Men\u2019s hearts failing from fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. <\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014Luke 21:26<\/i><\/p>\n
6953<\/b> Happy New \u2026 Never Mind <\/b><\/p>\n
London Dec. 31 (AP)\u2014\u201dHappy New Doomsday\u201d was one of the newspaper headlines greeting gloomy Britons on the last day of 1973. <\/p>\n
In an agony of confusion and foreboding, the nation went on a three-day workweek to save power and conserve fuel. It was the first officially-enforced short-time working in British history. <\/p>\n
6954<\/b> Paradoxical Time<\/b><\/p>\n
A paradoxical statement appears at the beginning of Dickens Tale of Two Cities<\/i>: \u201cIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Our times, too, are paradoxical. <\/p>\n
\u2014Prairie Overcomer<\/i><\/p>\n
6955<\/b> The Worse Since Christ<\/b><\/p>\n
When the 87th Congress convened. Speaker Sam Rayburn told the House that the world situation is more grave than at any time since Christ came. <\/p>\n
\u2014Christianity Today<\/i><\/p>\n
6956<\/b> Doomsday Club<\/b><\/p>\n
Weed, Calif. (UPI)\u2014To the rich who paid more than 12,000 dollars each to become members of a secret Doomsday Club, the mountain retreat is a refuge from future nuclear attacks or other catastrophes. <\/p>\n
But to the country folk who live nearby, the \u201csecret\u201d club in the rugged Cascade Mountains is just a joke. <\/p>\n
The 712-acre (285-hectare) camp in the shadow of Mt. Shasta near the Oregon border was set up as a retreat for survivors from anarchy, nuclear attack or other catastrophes. <\/p>\n
The rich paid up to 12,800 dollars in cash to become members of the \u201csecret\u201d camp. Dues are 300 dollars a year. The camp is believed to have 20 members. <\/p>\n
But the mountain folks know that everyone knows the location of the camp. And they think it is silly to put up a lot of money for an A-frame hut and a big barn designed for storage and communal living. <\/p>\n
In the A-frame there is only a small table, unconnected stove and wood-framed bed without a mattress. <\/p>\n
The barn also contains dehydrated food. Organizers figured the survivors also would learn to live off nuts, vegetation and animal meat. They also said they had their own water supply\u2014a nearby creek. <\/p>\n
6957<\/b> Storing Survival Food<\/b><\/p>\n
More and more Americans today are storing dehydrated or freeze-dried foods against an uncertain future. Dealers advertise nation-wide that a one-year\u2019s supply can be stored in one closet. A 15-month bare minimum survival diet for one person costs $500 to $600. <\/p>\n
Aside from Mormons and members of other sects, customers of survival food include nervous Americans who bought food supplies in expectation of nuclear war, a Communist takeover or mass uprisings that might lead to poisoning of water and fresh food supplies. <\/p>\n
6958<\/b> Catastrophe Films In Japan<\/b><\/p>\n
Tokyo (AP)\u2014In a film recently premiered here, a frightened Prime Minister of Japan watches helplessly as hordes of panic-stricken citizens stampede through the collapsing city of Tokyo. <\/p>\n
A powerful earthquake has hit the Japanese capital and in a matter of minutes vehicle-laden suspension bridges and ferroconcrete skyscrapers crumble to pieces, burying 3.6 million people. <\/p>\n
Gasoline stations and a petro-chemical complex explode, sending fire through the rubble of the city and trapping survivors of the original tremor. A tidal wave finally extinguishes the fires. <\/p>\n
But there is worse to come in this movie entitled The Submersion of Japan.<\/i> As the name suggests, the Japanese archipelago eventually slides beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean. <\/p>\n
And as Toho Movie Company, the film\u2019s maker, has learned, bad news is good business today in Japan. <\/p>\n
Capitalizing on the current \u201cShumat-su-ron\u201d\u2014Catastrophe\u2014boom, the film earned Toho $5 million in its first nine days on an investment of $1.3 million, Kazuya Uchida, a Toho executive, said in an interview. <\/p>\n
The catastrophe boom began in 1972 after the publication of the novel on which the film was based. The Submersion of Japan<\/i> was the overall best-seller in 1973 and at last count 3,440,000 copies had been purchased. <\/p>\n
