This is intended as a report on some things that are copywrited material.
The Gospel According to Isaac Asimov.
R. D. Ice Feb. 98 ©
Writers deal with ideas. Some ideas are tawdry and dysfunctional. Some ideas soar above the commonplace and reach heights of brilliance. Some of this is in the eye of the beholder.
Science Fiction at its best asks the question, "What if?" If "X" is true, what is the logical extension to the "Nth" degree? For example: "If the South had won the War Between The States, what would our present world be like?" ["Man In The High Castle," Philip K. Dick]
Isaac Asimov stands out as the greatest of the Science Fiction writers. His "Foundation Trilogy" began around WWII. This series remains immensely popular. A "second series" is being written by new authors under the Asimov umbrella.
These comments are centered around Asimov's "Trilogy." In a city such as London, diverse elements are found grouped in certain areas. Asimov expands the "city" to planet wide status on Trantor, center of the Galactic Empire. Trantor has a population of billions, with a myriad of sectors each reflecting London's diversities: Cockney, Gypsy, etc., and even Amish (who after all are European in origin).
In some ways this Trilogy is an outgrowth [predecessor?] of ideas used in other stories by Asimov: "Caves of Steel," which deals with a exceptionally dense population squeezed into minimum space [sort of Hong Kong taken to extremes]. And the Robot novels: "The Naked Sun" which imagines a world very sparsely populated, with the occupants rarely seeing each other in person, except by video contact. Things are kept humming by slaves - metallic automatons - robots.
In Asimov's "Foundation Trilogy," the language rarely needs expurgated. There are none of the usual "adult" situations. Ideas are the stock in trade. Gregory Benford, who wrote "Foundation's Fear," one of the "Second Foundation Trilogy," comments: "I had always wondered about crucial aspects of Asimov's Empire: Why were there no aliens in the galaxy? What role did computers play? Particularly, vs. robots? What did the theory of psychohistory actually look like? Finally, who was Hari Seldon - as a character, a man?"
Judging from the "Foundation Trilogy," the Universe is inhabited only by those of the human race. No aliens, no bug eyed monsters, and the non-human robots do not count. Groups of humans from Earth spread out through the Galaxy. Some are motivated by religious reasons; some for political reasons; some just want to make a buck. But in time cultures change and develop, Traditions grow up, the past is forgotten, and old roots and relationships are no longer remembered. "Earth" becomes only a "fairy story." How could there be a common origin when Worlds are so different? This mirrors the "race relations" in our current society. Because we "look different" on the outside, how can we have anything in common???
It must have been a Frenchman who said: "The more things change, the more they stay the same." Warring factions on Ancient Earth are no different than the warring factions on Trantor - the center World of the Galactic Empire. Computer networking provides instantaneous communication and incredible storage of information. The Library of Trantor provides any information in storage, available through the computer terminal in one's house. Incredibly advanced "browsers" search and provide. To "want" is to have. (Google?)
Robots have all of the good qualities of humans, without anything bad. Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics" keep the robots on an entirely beneficial level. The robots themselves deduce a "Zeroth Law" which increases their latitude of function. Their positronic brains of iridium sponge give them much greater intelligence than humans, and a "godlike" quality. Asimov posits them as a blend of "angels" and the "old gods." They are Eternal (continuing to function forever) and work tirelessly for human good. But at the same time, Tiktoks - elemental robots - exist, with only enough intelligence to do menial tasks.
The Three Laws of Robotics: 1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inactivity, allow a human being to come to harm, except where that would conflict with the Zeroth Law. 2) A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law, or the Zeroth Law. 3) A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law or the Zeroth Law. 0) Zeroth Law: A robot may not injure humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.
Hari Seldon is not a "savior," but a "Moses" who sacrifices himself to lead the humans forward. He is guided in his mission by robot Eternals who have the uncanny ability to do the exact thing at the crucial moment. The machinations of the opposition always seem to defeat themselves and provide the solution - while creating the next challenge which threatens to destroy civilization as the Empire knows it.
Asimov's "Foundation Trilogy" sees human history degrading into an interregnum, yet certain key people (and robots) act to set into motion events which will eventually reverse the decline and bring about the new Golden Age. Psychohistory is the mathematical study which predicts the actions of masses of people (but not individuals). Predictive elements make possible the precautionary actions which will bring the desired effect. What seems to be a simple action may set in motion an extensive ripple effect.
Even though Asimov was an avowed atheist, his stories mimic the action of Jehovah on the affairs of mankind down through the ages. Coming as he did from a Jewish family, he certainly grew up under the influence of that faith and belief in Jehovah. God was certainly in Asimov's subconscious. His stories really mirror the continuing human condition. Nations and cultures rise and fall. Yet Jehovah is "behind the scenes" nudging this one and that one and raising up those who "make a difference" by their life of sacrifice. And sometimes an unconscious act may provide the turning point for important change. The human condition swings back to the norm.
Thoughts from SNOW CRASH by Neal Stephenson
R. D. Ice ©
Reviewer: "To start with the third point, Snow Crash is set against a United States in which capitalism has run to its logical extreme: The government is nonexistent for the intents and purposes of most people; suburbanites have retreated to cornily-named "burbclaves" armored against the outside world; public utilities (e.g., highways, police and jails) are run by corporations, and the Mafia is one of the more respectable organizations extant. Stephenson plays this whole scenario largely for humor, and unlike, say, in Vernor Vinge's short story "Conquest by Default", it's not at all clear whether Stephenson believes that this is a plausible society."
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson sets a new landmark in Science Fiction. He tells of a world in which the Government has privatized itself almost completely out of existence. Government functions are carried out by competing private corporations which franchise jails, welfare, and an amazing variety of functions. The remaining Feds exist in a tiny building in California, where they, in paranoia, mindlessly go through the motions of secrecy and security.
An online alternate reality exists where people plug themselves into virtual reality and live their lives in what seems to them a real world. The line between the two realities is blurred by the action which takes place. [Compare the online world of "Second Life" currently being developed.]
The Costra Nostra runs a massive Pizza Delivery Service. Super-athletic youth ride high tech skateboards as they surf through the congested traffic to deliver pizzas (and drugs and other specialty items) to waiting customers. They go with incredible speed, easily maneuvering around, over, between obstacles.
Dialog from Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, page 78.
Y.T. is a 16 year old courier who rides a high tech skateboard through the tangled traffic. Her body-armor has many features to protect her and to maintain contact. Roadkill is her boy friend and fellow courier. She is presently incarcerated in The Clink (a privately owned jail). In her attempt to escape, she contacts Roadkill via cell-phone.
Y.T. offhooks the phone with her free hand. She hits the flash button, giving her a dial tone.
"Roadkill." The telephone remembers and dials Roadkill's number.
"Roadkill?" she says.
Roaring sounds. This is the sound of air peeling over the microphone of Roadkill's personal phone at some terrifying velocity. Also the competing whooshes of many vehicles' tires on pavement, broken by chuck hole percussion; sounds like the crumbling Ventura (Freeway).
"Yo, Y.T." Roadkill says, "'Sup?"
"'Sup with you?"
"Surfing the Tura. 'Sup with you?"
"Maxing the Clink."
"Whoa! Who popped you?"
"MetaCops. Affixed me to the gate of White Columns with a loogie gun."
[A loogie gun fires an adhesive restraining fiber which secures the suspect.]
"Whoa, how very! When you leaving?"
"Soon. Can you swing by and give me a hand?"
"What do you mean?"
Men! "You know, give me a hand. You're my boy friend," she says, speaking very simply and plainly. "If I get popped, you're supposed to come around and help me bust out." Isn't everyone supposed to know this stuff? Don't parents teach their kids anything anymore?
"Well, uh, where are you?"
"Buy 'n' Fly number 501,762."
"I'm on my way to Bernie with a super-ultra."
As in San Bernardino. As in super- ultra- high- priority delivery. As in, you're out of luck.
"Okay, thanks for nothing."
"Sorry."
"Surfing safety," Y.T. says in the traditional sarcastic sign off.
"Keep breathing," Roadkill says. The roaring noise snaps off.
What a jerk. Next date, he’s really going to have to grovel.
from SNOW CRASH by Neal Stephenson, a SciFi view of a possible future. R.D.Ice 6-1-04 ©
In the world of "Snow Crash" the MAFIA operates a gigantic Supercenter marketing everything from "protection" to Pizza delivery. Y.T. is a 16 year old young woman who uses a hi-tech skateboard to weave through the congested traffic to deliver a variety of things for Uncle Enzo (head of the MAFIA). Uncle Enzo is very impressed by Y.T. and tries to do good things for her in any way he can.
Could the world of Snow Crash ever be real? Does the writer predict the future, or only look at possible alternatives? Or is he making a psychological statement? Or a political statement? Whatever, it makes a good story.
Sci-Fi writers ask: What If? What if a televangelist developed a franchised network of "churches" and marketed a variety of "Pentecostal" religion to the masses??? Neal Stephenson wrote of this in his Sci-Fi Fantsy - "Snow Crash" - pages 194-195.
The front room of the Reverend Wayne's "Pearly Gates" is, of course, like all the others. A row of padded vinyl chairs where worshippers can wait for their number to be called, with a potted plant at each end and a table strewn with primeval magazines. A toy corner where kids can kill time, reenacting imaginary, cosmic battles in injection molded plastic. A counter done up in fake wood so it looks like something from an old church. Behind the counter, a pudgy high school babe, dishwater blond hair that has been worked over pretty good with a curling iron, blue metal-flake eyeshadow, an even coat of red makeup covering her broad, gelatinous cheeks, a flimsy sort of choir robe thrown over her T-shirt.
When Y.T. (a young girl message courier) comes in, she is right in the middle of a transaction. She sees Y.T. right away, but no three-ring binder anywhere in the world allows you to flag or fail in the middle of a transaction.
Stymied, Y.T. sighs and crosses her arms to convey impatience. In any other business establishment, she'd already be raising hell and marching around behind the counter as if she owned the place. But this is a church, damn it.
There's a little rack along the front of the counter bearing religious tracts, free for the taking, donation requested. Several slots on the rack are occupied by the Reverend Wayne's famous bestseller. "How America Was Saved from Communism: ELVIS SHOT JFK."
She pulls out the envelope that the man with the glass eye stuck into her pocket. It is not thick and soft enough to contain a lot of cash, unfortunately.
It contains half a dozen snapshots. All of them feature Uncle Enzo (head of the MAFIA). He is on the broad, flat horseshoe driveway of a large house, larger than any house Y.T. has ever seen with her own two eyes. He is standing on a skateboard. Or falling off of a skateboard. Or coasting, slowly, arms splayed wildly out to the sides, chased by nervous security personnel.
A piece of paper is wrapped around the pictures. It says: "Y.T. - Thanks for your help. As you can see from these pictures, I tried to train for this assignment, but it's going to take some practice. Your friend, Uncle Enzo."
Y.T. wraps the pictures up just the way they were, puts them back in her pocket, stifles a smile, returns to business matters.
