For decades it had simply been known as ‘The Great Mystery’ by the colonists. Indeed it was a wonder to them that the opening existed at all. Upon landing, the colonists had discovered the opening that gave entry into the little valley. The fine soil and natural protection had led them to place a substantial part of their greenhouse agriculture in that valley. That was why the colonists survived. Josiah the colonist and Josiah Zimmerman walked through the arch one afternoon in their spacesuits. Josiah the colonist told the story as they stared up at the 90’ wide archway that rose 215’ above them. Young Zimmerman found the whole scene strangely familiar.
Really, this looks just like a place I remember from my boyhood,” young Josiah mused. “It is the spitting image of the Natural Bridge in Rockbridge County. My grandfather would take me there. We would stand under the arch and look up at it. He would whisper “MOHOMONY.” That is what the Monacan Nation called it and it was a sacred place to their people. The name was alternately translated ‘Great Mystery’ or ‘The Bridge of God.’
The Monacans were a Souix people who lived in the Valley of Virginia. Once a band of Monacans were being pursued by a much larger army of Powhatans and in their distress they prayed. They had been pressed to the edge of a deep chasm, the valley of Cedar Creek. Escape was impossible. But looking up they saw the natural bridge that spanned the chasm. They hurried their women and children across it. Now the warriors turned and faced their enemy on the narrow bridge. The larger Powhatan force was reduced by the width of the bridge and that day the Monacans prevailed.” Grandfather never tired of telling that tale.
When the unmanned lander had sent its rover through the arch, no one thought to pan the camera up. It remained a secret until the relief shuttle crew walked through it.
Josiah Zimmerman thought of the Virginia colonists and how they had discovered a bend on the James River that looked just like the bend in the Thames River at a place called Richmond. Thus the capital of the new place took its name from its similarity to a place familiar. Here in a faraway and forbidding place was a scene familiar as well – and even more amazing, it too played in a story of Divine deliverance. In the times to come, it too would become known as ‘MOHOMONY.’
Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.” – Joshua 4:4-9
THE END
The next few weeks were a whirlwind of activity as Big Diomede readied for the celebration! The little chapel on the island always seemed happiest when it rejoiced with the bride and bridegroom and Mrs. Greene spared nothing in decorating it. But all the while they wondered – who was third on their crew? Both were well trained in the work of spaceflight and balanced simulator time with getting fitted for wedding clothes. Abiyah Ben-Gurion was suspected, but he was getting older and didn’t visit the simulator rooms much anymore. He was, many people noted, taking lots of long walks with Adam now.
Adam had followed in the footsteps of his capable parents and was a great pilot in his own right. He was a loner like his dad had been and everyone assumed he must like it that way. He did seem to have a lot to discuss with dad these days. Was his dad in fact going back to Mars? He still passed the physical – with a few ‘look the other ways’ by the flight surgeons.
We’ll never know for sure, but if the truth be known, I doubt it was clear who would go; Abiyah or Adam, as they talked it out but clearly the father felt some responsibility for the colony and the son loved his father. He had rebelled some as a youth but he now saw how wonderful his upbringing had been. The virtue of gratitude – the only virtue Abiyah would lay claim to, had been passed from father to son!
Though the older Ben-Gurion was methodical in his attempts to discourage his son, he was also quite proud of him. In the end, it was Adam who begged his father for the chance to complete the work that he had begun. Sarah and Abiyah, of all people, were uniquely able to understand the drive of their son. Since they knew Josiah, Adila and Adam quite closely, seeing them work together at school, they saw a team that was every bit as capable as the team of Cohen – Ben-Gurion decades before them. Now they congregated frequently at the Ben-Gurion home for meals and conversation.
After the wedding, the three began training for the mission in dead earnest. All three of them expressed some disappointment that meeting the best launch window meant missing the World’s Fair in Fairgate, but that was a small concern. The Martians were waiting. Josiah and Adila also sought out the company of the Greenes and over macaroni and cheese, they discussed such things as the journeys of Paul in the First Century. Surely they were following in his footsteps. “What constitutes a nation in the eyes of the Divine?” Dr. Greene asked his pupil and his pupil’s wife as they supped together.
The dictionary says, ‘a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.’” Responded Josiah.
THE END (Epilogue) [Click to Read]
West concluded the meeting saying “You must think it over. We must know that this is something you do of your OWN volition. We have reached out to those who might be your fellow crewmen. Of course, they and you are sworn to secrecy. Just think, if the news media in the ‘Lower 48’ get a hold of this, they’ll start making all sorts of statements and demands. You know how they love to paint the Alaska Republic as a ‘cold and uncaring’ entity. Even though APOLLONIUS destroyed his own colony, they’ll make us the villains. They’ll accuse us of marooning the settlers there. There will be any number of ‘conspiracy theories.’”
I… must pray, and let you know then.”
In the days that followed, Josiah Zimmerman sought the continued counsel of Greene and Ben-Gurion, who for their part, happily gave him all the time he needed. Of course, he wanted the adventure, and the purpose of the mission. What would his parents think? What about his fiancé, Adila? He understood the secrecy and its necessity, but he didn’t even know who he was crewing with. In the Twenty-first Century such commitment to the unknown was rare to ask of anyone. It was something out of another time. So Josiah Zimmerman screwed up his nerve and sought out Dr. Greene, spilling his fears and concerns. The good doctor said little, but said he’d arrange a meeting soon to help him through this.
A week or so later, Greene sent a message that Josiah should come to the chapel office that afternoon at 2:00pm, Big Diomede Time. The young man arrived freshly showered and somewhat out of breath. He was surprised to see his parents and Adila there! With them were Sarah and Abiyah Ben-Gurion and their son Adam. “We are the first three people to set foot on Mars.” Abiyah said, and he went on to explain that Greene was not going to be there as he had a granddaughter’s dance recital to go to that afternoon. “Besides, he told me he’s pretty much out of advice for you anyway. He WILL be present to counsel you about another step you might take in life – one that I think will come up in the discussion this afternoon.”
Ben-Gurion continued “I’ve invited Adila’s parents to this meeting as well. I think you know Sarah and my story. The secret marriage and all – and you know how Adam was already with us when we set foot on Mars. Sarah touched the planet slightly before me, but that is for the historians to sort out. In the Guiness Book of World Records, we’re tied at the moment. Since Adila is fluent in five languages and aerospace studies as well, she was also a logical choice for this mission.”
Since our mission,” Sarah chimed in, “Mission Control has written stricter policies about things such as our ‘secret marriage,’ if you get my drift. But, since you have already made it quite clear that you are committed to each other, we just want to make sure you know that you need not decide without the benefit of blessing. And we sure do not want you deciding in the dark without input from those who love you.”
