return. Katrina victims moved to Houston and never returned…but were displaced once again by Harvey. Our Creator will NOT forget…and will keep chasing us down as we continue to revolt against His plans. (He wants Israel in ALL her land…and more than she has now.)

2017 – Creation is at war with humanity…especially America at Rosh Hoshanna 2017.

2018 – Mankind seeks shelter in caves and wilderness with the woman to whom they have agree to graft into… The God man-child, The Messiach.

Read these current blog posts while you can. Many in Florida no longer have cell service…no electricity for several weeks. Texas the same. What has happened and what is still going to happen? Check with G-d….is he talking to you? There is a time of silence… time is about up…. To whom are you trusting your life to? As in the days of Noah has more meaning than you might ever know. Cain, Lot, Jonah all ran from God. Job held the course and did NOT deny who had created him. Noach built an ark showing his faith..Abraham and Sarah held the course for 100 years to see the ‘Seed’ Isaac of whom birthed Jacob renamed, Israel.

Yah’s (G-d) War is about establishing the earth back to the beginning of correction instruction on worship. If you know him…you will know his father…and nothing that He spoke was not from the father. They are in total agreement with this plan. There is a birthing taking place with troubles for 2520 days; 360 days year x 7 = 2520. There are problems for 1260 days….three years….and then Daniel speaks of 1290 days…add 30 days (1 month). It is a marker of still trouble….and then Daniel says that if you can make it tothe 1335th day you’ll be blessed. Read my my current blogs and you’ll see what being blessed means.

Are you willing to multiply on the earth? Are you willing to produce children that you instruct them in The Torah? The ways of the Bible as understood by Yeshua Jesus? He rested on the Sabbath…he did not have pork BBQ…or Pepperoni pizza…. Certain things were laid out that have proven to be very healthy for us…but that doesn’t even matter… We do it because He first loved us and died for the penalty that we bore because of sinning. He took that when The Creator himself laid his life down willingly on the cross (stake). No Jew killed him…if so…then I did it too and you did it too…we all did it…it ordained from the foundation of the world to make that sacrifice for mankind. Just as this day is ordained in the heavens from the foundation of the world. There is no surprise…in what is ready to happy.

Visual sightings are available, verbal messages have been sent and our bibles give witness to some of the greatest events to ever happen. They truly will be a Wonder…just as He is our Wonder. And all of this will send us into situations that will test our ‘faith’. It is time the Christian will give witness not to Mother Nature, but to the one really in charge of every hair on our head….The L-RD… The Great I AM has found us wonting…as the handwriting on the wall expressed to King Belshazzar. He became like a bird with claws and ate from the ground as a donkey. But, in the end his sanity came back and his kingdom was restored…but he truly was a changed man and knew that The Creator was in charge of all of life….

We’re going through this my friends as every pattern shows it. No one was lifted out…even Moses died…Enoch died at Mt. Sinai over 500 years of age. We haven’t had the entire story and thus have been lead astray. We prefer books that man tells us are the BEST to read because they don’t think we can look through the chicken bones and pick out the meat. Read The Book of Jubilees….let’s get straight so our King of Kings will still hear your prayers as you talk to him moment by moment as a comet comes to burn the earth. It will shake more than ever before…and it is all for us to one last time….ask ourselves…What do we believe. I believe in Yeshua, The Messiach because he first believed in me. I will NOT turn my back…but keep typing as fast as I can..giving testimony to the ONE true name in which to be saved….

YESHUA

It is in this name that a broken calf raised it head and then it’s hoof…. That will be my next witness in order to our Creator glory. Do you have a witness story? Pray and ask in sincerity….He does hear our request because He sees our hearts love Him…

Amein and love to each of you! We are only safe in Him…don’t run…TRUST….is enough!

Constellation Virgo lead by Lion of Judah in skies today..King of Kings being birthed by 9.23.17. The constellations give witness when men will not. This same signal was in the skies for two years when Yeshua Jesus was born in -3 BCE.

#Constellation Virgo Leo #Faith in Yeshua Jesus #Jupiter as King coming #King of Judah Virgin #King of Kings over Israel #Rosh Hoshanna Signal #Signs in Israel Trumpets #Woman taken to wilderness

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the-record-columns · 7 years

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June 14, 2017: Columns

Patience...

By KEN WELBORN

Record Publisher

As noted many times in this space,one of my favorite people in the whole world was the legendary attorney and judge, the late Max Ferree.