The girl in the robe is still performing her transaction behind the counter. The transactee is a stocky Spanish speaking woman in an orange dress.
The girl types some stuff into the computer. The customer snaps her Visa card down on the fake wood altar top; it sounds like a rifle shot. The girl pries the card up using her inch-long fingernails, a dicey and complicated operation that makes Y.T. think of insects climbing out of their egg sacs. Then she performs the sacrament, swiping the card through its electromagnetic slot with a carefully modulated sweep of the arm, as though tearing back a veil, handing over the slip, mumbling that she needs a signature and daytime phone number. She might as well have been speaking Latin, but that's okay, since this customer is familiar with the liturgy and signs and numbers it before the words are fully spoken.
Then it just remains for the "Word from On High." But computers and communications are awfully good these days, and it usually doesn't take longer than a couple of seconds to perform a charge-card verification. The little machine beeps out its approval code, heavenly tunes sing out from tinny speakers, and a wide pair of pearlescent doors in the back of the room swing majestically open.
"Thank you for your donation," the girl says, slurring the words together into a single syllable.
The customer stomps toward the double doors, drawn in by hypnotic organ strains. The interior of the chapel is weirdly colored, illuminated partly by fluorescent fixtures wedged into the ceiling and partly by large colored light boxes that simulate stained-glass windows. The largest of these, shaped like a fattened Gothic arch, is bolted to the back wall, above the altar, and features a blazing trinity: Jesus, Elvis, and the Reverend Wayne. Jesus gets top billing. The worshiper is not half a dozen steps into the place before she thuds down on her knees in the middle of the aisle and begins to speak in tongues." : "ar ia ari ar isa ve na a mir ia i sa, ve na a mir ia a sar ia ."
The doors swing shut again.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
SOMEWHERE IN THE FUTURE chapter 1
This is fiction and the names and places are used fictitiously. The people and events are "real" to the author. Writers reach into the depths of their psyche to speak of a reality by which to communicate an idea. What would the "Church of Christ" look like in a different setting? Say, a Space City of half a million people? People are still people everywhere. Problems and situations occur over and over again. We are hard-wired by our culture and experience. We react to life and act out our faith and hope. Look with me. Rhoderick D. Ice All rights reserved © 1999
SOMEWHERE IN THE FUTURE ON TIBERIAS CYLINDER
Rhoderick D. Ice
VISITORS FROM EARTH chapter 1
People streamed out of the large Church on the edge of Nashville. The morning worship was over and people were going to their cars. One of the church-elders hurried to catch up with a worshiper.
"Carl! Carl Sandor! Wait up! I want to talk with you!"
Carl stopped and turned. "Brother Steadman, what can I do for you?"
"Come into the office a moment." When they were comfortably seated, Everett Steadman spoke.
"Carl, we elders have talked this over, and we think you are the man we need. How would you feel about leading a group to visit Tiberias Cylinder?"
"Tiberias Cylinder? One of those cities out in space?"
"Let me refresh your memory. Back in 1991, a magazine of space exploration, FINAL FRONTIER, ran an article about using abandoned fuel cylinders from the Shuttle Missions as 'homesteads in space.' This idea has now produced a number of Cylinders - huge steel and alloy 'cans' that hold an entire city. Tiberias Cylinder is the equivalent of Manhattan in New York City - it is home to half a million people. Some of our relatives live there. And we have a Church meeting there, with several thousand members. We need personal contact with them and a report on what they are doing. We have helped to fund this work and we are interested in their progress. We want you to choose nine others and go to Tiberias, give them our greetings, stay a month or so, and come back to tell us what good things they are doing. What do you think?"
"Well, this is a surprise. I'll have to talk with my wife. She couldn't go, of course, what with the children in school. But I'll give it some thought. My cousin, Eddie, would jump at such a chance. How soon would you need to know?"
"Take your time. It would be the first of the month."
"Thank you for this opportunity. I will certainly get back to you shortly."
They shook hands and went toward the parking lot.
SOMEWHERE IN THE FUTURE ON TIBERIAS CYLINDER
Rhoderick D. Ice
VISITORS FROM EARTH chapter 1
People streamed out of the large Church on the edge of Nashville. The morning worship was over and people were going to their cars. One of the church-elders hurried to catch up with a worshiper.
"Carl! Carl Sandor! Wait up! I want to talk with you!"
Carl stopped and turned. "Brother Steadman, what can I do for you?"
"Come into the office a moment." When they were comfortably seated, Everett Steadman spoke.
"Carl, we elders have talked this over, and we think you are the man we need. How would you feel about leading a group to visit Tiberias Cylinder?"
"Tiberias Cylinder? One of those cities out in space?"
"Let me refresh your memory. Back in 1991, a magazine of space exploration, FINAL FRONTIER, ran an article about using abandoned fuel cylinders from the Shuttle Missions as 'homesteads in space.' This idea has now produced a number of Cylinders - huge steel and alloy 'cans' that hold an entire city. Tiberias Cylinder is the equivalent of Manhattan in New York City - it is home to half a million people. Some of our relatives live there. And we have a Church meeting there, with several thousand members. We need personal contact with them and a report on what they are doing. We have helped to fund this work and we are interested in their progress. We want you to choose nine others and go to Tiberias, give them our greetings, stay a month or so, and come back to tell us what good things they are doing. What do you think?"
"Well, this is a surprise. I'll have to talk with my wife. She couldn't go, of course, what with the children in school. But I'll give it some thought. My cousin, Eddie, would jump at such a chance. How soon would you need to know?"
"Take your time. It would be the first of the month."
"Thank you for this opportunity. I will certainly get back to you shortly."
They shook hands and went toward the parking lot.
ARRIVAL ON TIBERIAS chapter 2
ARRIVAL ON TIBERIAS chapter 2
It seemed only a short time since we had left the spaceport.
The intercom beeped. "This is Captain Stevens speaking. We dock at Tiberias Cylinder at 1000 hours. Prepared to debark. Our stopover will be one solar day."
We hurried to gather our carry-on things. Thanks to disposable paper clothing and personal items, plus the miracle of recycling, we are able to travel very minimally. What baggage we had would be off-loaded by the ship's personnel. We are a group of ten from Earth, going to Tiberias Cylinder, to visit relatives and friends. My name is Carl Sandor. I am writing this report to tell you about Tiberias and our experiences there.
The docking signal sounded. We picked up our carry-on things, stepped into the airlock, and waited for it to cycle. Then we walked through into Customs.
"Look into the opticon eye-identifier."
A senior citizen, very military in appearance, was sitting at the desk. As we each stared into the opticon, he read the view screen to check our names and destination. He gave us temporary resident cards and breathings permits.
"Enjoy your stay," he said, and waved us on.
We stepped through the doorway into Tiberias City. It took our breath away. Green things everywhere! Plants and flowers and potted trees and bushes and vines climbing all over. The artificial sunlight filtered through fresh green masses of vegetation tumbling from huge hanging baskets, tiers and balconies.
"Eddie! Just look at all these green things! These must be air purifiers! It's part of the ecology here!"
"Yeah!' said Eddie. "Ain't this all impressive!"
"Back on Earth we don't even give it a thought. But out here they would have to use every available inch of space to work for the common good. I'll bet everything out here is like that."
"And I can feel currents of air, a steady breeze. That must be from the Recirculators. The green is essential, but Atmospheric Recirculators would have to do their part too. This is a closed system of ecology."
"Yeah!"
We stood at the edge of a broad street that seemed to be the floor of a deep slot. Shops and buildings formed its walls. Some of the angles didn't seem just right. And we could not see very far because of the curvature. There were people everywhere! Just like a shopping mall at Christmas time. I couldn't believe the crowds!
“Look at all the people!” said Eddie. “And what a variety of people! There’s one dressed in an all white Punjab costume.”
I could see a girl with rings in her nose and ears. Some seemed to have their faces painted in some kind of secret code to identify them. We have ethnic minorities in Nashville, but this was amazing for us. We felt out of place in our "suit and tie" clothes.
We were afraid we would get lost in the crowds. So we waited patiently for a short time (I looked at my watch).
"Over there," said Fred. "I think I see a man working his way through the crowd."
An older man, huge, in his late 60's, approached from the right.
"Saluton! You must be the group from Earth. I'm Rod Glacio, one of the Church elders."
He gave each of us a big hug. "Welcome to Tiberias! We praise God for you brothers and sisters in Christ!"
I should explain that we Church people think of each other as brothers and sisters in the Lord's Family. Certainly it was that way in the church of the First Century. I grew up in a very conservative church home. We honored Jesus Christ, and also some of the Pioneers of our Movement. That was our tradition, our life style. We didn't even think about it consciously. When our family moved from State to State or even another Country, we were exposed to other people and other thinking - all within our beloved Church. Each did the same things in the same way - but it all turned out different, somehow. Perhaps you already know that. I was eager to see just how they did things here on Tiberias.
I need to say also that we had heard of Rod’s surgery and we were amazed by his speedy recovery. All of us in Nashville had been praying for him to recover quickly.
We surrounded Rod and all began talking at once. He hugged us all in his huge arms. We each gave him the holy kiss!
"Saluton!" I said. "I am Carl Sandor. I bring you greetings from the Church on Earth in Usono [USA]."
"Please give our greetings to the brothers and sisters in Usono when you return. It's so good to see faces from back home. We don't get enough visitors like you. But you must be tired. Let's get you to your quarters in Spaceport Hotel. We can talk later."
Rod led the way through the crowds to the hotel. It wasn’t that far.
There are no free standing buildings on Tiberias. Everything is built into the Cylinder itself. The hotel fronted the street and was an integral part of the structure.
A young woman sat at a computer terminal in the lobby. She looked up and gave us a bright smile.
"Rod! These must be your friends from Earth! Welcome to Tiberias. Any friend of Rod is a friend of ours!"
"This is Rhoda," Rod said. "She is a sister in Christ. If you need any help, just ask her."
Rhoda came around to hug each of us. I introduced each one. Church people are Family.
"You will need this time to freshen up," Rod said. "I'll come back in about an hour." He walked out to the street and got on a floater.
"Carl Sandor?" Rhoda said. "Are you related to the Sandors in Parkersburg, Usono? I might be your relative. Do you know Fred Sandor?"
"Fred is a distant relative."
"It really is a small universe," she said.
Rhoda assigned us to cubicles (you couldn't call them rooms), small, very compact, efficient. They were about 7 feet by 3 feet (I still can't think in metric). A single bed folded out of the wall, storage space, foldout wash basin, even room for a shower (with everything else folded up). The Videos would have you believe that the Space Stations have lots of wide open areas. But I have not found this to be true. Everything is at a premium out here. Compact is the word.
After freshening up, we felt more "human." We gathered in the lobby where we were to meet Rod.
“Rhoda,” I said, “we’re so happy to see Rod has recovered from his surgery.”
“So are we! It’s been two years now, and he is still cancer free. We thank the Lord for his recovery!”
While we waited we stood and watched a news broadcast on the video wall-screen.