Adila spoke next: “Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.” – the words of Ruth to Naomi, but also much referenced in marital loyalty as well.
The two of them would follow in the footsteps of Abiyah and Sarah. They set to work planning their wedding.
(to be continued)[read more]
Hannah brought out the coffee for the young man who had just arrived at the Zimmerman Organization Headquarters in Wales. In true form to the local traditions, Josiah poured her a cup, then one for himself. It honored Zimmerman’s Mother who was an engineer in that formerly male dominated profession decades ago. Rupert Zimmerman had insisted the practice continue as a memorial to her. In fact, the culture of the bridge now contained many such nods to those who had paved the way. Josiah had laughed at them in his youth, but now he had come to learn that they were rooted most of all in a sense of reverence for the Divine, who made families and gave wisdom to be passed from generation to generation.
Soon they were joined by Alan West, Flight Director for Cape Lisbon, Rupert’s Granddaughter, Chief Engineer of the Zimmerman Organization, Elizabeth Zimmerman O’Malley, CEO, Abiyah Ben-Gurion and Jon Greene, Professors of the College on Big Diomede.
Mrs. O’Malley began, “My Father devoted his life to making a way for mankind to go where we’d never been before. He considered himself most blessed that he lived to see the things he did. But he always felt a responsibility to those he felt he’d recklessly lead there. It is in that spirit that I have called us together. That drive led us to go to another world and now there are people living there in some confusion. We do not want to send ‘Great Northern’ back there – we don’t even think it is wise, but we’d like to reach out to the colonists and try to help them.”
West offered, “We could continue to supply them remotely with unmanned landers. Eventually they’d have enough landers that some of them could return to Earth, if they so desired. But it is painfully obvious that they feel alienated from us – and our traditions. We feel a human touch would do much to ‘build a bridge,’ if you get my drift.”
Greene observed, “Ray Bradbury once wrote about a similar scenario. Earth is destroyed in a nuclear war but a family takes a rocket on a "fishing trip" to Mars and they escape destruction. They destroy all artifacts of their old ‘misguided’ life. Later, the father offers his sons a gift in the form of their new world. He introduces them to Martians—their own reflections in a canal. That is what we have here. You once said you wished for an unreached world to reach. May I introduce to you the Martians?”
West interjected “It would mean nine months in a fairly cramped environment. There is some risk in any spaceflight and we plan to send a crew of three. There would be no guarantee as to how the colonists would respond when you landed. It seems there are several factions and they disagree on things sharply.”
Josiah’s mind wandered to the story of Nathanael "Nate" Saint, who along with four other men, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Roger Youderian, sought to establish communication with the warlike Huaorani of Ecuador. They set out in a little yellow Piper PA-14 and landed on a beach of the Curaray River. Though the Huaorani had enthusiastically received gifts lowered in a bucket from the plane earlier, they murdered the five men with spears on January 8, 1958.
Though the men were armed, they did not want to kill any Huaorani and they did not use their weapons. West said “I think it prudent to give you some means of protecting yourselves, but I cannot guarantee anyone’s safety at this point. We could continue to send supplies by unmanned craft, but I think they need to see us as more than that, if you know what I mean.” (to be continued)[read more]
Ben-Gurion was wrestling. In the end he decided to take young Zimmerman into his confidence. Though the events on Mars were at the moment shrouded in secrecy, it would soon enough be time to let relatives of those who had survived know the fate of their loved ones.
He began, “Do you remember the Mars Mission before you were born? I was the pilot.”
Yes, a sad one, to be sure. No one survived on the planet’s surface. It must be painful for you to remember.”
Abiyah leaned closer, “We just sent an unmanned ship to the colony. There were survivors and we’ve been in conversation with them!”
The young man gasped.
Survivors – but HOW?!”
Ben-Gurion related the events that had transpired over the last year. He described the condition of the colony and the quandary it presented. “You see,” the professor concluded, “they see themselves, wretched as their lives are, as quite severed from Earth.”
So, am I to understand,” said Josiah, “that they have just enough technology to consider themselves self-sustaining, though they lack for so much we would consider basic essentials?”
Exactly, and MY quandary is what do we do next. They’re always on the verge of killing each other yet they fear us back on Earth more. APOLLONIUS taught them well, but he left out the most important lessons. They could stand to read Moses! Even though he killed the Egyptian, he thought better of it.”
Abiyah continued, “I am wrestling, my young friend – wrestling with making of you a most unusual request. Jon Greene and I are aware of your unique – gift, and your quandary as to how to use it. Obviously it would make more sense for ME to go to Mars, but I am a man of family. The other astronauts are largely technicians. They love their job. They man the defense platforms and in practice they get to blow stuff up, but they communicate in monotonous bursts. I am thinking we need someone gifted to ‘build the bridge,’ as it were.”
In Shalom, the Biosphere community on Big Diomede, as in the whole Zimmerman Organization, ‘Building the Bridge’ carried great meaning. It was a term not spoken lightly.
(to be continued)
Young Josiah Zimmerman knocked on the office door of Abiyah Ben-Gurion. “Come in.” Professor Ben-Gurion said. “I am deep in a quandary.” The young man said.
Ben-Gurion loved young Zimmerman. The young man had originally arrived at the school to study Aerospace Engineering but after a stirring talk by Dr. Greene in chapel, he experienced what the old-timers call the ‘Burning Bosom.’ Persuasive and articulate, the young man saw his gifts most applicable to some sort of evangelism, but he still loved the sciences. As with many young people who are so blessed, young Zimmerman struggled with his calling and his passion, and that is why he sought out Ben-Gurion. Abiyah was a deeply rational man, but he seemed to understand that man was more than a rational machine. The professor’s walls were filled with amazing floral photography that he had taken. He was quiet about his faith, but it was well known that he always left his office on Fridays long before Sundown. He often slipped over to Wales in time to be there when it was Saturday so he could worship in the manner of his Fathers. His voice reading the Holy scrolls was known only to a few people, but they knew it was beautiful.
What his students saw was the strength of his character. He was tough, but fair. He met you at eye level and would listen. He was downright reluctant to give up on a student. He had helped Josiah Zimmerman understand that his heartfelt need to study Spiritual matters was a good thing. “The Divine will see to it that you have opportunity. You, my friend, must keep your eyes open and learn to recognize it.”
Ben-Gurion, at the moment, was wrestling too. He had just received the latest transcript of West and Josiah’s conversation on Mars. “Those Martians are like sheep without a shepherd,” he thought to himself. Peering at the young man seated across the desk from him he wondered, “Could this man be the answer.”
The re-assimilation proposal had been floated with Josiah of Mars. He in turn had visited the Council with it. Not surprisingly, the APOLLONIUS faction was against it. Those closer to Josiah and Allison were cautiously interested in hearing more. As a group, they met the repatriation proposal with a resounding sentiment of “Not so fast.”