Other books, a \u201cSubmersion of Japan\u201d comic strip and now a quarterly magazine called After the Apocalypse<\/i> are competing to satisfy the present interest in doom. <\/p>\n
6959<\/b> Panic Over Fiction Story<\/b><\/p>\n
It was 9 p.m., October 30, 1938. A woman anxiously dialed the New York City bus terminal asking information about the next bus departure. \u201cHurry, please!\u201d she cried. \u201cThe world is coming to an end, and I have a lot to do.\u201d The woman was serious, for she had just heard Orson Welles\u2019s radio broadcast of the novel, The War of the Worlds<\/i>. <\/p>\n
So realistic and convincing was the program that she and over a million other Americans really believed that invaders from Mars, as tall as skyscrapers, were marching on New York City. People were panic-stricken over fiction. <\/p>\n
\u2014Ray O. Jones<\/p>\n
6960<\/b> People As Sheep<\/b><\/p>\n
The Camden, Maine, Herald<\/i> ran two photos on the same page: one of Camden\u2019s board of selectmen and town manager; the other of a flock of sheep. Unintentionally the captions were reversed. Under the picture of the sheep the caption identified them, left to right, as town officials; the one under the photo of the town fathers grouped around a table read, \u201cThe Sheep Fold\u2014naive and vulnerable, they huddle for security against the uncertainties of the outside world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Down-East<\/i><\/p>\n
6961<\/b> \u201cWash Hands After Touching\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
On a sightseeing trip on Florida\u2019s West Coast, my husband and I visited an old mansion. In the exquisitely furnished master bedroom, we were surprised to see signs on the bedspread and curtains reading: \u201cWASH HANDS IMMEDIATELY AFTER TOUCHING.\u201d We admired the furnishings from a safe distance, but our curiosity was aroused; so, on leaving, I decided to ask the guard if the fabric had been treated with some harmful preserving chemical. \u201cOh, no, ma\u2019am,\u201d he said, grinning. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing on \u2019em. We just never did have much luck with the \u201cDo Not Touch signs.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Reader\u2019s Digest<\/i><\/p>\n
6962<\/b> Diplomat To Be Without Joy<\/b><\/p>\n
A French diplomat came to make a farewell call on Charles de Gaulle before taking up a new ambassadorship. \u201cMonsieur le President, I am filled with joy at my appointment,\u201d the visitor said. De Gaulle replied icily, \u201cYou are a career diplomat. Joy is an inappropriate emotion in your profession.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Saturday Evening Post<\/i><\/p>\n
6963<\/b> Accidents At Home<\/b><\/p>\n
You may feel pretty safe and secure just sitting there reading this. Don\u2019t kid yourself. Last year twenty-nine thousand Americans died from accidents in their own homes. Of all accidents, 17 percent occur in the home. Remember John Glenn, who conquered space safely, was seriously injured in a fall in his own home. <\/p>\n
Should you run out and jump into your car? Twenty percent of accidents involve automobiles. How about going for a walk? If you walk, you risk being in the 14 percent of accidents that involve pedestrians. How about sports and other recreational activities? They are responsible for 20 percent of all accidents. The safest plan may be not to go anywhere or do anything, for the other 29 percent of accidents are miscellaneous! <\/p>\n
\u2014Gospel Herald<\/i><\/p>\n
6964<\/b> Mystery Tours<\/b><\/p>\n
Travel agencies in Brussels have struck a bonanza with their sale of \u201cMystery Tours.\u201d Tourists have no idea where they\u2019re going, but look forward to the trip. <\/p>\n
\u2014New York Herald Tribune<\/i><\/p>\n
6965<\/b> Not Much Chance<\/b><\/p>\n
A recent Kentucky weather forecast omitted the word \u201cshowers\u201d and the prediction says, \u201cThere is less than 5 percent chance of tonight and tomorrow.\u201d Today this grim warning sounds alarmingly accurate. <\/p>\n
\u2014David McCarthy<\/p>\n
6966<\/b> 19th Century Gloom<\/b><\/p>\n