Rod came through the entrance at 1130 hours.
"Let's go eat!" he said. "We can talk better around a table."
He led the way through the ever-present crowds down the street to the Cafeteria. We queued up with the line at the entrance. As we entered, he put his thumb on the scanner and touched the proper keys to record the charges. Then he led the way to the food.
"When I was last on Earth," Rod said, "they called this an 'unlimited food bar.' It's certainly the most efficient way. Take all you want - eat all you take. Plenty for everyone. Lots of variety."
"This is just like back home," Fred said. "Fast Food has been a booming business for years. Many people eat outside their homes these days."
"Everyone here eats in public places," Rod said. "No one cooks at home. What else could they do? We are cramped for space. Notice the paper containers. Paper recycles. Plastic doesn't out here. Being out in space forces us to conserve resources. It you think about it, it is impossible to grow air and water. These must be brought in from Earth or somewhere."
It did make sense. We hadn't thought of such a thing.
Rod spoke again. "Before we fill our trays, let's thank our God. Brother Ed Guthrie, will you lead our prayer of thanks."
We all formed a circle.
"We praise You, O Lord, for this bounty, this feast to nourish our bodies. We thank You for the love we have found here, for the brothers and sisters in Christ on Tiberias, and the fellowship of all whose faith is as precious as our own! We thank You for making it all possible. In Jesus' Name. Amen."
We picked up our trays and followed as Rod led the way. We were amazed by the variety. Fruits and vegetables in abundance, some of which I thought were exotic. Tomatoes, of course, peppers, and other things with short growing periods. We could identify Mexican and Cajun cuisine, plus some other styles we had not seen before. Ham, pork roast, beef, cold cuts, salad greens of all kinds, deserts, pies and cakes and many other goodies.
"All that delicious meat," said Fred Frye, "and I have to watch my cholesterol."
"Not to worry," Rod said. "All the 'meat' you see here comes out of the hydroponics tank. Shipping things in from Earth costs an arm and a leg. It is a blessing, though, because we eat a healthy diet. It is really amazing what you can grow in a hydroponics tank with yeast and whatever else they use!"
The food was excellent! What variety and what flavor, even if a little unusual. But I wondered to myself what "whatever else" included, but was afraid to ask. Rod might tell me and I might not want to know. This was a closed system. It had to be that way.
We followed Rod to a table where we could all sit together.
"What is it like back on Earth these days?" Rod asked. "My children are all live near Cleveland in Usono. They once called that part 'Ohio'. 'Little' Rod writes Westerns - you know, Cowboys and Indians. Did you ever read them?"
"Yes," said Edna. "'Hard Hand,' isn't that the latest?"
"Right" said Rod. "You would be surprised how many preachers read Western Fiction to relax. The good guys always win in the end! Those are morality plays. They hit the problems head on. No matter how impossible things seem to be, there is always hope."
"Just like the Book of Revelation," I said. "God has it under control. Jesus has already won! History is running straight toward the goal of God's Great Plan."
We talked on for some time, then took our trays to put in the disposal chute. People crowded in behind us to take our places.
"Come over into the solarium," Rod said. He led the way through more crowds. I never could get used to all those people! I thought Manhattan was crowded. But half a million people lived here on Tiberias Cylinder. Crowded surely wasn't the word for it.
We followed Rod along the street, turned into a side corridor, and then into a large room.
We could see more of those green growing things. We found them everywhere we went on Tiberias. And there were more people already here. This must be a popular place. Rod led us to a few empty spaces. Some others were just leaving, and so there was room after all.
Fred looked all around, then pointed to the ceiling. "You did say solarium?"
"That's what we call them," said Rod. "No sunlight, of course. Too much UV and things like that out here in Space. But it is a convenient name. These are good places to meet, to relax, and to hold Bible Studies. We will go to one of the Bible Study groups later."
I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked up just as a man came furtively into the solarium. He had bushy black hair and was wearing blue coveralls which identified him as a technician. He hid behind a potted tree, and was watching the corridor.
A floater from Peace & Safety stopped at a cubicle across the passageway. Two men went into the cubicle and came out wrestling a woman. Two children followed, biting, kicking and scratching. The Consto calmly dropped her with his stunner. He did the same to the children. The others placed them on the floater, none too gently, and they sped down the corridor.
"Rod, what was that?"
"Unfortunately," Rod said," this is not a perfect society. We have some problem malcontents. Life on Tiberias has to be very structured. Not everyone can deal with this lifestyle. We'll go talk with Ford Morris later. He is a Consto in Peace & Safety. He'll fill us in on the details. Sometimes people must be deported to Earth. It's sad. But it's best for them in the long run."
It seemed only a short time since we had left the spaceport.
The intercom beeped. "This is Captain Stevens speaking. We dock at Tiberias Cylinder at 1000 hours. Prepared to debark. Our stopover will be one solar day."
We hurried to gather our carry-on things. Thanks to disposable paper clothing and personal items, plus the miracle of recycling, we are able to travel very minimally. What baggage we had would be off-loaded by the ship's personnel. We are a group of ten from Earth, going to Tiberias Cylinder, to visit relatives and friends. My name is Carl Sandor. I am writing this report to tell you about Tiberias and our experiences there.
The docking signal sounded. We picked up our carry-on things, stepped into the airlock, and waited for it to cycle. Then we walked through into Customs.
"Look into the opticon eye-identifier."
A senior citizen, very military in appearance, was sitting at the desk. As we each stared into the opticon, he read the view screen to check our names and destination. He gave us temporary resident cards and breathings permits.
"Enjoy your stay," he said, and waved us on.
We stepped through the doorway into Tiberias City. It took our breath away. Green things everywhere! Plants and flowers and potted trees and bushes and vines climbing all over. The artificial sunlight filtered through fresh green masses of vegetation tumbling from huge hanging baskets, tiers and balconies.
"Eddie! Just look at all these green things! These must be air purifiers! It's part of the ecology here!"
"Yeah!' said Eddie. "Ain't this all impressive!"
"Back on Earth we don't even give it a thought. But out here they would have to use every available inch of space to work for the common good. I'll bet everything out here is like that."
"And I can feel currents of air, a steady breeze. That must be from the Recirculators. The green is essential, but Atmospheric Recirculators would have to do their part too. This is a closed system of ecology."
"Yeah!"
We stood at the edge of a broad street that seemed to be the floor of a deep slot. Shops and buildings formed its walls. Some of the angles didn't seem just right. And we could not see very far because of the curvature. There were people everywhere! Just like a shopping mall at Christmas time. I couldn't believe the crowds!
“Look at all the people!” said Eddie. “And what a variety of people! There’s one dressed in an all white Punjab costume.”
I could see a girl with rings in her nose and ears. Some seemed to have their faces painted in some kind of secret code to identify them. We have ethnic minorities in Nashville, but this was amazing for us. We felt out of place in our "suit and tie" clothes.
We were afraid we would get lost in the crowds. So we waited patiently for a short time (I looked at my watch).
"Over there," said Fred. "I think I see a man working his way through the crowd."
An older man, huge, in his late 60's, approached from the right.
"Saluton! You must be the group from Earth. I'm Rod Glacio, one of the Church elders."
He gave each of us a big hug. "Welcome to Tiberias! We praise God for you brothers and sisters in Christ!"
I should explain that we Church people think of each other as brothers and sisters in the Lord's Family. Certainly it was that way in the church of the First Century. I grew up in a very conservative church home. We honored Jesus Christ, and also some of the Pioneers of our Movement. That was our tradition, our life style. We didn't even think about it consciously. When our family moved from State to State or even another Country, we were exposed to other people and other thinking - all within our beloved Church. Each did the same things in the same way - but it all turned out different, somehow. Perhaps you already know that. I was eager to see just how they did things here on Tiberias.
I need to say also that we had heard of Rod’s surgery and we were amazed by his speedy recovery. All of us in Nashville had been praying for him to recover quickly.
We surrounded Rod and all began talking at once. He hugged us all in his huge arms. We each gave him the holy kiss!
"Saluton!" I said. "I am Carl Sandor. I bring you greetings from the Church on Earth in Usono [USA]."
"Please give our greetings to the brothers and sisters in Usono when you return. It's so good to see faces from back home. We don't get enough visitors like you. But you must be tired. Let's get you to your quarters in Spaceport Hotel. We can talk later."
Rod led the way through the crowds to the hotel. It wasn’t that far.
There are no free standing buildings on Tiberias. Everything is built into the Cylinder itself. The hotel fronted the street and was an integral part of the structure.
A young woman sat at a computer terminal in the lobby. She looked up and gave us a bright smile.
"Rod! These must be your friends from Earth! Welcome to Tiberias. Any friend of Rod is a friend of ours!"
"This is Rhoda," Rod said. "She is a sister in Christ. If you need any help, just ask her."
Rhoda came around to hug each of us. I introduced each one. Church people are Family.
"You will need this time to freshen up," Rod said. "I'll come back in about an hour." He walked out to the street and got on a floater.
"Carl Sandor?" Rhoda said. "Are you related to the Sandors in Parkersburg, Usono? I might be your relative. Do you know Fred Sandor?"
"Fred is a distant relative."
"It really is a small universe," she said.
Rhoda assigned us to cubicles (you couldn't call them rooms), small, very compact, efficient. They were about 7 feet by 3 feet (I still can't think in metric). A single bed folded out of the wall, storage space, foldout wash basin, even room for a shower (with everything else folded up). The Videos would have you believe that the Space Stations have lots of wide open areas. But I have not found this to be true. Everything is at a premium out here. Compact is the word.
After freshening up, we felt more "human." We gathered in the lobby where we were to meet Rod.
“Rhoda,” I said, “we’re so happy to see Rod has recovered from his surgery.”
“So are we! It’s been two years now, and he is still cancer free. We thank the Lord for his recovery!”
While we waited we stood and watched a news broadcast on the video wall-screen.
Rod came through the entrance at 1130 hours.
"Let's go eat!" he said. "We can talk better around a table."
He led the way through the ever-present crowds down the street to the Cafeteria. We queued up with the line at the entrance. As we entered, he put his thumb on the scanner and touched the proper keys to record the charges. Then he led the way to the food.
"When I was last on Earth," Rod said, "they called this an 'unlimited food bar.' It's certainly the most efficient way. Take all you want - eat all you take. Plenty for everyone. Lots of variety."
"This is just like back home," Fred said. "Fast Food has been a booming business for years. Many people eat outside their homes these days."
"Everyone here eats in public places," Rod said. "No one cooks at home. What else could they do? We are cramped for space. Notice the paper containers. Paper recycles. Plastic doesn't out here. Being out in space forces us to conserve resources. It you think about it, it is impossible to grow air and water. These must be brought in from Earth or somewhere."
It did make sense. We hadn't thought of such a thing.
Rod spoke again. "Before we fill our trays, let's thank our God. Brother Ed Guthrie, will you lead our prayer of thanks."
We all formed a circle.