Ten spaces sat waiting in the lander. No one would step up to be first to go. Josiah might have been tempted but there were a few things that stopped him cold. First of all, he sensed that the volatile colony might indeed disintegrate upon his departure. More than once, he and Allison had defused some tense situations in the new colony with some old fashioned thinking. Josiah shuddered as he thought of how close the colony had come to chaos. He didn’t love his job, but he feared the vacuum.
He and Allison had children. If everyone dear to Josiah returned with him there would be room for only a couple of other colonists. Josiah would not leave his family, especially to an uncertain future. Their children knew nothing else than the red world they inhabited now with its green biospheres. If more landers were available in the future it would be fine but that would require some negotiations and some guarantees.
(to be continued)
As Josiah related it to West on Earth, it was not so clear how it started. He began with a bit of background, “You know, we now were ready to create a new evolution of human institutions so we intentionally cast off a lot of the ‘archaic’ rules of the past. Our society became a pragmatic one. We don’t force monogamy, for instance, insisting only that the society as a whole take responsibility for the needs of the children. Well, most of the settlers simply paired off like in the old days. They raised their own kids. They lived quiet lives. But there were some of the APOLLONIUS faction that were not content to stay within the lines. Human jealousy, I’m afraid, is still very real and when a man lies dead and another stands with a bloody stone in his hands asserting his boundaries, the institution’s response is not so clear anymore.”
What did you do next?” West asked.
Well, we don’t believe in capital punishment, so the question was how to deal with the crime. The killer was simply restricted to his portion of the greenhouse and was informed that if he ventured forth he would simply be forcibly returned. It was an answer, but it was not a good one. Over the years you can see the tension between his people and the people of the victim. Our society, I fear, is a very fearful and unsettled one at the moment. I’m beginning to wonder if we can actually achieve the vision APOLLONIUS left us with and I don’t say that lightly. Mr. West.”
So, should we begin to evacuate you? We can only move ten out in the transport that just landed, but we can send others. We can resupply the colony as we gradually get you home.”
But there are those who see this as home, and the life they’ve fled so wretched, that I believe they will not come.”
Think about it, Josiah, and we will formulate a plan for your evacuation and reassimilation.”
That ship never came. For decades the little band struggled on. Josiah struggled to lead them. A small core of APOLLONIUS devotees were always perturbed that the collective mindset originally prescribed was not adhered to. They were led by Mark and Sergey, who had barely made it through Elizabeth Zimmerman’s vetting process. Though the group as a whole dispensed rapidly with addressing each other by number, Mark and Sergey resisted that change to the bitter end. Finally it was only them referring to each other by number anyway. Then they gave it up.
The problem was that the two of them brooded together privately and stirred up some dissention publicly. Sergey would often interrupt Josiah with the statement, “that’s not by the book.” He was committed to restoring the purity of the original colony mission as he saw it. Josiah’s leadership was necessary now but in the long run it would have to go.
The two doctors gravitated to this mindset. They arrived at the colony both expecting and when their babies came they attached themselves to some men of the APOLLONIUS faction. APOLLONIUS was not the only person on Earth pushing for colonization, they reasoned. Others would follow and they would be the charter village of the new order when the latecomers arrived. Josiah had inventoried the remaining stores and they were actually not in any immediate danger of depleting resources. The doctors, for their part, did not strongly resist the change to home education. They considered their children the rightful heirs of APOLLONIUS and intended to raise them as such. Combined education might indeed get in the way of that.
Then there was the Allison/Josiah faction. They held rule of the colony by necessity and because of Josiah’s giftedness in that area. Even their enemies acknowledged this. The loss of APOLLONIUS had left most of the colonists quite rudderless if the truth be known. Steeped in the Progressive thought that had been overshadowed by a rebirth of Faith in the North Country, they were quite capable of creating institutions but clueless as to the deeper stirring of human nature that seemed to make them run so wretchedly.
The new colony was to have no prisons, but it became clear over the years that the folly that necessitated them was still present in humankind. Though they had cast off all of the antiquated beliefs and institutions, they were surprised at the dark shadows that had followed them across the solar system. Josiah dealt with the raft of petty crimes within the community with an application of something very much resembling the old ‘Golden Rule.’ When thievery was discovered, restitution was expected. Abusive and violent situations were not so easy. Initially mandatory separation of the aggressive parties seemed to work, but then there was the murder.
(to be continued)
Having quite likely spared the colonists the agony of the Pilgrims’ first year, Josiah and Allison divided the greenhouses into plots. They encouraged the building of mud houses on one’s own section and the mere expediency of being on the land gave each settler a sense of purpose when he or she awoke in the morning. There even developed a bit of healthy competition in keeping one’s rows straighter than that of her neighbor. The result was, of course, a better yield than the original collective method might have produced.
The artisans who ran machines that wove cloth, the repairers of pressure suits, the makers of fired pottery and plates all collected in houses close to one another and although this was to have been a cashless society, a simple accounting and currency system emerged nonetheless. Eventually a little cookhouse developed into a tavern. The owners fermented a bit of grain for ‘personal use’ at first but as the years passed, they made enough to share and then sell. Their skill in preparing food did not go unnoticed and soon they were a regular stop for the settlers. There much discussion and business would be transacted.
There were no movies. There was no radio. All of the really high technology had been destroyed in the explosion, but somehow the noisy engines of agriculture and production had been relegated to the fringe… and that is why they survived. Evenings were quiet and the settlers eventually produced children. Although APOLLONIUS was originally planning to raise them in collective nurseries, the simple life of the settlers made it more logical for small family groups to raise their own children. In the decades that followed, those children had children. That is why the colony now had 122 souls. Obviously that part of colonization worked pretty much as planned.
As the years passed, youthful Josiah found his hair tinged with grey. He now watched grandchildren play in the yard of the much enlarged mud house. He vaguely remembered a phenomenon that someone in the Zimmerman Organization had referred to as ‘White Dog Thinking.’ It seems that in his younger days, Zimmerman had known a couple who were so convinced that the world was so awful that they decided to have no children. Instead, they lavished their affections on a series of large white dogs. The colonists, for their part, were so steeped in the mindset that they needed to be fruitful that as bad as things seemed, they never succumbed to ‘White Dog Thinking.’ Surely another ship would come and the colony would go on. The world they had left was really a bad place, they reasoned. It was only a matter of time until Mars became what APOLLONIUS had envisioned – a new home and hope for humanity!
