Jesus AutobiographyWritten by Lawrence Hilliard
"In Fullness of Time...""To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to a dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon stage, And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing." --Macbeth, Act V, Scene v. One's weltanschauung is determined by aperture through which time and history is viewed. Modern secularism, consisting of humanism, relativism, pragmatism, pluralism, statism and neo-Darwinism, each in correlation, perceives history as consequence of impersonal natural forces acting at random in a blind movement of energy in cyclical fashion. Secularism's foci is present world, its focus is experiential now. Time is devoid of any purposeful design renouncing any symmetry by which sequential events within individual or nation are progressing unto a consummation. The enhancement of self in existential now is secularism's raison d' etre. Each fleeting nanosecond is demanded to bring meaning and fulfillment but ever passing present is incapable of such grand expectations. The attempt to extract from momentary what is immutable, stable and enduring is fruitless. It is what one philosopher calls trying to "eternalize time." The secularist ends up in what Thomas Altizer describes as a "...a total immersion in historical time, and an immersion that is totally isolated from any meaning or reality that might lie beyond it." (Dialectic of Sacred, p. 23) Late 20th century cosmopolitan man or woman lives in a calendar prison as constricting and oppressive as walls and bars that enclose inmate of any maximum security prison. With each passing hour reduction of life grows more pronounced and controlling. Having rejected any meaning or reality that might lie outside constricted moment, man has become time's prisoner. Within this enslavement, time has inflicted him with a disease from which there is no endemic antidote. "Eater of all things lovely--Time! Upon whose watering lips world poises a moment (futile, proud, a costly morsel of sweet tears) gesticulates and disappears." (E. E. Cummings, Puella Mea, p. 20) Modern secularism, having discounted any realm or dimension outside present world has become embodiment of myopia. In late '60s, three British astrophysicists, Roger Penrose, George Ellis and Steven Hawking made a discovery that impinges on prevailing world view of time and history. Expanding on Einstein's original equations of general relativity, which implied origin for matter and energy, three physicists established that matter was not only finite but that time and space also had a beginning and thus was not infinite. "...in real time, universe has a beginning and an end at singularities that form a boundary to space-time and at which laws of science break down." (Steven Hawking, A Brief History of Time, p. 139) The space-time theorem of general relativity has enormous implications, theologically and philosophically. For time is dimension in which cause and effect phenomena take place. Without time there is no cause and effect. If time had a genesis, concurrent with origin of universe, then there must, by necessity, be an antecedent reality or dimension, that existed before time and was its matrix. This dimension would not be subject to time or space in any contingent manner, but would be determination of such. Astrophysicist Hugh Ross sums up point of divergence between measurable and immeasurable, "If time's beginning is concurrent with beginning of universe, as space-time theorem says, then cause of universe must be some entity operating in a time dimension completely independent of and preexistent to time dimension of cosmos. This conclusion is powerfully important to our understanding of who God is and who or what God isn't. It tells us that Creator is transcendent, operating beyond dimensional limits of universe. It tells us that God is not universe itself, nor is God contained within universe. Pantheism and aetheism do not square with facts.." (The Creator and Cosmos, p. 76) "In beginning, God created Heavens and Earth." (Genesis 1:1) 3,500 years before discovery of three British scientists, in a succinct and understated declaration, there is set forth axiom of time and history; time is a creation from a transcendent God. It is dimension into which Eternal God would condescend to display His eternal nature to his handiwork, with ultimate intent to prepare those created in time for eternal communion with Him. In words of William Blake, time "is mercy of eternity." It exists by God's appointing to make eternity accessible to humanity, for God of eternity pervades time. Time being a consequence of Divine fiat presents no boundary, constraint or limitation to God. He is revealed as a God of infinitude; without boundary, measureless and unlimitable. Not sequestered by time or events therein, God can operate simultaneously in myriad dimensions. One of prominent names in Old Testament for God's relation to time and history is "First and Last" (Heb. aleph and tau, first and last letters of Hebrew alphabet, Isa. 41:4, 44:6, 48:12). The name indicates that God encircles, boundaries and encloses all of history. He initiates it, sums it up and is present in all its movements. God is controlling every nanosecond, directing it along to its consummate goal. The title pictures God as standing at time's birth and omega point simultaneously and within every intervening second saturating it with His providential preservation, direction and redemptive grace. God has enclosed time with His abiding presence. Solomon describes theistic perspective of time, "He has made everything beautiful in its time..." (Eccles. 3:11). Solomon utilizes a Hebrew word frequently used in Old Testament for contour of a beautiful woman. He sees in history a symmetry, a harmony, a contour of interrelatedness and design, not a discordant morass heading mindlessly toward a cul-de-sac. The historic Christian view of time has always embraced early Judaism's perspective of God's sovereignty over history. "History in Jewish conception is not a chaos leading to nowhere. But an overall progression with a definite goal which it derives from God who is above history, and who rules and controls history. For God in Jewish teaching is not only Lord of nature, but also Lord of history. History is arena wherein God's activity on behalf of man is made manifest, and in which, and through which, His eternal purpose is being fulfilled." (Isidore Epstein, The Faith of Judaism, p. 258)
| | Tales of the Warner Brothers Written by Stephen Schochet
The four Warner Brothers, which included womanizing Jack, conservative Harry, quiet Albert and visionary Sam, had risen from obscurity with The Jazz Singer (1927) first famous and financially successful talking movie ever made. Tragically, Sam Warner, real brains behind whole project, died of a brain tumor two days before The Jazz Singer's debut. Jack was thrilled by film's success, but crushed by his brother's death. He became difficult to deal with for rest of his life. His older and more conservative brother Harry and he fought constantly over money and Jack's womanizing ways. One time Harry chased Jack through studio with a two by four threatening to kill him. The feud became so bitter that Jack opted to play tennis rather than attend Harry's funeral in 1958. One time Jack met Albert Einstein," Mr. Einstein, I have my own theory of relativity. Don't hire them." Warner was fascinated by Einstein especially physicists detailed descriptions of stars. After he left Jack told a staff member," Sign this Betelgeuse guy to a contract. Einstein think he has potential." Despite or maybe because of his aborted singing career, Jack Warner seemed to resent similar ambitions in others. One day her was strolling through studio lot when he heard a young man singing with a beautiful voice. It was coming from security guard shack. Curious, mogul walked up to question his startled employee. "Young man, was that you singing?" "W-why yes Mr. Warner." "Young man you have a beautiful voice." "Oh thank you Mr. Warner." "MM. Tell me, young man, what would you rather be? A security guard or a singer?" "Oh Mr. Warner, I dreamed of being a singer." "Ok young man. You're fired!" Jack Warner treated all of his employees with derision, but none worse than writers. Many of them although better paid at studio than they ever were writing novels, resented nine to five routine they were forced to adhere to at Warner's factory. Where actors were free to leave studio at lunch writers had to be "chained" to their typewriter. One time Warner called a writer into studio screening room for his suggestions on how to fix a weak script." I'm sorry Mr. Warner. I have no ideas after five."
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