"We praise You, O Lord, for this bounty, this feast to nourish our bodies. We thank You for the love we have found here, for the brothers and sisters in Christ on Tiberias, and the fellowship of all whose faith is as precious as our own! We thank You for making it all possible. In Jesus' Name. Amen."
We picked up our trays and followed as Rod led the way. We were amazed by the variety. Fruits and vegetables in abundance, some of which I thought were exotic. Tomatoes, of course, peppers, and other things with short growing periods. We could identify Mexican and Cajun cuisine, plus some other styles we had not seen before. Ham, pork roast, beef, cold cuts, salad greens of all kinds, deserts, pies and cakes and many other goodies.
"All that delicious meat," said Fred Frye, "and I have to watch my cholesterol."
"Not to worry," Rod said. "All the 'meat' you see here comes out of the hydroponics tank. Shipping things in from Earth costs an arm and a leg. It is a blessing, though, because we eat a healthy diet. It is really amazing what you can grow in a hydroponics tank with yeast and whatever else they use!"
The food was excellent! What variety and what flavor, even if a little unusual. But I wondered to myself what "whatever else" included, but was afraid to ask. Rod might tell me and I might not want to know. This was a closed system. It had to be that way.
We followed Rod to a table where we could all sit together.
"What is it like back on Earth these days?" Rod asked. "My children are all live near Cleveland in Usono. They once called that part 'Ohio'. 'Little' Rod writes Westerns - you know, Cowboys and Indians. Did you ever read them?"
"Yes," said Edna. "'Hard Hand,' isn't that the latest?"
"Right" said Rod. "You would be surprised how many preachers read Western Fiction to relax. The good guys always win in the end! Those are morality plays. They hit the problems head on. No matter how impossible things seem to be, there is always hope."
"Just like the Book of Revelation," I said. "God has it under control. Jesus has already won! History is running straight toward the goal of God's Great Plan."
We talked on for some time, then took our trays to put in the disposal chute. People crowded in behind us to take our places.
"Come over into the solarium," Rod said. He led the way through more crowds. I never could get used to all those people! I thought Manhattan was crowded. But half a million people lived here on Tiberias Cylinder. Crowded surely wasn't the word for it.
We followed Rod along the street, turned into a side corridor, and then into a large room.
We could see more of those green growing things. We found them everywhere we went on Tiberias. And there were more people already here. This must be a popular place. Rod led us to a few empty spaces. Some others were just leaving, and so there was room after all.
Fred looked all around, then pointed to the ceiling. "You did say solarium?"
"That's what we call them," said Rod. "No sunlight, of course. Too much UV and things like that out here in Space. But it is a convenient name. These are good places to meet, to relax, and to hold Bible Studies. We will go to one of the Bible Study groups later."
I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked up just as a man came furtively into the solarium. He had bushy black hair and was wearing blue coveralls which identified him as a technician. He hid behind a potted tree, and was watching the corridor.
A floater from Peace & Safety stopped at a cubicle across the passageway. Two men went into the cubicle and came out wrestling a woman. Two children followed, biting, kicking and scratching. The Consto calmly dropped her with his stunner. He did the same to the children. The others placed them on the floater, none too gently, and they sped down the corridor.
"Rod, what was that?"
"Unfortunately," Rod said," this is not a perfect society. We have some problem malcontents. Life on Tiberias has to be very structured. Not everyone can deal with this lifestyle. We'll go talk with Ford Morris later. He is a Consto in Peace & Safety. He'll fill us in on the details. Sometimes people must be deported to Earth. It's sad. But it's best for them in the long run."
CHURCH chapter 3
CHURCH chapter 3
It was Sabato (Saturday) when we debarked on Tiberias. The next day would be Dimancho, the Christian day of worship. I was certain Tiberias used the standard Earth week.
"Tomorrow will be Dimancho?"
"Right," said Rod. "The mainday worship service will be at 0600. There will be some 3,000 people there. We meet in Central Square."
"That many!" I said.
"Certainly. You have cities on Earth with much smaller populations than Tiberias. Some of them have Churches with 5,000 members or more."
"You are right," I said. "I have been to the big Madison Church in Tennessee. They have more than 6,000 members."
"You said 'mainday,'" Chet asked. "What did you mean by that?"
"Remember," Rod said, "we are out in space. To be more efficient, Ships have a crew who work mainday, plus another who work alterday, dividing the day into two 12 hour periods. This permits two populations to live in one living space. We have a 24 hour society, dividing up the time."
Edna spoke up. "I see. Then you have a worship on mainday plus another worship on alterday."
"Exactly," said Rod. "I remember when I was a child on Earth, our Church had five services each Sunday. Some worked days and some nights and some early mornings. Because of the economy, people had to work at whatever jobs they could find. Multiple services made worship possible for everyone. Many of the larger Churches arranged their schedules this way."
By now we had come back to the lobby of the hotel.
"Better get some sleep," Rod said. "Tomorrow is Dimancho, the Lord's Day. We meet early! Better be at Central Square by 0530 if you expect to get a good seat. Central Square is one of the few places where large groups of people can meet together. Our worship is at 0600. God bless us all! Adiau! See you in the morning."
The alarm sounded and I jumped out of bed. Wow! Short night! I dressed hurriedly and got down to the lobby just as the others were gathering. After a head count, we started toward Central Square, following Rod’s directions. We saw a 'City Girl Coffee Shop' (cubicle). We munched pastries and sipped coffee or tea as we walked along. We carefully put our cups and trash into a disposal chute.
By now it was 0531. Rod was waiting for us.
I want to describe this worship service in detail for those back home. It is a privilege and a joy to be here on Tiberias to join in with all those who worship here today, Dimancho, Sunday, the Lord's Day.
We are here in Central Square this bright Sunday morning. Crowds are gathering quickly. I am surprised to see so many young people. Perhaps some of the senior citizens have returned to Earth when their tour of duty came to an end. I would ask Rod to introduce some of the people, but there isn't time. The whole congregation has gathered here and is waiting for the service to begin.
It's now 0600. Steve Chin is coming to the podium. On the wall-screen behind him we can see the order of worship appear on the screen. Steve is the song leader today, and in this tradition, the song leader convenes the worship and makes certain each of the worship leaders is present and in place.
Steve lifts up his hands and speaks: "Chi tiun tagon faris la Eternulo; ni goyu kai goyigu en gi."
"That's Basic," whispered Rod. "We all use it in Space. I'll translate. 'This day belongs to the Lord! Let's celebrate and be glad today!"
A word of explanation. Basic is the Esperanto language of Old Earth, which is now the universal language of space. It is neutral, tied to no country, and with no political overtones. It came into wide use with the United Sates of Europe forming early in the 21st Century. You will hear many languages in space: English, Chinese, and others as well. But Basic has become the common language which everyone speaks and understands; precise, unchanging, uncomplicated, logical. I will translate from now on, with just a hint of Basic.
Bud Arledge is now coming to the podium to lead the first prayer.
"'Chipova Dio...' All-powerful God, who permits us to join together our united voices in prayer, and who promises that when two or three are come together in Your Name, You will grant their prayers. Fulfill now the desires and requests of Your servants, in a way that will most bless us. In this world please give us wisdom concerning Your truth, and in the world to come eternal life in Your presence. Through Christ our Lord, Amen."
Now Steve Chin steps back to the podium to lead the first song. It will be an old song from Earth: "They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love!" We hear the entire congregation join in with great enthusiasm and joy! Some sit, and some stand. But all join in singing words of praise to God. As we do back home, there are no musical instruments as they are singing "a capella."
The second song will be "Tago Yuga." "Day of Judgment, Day of sadness. World dissolving into vapor, Anciently prophesied hour." Let me remind you that there is a deep sense of "Christ Coming" among Churches such as this. This is tied to Peter's Catharsis (2 Peter 3:7-13), and the "new heavens and new earth" where righteousness will be at home.
The third song will be the Communion Hymn: "Upon The First Day Of The Week." Christ raised from death on the day following the Sabbath - Sunday, the first day of the new week.
A word of explanation. The tradition of this Church is that every Sunday is Communion Sunday. We believe it was so in the early Church. Some of the names applied to this Communion are: Vespermangon; Lord's Supper; Holy Meal; Eucharist. This will be the high point of the worship service. HE has overcome the world! HE has won the victory! We worshipers believe that this Holy Meal ties each one of us to every other Christian in the Universe as each one shares in the bread and wine of the Communion.
We will see the tradition of simultaneous communion. Each communicant has already received an individually sealed portion of the bread and wine (an outgrowth of the AIDS epidemic of the past). The bread is unleavened. The wine is unprocessed grape juice with only enough fermentation to prevent spoilage."
Morris Evans has come to the symbolic table and is the Unifier of this Holy Meal.
Again we inject a note of explanation. This Church makes no sharp distinction between clergy and laity. Steve is an electrician; Morris is a paramedic. Both are church-elders, as is Rod, who is also a Preaching Minister. As brothers and sisters in the Family of God all work together for the common good of all. "He lets us rule as kings and serve God His Father as priests" (Revelation 1:6)
.
Morris lifts up his hands and speaks: "As we join together in this Holy Meal, we remember our Lord who died on Old Earth many centuries ago. Jesus died as God's Sacrificial Lamb, to expiate the sins of the world of humans and to put us right with God. We are here today to praise Him and to show Him our love! We honor Jesus for Who He Is and for What He Did! We take this bread - by faith, His body. We take this wine - by faith, His blood. As the Scripture says: 'For until the Lord comes, you proclaim His death whenever you eat this bread and drink the cup.' And now Stan Chenowitz will lead us in the prayer of thanks."
Stan comes from the right to stand at the podium. He lifts up his hands and speaks.
"We praise You, O Lord our God! While we were estranged from You because of our sins, You reached out to us by sending Jesus! We are so thankful for Your blessings! Touch this bread - to us the body of Christ by our faith. Touch this wine - to us the blood of Christ by our faith. Touch our lives, and make us one in Christ - we are the Body of Christ. We pray in the Name of Jesus, Amen."
Now attention shifts back to Morris Evans at the Table. The entire congregation waits in anticipation, holding in their hands the individual portions of bread and wine. Morris lifts his individual portions as high as he can reach, holding them for a moment. Then he lowers his arms and speaks.
"This is My body, which is for you. Do this in memory of Me."
As Morris puts the individual portion of bread in his mouth, simultaneously so do each of the communicants.
Again Morris speaks.
"The wine which is this cup is God's New Covenant, sealed with My blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of Me."
Morris puts the individual portion of wine in his mouth and so do the communicants simultaneously."
We remind you that the bread and wine are encapsulated in individual portions. One pops the whole thing into the mouth, bites through the capsule, and swallows the contents. As we said, this began during the AIDS crisis on Earth. Actually, this works quite well in a crowd like this. There is nothing to dispose of. And, it permits us to follow the example of the early Church who celebrated the Holy Meal regularly. This Church emphasizes the memorial /commemorative /celebration purpose of the Lord's Supper.