(to be continued)
An hour or so later, Allison heard voices. Then the two stepped into an open area where the remainder of their colonists stood assembled. A heated discussion was underway about the future of the colony. Men and women who had been subjugated into numbers struggled openly with the task before them of leading the colony. The two Russian doctors had tried to take charge but that had obviously gone badly. There was already emerging a faction that blamed APOLLONIUS and anyone associated with him for the present calamity. Another faction, equally as vociferous, blamed the AAR. The truth was that no one at the moment really trusted either. As Allison and Josiah stepped into their midst, they became silent.
In the reality of farming a new world, it was already obvious that there were those who labored harder than others. It was also obvious that there were those who felt their status allowed them to live off of the labors of others. Here, many miles from Earth, was a scene from the time the Pilgrims set foot in America. The ‘Common Course and Condition’ had resulted in general lack of initiative among the colonists as a group. Josiah stepped forward. Relating the story of his and Allison’s survival, he then suggested a division of labor more in keeping with the flight director’s world that they inhabited. Each colonist would be given a section of greenhouse as their own. They would be responsible for their own sector’s productivity.
Indeed, they would need to cooperate and work together, but Josiah had now insured that each area would have a responsible person over it. In doing so, he unwittingly ‘elected’ himself leader of the APOLLONIUS Colony on Mars.
Josiah then asked how so many of them were in the particular area that survived. Amazingly, all but APOLLONIUS and a couple of launch officers were here intact after an event that might have destroyed them all.
It seems that APOLLONIUS had chosen to launch his missile at the time of an important farming lecture. The whole colony turned out, concerned that they really were confused and they wanted to learn more as a matter of survival. Even the doctors showed up, skeptical of the health claims in the course’s description. They would, they thought, weigh in to discredit it. The result was that the colony itself was quite uninhabited at the time of its destruction. Had APOLLONIUS planned this? That might never be known, for he and his launch technicians perished quite suddenly in the explosion.
Ironically, the basic farming methodology for the colony was from a text known as ‘Squanto’s Garden,’ which had guided the Northern greenhouse culture. It invoked the simple methods of early farmers and avoided heavy use of pesticides.
(to be continued)
In the darkness of the bunker, Allison and Josiah suspected something terrible had been attempted and thwarted. They now prepared to die. The bunker, however, had been provided with ample oxygen for more crew members than it now held and the two settled in to a routine as they waited for the radiation levels outside to subside. Then they donned pressure suits and pushed open the hatchway. Digging through the rubble they eventually emerged on the cratered surface. That night they watched the Great Northern arc across the Martian sky. “Tomorrow we’ll try to create an’S.O.S.’” Allison said. That night was the last time they saw Great Northern pass overhead.
Allison and Josiah looked hard at the suicide pills. There was a problem, however, as they would have to get into a pressurized space to remove their helmets and take them. Removing the helmets, they correctly surmised, would lead to a painful death if they did it in the rarified Martian atmosphere. The pathway back into the bunker was very unstable. “Let’s see if any greenhouses have survived past the ridge.” Josiah said as they began the long walk out. There might be a place where they could go in, remove the helmets and take the pills. Then they could sit in the gardens as their lives ebbed away.
They walked for most of a day. “I wonder what happened to the tractor?” Allison thought to herself as they trudged on.
Threading through a small crevasse in the ridge, they saw the tractor. A pressurized personnel trailer was attached to it and it sat parked at the airdock of the closest greenhouse. The greenhouses sheltered by the ridge had indeed survived and likely there would be others there. The helmet radios were short range by design so they would have to enter the airlock to find out. They proceeded to do so and soon stepped into a biosphere garden, lush with all forms of edible plant life.
The greenhouses were large, with pathways laid out in a grid and graveled so as not to become mud in the constant irrigation. Up ahead, Allison spotted a maintenance barn and the two colonists decided to investigate. Josiah cautiously opened the door. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw signs of encampment. Bedding and personal spaces seemed to have been established inside. “Hello,” he stammered. “Anybody home?” There was only silence. He and Allison stared at the makeshift living quarters for a long time. Had the survivors actually lived on? Were they able to avoid the radiation and somehow make a way for themselves?
Josiah and Allison stepped outside into the bright Martian sunlight filtering into the biosphere and made a meal of the vegetables growing in raised beds near the barn. The graveled paths did not yield clear or fresh clues as to movement within the biosphere so the two marked the position of the barn and set out in a likely direction.
(to be continued)
Chapter 4: Mars Ain't the Kind of Place to Raise Your Kids
At Mission Control Commander West listened and watched intently. The whole conversation was being recorded and Josiah began: “Hello Earth! I suppose you are wondering what we are doing here?”
West asked Josiah to tell his story.
Let us start with that moment so long ago when our distress signal missile was fired at the starship Great Northern. I am sure you want to know what transpired here on Mars. As you know, APOLLONIUS had his ‘inner circle’ on this mission and they had smuggled aboard a number of Iranian nuclear devices. As near as we can tell, they planned to demonstrate what they had and hold Earth hostage. As you probably know, the missile was aborted and a ‘return command’ initiated, basically the quickest way to save the starship involved bringing the missile back where it came from in a ‘hard turn’ maneuver.”
So,” West asked, “Who aborted the missile?”
Idid, sir,” said Josiah. He related the story of how he and his colleague had remained after their shift and noticed unusual activity. Upon investigation they saw the launch of the missile from the blockhouse and though at the time they thought it was a malfunction, they stepped in to stop it.
They expected it to fall to Mars without much trouble. When the world was rocked by an explosion and everything went dark, Josiah and Allison knew it was something worse. They had initially signed on to the voyage because they were political/ideological prisoners and had lost everything. They thought the Mars colony would offer them a new life. Soon, however, it was clear that APOLLONIUS was creating a dark kingdom. The colonists were required to forsake their names for numbers and APOLLONIUS expected unquestioned loyalty. Josiah and Allison simply played along and kept their suspicions to themselves.
How many survivors are there then?” West asked.
Initially there were thirty-seven.” Josiah said. “Four of those died from injuries and other causes in the time that followed.”
The colony was destroyed. How did you all make it?” Exclaimed West.
That’s the really strange part.” Returned Josiah, “You see, we normally would have been in the colony proper at the time but in an odd sort of way, many hands became needed in one of the more remote greenhouses. Even stranger, those greenhouses were in an area sheltered by this interesting rock ridge you see behind me. After the radiation subsided, Allison and I made our way over to the surviving greenhouses. It was just a hunch, but we thought those greenhouses might still be functioning if the blast had been stopped by the intervening ridge. We were not at all surprised to find the greenhouses intact, but we were happily surprised to find so many of our fellow settlers still alive!”
West interrupted, “So, I have to ask you, as a matter of necessity, what is your colony’s stance toward those of us on Earth?”