In one column, I admitted to having stolen stories from him for years, and, as his reply, he wrote me a beautiful letter which was vintage Max. In it, he acknowledged my sins, forgave me, then, as only Max could, admonished me to at least “Get them right from now on.” To that end, he mailed me a three pound packet of stories which I have dutifully used off and on for years, and faithfully given credit to Max.

What follows is, to me, the one most special.

In the year 1899, a young daughter was born to Sarah and William Max Ferree in the south mountains of Burke County. She was the fourth child born to Sarah, the other three being named Arthur, Lola, and Mabel. The Ferrees' named this child Patience, perhaps because Sarah died soon after the birth. This child was the pet of the family, even though William Max married Louise Morrison later on, who gave birth to H. Clay Ferree, the new baby of the family.

William Max Ferree was a south mountaineer, who had a small “jot 'em down” store which probably measured no more than 20' x 35'. He had counters and shelves in there together with a big pot-bellied stove. It was a gathering place for south mountaineers—a combination of saw millers, red clay farmers, and whiskey manufacturers on the creeks and branches that left the south mountains of Burke on the way to the Catawba River.

William Max was really proud of a new addition in his store, the same consisting of a paper cutter and a twine yarn holder. Afterward, every package sold there that needed to be wrapped in paper could be, with just the right amount cut with a cleaver off of a big roll. He figured that the combination paid for itself with a little extra charge on the dry goods he sold. One day in 1914, much to his consternation, he found that somebody had whacked off a bunch of paper on the rotary and messed up some string, allegedly in an effort to wrap something. He made inquiry of his entire family but all stood mute as to who has wasted loads of wrapping paper, which he sensed knocked the profit off quite a number of sales. Later on at Christmas, presents were being unwrapped and there for him was a package wrapped in such a fashion that he knew that the giver must of same must have been the culprit, who had messed up his string and wrapping paper earlier. William Max vamped a little bit and started taking the paper off the box and ream after ream came off.

As it did, he became angrier and he bellowed out, “You mean you used all of that wrapping paper, just to wrap this box?” He opened the box and it was empty. That added more fury. “You used all that just to give me nothing?” Then little Patience said, “But Daddy, what I gave you was all my kisses—I blew them all into the box, so it really took a big box to hold them and took a lot of wrapping paper. William Max held it up, hugged her, and took the box and left the room with tears in his eyes. Patience died during the flu epidemic of 1918-1919, Above all others, William Max took it the hardest.

In 1932 the old man passed on and left a Holographic Will, wherein he gave his old red clay farm to his wife Louise for life, the remainder over to his four children, H. Clay, Arthur, Mabel, and Lola. In his hand written will, William Max added this: “There is a box wrapped in paper and string on the upper shelf of our store back in the corner. Place this box in my coffin, because I've told Patience that I would bring the box to her when I came and I want to keep my promise and bring that box full of kisses, so that we might have it, God willing, through eternity.” Signed in the presence of God this the 4th day of March, 1919, by William Max Ferree – (Seal.)

To those interested, William Max's mandate was carried out and the box was placed in the home-made white oak casket, the interior of which was lined with worn blankets, the lower body covered with an old quilt. But the big box with all of the wrapping paper on it was placed across William Max's chest so that he might deliver it in person to Patience.

Max Ferree was born in 1924 to H. Clay and Hattie Poteat Ferree in Burke County, NC.

Quieting your brain

By LAURA WELBORN

Jancee Dunn asked the question “Can modern day multi-taskers really learn to quiet their minds?”. I for one have a hard time getting to quiet, I tend to have the TV on for no other purpose but noise as I talk on the phone or check my social media.

I personally had to train myself on another form of meditation- mindfulness. I found the following great strategies to get mindful. First I realized all you need to do is pay attention to your inner and outer experience in the present moment, without judgment. Ideally, you get mindful in a quiet spot- walking, sitting at your desk or even standing in line. It’s more important to be away from engaging distraction, such as your computer than it is for your space to be dead silent. Close your eyes or not, and settle your attention on the feeling of the normal, natural breath, where ever its most clear to you- the nostrils, chest or abdomen See if you can feel one breathe fully, then the next breath. Dunn states that it is hard for her to clear her mind of wandering but when you find your mind wandering the experts says to notice the thoughts and then just let them go.

Here is the beginning steps to getting focused or centered:.

Minute 1; breathe deeply shutting your eyes can help you focus on the inner workings of your body while leaving them open strengthens your ability to stay serene amid external distractions. Inhale for a count of four and exhale for a count of six.

