PEARL HARBOR PERSPECTIVE

PEARL HARBOR PERSPECTIVE

Wednesday, December 07, 2016

Luke [GW] 16:19-31 [Jesus aid] "There was a rich man who wore expensive clothes. Every day was like a party to him. There was also a beggar named Lazarus who was regularly brought to the gate of the rich man's house. Lazarus would have eaten any scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Lazarus was covered with sores, and dogs would lick them. "One day the beggar died, and the angels carried him to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. He went to hell, where he was constantly tortured. As he looked up, in the distance he saw Abraham and Lazarus. He yelled, 'Father Abraham! Have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue. I am suffering in this fire.' "Abraham replied, 'Remember, my child, that you had a life filled with good times, while Lazarus' life was filled with misery. Now he has peace here, while you suffer. Besides, a wide area separates us. People couldn't cross it in either direction even if they wanted to.' "The rich man responded, 'Then I ask you, Father, to send Lazarus back to my father's home. I have five brothers. He can warn them so that they won't end up in this place of torture.' "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses' Teachings and the Prophets. Your brothers should listen to them!' "The rich man replied, 'No, Father Abraham! If someone comes back to them from the dead, they will turn to God and change the way they think and act.' "Abraham answered him, 'If they won't listen to Moses' Teachings and the Prophets, they won't be persuaded even if someone comes back to life.'"

John [GW] 3:36 [Jesus explained] Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, he will see God's constant anger."

  My life was pleasant and filled with one exciting discovery after another.

  I thought it was normal to live in a family home in a nice safe neighborhood. I didn’t know that it was highly unusual for a newly married blue-collar barely 20 year old to own a car and purchase a home during “…the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century.” It wasn’t until years later that I learned that, beginning in his teens, Dad worked multiple jobs to get the money; one fulltime, a newspaper route, self-taught on-call butcher for several Jewish family run corner grocery stores, on call 24/7 picking up “basket cases” from elevator-less buildings, plus any other paid or barter work he could fit in.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression )

  Also I didn’t realize that most kids my age didn’t go to school. (Years later I discovered I was doubly an experimental child; first born, and in one of the public school early education studies.)

  In 18 more days I’d see whether I would receive a Christmas gift of my dreams, as in “a” for the day. In 30 more days I would be 6 years old, a position I very much considered a historical milestone once passed that would be titled LIFE MAGNIFICENTLY DIFFERENT.

  The air was chilly. The high that Sunday was 44 degrees. In Hawaii it was 73. Little did I know when I awoke and went outside to play how much drastic change would occur in the world, our nation, our neighborhood, our family, and in me. That night I went to bed an older boy.

  Not for one moment did I doubt we would win the war. I was well-informed -- I watched the movie newsreels The March of Time and Pathe after enjoying Tom Mix, Lash LaRue, Hopalong Cassidy and my other white hat heroes. Hitler was an inept clownish housepainter. Mussolini was a fat buffoon. Tojo was nearsighted. And above all we Americans are right-living people.

  World War Two became real and absolutely central to life, impossible to not think about. There were men in uniform. Embroidered service star banners went up in front windows on every street. My Dad’s 4 brothers’ various military branch stars faced our home from across the avenue. Dad was exempted as “Essential on the homefront.” Mom went to work for Bendix making military radios. Disabled decorated WWI combat veteran live-in Uncle Jim McGee was issued armband, white painted WWI steel helmet, a policeman baton, and the nightly patrol authority to remind neighbors to not let so much as a sliver of light guide the Jap and German bombers. Uncle Jim redug his backyard garden plot to the shape of V for victory.

  For the “War effort”: We kids were tasked to cut both ends from and flatten and bundle tin cans, scrounge fields, forest, et al for scrap metal. Manage the cooking grease can. Find and bundle newspapers and rags. (One exciting find was a treasure trove of junk, newspapers, magazines etc. in an abandoned house and outbuildings.) We even picked milkweed pods when they burst open as we were told they would be used in life vests. (I did a search but could find nothing on the matter as to whether truly used or patriotic fluff.) We lived with diet and travel changes due to ration coupons. “Black market” was added to my vocabulary. And there were patriotic school assemblies, parades, and odd jobs (For one I delivered ad circulars door to door.) to earn pennies to buy War Bond stamps, the latter managed by our public school teachers every morning.

  2,403 Americans were reported killed and 1,178 wounded. Our USA Navy and Army Air Force were crippled, but not permanently as angry tradesmen worked feverishly in making repairs. On Evergreen Avenue in Hamilton, Baltimore, Maryland, the neighborhood population was gathered in huddled groups on lawn and porch discussing what to do to the dirty sneaky yellow slant-eyed Japs. We children excitedly ran from group to group to hear what was said and to marvel at the startling animosity.

  December 7 and its historical threads ever after has been an emotional day of remembrance for me.

  My perspective has definitely changed though.

  After trusting Lord Jesus Christ as personal Redeemer and thereafter seeing events, deaths, framed by eternal truth (Jn.3:3; Rom.12:2) . . . I ponder how many had rejected Christ’ draw (Jn.12:32) and continue to suffer now and forever. And how many I’ll get to know in heaven.

  Am I still patriotic? Oh my yes, but now with the most important message: There will continue to be “wars and rumors of wars”. The only true lasting victory is the result of personally agreeing with God; Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!

EBB4 (December 7, 2015)

PS. And I stopped puzzling over the question “Why so much violence?”