Personally, Allison and I have no animus toward AAR or Israel. I have to say that I cannot speak for the ones who were more loyal to APOLLONIUS. For decades we simply haven’t thought about it. We determined that you were above us scanning for survivors but could detect none. When we no longer saw the ship in the sky, we assumed you had given up and the Great Northern had returned to Earth. Our communications were totally destroyed so there was no way for us to tell you otherwise.
Iassumed command of the colony because no one knew what to do. We managed to create a village in the remaining greenhouses where we live today. They are pretty much simple mud houses but they serve us well. We grow our own food and have been able to hold on for some time now.”
West asked, “So, there are thirty-three of you still on Mars?” He did the math. It would be impossible to evacuate thirty-three souls from Mars in the single lander. He awaited Josiah’s answer.
Oh no, there are now 122 of us.” Came back the answer from Josiah
(to be continued)
Survivors,” Ben-Gurion repeated thoughtfully. “How should we reach them?”
Indeed the presence of survivors presented an obligation to those who pondered it. Simply doing nothing seemed immoral at best but what to do seemed not so cut and dried. An unmanned landing might be best as there would be the ability to send a message without risking more lives. The initial lander could be configured to take back survivors if necessary. “How fast could we prepare a lander mission?” Hannah asked. Theoretically it could be ‘pulled from the shelf’ and launched within the month. It would take nine months to get to Mars. In the event it were necessary, Great Northern could be taken from its defense position and flown with additional landers to evacuate more people.
What if they don’t want to come ‘home?’” Abiyah asked. “Should we be prepared to resupply them?”
That is a good question.” said Hannah. “Since our last contact was aggressive on the colonist’s part, we need to think about this.”
Some of Cape Lisbon Space Center’s best minds were brought to bear to hash out the proper thing to do. There at Cape Lisbon’s linear induction launch canon, they called themselves the “Baltimore Gun Club,” since their device seemed similar to the one Jules Verne first wrote about in From the Earth to the Moon.
It was not a columbiad, as Verne predicted, but rather a linear induction track similar to the high speed transportation system being built to link the world via vacuum tubes. Massive use of fossil fuels was now replaced by electromagnetism. That electromagnetism was produced by tapping the geothermal energy of the earth itself. It was clean, efficient, did nothing to harm the environment and it was cheap!
Some sections of HYPERLOOP between large cities were already in operation and the entire system was going to open by 2059. It was going to usher in new economy in world transportation. The launch canon used the same electromagnetic propulsion as well and it presented the most economical means of sending a craft to Mars.
In the end, a hastily prepared lander was dispatched and flown remotely to the planet’s surface. A ‘rover’ was on board to move about and survey the colony. A message was composed to offer the surviving colonists an olive branch and a radio/video communication device was included. The ‘rover’ carried standard pressure suits and breathing packs. Every effort was made to offer the survivors a remotely piloted ‘ride home.’ The biggest problem was that they had to guess how many there might be.
The unmanned emissary was launched within the month. For nine months the controllers in Cape Lisbon and on SS/AC005 waited.
__________
The lander fired it’s descent engine and arced down to the Martian surface. The engine slowed it as it touched down next to the remains of the Martian colony. The rover was deployed and began its survey of the colony. It approached a door on one of the greenhouses and showed the controllers on Earth a lot of space-booted footprints coming in and out. The rover reduced power and waited.
Discovery was not long in coming. Two figures in space suits emerged from the greenhouse door and seemed to be in quite animated hand-gesture concerning the new ‘visitor.’ In the end they pulled the rover into a bay with a tractor for further examination. The bay was pressurized and the two figures removed their helmets, examining the rover further. They read the message of peace and discovered the camera/radio.
They said nothing loud enough to be heard, however and eventually one of them disappeared for a time. He returned with a third man who deliberately positioned himself in front of the camera and activated the communication device. Controllers on Earth held their breath as he began to speak.
On the campus on Big Diomede, young Josiah Zimmerman, Rupert’s grandson, walked with Jonathan Greene, the president of the college and Josiah’s favorite professor. They were discussing Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
What constitutes a nation in the eyes of the Divine?” Josiah asked.
The dictionary says, ‘a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.’ Not too helpful in determining the mind of the Master. The rebirth of freedom in the North has come with a rebirth of fervor to reach the nations, as is evidenced by your presence at this institution. Still, I think we can identify such groups around us with some certainty and we are putting the Bible in their hands. The upcoming World’s Fair in Fairgate, Alaska will no doubt mark a point where we’ve pretty much put the Holy Scriptures in every human language there is. We correspond with believers in every part of the world. I think at this point the burden is on us to identify any particular place of occupation that has NOT been reached. That is where I think our Master’s focus would be.”
That is my frustration, sir. I feel like the work is going to be done before I get there. I read about the Moravians going out into the wilds and reaching the Cherokee and the joy of shining the Gospel where it has never shone before… and I look at the situation today. Even the Middle East is opening up to the message. With the demise of APOLLONIUS, the academy and the media have found new faith quite without our help. They started looking for truth and beauty again. Guess where it led them?”
Is it wrong, Dr. Greene, to be jealous to do a great work for God?”
That is a good one, young friend, and it deserves a thoughtful answer.” The good doctor was silent for a moment, then he continued, “Remember our discussion last week, and how for an artist like Sandro Botticelli the recognition of beauty led to transcendent truth. When he painted ‘The Birth of Venus’ it is evident that his sense of desire has been guided Heavenward. So it shall be with your ambitions to do great works. Think of Ransom in the college maintenance shops. He likes to work with his hands. Building a door gives him great pleasure… but I pray one day he will see who he’s building the door for! He’s an old special forces guy… mind and conscience pretty much seared, but get a planer in his hands and his eyes light up. God does not despise us for our aspirations. He meets us there. But, mind you, He will lead us upward. He has no desire to leave us playing in the mud when he’s planned for us a holiday at the beach! (I’m paraphrasing Lewis here).”
But, why should I feel such a passion to reach the nations if they have already been reached? I mean, should I not be able to find contentment and purpose in a simple task like Brother Lawrence who served most nobly working in the kitchen? Still, if I deny the drive inside me, I feel that I am lying.”
Passion is good, but true knowledge must define it. Remember the 2033 eclipse over Alaska. There was an author who wrote a book about the eclipse signaling the end of the world… nothing new here. The Millerites did it in the 19th Century. They were still waiting after their ‘appointed’ date and refigured it. Then they were still waiting after that. I think the Divine holds his cards close for a reason. We need to serve him like this will be our last day on Earth, but we need to build our works to last for 100 years. Some see contradiction there but it is clear that the tension between the two holds us in place to serve Him. I’m rambling, but I feel like the Lord will inform your passion and make it most profitable. You will indeed hear Him say ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!’ one day. That is enough.” (to be continued)
You wanted to see me right away?” Abiyah Ben-Gurion said as he walked into the Zimmerman offices in Wales, Alaska. Elizabeth O’Malley’s assistant Hannah replied, “Yes, I did! I just received this communication from our office on Space Station/Assembly Center 005. It seems they’ve observed something you need to look at on Mars.”