Now Steve Chin returns to the podium. A song of praise appears on the wall-screen. "Praise be to God, In every time, In every place, From every person." All sing with love and devotion.
Again a word of explanation. Many years ago a collection/offering was taken up following the Holy Meal. Since Tiberias uses electronic money - no coins or paper money - they cannot take up a collection. What Apostle Paul actually said was: "On the first day of every week each of you must put aside some money, in proportion to what he has earned, and save it up..." Each worshiper who wishes to do so, then, transfers an amount of credit into the Church's account. And this is part of our worship to Him.
Now another song appears on the screen, in English. "When the Lord of love was here, He watched the joy in human life, And He was pleased..."
Dean Woods comes to the podium. He will introduce the Speaker for this worship service.
"Dear brothers and sisters. We want each one of you to feel part of our worship family. We invite you to become part of our small group Bible Studies. There is one in your area. Just punch up the Library Computer."
Dean continued: "We are so happy today to have with us Don Daugherty, from what used to be called 'West Virginia,' in Usono, Earth. You can find his report about the Church back on Earth in the Library Computer. Exciting things are taking place there. Don is to plant a Church on a new Cylinder being built further out in space. And now here is Brother Don."
Don steps to the podium. His Outline and Bible references appear on the wall screen behind him. As we would expect, Don's sermon stresses Christ on the cross and the power of His resurrection."
Note: The Library Computer loads the entire worship event into its memory bank. Those shut-in can punch it up. In fact, some of the Amazing Grace Bible Class sessions from 20th Century Earth are also available. There is even a reenactment of the Cane Ridge Revival of Earth year 1802.
As is the custom on Earth, Don closes his sermon by giving an invitation. Actually, one who wishes to be "put right with God" may contact one of the brothers or sisters at any time. While baptism is often done by the leadership, each Christian is authorized to perform this act. We will visit a baptizing following this service.
We hear Don speak: "God loves you and believes in you! He proved this by sending Jesus! Take Him as Lord of your life! Believe in Jesus. Turn away from your sins. Be baptized. God will forgive your sins. You will receive the Holy Spirit, God's gift. Won't you come forward as we sing this song. Someone will talk with you and assist you in your obedience."
The song is: "Kristo kun me, Kristo ene..." "Christ be with me, Christ be in me, Let me share God's glory...'" (based on Colossians 1:27).
Some are coming forward to the podium to respond to Don's sermon. One appears to be a man in his eighties. We will try to contact him later.
Now Frank Miller, a church elder, comes to the podium to lead the closing prayer.
"Bless, O Father, these who have come to give their lives to You. Bless them and make them a blessing to others. And now, may the Lord Himself, who is our source of peace, give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all! In the Name of Jesus, Amen."
Steve Chin comes to the podium.
"There will be baptism at the hydrotherapy unit of Central Hospital at 0930. You can view it on your screen, along with all the church news and announcements. Now we must clear the way for the next group to use this space. God bless you all! Until we meet again!"
It was Sabato (Saturday) when we debarked on Tiberias. The next day would be Dimancho, the Christian day of worship. I was certain Tiberias used the standard Earth week.
"Tomorrow will be Dimancho?"
"Right," said Rod. "The mainday worship service will be at 0600. There will be some 3,000 people there. We meet in Central Square."
"That many!" I said.
"Certainly. You have cities on Earth with much smaller populations than Tiberias. Some of them have Churches with 5,000 members or more."
"You are right," I said. "I have been to the big Madison Church in Tennessee. They have more than 6,000 members."
"You said 'mainday,'" Chet asked. "What did you mean by that?"
"Remember," Rod said, "we are out in space. To be more efficient, Ships have a crew who work mainday, plus another who work alterday, dividing the day into two 12 hour periods. This permits two populations to live in one living space. We have a 24 hour society, dividing up the time."
Edna spoke up. "I see. Then you have a worship on mainday plus another worship on alterday."
"Exactly," said Rod. "I remember when I was a child on Earth, our Church had five services each Sunday. Some worked days and some nights and some early mornings. Because of the economy, people had to work at whatever jobs they could find. Multiple services made worship possible for everyone. Many of the larger Churches arranged their schedules this way."
By now we had come back to the lobby of the hotel.
"Better get some sleep," Rod said. "Tomorrow is Dimancho, the Lord's Day. We meet early! Better be at Central Square by 0530 if you expect to get a good seat. Central Square is one of the few places where large groups of people can meet together. Our worship is at 0600. God bless us all! Adiau! See you in the morning."
The alarm sounded and I jumped out of bed. Wow! Short night! I dressed hurriedly and got down to the lobby just as the others were gathering. After a head count, we started toward Central Square, following Rod’s directions. We saw a 'City Girl Coffee Shop' (cubicle). We munched pastries and sipped coffee or tea as we walked along. We carefully put our cups and trash into a disposal chute.
By now it was 0531. Rod was waiting for us.
I want to describe this worship service in detail for those back home. It is a privilege and a joy to be here on Tiberias to join in with all those who worship here today, Dimancho, Sunday, the Lord's Day.
We are here in Central Square this bright Sunday morning. Crowds are gathering quickly. I am surprised to see so many young people. Perhaps some of the senior citizens have returned to Earth when their tour of duty came to an end. I would ask Rod to introduce some of the people, but there isn't time. The whole congregation has gathered here and is waiting for the service to begin.
It's now 0600. Steve Chin is coming to the podium. On the wall-screen behind him we can see the order of worship appear on the screen. Steve is the song leader today, and in this tradition, the song leader convenes the worship and makes certain each of the worship leaders is present and in place.
Steve lifts up his hands and speaks: "Chi tiun tagon faris la Eternulo; ni goyu kai goyigu en gi."
"That's Basic," whispered Rod. "We all use it in Space. I'll translate. 'This day belongs to the Lord! Let's celebrate and be glad today!"
A word of explanation. Basic is the Esperanto language of Old Earth, which is now the universal language of space. It is neutral, tied to no country, and with no political overtones. It came into wide use with the United Sates of Europe forming early in the 21st Century. You will hear many languages in space: English, Chinese, and others as well. But Basic has become the common language which everyone speaks and understands; precise, unchanging, uncomplicated, logical. I will translate from now on, with just a hint of Basic.
Bud Arledge is now coming to the podium to lead the first prayer.
"'Chipova Dio...' All-powerful God, who permits us to join together our united voices in prayer, and who promises that when two or three are come together in Your Name, You will grant their prayers. Fulfill now the desires and requests of Your servants, in a way that will most bless us. In this world please give us wisdom concerning Your truth, and in the world to come eternal life in Your presence. Through Christ our Lord, Amen."
Now Steve Chin steps back to the podium to lead the first song. It will be an old song from Earth: "They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love!" We hear the entire congregation join in with great enthusiasm and joy! Some sit, and some stand. But all join in singing words of praise to God. As we do back home, there are no musical instruments as they are singing "a capella."
The second song will be "Tago Yuga." "Day of Judgment, Day of sadness. World dissolving into vapor, Anciently prophesied hour." Let me remind you that there is a deep sense of "Christ Coming" among Churches such as this. This is tied to Peter's Catharsis (2 Peter 3:7-13), and the "new heavens and new earth" where righteousness will be at home.
The third song will be the Communion Hymn: "Upon The First Day Of The Week." Christ raised from death on the day following the Sabbath - Sunday, the first day of the new week.
A word of explanation. The tradition of this Church is that every Sunday is Communion Sunday. We believe it was so in the early Church. Some of the names applied to this Communion are: Vespermangon; Lord's Supper; Holy Meal; Eucharist. This will be the high point of the worship service. HE has overcome the world! HE has won the victory! We worshipers believe that this Holy Meal ties each one of us to every other Christian in the Universe as each one shares in the bread and wine of the Communion.
We will see the tradition of simultaneous communion. Each communicant has already received an individually sealed portion of the bread and wine (an outgrowth of the AIDS epidemic of the past). The bread is unleavened. The wine is unprocessed grape juice with only enough fermentation to prevent spoilage."
Morris Evans has come to the symbolic table and is the Unifier of this Holy Meal.
Again we inject a note of explanation. This Church makes no sharp distinction between clergy and laity. Steve is an electrician; Morris is a paramedic. Both are church-elders, as is Rod, who is also a Preaching Minister. As brothers and sisters in the Family of God all work together for the common good of all. "He lets us rule as kings and serve God His Father as priests" (Revelation 1:6)
.
Morris lifts up his hands and speaks: "As we join together in this Holy Meal, we remember our Lord who died on Old Earth many centuries ago. Jesus died as God's Sacrificial Lamb, to expiate the sins of the world of humans and to put us right with God. We are here today to praise Him and to show Him our love! We honor Jesus for Who He Is and for What He Did! We take this bread - by faith, His body. We take this wine - by faith, His blood. As the Scripture says: 'For until the Lord comes, you proclaim His death whenever you eat this bread and drink the cup.' And now Stan Chenowitz will lead us in the prayer of thanks."
Stan comes from the right to stand at the podium. He lifts up his hands and speaks.
"We praise You, O Lord our God! While we were estranged from You because of our sins, You reached out to us by sending Jesus! We are so thankful for Your blessings! Touch this bread - to us the body of Christ by our faith. Touch this wine - to us the blood of Christ by our faith. Touch our lives, and make us one in Christ - we are the Body of Christ. We pray in the Name of Jesus, Amen."
Now attention shifts back to Morris Evans at the Table. The entire congregation waits in anticipation, holding in their hands the individual portions of bread and wine. Morris lifts his individual portions as high as he can reach, holding them for a moment. Then he lowers his arms and speaks.
"This is My body, which is for you. Do this in memory of Me."
As Morris puts the individual portion of bread in his mouth, simultaneously so do each of the communicants.
Again Morris speaks.
"The wine which is this cup is God's New Covenant, sealed with My blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of Me."
Morris puts the individual portion of wine in his mouth and so do the communicants simultaneously."
We remind you that the bread and wine are encapsulated in individual portions. One pops the whole thing into the mouth, bites through the capsule, and swallows the contents. As we said, this began during the AIDS crisis on Earth. Actually, this works quite well in a crowd like this. There is nothing to dispose of. And, it permits us to follow the example of the early Church who celebrated the Holy Meal regularly. This Church emphasizes the memorial /commemorative /celebration purpose of the Lord's Supper.
Now Steve Chin returns to the podium. A song of praise appears on the wall-screen. "Praise be to God, In every time, In every place, From every person." All sing with love and devotion.
Again a word of explanation. Many years ago a collection/offering was taken up following the Holy Meal. Since Tiberias uses electronic money - no coins or paper money - they cannot take up a collection. What Apostle Paul actually said was: "On the first day of every week each of you must put aside some money, in proportion to what he has earned, and save it up..." Each worshiper who wishes to do so, then, transfers an amount of credit into the Church's account. And this is part of our worship to Him.
Now another song appears on the screen, in English. "When the Lord of love was here, He watched the joy in human life, And He was pleased..."
Dean Woods comes to the podium. He will introduce the Speaker for this worship service.