In 1801 William Wilberforce, an English philantropist, refused to marry on the grounds, \u201cI dare not marry; the future is so unsettled.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1806 William Pitt, an English statesman, bemoaned the state of things, \u201cThere is scarcely anything around us but ruin and despair.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1848 Lord Shafterbur, another English statesman, declared, \u201cNothing can save the British Empire from shipwreck.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1849 Disraeli, one of the greatest of Englishmen statesmen, said, \u201cIn industry, commerce, and agriculture there is no hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1852 the Duke of Wellington, who won the battle of Waterloo, said in his last hours, \u201cI thank God I shall be spared from seeing the consummation of ruin that is gathering about us.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1860 President Buchanan said, \u201cIndeed all hope seems to have deserted the minds of men.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Pastor\u2019s Manual<\/i><\/p>\n
6967<\/b> The Film Busted<\/b><\/p>\n
When President Taft was serving as a Secretary and was visiting Japan on his famous trip through the Far East, he was caught fast asleep in a hammock by a moving picture man. This interesting film was shown at a country fair in a little town in Illinois. The motion picture was being reeled off to the great amusement of the rural spectators, when a huge flaw line suddenly darted across the film, and the screen went dark. <\/p>\n
\u201cLand o\u2019 mercy, Hiram,\u201d gasped a lady in the rear of the hall. \u201cWhat was that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHush up, Mirandy,\u201d said the husband. \u201cI reckon that\u2019s where the hammock busted.\u201d<\/p>\n
6968<\/b> Assume Every Guy Crazy<\/b><\/p>\n
Asked to give a 15-minute radio talk on safe driving, a Detroit taxi driver, who had driven a million miles without an accident, announced: \u201cIt won\u2019t take me any 15 minutes to tell how to avoid accidents. It\u2019s simple\u2014just drive on the theory every other guy in the world is crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Collier\u2019s<\/i><\/p>\n
6969<\/b> Child\u2019s Chances<\/b><\/p>\n
It was suggested to George Bernard Shaw by Isadora Duncan, the dancer, that from the standpoint of eugenics they should be parents of a child.<\/p>\n
\u201cThink,\u201d she said, \u201cwhat a child it would be, with my body and your brain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAh, yes, dear lady\u201d was the reply. \u201cBut just imagine if the child had your brain and my body.\u201d<\/p>\n
6970<\/b> Leave That Sniper Alone! <\/b><\/p>\n
A commanding general of a line division in Korea was inspecting one sunny afternoon when three sniper bullets from a near-by hill whizzed over his hand, causing him to jump into a bunker with a bewhiskered sergeant. <\/p>\n
\u201cLocate that sniper,\u201d snapped the general. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe know exactly where he is, sir,\u201d the sergeant retorted calmly. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhy don\u2019t you shoot him then?\u201d demanded the general. <\/p>\n
The sergeant explained: \u201cWell, sir, that fellow has been sniping at this hill for six weeks now and hasn\u2019t hit anybody yet. We\u2019re afraid if we kill him, they might replace him with one that can shoot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Selected<\/p>\n
6971<\/b> To Know Nile\u2019s Source<\/b><\/p>\n
In his book, The White Nile<\/i>, Alan Moorehead tells us how for at least 2,000 years the mystery of the sources of the Nile was debated without an adequate answer being given. He writes: \u201cIn these deserts (that is, of Egypt) the river was life itself. Had it failed to flow, even for one season, then all Egypt perished. Not to know where the stream came from, not to have any sort of guarantee that it would continue\u2014this was to live in a state of insecurity where only fatalism or superstition could reassure the mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Prairie Overcomer<\/i><\/p>\n
See also:<\/b> Fear. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Men\u2019s hearts failing from fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. \u2014Luke 21:26 6953 Happy New \u2026 Never Mind London Dec. 31 (AP)\u2014\u201dHappy New Doomsday\u201d was one of the newspaper headlines greeting gloomy Britons on the last day of 1973. In … Continue reading “UNCERTAINTY, SPIRIT OF”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5356\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}