She continued: “As you know, we’ve done periodic flyovers of the abandoned colony ruins… sort of a chance to observe decay in the Martian environment… and, Oh, I am so sorry. I recall how painful that was for you, but please indulge me. There is a mystery here we need you to weigh in on. Let me bring up the images.”
Hannah’s deskpad displayed two views of the colony ruins taken from orbit. The first was a photo Abiyah’s wife Sarah had taken several decades ago. The second was freshly processed from an unmanned probe that was orbiting Mars as they spoke.
See those surviving greenhouses in the shadow of that rock mass. That was all that remained of the APOLLONIUS Colony when you returned to Earth after it had been tragically destroyed by the missile. Look at the footprint carefully. Now look at the view from our probe as it flew over yesterday. See the difference?”
Abiyah’s keen eye caught it at once, “The footprint is different!” he exclaimed. “How can that be?”
We’re perplexed as well. It is BIGGER! We wondered if blast sand had covered some greenhouses and now has blown off, but Sarah’s images of the colony before destruction show no greenhouses there!”
Well, I’m stymied,” said Abiyah, “we scanned repeatedly for signs of life and you know how thorough Sarah is!”
The 3D printers we sent up then were pretty primitive by today’s standards. There was not the AI to self-duplicate anything. As I recall, the greenhouses involved a fair amount of human manipulation to construct. They could manufacture the struts and clear panels from local soils heated in the kiln, but that too required a lot of human oversight.”
So, obviously we have someone… or someTHING adding on to the remains of the colony!”
That’s it sir, we have a riddle on our hands.”
Well, Hannah, let’s use Occam's Razor to begin with. Someone has been adding greenhouses to our colony… or what’s left of it. Who would be the simplest to suspect. We have not tracked any ships from other nations going out to Mars. Space Aliens are always invoked in a case like this… but we’ve never actually seen one… EVER! I would have to say that someone survived the blast that destroyed the colony, incredible as that may sound. The reason we didn’t detect them was that they remained in an underground bunker… perhaps aware of the radiation danger outside. They had no communication ability as that was totally destroyed.”
He continued, “It would have had to have been one of the more technically inclined colonists, to be sure -- Someone who could keep the oxygenation going in the greenhouses and run the 3D printers. I daresay there is more than one survivor.”
So, what do we do next?” Hannah mused.
We need to make contact, if we can. Remember they launched the missile to destroy our ship in orbit. It fell back to Mars and exploded on the colony… we thought it exploded destroying everyone. We don’t know if they are so poisoned by the leadership of APOLLONIUS that they believe we are tainted and they are the enlightened ones.”
Hannah looked up at the painting of Rupert Zimmerman, the mind behind the enterprises that now required their oversight and wondered what Mr. Z would have said at this moment, but it had been some time since Rupert passed after taking pneumonia following the ceremonies to commence construction on the St. Lawrence Island Crossing. Rupert had always been somewhat of an enigma to those closest to him in life, and his painted eyes gazed down at Hannah giving nothing away. (to be continued)
West concluded the meeting saying “You must think it over. We must know that this is something you do of your OWN volition. We have reached out to those who might be your fellow crewmen. Of course, they and you are sworn to secrecy. Just think, if the news media in the ‘Lower 48’ get a hold of this, they’ll start making all sorts of statements and demands. You know how they love to paint the Alaska Republic as a ‘cold and uncaring’ entity. Even though APOLLONIUS destroyed his own colony, they’ll make us the villains. They’ll accuse us of marooning the settlers there. There will be any number of ‘conspiracy theories.’”
I… must pray, and let you know then.”
In the days that followed, Josiah Zimmerman sought the continued counsel of Greene and Ben-Gurion, who for their part, happily gave him all the time he needed. Of course, he wanted the adventure, and the purpose of the mission. What would his parents think? What about his fiancé, Adila? He understood the secrecy and its necessity, but he didn’t even know who he was crewing with. In the Twenty-first Century such commitment to the unknown was rare to ask of anyone. It was something out of another time. So Josiah Zimmerman screwed up his nerve and sought out Dr. Greene, spilling his fears and concerns. The good doctor said little, but said he’d arrange a meeting soon to help him through this.
A week or so later, Greene sent a message that Josiah should come to the chapel office that afternoon at 2:00pm, Big Diomede Time. The young man arrived freshly showered and somewhat out of breath. He was surprised to see his parents and Adila there! With them were Sarah and Abiyah Ben-Gurion and their son Adam. “We are the first three people to set foot on Mars.” Abiyah said, and he went on to explain that Greene was not going to be there as he had a granddaughter’s dance recital to go to that afternoon. “Besides, he told me he’s pretty much out of advice for you anyway. He WILL be present to counsel you about another step you might take in life – one that I think will come up in the discussion this afternoon.”
Ben-Gurion continued “I’ve invited Adila’s parents to this meeting as well. I think you know Sarah and my story. The secret marriage and all – and you know how Adam was already with us when we set foot on Mars. Sarah touched the planet slightly before me, but that is for the historians to sort out. In the Guiness Book of World Records, we’re tied at the moment. Since Adila is fluent in five languages and aerospace studies as well, she was also a logical choice for this mission.”
Since our mission,” Sarah chimed in, “Mission Control has written stricter policies about things such as our ‘secret marriage,’ if you get my drift. But, since you have already made it quite clear that you are committed to each other, we just want to make sure you know that you need not decide without the benefit of blessing. And we sure do not want you deciding in the dark without input from those who love you.”
Adila spoke next: “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.” – the words of Ruth to Naomi, but also much referenced in marital loyalty as well.
The two of them would follow in the footsteps of Abiyah and Sarah. They set to work planning their wedding.
Chapter 14: Unto All Nations
The next few weeks were a whirlwind of activity as Big Diomede readied for the celebration! The little chapel on the island always seemed happiest when it rejoiced with the bride and bridegroom and Mrs. Greene spared nothing in decorating it. But all the while they wondered – who was third on their crew? Both were well trained in the work of spaceflight and balanced simulator time with getting fitted for wedding clothes. Abiyah Ben-Gurion was suspected, but he was getting older and didn’t visit the simulator rooms much anymore. He was, many people noted, taking lots of long walks with Adam now.
Adam had followed in the footsteps of his capable parents and was a great pilot in his own right. He was a loner like his dad had been and everyone assumed he must like it that way. He did seem to have a lot to discuss with dad these days. Was his dad in fact going back to Mars? He still passed the physical – with a few ‘look the other ways’ by the flight surgeons.