"Dear brothers and sisters. We want each one of you to feel part of our worship family. We invite you to become part of our small group Bible Studies. There is one in your area. Just punch up the Library Computer."
Dean continued: "We are so happy today to have with us Don Daugherty, from what used to be called 'West Virginia,' in Usono, Earth. You can find his report about the Church back on Earth in the Library Computer. Exciting things are taking place there. Don is to plant a Church on a new Cylinder being built further out in space. And now here is Brother Don."
Don steps to the podium. His Outline and Bible references appear on the wall screen behind him. As we would expect, Don's sermon stresses Christ on the cross and the power of His resurrection."
Note: The Library Computer loads the entire worship event into its memory bank. Those shut-in can punch it up. In fact, some of the Amazing Grace Bible Class sessions from 20th Century Earth are also available. There is even a reenactment of the Cane Ridge Revival of Earth year 1802.
As is the custom on Earth, Don closes his sermon by giving an invitation. Actually, one who wishes to be "put right with God" may contact one of the brothers or sisters at any time. While baptism is often done by the leadership, each Christian is authorized to perform this act. We will visit a baptizing following this service.
We hear Don speak: "God loves you and believes in you! He proved this by sending Jesus! Take Him as Lord of your life! Believe in Jesus. Turn away from your sins. Be baptized. God will forgive your sins. You will receive the Holy Spirit, God's gift. Won't you come forward as we sing this song. Someone will talk with you and assist you in your obedience."
The song is: "Kristo kun me, Kristo ene..." "Christ be with me, Christ be in me, Let me share God's glory...'" (based on Colossians 1:27).
Some are coming forward to the podium to respond to Don's sermon. One appears to be a man in his eighties. We will try to contact him later.
Now Frank Miller, a church elder, comes to the podium to lead the closing prayer.
"Bless, O Father, these who have come to give their lives to You. Bless them and make them a blessing to others. And now, may the Lord Himself, who is our source of peace, give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all! In the Name of Jesus, Amen."
Steve Chin comes to the podium.
"There will be baptism at the hydrotherapy unit of Central Hospital at 0930. You can view it on your screen, along with all the church news and announcements. Now we must clear the way for the next group to use this space. God bless you all! Until we meet again!"
CENTRAL HOSPITAL chapter 4
CENTRAL HOSPITAL chapter 4
We gathered around Rod as we were leaving Central Square.
"Where will we go now?" I asked.
"Let's all go to Central Hospital to the baptizing," Rod said. "You'll want to see this. It's just over in the next ring. You'll find the Hospital is much smaller than you might expect. 'Outpatient' and 'home-service' take care of most problems. It's more efficient. Since the hydrotherapy unit is small, not many can squeeze into it. Most will watch this on their video terminals. And you will be able to download a recording later."
He led the way down the street, making a few turns along the way. Central Hospital was also built into the structure.
"Rod," Fred asked, "Does this Hospital front on another corridor also?"
"Yes, it does. Tiberias rotates to provide an artificial gravity. This gives us a sense of up and down. The rings are concentric, with the structures built between the corridors."
We entered and stood with our backs against the wall.
"There is Ned Jones," Rod said. "He will baptize his son, Jerry. And she is Klia Depoy, who will baptize her daughter, Hetta."
Ned and Jerry walked to the hydrotherapy tank, and stood facing each other.
"Jerry, Jesus loves you! I ask you to declare your faith in Him."
"Yes! I do believe that Jesus is God's Messiah, the Son of the Living God! I take Him as Lord of my life!"
"God bless you, Jerry, for your word of faith!"
Now Ned helped Jerry into the tank, while he stood beside it. Ned placed his right hand on Jerry's back and with his left hand held a handkerchief over Jerry's nose. Jerry held to Ned's left arm with both hands. Then he got down on his knees in the water.
Ned looked toward the videocam and spoke. "By the authority of Jesus Christ, I bury you with Christ and into Christ, to receive new life, to have your sins forgiven, and to receive God's gift, the Holy Spirit. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen."
Ned lowered Jerry completely under the water and immediately lifted him up again. All of us began to sing.
"Jesus, I love you! I give myself to You! Send Your wisdom to me, that I may live for You."
Then as we watched, Klia repeated the baptismal ceremony with Hetta. It was beautiful to see a father baptize his son, and a mother, her daughter. We sang our joy and praise for these young people begining their journey of spiritual life. We hugged each one - our new brother and sister in Christ!
"Rod," I asked. "You mentioned a Church that meets mainday and another alterday. How do you do this? That is, how do you organize it all?"
"Carl, you remember how it was on Earth when they began having multiple services. We are Central Church. But there are two Meetings, with different people and different leaders, yet still one Church. Each "Meeting" chooses nine elders. That is, there are nine elders for the mainday Meeting and nine elders for the alterday Meeting. These guide and counsel the members. All the church-elders meet together regularly to coordinate activities. If you think about it, the Jerusalem Church in Acts 2 was structured in this way. They had a Meeting in the Temple plus numerous house-groups meeting all the time. The Jerusalem Church probably had 100,000 members before persecution scattered it. But they were one Church."
Gwen, Rod's wife, joined us at this point.
"Let's take early lunch!" Rod said. "We often do this on Sunday. Just follow me. There is a Cafeteria not far away."
The place was packed. "Will they have room for us?" I asked.
"Sure! Let's fill our trays, and then we will look for an empty table. There always seems to be one. People come and go."
"I'm still amazed," Fred said. "Ham with no meat in it. Yeast derivatives! All these fruits and vegetables. And everything grown right here on Tiberias. "
"I'll take you to meet Hans Yoder sometime," said Rod. "He is the head of hydroponics and a genius in growing things and producing food."
"Over there," Rod said. "There's the group from the baptizing. Let's sit with them."
Rod led the way toward them. "Ned, Jerry, Klia, Hetta, hello! Congratulations! You'll never be sorry you took Jesus as the Lord of your life!"
An old gentleman came over to the table. He was the one who had come forward at the morning service.
"Rod, hello!" he said.
Then he turned to us. "It's a great day in my life! I'm Ford Prefect. I've always roamed around the galaxy, you know. Asteroid miner, isolated, a hermit. I've done most everything, good or bad. I surely wish now that I had made Jesus the Lord of my life when I was young, given my whole life to Him. But thank God, it wasn't too late! Now I'm put right with God and adopted into His Kingdom!"
We each gave him the right hand of fellowship, the kiss of peace, and a big hug. He sat with us and we talked together as others came and went around us.
"Better get a move on!" Rod warned. "It's time for the rush hour to begin."
We hurried to finish. We put the garbage in the disposal chute.
Rod held up his hand. "Let's go to a Bible Study. There is always one meeting somewhere."
A quick check at a terminal showed one meeting in the Solarium on Ring 5 East. We should just make it in time if we walked fast.
As entered we saw the group over in a corner - about twenty people. Tim Butcher was the leader.
"Tim! Kayor!" Rod shouted. "I've brought some brothers and sisters from Earth to see how we do things."
"Good to see you, Rod. You visitors are most welcome!"
"I'm Tim Butcher," he said, holding out his hand. "This is my wife, Amy" He pointed to her. "This is Zack Zakerzewski, and his wife Sharon, their daughter, Triska, and their sons, Enoch and Jared."
"Tim," Rod said. "You can introduce the others later. Explain just how our Bible Studies and Zones work."
"Sure. We base our church life on Proverbs 27:17. 'People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron.' We want to have as much interaction between our people as possible. Christians really do need each other."
"There is a Meeting on mainday and another alterday. Each Meeting breaks down into around a hundred Zones. Each zone chooses an expediter every six months who will coordinate activities. Each person is urged to be in contact with at least one other member (not family) during each day, if possible. Family contacts are in addition to this. Everyone is urged to take part in the zone system. Zones visit around so that each member of an Assembly will come in contact with every other member at least once every four months. Now, this is all voluntary, of course. We are careful to avoid authoritarianism. We try to be an extended family."
"Do your Zones meet together, that is, the whole Zone in one gathering?"
"Sometimes. But more often as 'cell groups' in smaller numbers. The Jerusalem Church in Acts met in 'cell groups' in different homes and shared their food together. The 'church' doesn't cease to exist between Sundays. Throughout each week groups are meeting at all times and places. Some meet in the morning, others at noon or night; in homes, more often in solariums. Everybody is somebody! We help preserve this spirit by the 'sharing' in small groups. These core groups are at the heart of our life and ministry."
"How are you able to apply this in problem solving?" Fred asked.
When someone has a problem, he or she would first call upon one of the other members who have the specialty needed to solve the problem. We have a web site in the Library Computer."
"Smaller study groups like this meet all the time, and on different levels of maturity. For example, in one like this we try to involve friends and neighbors, with the idea of introducing them to Christ. We want to share our faith and our life with them. Some groups are for new Christians, some are for more advanced study, and some on the leadership level. Rod teaches many of the more advanced classes."
"What about Bibles?" Chet asked. "What versions do you use?"
"Anyone can punch up a Bible on his or her screen. The Library Computer has Versions in all the Earth languages, and of course, Basic. We can't spare paper for books, tracts, etc. But all these are in the Library Computer. Anyone can view them at any time. All you need is a terminal. There are tapes and programs and even entire worship services from Old Earth. The menu shows it all."
Tim concluded: "When you divide this activity among the membership, it doesn't involve all that much time for each person. We want a 'servant ministry' to be 'user friendly' and to always be there to help in time of need. Compare Jesus' teaching in Matthew 25."
When our study concluded, we walked to a soft drink machine and enjoyed our favorite refreshments.
"You can certainly tell that Tim is a schoolteacher," Rod said. "He can give you more details than you want to know."
"But I really appreciate that," I said. "It will help me report to the people back home about the wonderful things you are doing here on Tiberias."
"But tell me about your Sunday services," I said.
Tim answered: "We have only one 'worship assembly' in each duad. We, the church, come together on Sunday in a worship service of praise and devotion. It's the high point of our week. When we gather at the Lord's Table, it is a celebration of Who He Is and who we are in Him!"
We were reluctant to leave. We each gave Tim and the others a hug and the kiss of peace.
"Let me take you to a leadership class," Rod said. He led the way back to the main corridor, and we all boarded a floater.
Rod's leadership class were all waiting when we arrived. He introduced us and we hugged everyone.
After we found a place to sit, Rod began. "We are studying Revelation chapter 5," he said. "It is God's act in Jesus the Lamb by which God gives the verdict of not guilty in regard to those who are paid for by the bloody-death of Christ. Paul shows us that the whole Universe shared in the benefits of this act, as we see in Romans 8:20-22; Colossians 1:20."
"In interpreting Revelation, we take the general view of Hendriksen in his book, More Than Conquerors, published on Earth around 1940. Some of the views people once held about eschatology were tied to Old Earth and no longer make sense out here in space."
"I remember Hendricksen," I said. "He viewed Revelation as picturing a continuous cycle of events. Wasn't his view called 'The Philosophy of History?' An 'amillennial' point of view, which was unusual at the time."
