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Well I got to say..
I just had a very delightful conversation with a couple Mormons
that came to my house to deliver a bible I had ordered on line. (I knew they
were from the Mormon Church because their backpacks gave them away)
We had a wonderful conversation about the history of the Mormon
Church and how the book of Mormon came to be written.
Now I know little about the founders and have even made
fun at the church and mocked this so called gold plate found by Joseph smith encrypted
with a message from our heavenly father. But It was a very pleasant chat just
the same. And they even want to come
back and meet with me again (I guess they are not up on current times and are
not aware that The Jehovah’s witnesses will not even come to my home anymore
because of my persistence of asking questions they do not like to hear and can
not answer) I guess I am considered one of them sheep in wolves
clothing!!! But theses guys were not
pushy so I decided to take it easy on them.
So; they got my attention, and sparked my interest; and I
learned a few things from them; about their church history. My problem is this
we started discussing some of the old prophesy books like Amos, and Ezekiel,
and the twelve tribes of Israel ; Very interesting ,I am looking forward to
more discussions about what their beliefs are and their view of the world as I have never
had the opportunity to sit with Mormons and discuss biblical things . All
though I am not sure I can swallow the lost tribe issue; that reminds me of the
Jehovah’s witnesses and their belief and thinking that the 144,000 Jews are all
in the kingdom halls and going door to door also proclaiming the good news, but
we shall see!!! I thank God I am somewhat knowledgeable in the scriptures and
not easily swayed by well meaning people. I think it will be a rewarding
experience regardless of my final thoughts and conclusions of the beliefs of
this church.
It’s a small, small, small, small
world; through the eye of a child
Aside from
the time I saw an airplane flying backward; (but that one will have to be
another blog) One of the fondest memories of my life was; the first time I saw
South America. I think I was in the second or third grade I don’t remember
exactly (that was many, many, moons ago.)
I can only imagine what was going through my
mother and fathers mind as I sat at the dinner table arguing with my siblings.
They all were laughing at me. But I argued more and more with them and
persisted on telling them how they were wrong and had no clue what they were
talking about as I had seen with my own eyes, you could not tell me different.
I was right and that was that! You are all wrong!
If only we
had video cameras back then.
It would
have been a typical night at the dinner table; we (me and my five siblings, mom
and dad) would have all been sitting around eating our dinner.
My mom would
have been home for not much more than an hour or two, from working at one of
the local shoe factories here in Lynn. She always got home about an hour before
dad rolled in from work. He was a machinist at a local machine shop that made
parts for all the shoe machines used by all the shoe factories here in town. My
dad did not make a lot of money back then and my mom had to work to help support the family. They were hard
working, honest people and though we may not have had a lot, we never went with
out. ( I did get to see South America though)
I was the
youngest of six and in grade school. I was in maybe the second or third grade (
I don’t remember exactly) But I remember I was learning about the globe and the
continents North America, South America,
Asia, Africa, Europe, etc,
One day after school Me and my best buddy
Mickey were up at the tower that was just a stones throw away from my house. I
lived in the highlands and High Rock Tower is one of the few surviving land
marks of Lynn which still stands to this day.
From the
tower you have a panoramic view of all the surrounding towns of Lynn, and the
ocean. It was always the best place around to celebrate the forth of July as
every year back then; the neighborhood would have an enormous bon fire that
could be seen for miles and miles, it must have lit up the night sky and made
the havens glow if you were watching from a distance. We had the kind of neighborhood
that made the world envious.
On the eastern side of the tower there was a
cliff that dropped straight down about one hundred feet which me and my friends
climbed and scaled on a daily basis. Life was magical back then. We soared like
eagles, and ran like deer, we could climb the rocks like bully goats, life was
wonderful.
To the south;
at the base of the rocks was a little league baseball field where we would games of baseball, and wild games of muckle,
that would make the N.F.L. look like a girls game. It was the best place in America to grow up, with
out a doubt.
Well any
way; one day me and my friend were up at the tower after school just hanging out looking out over the city
below us. And low and behold our new found knowledge of the world and it’s continents
beheld our eyes, we were ecstatic; in
awe; it was as though we had seen god him self.
As we stood
there looking east out over the Atlantic ocean we realized that we could see South America,
It was awesome; we were so full of excitement. We could actually see South
America. I remember talking back and forth could it be? Is this for real? Wow it must be; because there is the little
funnel shaped piece of land that connects North and South America, just like on
the maps we saw in school.
It was one
of the greatest discoveries in my life; I was so proud; well until I got home
for supper that night and my family rained on my parade at the dinner table. But
I put up one hell of a fight. It was me against my five siblings who where
laughing at me, and my two parents, who would not defend me and who; they them
selves did not believe me. I was fighting a losing battle but I was a fighter
and I relentlessly argued my case there
at the dinner table. I took on my whole family that night all by myself; it was
one against seven and I was not about to loose, because I saw it with my own
eyes and no one could tell me different
I don’t remember
much of what happened that night at the dinner table, just that I was not going
to give up and would not back down. I
suspect at some point my father probably stepped in and told all us kids to
shut up and stop our bickering and eat you dinner. (I’m sure he probably had
the last word at that point)
I don’t
remember when exactly; I discovered the truth. It was probably years later and
long after that heroic battle of mine with my family that had long been
forgotten when I probably flashed on that memory and had to laugh.
Now a days I
can make my self a cup of coffee and or hot chocolate and stroll on up to the
tower which is not much more than a hundreds yards away from my house. And enjoy
the view; of the city, the ocean, the Boston skyline and the awesome panoramic
view at sunset, or sunrise and even laugh when those fond memories of my
childhood come flooding back to me and tickle my emotions.
Especially
when I look out at the city of Nahant and the causeway that was once South
America to me.