We’ll never know for sure, but if the truth be known, I doubt it was clear who would go; Abiyah or Adam, as they talked it out but clearly the father felt some responsibility for the colony and the son loved his father. He had rebelled some as a youth but he now saw how wonderful his upbringing had been. The virtue of gratitude – the only virtue Abiyah would lay claim to, had been passed from father to son!
Though the older Ben-Gurion was methodical in his attempts to discourage his son, he was also quite proud of him. In the end, it was Adam who begged his father for the chance to complete the work that he had begun. Sarah and Abiyah, of all people, were uniquely able to understand the drive of their son. Since they knew Josiah, Adila and Adam quite closely, seeing them work together at school, they saw a team that was every bit as capable as the team of Cohen – Ben-Gurion decades before them. Now they congregated frequently at the Ben-Gurion home for meals and conversation.
After the wedding, the three began training for the mission in dead earnest. All three of them expressed some disappointment that meeting the best launch window meant missing the World’s Fair in Fairgate, but that was a small concern. The Martians were waiting. Josiah and Adila also sought out the company of the Greenes and over macaroni and cheese, they discussed such things as the journeys of Paul in the First Century. Surely they were following in his footsteps. “What constitutes a nation in the eyes of the Divine?” Dr. Greene asked his pupil and his pupil’s wife as they supped together.
The dictionary says, ‘a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.’” Responded Josiah.
For decades it had simply been known as ‘The Great Mystery’ by the colonists. Indeed it was a wonder to them that the opening existed at all. Upon landing, the colonists had discovered the opening that gave entry into the little valley. The fine soil and natural protection had led them to place a substantial part of their greenhouse agriculture in that valley. That was why the colonists survived. Josiah the colonist and Josiah Zimmerman walked through the arch one afternoon in their spacesuits. Josiah the colonist told the story as they stared up at the 90’ wide archway that rose 215’ above them. Young Zimmerman found the whole scene strangely familiar.
Really, this looks just like a place I remember from my boyhood,” young Josiah mused. “It is the spitting image of the Natural Bridge in Rockbridge County. My grandfather would take me there. We would stand under the arch and look up at it. He would whisper “MOHOMONY.” That is what the Monacan Nation called it and it was a sacred place to their people. The name was alternately translated ‘Great Mystery’ or ‘The Bridge of God.’
The Monacans were a Souix people who lived in the Valley of Virginia. Once a band of Monacans were being pursued by a much larger army of Powhatans and in their distress they prayed. They had been pressed to the edge of a deep chasm, the valley of Cedar Creek. Escape was impossible. But looking up they saw the natural bridge that spanned the chasm. They hurried their women and children across it. Now the warriors turned and faced their enemy on the narrow bridge. The larger Powhatan force was reduced by the width of the bridge and that day the Monacans prevailed.” Grandfather never tired of telling that tale.
When the unmanned lander had sent its rover through the arch, no one thought to pan the camera up. It remained a secret until the relief shuttle crew walked through it.
Josiah Zimmerman thought of the Virginia colonists and how they had discovered a bend on the James River that looked just like the bend in the Thames River at a place called Richmond. Thus the capital of the new place took its name from its similarity to a place familiar. Here in a faraway and forbidding place was a scene familiar as well – and even more amazing, it too played in a story of Divine deliverance. In the times to come, it too would become known as ‘MOHOMONY.’
Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.” – Joshua 4:4-9
THE END
The HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took an image of a thin channel, and a portion of it contains a naturally occurring bridge over the chasm. Kelly Kolb from the HiRISE team says it is probably a remnant of the original surface, the rest of which has collapsed downward. NASA Photo.
Hacking the Program
A True Commencement Message
I have a cousin who went to Virginia Military Institute and graduated from the school. Today she is a commercial pilot. But here we will consider her experience at VMI. When she arrived on campus and joined the ‘rat line,’ she was subjected to the same physical exertion, mental and verbal abuse and general torture that first year students at that great school all endure. It is how she handled it that is instructive. She admitted to my uncle that she had a unique coping strategy. She made a game of it. As many of her fellow rats grew discouraged and packed it in, my cousin doubled down on her resolve. Later she confessed that at the end the hardest thing for her was to keep from laughing.
You see, she knew she needed to obtain knowledge and develop skills for her future life. Discipline was essential for this. She also knew that there was entwined in every institution of value a lot of culture and stress best left ignored. And so, as many high school students enjoy their Summer in anticipation of careers or further education towards careers, It is well to consider a few points.
Your True Education Began Long Ago
Do you remember when your Mom taught you to speak? Do you remember when Dad taught you how to build a birdhouse? Those are just the most observable lessons. You also learned some core values and how to work from your family. You also learned from them how to live. They may have led you into your Faith. These things are foundational to who you are. Oh yes, you will likely test the limits, but remember that there are good reasons behind them. Be suspicious of any university person who diminishes their value and importance.
Your Education Does Not End with a Degree
It is not possible to become a true ‘Master’ in four or five years. That will take much longer. Methodology will change. Ideas will change. You will change. Here it is important to learn how to discern Objective Truth from Subjective Truth. Yes, there really are things that don’t change. A rock released from the hand will always experience the effects of gravity. It will never fly away from the planet! When you apprehend an Objective Truth, let it comfort you. Don’t succumb to the intellectually lazy path of relativism!
Your Intuition is Valuable
You must always nurture your ability to “go to the source.” When someone tells you “the Bible says thus and so,” it is a necessary skill to be able to study for yourself. It is okay to disagree with ‘experts.’ It is okay to ask them hard questions. It is okay to use your imagination sometimes. When my Dad was in engineering school at Notre Dame, his professor stated with great authority that the atom could never be smashed. Ironically the physics department at Notre Dame had just built a machine for smashing atoms! Someone had imagined it could be done! Still, the teacher in the classroom promoted the now inaccurate idea that this was not possible.
Finally, it is well to learn the difference between constructive criticism and – well, just criticism. There is a lot of negativity around us in the world and it is quite possible your brilliant foray into the world of imagination will simply meet with a professor’s bad day. You won’t know that he fought with his wife that morning and nothing looks good to him right now. Never take input personally. It really isn’t about you anyway. The criticism you need to listen to comes with a genuine desire to see you get better at something. There will be the suggestion of a better way of doing it – or at least ANOTHER way. It may work for you, it may not. There may be the revelation of some true oversight on your part which might lead to unintended consequences. In any case, your critic will have the patience to explain. The goal of such criticism will be thought, clearly not aggravation. Thus you can sort out input rather quickly into that which is useful in your development and what is not. You can develop a thick skin and true sensitivity at the same time and both will serve you well.
Sometimes it will serve you well to try the suggested way in a class and then return to your method later if your intuition tells you to do so. There are atoms waiting to be split!