"Right," said Rod. "Some used to say: 'He is coming, and boy is He mad!' We believe the great Plan is working itself out. God is in control. All this is part of the process. We believe the 'church' in a geographic area goes through a cycle. Christ is preached, people become disciples of Christ, the visible church grows greatly, Satan brings in opposition, the church seems to die out, and then it all repeats again. That is oversimplifying, of course."
"That surely fits in with history," I said. "In the last years of the 20th century, Communism fell, and people in Eastern Europe and the 'Iron Curtain' countries turned to Christ. That was something no one would have predicted. Also in Usono [USA], a 'Christian nation,' people seemed to turn away from Christ and religion fell on hard times.”
"Until the Great Revival," Rod said. "The Holy Spirit 'blew' across the nation and melted hearts. Which is to say," Rod added, "that the Spirit made an opportunity for men and women to decide to believe in Jesus."
"Robert Brinsmead said it," Sam Golden spoke up. "He said to imagine a great arch. Our side says: 'Whoever wishes may come'; and on God's side it says: 'You did not choose Me, I chose you."
"It certainly is a paradox," Rod said. "God's Plan is much more vast than anyone could imagine. Everything relates to Jesus and the Good News!"
"But people are evil," I said. "Even our best obedience is tainted with sin."
"Certainly," said Rod. "That is why we must claim Jesus, His righteousness, the power of His resurrection. We must reach out in faith to seize Him and claim His finished work."
"What a God we serve!" said Ned Jones. "Praise His Name forever! It boggles our minds to think that He loves us!"
Let me insert here: The Church on Tiberias views forgiveness and righteousness taking place in the Mind of God. 'I will treat them with kindness, even though they are wicked. I will surely forget their sins.' [Hebrews 8:12; Romans 4:8] They accept each person who 'names the name of Christ' to the extend they are perceived to be in harmony with the Christ of the Scriptures. The Body of Christ includes every saved person. This Kingdom of His dear Son is a place of safety [Colossians 1:13]. I am finding the Church on Tiberias to be very like the Church I attend in Nashville back on Earth.
Later, we were eating pie and ice cream around a table in the Cafeteria.
"Rod," I said, "I can see now that in the past our thinking has been distorted somewhat by our church-buildings."
"You've got it," Road answered. "Now, I know that back on Earth you use your buildings to advantage. Don't misunderstand what I am saying. A church-building is 'good,' but it may encourage pomp & ceremony, ritual, even entertainment, rather than focusing on praise and worship. Not that such things are 'bad,' but praise and joy and a sense of 'family' are more important."
"Yes," I said. "And I can see that living here on a Cylinder tends to force people to live a 'minimalist' life style."
"Right again. We have been 'liberated' in a sense, being packed into this Cylinder like 'sardines in a can' [whatever that meant]. The first century Church must have been like this. Certainly we think they were close to God and to each other in that early time."
Rod continued: "Don't let that fool you, however. We are all still very 'human' in our weaknesses and problems. The early church had all the problems you find on Earth today, and on Tiberias. It is very difficult to 'disagree without becoming disagreeable.' Someone said that, and it is surely true."
"Are you really able to talk things out?" I asked. "How do you go about solving everyday disagreements?"
"We church-elders are not 'deciders,'" Rod answered. "We are 'older brothers looking out for the other children.' We give 'Body life' a high priority. We all work together and talk things out. We want the togetherness of the communes on Old Earth, but without the limitations. I believe they used to call this form, a 'non-residential household.' That is, not living in the same house, but forming a close knit extended Family."
A note of explanation. These disciples are diverse. From differing cultures and backgrounds, they have very little in common - except Jesus Christ! They are multi-racial and multi-ethnic. The church represents all the colors of God's rainbow. They are united by Christian love and fellowship.
John wrote in Revelation 5:9-10. "Then they sang a new song, 'You are worthy to receive the scroll and open its seals, because You were killed. And with Your own blood You bought for God people from every tribe, language, nation, and race. You let them become kings and serve God as priests, and they will rule on earth.'"
"Rod, are you able to avoid triumphalism?" I asked.
"Triumphalism. You mean the idea that we have God 'in a box' and that we then despise everyone else. I suppose the simplest answer is that we love Christ - and therefore all our brothers and sisters in the Lord's Family. We therefore love non-Christians also. We may not agree with them, but if God so loved the world to send Jesus - we must so love the world of humanity also."
Rod continued: "In the 1960's a man named Suenens wrote a book, 'A New Pentecost.' In it he looked to the future of his religious family. 'We shall have, therefore, a period of greater freedom in the life of the Church and her individual members. It will be a period of fewer legal obligations and fewer interior restraints. Formal discipline will be reduced; all arbitrary intolerance and all absolutism will be abolished. Positive law will be simplified, and the exercise of authority will be moderated. There will be promoted the sense of that Christian freedom which pervaded the first generation of Christians.' I think he was prophetic in this. This is the Church on Tiberias."
"But I hear you stress Jesus: His death, His resurrection, His second coming," I said.
"Yes, this is the way it ought to be. Without Jesus there could be no church, no salvation, no hope, no joy. And the church is a platform from which to proclaim Jesus is Lord!"
"Rod, you are reminding me of an old book I read. 'A World To Win.' The author emphasized that the name, Jesus, means 'God saves.' That along with Paul, we will respect the culture, language, feelings and attitudes of people and key the unchanging truth to that framework. We will build, not destroy, and explain the gospel in terms sure to be understood."
"1 Corinthians 9:19-23. That's what you are talking about"
We gathered around Rod as we were leaving Central Square.
"Where will we go now?" I asked.
"Let's all go to Central Hospital to the baptizing," Rod said. "You'll want to see this. It's just over in the next ring. You'll find the Hospital is much smaller than you might expect. 'Outpatient' and 'home-service' take care of most problems. It's more efficient. Since the hydrotherapy unit is small, not many can squeeze into it. Most will watch this on their video terminals. And you will be able to download a recording later."
He led the way down the street, making a few turns along the way. Central Hospital was also built into the structure.
"Rod," Fred asked, "Does this Hospital front on another corridor also?"
"Yes, it does. Tiberias rotates to provide an artificial gravity. This gives us a sense of up and down. The rings are concentric, with the structures built between the corridors."
We entered and stood with our backs against the wall.
"There is Ned Jones," Rod said. "He will baptize his son, Jerry. And she is Klia Depoy, who will baptize her daughter, Hetta."
Ned and Jerry walked to the hydrotherapy tank, and stood facing each other.
"Jerry, Jesus loves you! I ask you to declare your faith in Him."
"Yes! I do believe that Jesus is God's Messiah, the Son of the Living God! I take Him as Lord of my life!"
"God bless you, Jerry, for your word of faith!"
Now Ned helped Jerry into the tank, while he stood beside it. Ned placed his right hand on Jerry's back and with his left hand held a handkerchief over Jerry's nose. Jerry held to Ned's left arm with both hands. Then he got down on his knees in the water.
Ned looked toward the videocam and spoke. "By the authority of Jesus Christ, I bury you with Christ and into Christ, to receive new life, to have your sins forgiven, and to receive God's gift, the Holy Spirit. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen."
Ned lowered Jerry completely under the water and immediately lifted him up again. All of us began to sing.
"Jesus, I love you! I give myself to You! Send Your wisdom to me, that I may live for You."
Then as we watched, Klia repeated the baptismal ceremony with Hetta. It was beautiful to see a father baptize his son, and a mother, her daughter. We sang our joy and praise for these young people begining their journey of spiritual life. We hugged each one - our new brother and sister in Christ!
"Rod," I asked. "You mentioned a Church that meets mainday and another alterday. How do you do this? That is, how do you organize it all?"
"Carl, you remember how it was on Earth when they began having multiple services. We are Central Church. But there are two Meetings, with different people and different leaders, yet still one Church. Each "Meeting" chooses nine elders. That is, there are nine elders for the mainday Meeting and nine elders for the alterday Meeting. These guide and counsel the members. All the church-elders meet together regularly to coordinate activities. If you think about it, the Jerusalem Church in Acts 2 was structured in this way. They had a Meeting in the Temple plus numerous house-groups meeting all the time. The Jerusalem Church probably had 100,000 members before persecution scattered it. But they were one Church."
Gwen, Rod's wife, joined us at this point.
"Let's take early lunch!" Rod said. "We often do this on Sunday. Just follow me. There is a Cafeteria not far away."
The place was packed. "Will they have room for us?" I asked.
"Sure! Let's fill our trays, and then we will look for an empty table. There always seems to be one. People come and go."
"I'm still amazed," Fred said. "Ham with no meat in it. Yeast derivatives! All these fruits and vegetables. And everything grown right here on Tiberias. "
"I'll take you to meet Hans Yoder sometime," said Rod. "He is the head of hydroponics and a genius in growing things and producing food."
"Over there," Rod said. "There's the group from the baptizing. Let's sit with them."
Rod led the way toward them. "Ned, Jerry, Klia, Hetta, hello! Congratulations! You'll never be sorry you took Jesus as the Lord of your life!"
An old gentleman came over to the table. He was the one who had come forward at the morning service.
"Rod, hello!" he said.
Then he turned to us. "It's a great day in my life! I'm Ford Prefect. I've always roamed around the galaxy, you know. Asteroid miner, isolated, a hermit. I've done most everything, good or bad. I surely wish now that I had made Jesus the Lord of my life when I was young, given my whole life to Him. But thank God, it wasn't too late! Now I'm put right with God and adopted into His Kingdom!"
We each gave him the right hand of fellowship, the kiss of peace, and a big hug. He sat with us and we talked together as others came and went around us.
"Better get a move on!" Rod warned. "It's time for the rush hour to begin."
We hurried to finish. We put the garbage in the disposal chute.
Rod held up his hand. "Let's go to a Bible Study. There is always one meeting somewhere."
A quick check at a terminal showed one meeting in the Solarium on Ring 5 East. We should just make it in time if we walked fast.
As entered we saw the group over in a corner - about twenty people. Tim Butcher was the leader.
"Tim! Kayor!" Rod shouted. "I've brought some brothers and sisters from Earth to see how we do things."
"Good to see you, Rod. You visitors are most welcome!"
"I'm Tim Butcher," he said, holding out his hand. "This is my wife, Amy" He pointed to her. "This is Zack Zakerzewski, and his wife Sharon, their daughter, Triska, and their sons, Enoch and Jared."
"Tim," Rod said. "You can introduce the others later. Explain just how our Bible Studies and Zones work."
"Sure. We base our church life on Proverbs 27:17. 'People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron.' We want to have as much interaction between our people as possible. Christians really do need each other."
"There is a Meeting on mainday and another alterday. Each Meeting breaks down into around a hundred Zones. Each zone chooses an expediter every six months who will coordinate activities. Each person is urged to be in contact with at least one other member (not family) during each day, if possible. Family contacts are in addition to this. Everyone is urged to take part in the zone system. Zones visit around so that each member of an Assembly will come in contact with every other member at least once every four months. Now, this is all voluntary, of course. We are careful to avoid authoritarianism. We try to be an extended family."
