Ron N's Story

This subject is the one most near to my heart. I used to pride myself in my "Mr. Spock" approach to life. Everything had to be logical. My emotions always took a back seat to my science. I read Worlds in Collision and The Path of the Pole in the early seventies, but like the scientific community I chose to ignore the evidence. I had two thirds of the picture back then. If I had run across The 12th Planet (the missing third) perhaps I would have put it all together and would be writing this from a bunker somewhere built twenty years ago. But I doubt it.

People are stubborn. Science is stubborn. I was stubborn. They think their science explains 90% of the "truth", but in reality it only covers 90% of a small portion of the truth. The truth is like a big jigsaw puzzle, and I see enough of the "big picture" now to be able to place sky-blue pieces in the sky and water-blue pieces in the ocean. Sadly, many people try to fit blue pieces into the landscape - they don't see the big picture. The most intriguing thing about this analogy to me is that I now realize that the puzzle has no border. This infinite boundary encompasses God.

I was the son of a minister, but I rebelled and convinced myself I was an atheist (with the help of my science). The long struggle back to my belief has been slow and painful, with a big jolt recently when I added a few more pieces to the puzzle and realized "Hey, this is real!". But this realization turned me into a nervous wreck for at least two weeks. But life goes on, and I have since come to think of myself as a cross between the Engineer in Mysterious Island and Captain Nemo, who equipped his Nautilus for every contingency. (Have you ever spelled Nemo backwards?)

Those around me who believe and understand what is about to happen to the planet all feel that they were somehow "led" to their present positions in life. It's the "Path" concept. There is a guiding force at work here, but it is based on love and compassion, not guns and straight jackets. Don't trouble yourselves with the decisions of others. God gave us all free will. Although it is sad beyond belief to think of all those bodies, it's not like they've never been told what was going to happen. Just like the old me they are exercising their free will and choosing to ignore the warnings.

I'm not trying to preach to anyone here. I think the people who survive each cosmic cycle always have a strong spiritual belief that it was God who got them through the "troubled times". As soon as they get their world back in some semblance of order the first thing they do is write everything down for future generations. It goes something like, "This has happened before, it happened to us, it will happen again to you. Prepare!" Religions, founded on these writings, turn it into, "Do what we say or burn in Hell." I think there will be a lot of disappointed Christians when the end times come. It won't be the wonderful beginning that they have be taught to believe. They're going through the "Tribulation Period" just like everyone else. It will take a little more than just faith to get by. It will take hard work, patience, and love for each other to remake this planet into the Eden we have always dreamed of. It truly will be a new beginning.

To paraphrase:

And Lucifer (the Morning Star, just look it up) will be released from the Bottomless Pit (the vicinity of Orion) for a time and then will be returned to the Pit. Horrible things will happen, there will be signs in the heavens, and there will be a New Heaven (Hey, maybe I'll be able to see the Megellanic Clouds from Here!) and a New Earth (I sure hope my portion is still high and dry).

Ron N.