Minute 2: find your natural pace

Stop counting and allow your breathing to fall into an easy rhythm. Pay attention to what your breaths feel like- not overly deep or shallow and compare that with your usual cadence. Tune in to the rising and falling sensation in your body from your belly to your shoulders.

Minute 3: stay focused. Continue to be aware of your breathing. If random thoughts (work deadlines etc.) pops into your head don't push them out or linger on them. Instead imagine each one as a harmless floating cloud. This visualization technique helps you acknowledge your worries without responding to the emotionally. If a thought still doesn't drift away from your mind, jot it down on a note pad and turn back to your mediation.

Minute 4: relax Release your focus on your breathing and simply be. Remind yourself that there is nothing to do, fix or change.

Minute 5: give thanks. Think about something that you’re grateful for, such as spending time with friends or having the chance to mediate. Then gradually transition your thoughts to how you feel: the relaxed stat and your heartbeat. Open your eyes stand up and start your day- cool calm and collected.

Research is showing us that mediating can actually form new and permanent neural connections in the brain. "Mediation trains your mind to focus on the moment instead of worrying about what occurred in the past or what could happen in the future" Janet Nima Taylor the author of Mediation for non mediators.

Recognizing value in every life

By EARL COX

Special to The Record

Autism spectrum is a developmental disorder with a range or “spectrum” of differing skill and disability levels. Affected people have social problems—difficulty communicating and interacting with others, and controlling their emotions. Autism has carried a stigma in Israel where, until 2014, schools often expelled students for misbehavior due to a lack of special-education guidelines. Autism also excludes young Israelis from military service, hindering their integration into society and prospects for future employment.

But that’s changing. Israel is pursuing research, treatment and rehabilitation, and addressing the need to broaden social services and housing for about 8,000 people with autism. One of its most stunning breakthroughs is the Israeli Defense Force’s recruitment of autistic soldiers for its Satellite Intelligence Unit. The soldiers spend hours scouring complex satellite images for incremental changes that indicate suspicious objects or movements. The young encoders’ extraordinary visual recall and attention to detail have saved lives.

Created in 2012 by former Mossad Director Tamir Pardo, the program, dubbed “Seeing Beyond,” harnesses the unique brilliance of the autistic mind. About one in three people with autism combine cognitive and social challenges with “profound” skills that psychiatrist Darold Treffert calls “islands of genius.” Autistic “savants” are geniuses in music, the arts, math or memory—like the IDF soldiers in the visual intelligence unit. These soldiers also learn life skills, like using public transportation, to help them overcome social and communication challenges. Other interventions benefit and nurture lower-performing children and adults with autism spectrum. Perhaps Israel’s growing experience can help build bridges with the Palestinians.

A Tradition of Humanitarian Aid

Israel has long helped its Arab neighbors, even enemy combatants, with humanitarian medical aid. In Gaza, “there are no resources, no services, nothing for [autism sufferers],” said Palestinian researcher Mohammed Habash. In the West Bank, stigma and discrimination, poor education and social services, and war compound the problem, said Professor Sarah Dababnah. Local schools turn affected children away, so they stay at home. Families struggle with inaccurate diagnoses from untrained doctors, and no statutory social services or financial support exists. Nonprofits and a few dedicated advocates struggle to fill the vacuum, she said. Parents face emotional distress, with mothers often blamed for their child’s disability. Lacking early intervention, affected children grow up unable to communicate, use the toilet or feed themselves. Many try to hurt themselves or throw destructive tantrums. According to Habash, about 15 percent of parents think autism is a result of war between the Palestinians and Israel. Others blame watching TV, or simply have no understanding what’s wrong with their child.

Recently, Lifegate, an EU-funded, West Bank nonprofit, participated in an autism conference at Ziv Medical Center. Lifegate Director Burghard Schunkert called the cooperation with Israeli doctors, therapists and institutions “very heartening.” It’s important to keep up with the latest research, he said. “That’s why we’re here.”

See beyond the barriers

But while shared research and resources are vital, there’s a thornier issue at stake. The IDF autistic soldiers’ unit is unique because of the mindset behind it—the value Israel places on human life, and its corresponding desire to see people reach their full potential.

But in the Palestinian territories, people are expendable—an attitude influenced by the officially sanctioned mindset of glorifying and inciting death by martyrdom or terrorism. That’s why parents don’t quibble when their children are taught, not to excel and prosper, but to stab and kill Israelis. Muslim reformer Islam al-Behery says a “change of heart” is the key to successfully bring Palestinians and other radical Islamists into the 21st century. If the Palestinians could see value in every life, perhaps they would spend less money supporting terrorism and invest in strengthening the most vulnerable of their own. Surely their hope and future would become better. This humanitarian need is another opportunity for Israel to be a model to its neighbors—by sharing knowledge and resources to enhance the quality of life. Israel is indeed changing the world for the better yet for this they receive little recognition and very little appreciation.