Commencement means ‘beginning.’ A true commencement message should become the prelude to learning, not the postscript so often delivered by celebrities or politicians. In the end, I’d rather simply hear ‘Nice Job,’ or something like that as I move to the challenges ahead.
It's Time to Refound Our Universities
They've Strayed from the Noble Purposes of their Founders
Jefferson's Rotunda, the center of his 'Academic Village.' Photo by Rufus Holsinger.
Did you know that Hamas enjoys more positive praise on some of our college campuses than it does on the West Bank? Just ask Khaled Abu Toameh, an Arab Muslim with Israeli citizenship who used to be with the Palestinian media but chose to move to the Israeli press where he was free to speak what was on his heart.
Toameh has observed a 'Pro Palestinian Junta' taking place on U.S. campuses as Middle-Eastern studies professors promote a pretty one-sided picture of a complex situation.
There is a problem here. Most of the kids attending 'Code Pink' antiwar presentations have never been to Israel and are swayed by the speech of people who conveniently ignore the nature of jihad and the refusal of Palestinian spokesmen to recognize Israel's right to exist. Playing on sympathy for the victims of this situation, they ignore the reality that many Hamas policies have continued the harm. They forget that the pullout from Gaza left the people there with beautiful greenhouses and the possibility of taking part in the 'miracle' agriculture that the region had enjoyed under Jewish control. The Palestinians trashed the facilities, shot rockets at Sderot and chose instead to live supplied through tunnels from Egypt.
Years ago, my sister-in-law was a young idealist who chose to go live with the Sandinistas for a bit, obviously inspired by some academic. Problem was when you actually got there you saw that the Sandinistas were not such idealists at all.
May I make the controversial statement that $20,000 a year is a bit much to be paying for such indoctrination.
Guardians of the Gate
Why do they get away with it? There is only one reason. They are the 'guardians of the gate' to a number of important and well paying careers. The computer revolution has begun to chip away at that as many young people have been able to bypass the four or five year path that was traditionally perscribed for success. That is not a bad thing, howls about lacking "well roundedness" aside.
In the Seventeenth Century colleges were founded in this land to train well read leaders and reach the Native population with the Gospel. That's why Dartmouth and William and Mary have Indians as mascots. A gentleman such as Thomas Jefferson was schooled in practical arts, such as Architecture, along with his Classical education.
Fast forward to the Twenty-first Century. Western Civilization has been effectively eliminated from the curriculum. Beauty and truth have been reduced to relative terms. They still exist, but not at the academy.
A Modest Proposal
Every year large corporations hire the graduates of such prestigious institutions and then lament that they are then required to actually train them for the work! To add insult to injury, they are cooerced through alumni associations and endowments to pony up to maintain the status quo.
Here is the modest proposal. Industry and medicine need to reinstate the apprenticeship system of old and take the money they are throwing into a failed system to found their own institutes of Art, Architecture, Engineering, Medicine [yes, Medicine]! Hospitals need to own and operate the training of physicians.
Building upon the existing Community College system, they can provide the well-rounded education that Seventeenth Century students received. Prolonged adolescence would be replaced by a productive young adulthood and knowledge would be acquired over a lifetime instead of in a four year attempt to "force feed" young people who are frankly more interested in other things.
Citizens would pursue continuing education in their field and also in arts and letters. My own Father is my perfect man as a model of the Citizen-Scholar. He barely made it through high school and his advisor wrote a letter saying that he could not recommend that my Father pursue Engineering as a career. Dad went to a junior college for a year before applying to Notre Dame where he did indeed pursue his Engineering degree. Upon graduation he went to Wright doing structural analysis on aircraft. Eventually he ended up at the Martin Company in Baltimore doing structural analysis on the seaplanes used in the Pacific Theatre during WWII.
He married his chief number cruncher and eventually left Martin to start his own lab. He had one of those shop/garage units that plumbing contractors rent and he built shock and vibration test equipment in there. Eventually he was hired to write the test procedures for NASA. He became a department head there, having created a lot of the quality assurance methodology for spacecraft. Wernher von Braun tapped him to become part of the group that developed the testing procedures.
But I've digressed. In Dad's day they really did train Engineers who couldn't read and Liberal Arts Scholars who couldn't count. Dad slowly aquired a magnificent library and schooled himself in letters. He read all the noble works of Western literature and probably could have taught the courses! He was equally at home reading Plato or dissecting a roto-tiller. My complete man!
When I was twelve, he said "build me a greenhouse" and offered more moral support than knowledge as I did my own research and drew plans for the thing. He gave me a budget and helped me place the rafters. When I secured a good price for a set of old storm windows I think he was pleased. The redwood structure didn't succumb to termites until Reagan was president.
Thomas Jefferson designed this addition to Farmington as well as Monticello and the University of Virginia.
Live Oak, Wilmington, NC
Photos byBob Kirchman
House, Wilmington, NC
Photo byBob Kirchman
The Declaration of Independence
Reading at Frontier Culture Museum
Ray Wright reads the Declaration of Independence at the American Frontier Culture Museum, Staunton, Virginia.
This, for the purpose of this celebration, is the 4th of July. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. This, to you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. It carries your minds back to the day, and to the act of your great deliverance; and to the signs, and to the wonders, associated with that act, and that day. This celebration also marks the beginning of another year of your national life; and reminds you that the Republic of America is now 76 years old. I am glad, fellow-citizens, that your nation is so young. Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. Three score years and ten is the allotted time for individual men; but nations number their years by thousands. According to this fact, you are, even now, only in the beginning of your national career, still lingering in the period of childhood. I repeat, I am glad this is so. There is hope in the thought, and hope is much needed, under the dark clouds which lower above the horizon. The eye of the reformer is met with angry flashes, portending disastrous times; but his heart may well beat lighter at the thought that America is young, and that she is still in the impressible stage of her existence. May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to her destiny? Were the nation older, the patriot’s heart might be sadder, and the reformer’s brow heavier. Its future might be shrouded in gloom, and the hope of its prophets go out in sorrow. There is consolation in the thought that America is young. Great streams are not easily turned from channels, worn deep in the course of ages. They may sometimes rise in quiet and stately majesty, and inundate the land, refreshing and fertilizing the earth with their mysterious properties.” – Frederick Douglass
Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. “The arm of the Lord is not shortened,” and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence, the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age. Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. The time was when such could be done. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. Space is comparatively annihilated. Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic, are distinctly heard on the other. The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet. The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. The fiat of the Almighty, “Let there be Light,” has not yet spent its force. No abuse, no outrage whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light.” – Frederick Douglass
Americans Who Risked Everything
Sweatshops Behind the Swoosh
A Real Reason to be 'Offended'