Brighten your day.

A Full Moon On the Island and Amy’s Stories

By CARL WHITE

Life in the Carolinas

It was to be a full moon night when I arrived on the Island, I had checked into The Cove Bed and Breakfast, as is my normal habit when researching for another Island story.

Sharon is the Inn Keeper and has a good feel for everything happening on Ocracoke. I ask if there were anything interesting going on that night and see said, well Amy is doing the Ghost Tour that blends in a lot of the Island history. An historic ghost tour on a full moon night sounded perfect. Sharon made the call and I was added to the list.

The tour was conducted by ninth generation Ocracoke resident Amy Howard who has been a tour guide for more than 12 years.

There was a good number of people who showed up for the tour which started at 7:15pm. We were all warmly greeted on Howard Street and provided with a selection of mosquito repellent for which we were all grateful.

The tour was full of history that spanned from the settlement of the Island, War time, a variety of colorful personalities and of course stories of the unexplained.

We learned that dreams were taken seriously on the island. A dream of death or disaster concerned everyone. One such dream was had by Fannie Pearl MacWilliams. Born in 1894 she was the daughter of Department store owners John and Elizabeth MacWilliams. The family lived in a large Victorian home not far from the Ocracoke

Lighthouse. This was also a time when traveling from one side of the island to the other was not easy.

When Fannie Pearl was 16 she was a student of and Robert Stanley Wahab, who had returned to the island after going away for higher education. Stanley was only six years her senior and it was not long before they found themselves attracted to each other.

Fannie Peal was an accomplished student and her further education was supported by her parents who decided to send her to a boarding school off the island. When Stanley learned that his sweetheart would be leaving the island he sought employment in the Norfolk area so that he could be near Fannie Pearl. There love continued to grow and they were soon married. Not long after at the age of 18 Fannie Pearl discovered she was with child.

In 1912 the custom of the day was for expecting women to not be seen in public, so Fannie Pearl returned to the Island to stay with Martha Ann Wahab, her mother in law. Stanley continued to work in Norfolk and he sent money to his wife on a regular schedule.

At breakfast on one fall morning Martha Ann noticed that Fannie Pearl seemed sad, however she was unwilling to talk about the reason for her uncommon despair. It as later in the day that Fannie Pearl shared with her mother in law that she had a dreadful dream, in which she had died. She said that her spirt hovered over her own lifeless body that had been dressed in a solid white dress and placed in a white silk lined white casket.

The casket was then placed on a freshly white painted sailing skiff. On calm waters a silvery white moon suddenly rose against the distant live oaks on the far horizon.

Naturally Martha Ann tried to comfort Fannie Pearl, however it was not easy. The next morning Martha Ann called for upstairs for Fannie Pearl to come down for breakfast, there was no response. She called again and still no response, with concern she took the stairs and opened the door to reveal the lifeless body of Fannie Pearl.

Stanley was notified as soon as possible, he responded with a request to please do nothing until he returned. He quickly made plans to travel and went to find the best casket he could afford for his young bride. With the casket loaded on his pickup he made his way to wait for the mail boat to arrive.

The four-hour trip to the island was with a heavy heart and upon arrival things moved quickly. Fannie Pearl was to be buried on the other side of the water with her parent’s family plot. This was not an easy task and the only way to quickly make the trip was to utilize a skiff. About mid-way across Martha Ann who was in the skiff behind the boat caring the body of Fannie Pearl, gasp as she saw the new silvery moon and realized that the details Fannie Pearl shared about her own death had come to pass just as she described.

As Amy Howard shared this story, I turned and started taking pictures over Silver Lake. It was a full moon night, however the full moon was behind me. It may have been dust, a moth or whatever, but whatever it I was, it was on perfect cue for Amy's Story. Rest In Peace Fannie Pearl.

Another interesting visit to Ocracoke Island.

Carl White is the executive producer and host of the award winning syndicated TV show Carl White’s Life In the Carolinas. The weekly show is now in its seventh year of syndication and can be seen in the Charlotte viewing market on WJZY Fox 46 Saturdays at 12:00 noon. For more on the show visit www.lifeinthecarolinas.com, You can email Carl White at [email protected].

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