"Do your Zones meet together, that is, the whole Zone in one gathering?"
"Sometimes. But more often as 'cell groups' in smaller numbers. The Jerusalem Church in Acts met in 'cell groups' in different homes and shared their food together. The 'church' doesn't cease to exist between Sundays. Throughout each week groups are meeting at all times and places. Some meet in the morning, others at noon or night; in homes, more often in solariums. Everybody is somebody! We help preserve this spirit by the 'sharing' in small groups. These core groups are at the heart of our life and ministry."
"How are you able to apply this in problem solving?" Fred asked.
When someone has a problem, he or she would first call upon one of the other members who have the specialty needed to solve the problem. We have a web site in the Library Computer."
"Smaller study groups like this meet all the time, and on different levels of maturity. For example, in one like this we try to involve friends and neighbors, with the idea of introducing them to Christ. We want to share our faith and our life with them. Some groups are for new Christians, some are for more advanced study, and some on the leadership level. Rod teaches many of the more advanced classes."
"What about Bibles?" Chet asked. "What versions do you use?"
"Anyone can punch up a Bible on his or her screen. The Library Computer has Versions in all the Earth languages, and of course, Basic. We can't spare paper for books, tracts, etc. But all these are in the Library Computer. Anyone can view them at any time. All you need is a terminal. There are tapes and programs and even entire worship services from Old Earth. The menu shows it all."
Tim concluded: "When you divide this activity among the membership, it doesn't involve all that much time for each person. We want a 'servant ministry' to be 'user friendly' and to always be there to help in time of need. Compare Jesus' teaching in Matthew 25."
When our study concluded, we walked to a soft drink machine and enjoyed our favorite refreshments.
"You can certainly tell that Tim is a schoolteacher," Rod said. "He can give you more details than you want to know."
"But I really appreciate that," I said. "It will help me report to the people back home about the wonderful things you are doing here on Tiberias."
"But tell me about your Sunday services," I said.
Tim answered: "We have only one 'worship assembly' in each duad. We, the church, come together on Sunday in a worship service of praise and devotion. It's the high point of our week. When we gather at the Lord's Table, it is a celebration of Who He Is and who we are in Him!"
We were reluctant to leave. We each gave Tim and the others a hug and the kiss of peace.
"Let me take you to a leadership class," Rod said. He led the way back to the main corridor, and we all boarded a floater.
Rod's leadership class were all waiting when we arrived. He introduced us and we hugged everyone.
After we found a place to sit, Rod began. "We are studying Revelation chapter 5," he said. "It is God's act in Jesus the Lamb by which God gives the verdict of not guilty in regard to those who are paid for by the bloody-death of Christ. Paul shows us that the whole Universe shared in the benefits of this act, as we see in Romans 8:20-22; Colossians 1:20."
"In interpreting Revelation, we take the general view of Hendriksen in his book, More Than Conquerors, published on Earth around 1940. Some of the views people once held about eschatology were tied to Old Earth and no longer make sense out here in space."
"I remember Hendricksen," I said. "He viewed Revelation as picturing a continuous cycle of events. Wasn't his view called 'The Philosophy of History?' An 'amillennial' point of view, which was unusual at the time."
"Right," said Rod. "Some used to say: 'He is coming, and boy is He mad!' We believe the great Plan is working itself out. God is in control. All this is part of the process. We believe the 'church' in a geographic area goes through a cycle. Christ is preached, people become disciples of Christ, the visible church grows greatly, Satan brings in opposition, the church seems to die out, and then it all repeats again. That is oversimplifying, of course."
"That surely fits in with history," I said. "In the last years of the 20th century, Communism fell, and people in Eastern Europe and the 'Iron Curtain' countries turned to Christ. That was something no one would have predicted. Also in Usono [USA], a 'Christian nation,' people seemed to turn away from Christ and religion fell on hard times.”
"Until the Great Revival," Rod said. "The Holy Spirit 'blew' across the nation and melted hearts. Which is to say," Rod added, "that the Spirit made an opportunity for men and women to decide to believe in Jesus."
"Robert Brinsmead said it," Sam Golden spoke up. "He said to imagine a great arch. Our side says: 'Whoever wishes may come'; and on God's side it says: 'You did not choose Me, I chose you."
"It certainly is a paradox," Rod said. "God's Plan is much more vast than anyone could imagine. Everything relates to Jesus and the Good News!"
"But people are evil," I said. "Even our best obedience is tainted with sin."
"Certainly," said Rod. "That is why we must claim Jesus, His righteousness, the power of His resurrection. We must reach out in faith to seize Him and claim His finished work."
"What a God we serve!" said Ned Jones. "Praise His Name forever! It boggles our minds to think that He loves us!"
Let me insert here: The Church on Tiberias views forgiveness and righteousness taking place in the Mind of God. 'I will treat them with kindness, even though they are wicked. I will surely forget their sins.' [Hebrews 8:12; Romans 4:8] They accept each person who 'names the name of Christ' to the extend they are perceived to be in harmony with the Christ of the Scriptures. The Body of Christ includes every saved person. This Kingdom of His dear Son is a place of safety [Colossians 1:13]. I am finding the Church on Tiberias to be very like the Church I attend in Nashville back on Earth.
Later, we were eating pie and ice cream around a table in the Cafeteria.
"Rod," I said, "I can see now that in the past our thinking has been distorted somewhat by our church-buildings."
"You've got it," Road answered. "Now, I know that back on Earth you use your buildings to advantage. Don't misunderstand what I am saying. A church-building is 'good,' but it may encourage pomp & ceremony, ritual, even entertainment, rather than focusing on praise and worship. Not that such things are 'bad,' but praise and joy and a sense of 'family' are more important."
"Yes," I said. "And I can see that living here on a Cylinder tends to force people to live a 'minimalist' life style."
"Right again. We have been 'liberated' in a sense, being packed into this Cylinder like 'sardines in a can' [whatever that meant]. The first century Church must have been like this. Certainly we think they were close to God and to each other in that early time."
Rod continued: "Don't let that fool you, however. We are all still very 'human' in our weaknesses and problems. The early church had all the problems you find on Earth today, and on Tiberias. It is very difficult to 'disagree without becoming disagreeable.' Someone said that, and it is surely true."
"Are you really able to talk things out?" I asked. "How do you go about solving everyday disagreements?"
"We church-elders are not 'deciders,'" Rod answered. "We are 'older brothers looking out for the other children.' We give 'Body life' a high priority. We all work together and talk things out. We want the togetherness of the communes on Old Earth, but without the limitations. I believe they used to call this form, a 'non-residential household.' That is, not living in the same house, but forming a close knit extended Family."
A note of explanation. These disciples are diverse. From differing cultures and backgrounds, they have very little in common - except Jesus Christ! They are multi-racial and multi-ethnic. The church represents all the colors of God's rainbow. They are united by Christian love and fellowship.
John wrote in Revelation 5:9-10. "Then they sang a new song, 'You are worthy to receive the scroll and open its seals, because You were killed. And with Your own blood You bought for God people from every tribe, language, nation, and race. You let them become kings and serve God as priests, and they will rule on earth.'"
"Rod, are you able to avoid triumphalism?" I asked.
"Triumphalism. You mean the idea that we have God 'in a box' and that we then despise everyone else. I suppose the simplest answer is that we love Christ - and therefore all our brothers and sisters in the Lord's Family. We therefore love non-Christians also. We may not agree with them, but if God so loved the world to send Jesus - we must so love the world of humanity also."
Rod continued: "In the 1960's a man named Suenens wrote a book, 'A New Pentecost.' In it he looked to the future of his religious family. 'We shall have, therefore, a period of greater freedom in the life of the Church and her individual members. It will be a period of fewer legal obligations and fewer interior restraints. Formal discipline will be reduced; all arbitrary intolerance and all absolutism will be abolished. Positive law will be simplified, and the exercise of authority will be moderated. There will be promoted the sense of that Christian freedom which pervaded the first generation of Christians.' I think he was prophetic in this. This is the Church on Tiberias."
"But I hear you stress Jesus: His death, His resurrection, His second coming," I said.
"Yes, this is the way it ought to be. Without Jesus there could be no church, no salvation, no hope, no joy. And the church is a platform from which to proclaim Jesus is Lord!"
"Rod, you are reminding me of an old book I read. 'A World To Win.' The author emphasized that the name, Jesus, means 'God saves.' That along with Paul, we will respect the culture, language, feelings and attitudes of people and key the unchanging truth to that framework. We will build, not destroy, and explain the gospel in terms sure to be understood."
"1 Corinthians 9:19-23. That's what you are talking about"
CHRISTMAS ON TIBERIAS chapter 5
CHRISTMAS ON TIBERIAS chapter 5
Away from home at Christmas time! And even away from Earth??? This would certainly be a new experience for all of us. We are a group of ten from Tennessee in Usono, Earth, visiting Tiberias Cylinder, a city of half a million out in space.
I rode the lift down to the hotel lobby and walked out on the street. Music from a great many Christmas traditions hit my ears. Some I could recognize. Much was foreign to me. Decorations of red, silver and gold were mixed in with the ever present green foliage. I had looked in some of the shops along the street. I was amazed at the variety of items for sale. People from the many nations of Earth were all intermingled into the Canister City that was Tiberias. They brought along the cultures that were close to them.
As I stood looking around, I saw Rod coming through the crowds.
"Rod! Saluton! What an exciting new experience this all is! Christmas time and out here in space!"
"Kayor, Carl! Christmas is a happy time here on Tiberias. We honor Christ Jesus in many ways and traditions. Today I want you to go with the McWhorters and see something of how we celebrate Christmas. I am sure God uses the excitement of Christmas and also Easter to bring Jesus to the attention of people. After all, God is Boss of the Universe. His will & purpose is being carried out."
"I do want to see everything that I can, Rod. Sound like fun and perhaps I can pick up something new. But all these crowds! I still can't get used to so many people! Doesn't this ever bother you?"
"I'm used to it. Did you ever see a video of life on a submarine? Talk about being crowded!"
A wave of motion in the crowd caught my eye. A man and woman were working their way toward us.
"Here they are." Rod reached out to touch the hand of the man.
"Carl, this is Doug and Mina. They are both librarians. If you want to know it, they can tell it to you or help you find it."
They both gave me a hug.
"Kayor, brother! We're your hosts for the next few days. I'm sure you were cramped up in that hotel cubicle! We'll show you some hospitality."
We all hugged Rod. Doug led the way across the street. We got on a floater, rode a while, then got off at an intersection.
"This is 'Cubic City,'" Doug said. "We live just down here." I followed Doug and Mina to a door leading into a solid wall. No windows at all.
Mina punched a code into the lock and the door slid open.
"Welcome to our home," she said.
I stepped through the doorway into a large room. It still looked much like the tiny cubicle in the hotel. As I looked around I could see this was much larger.
The furniture had the look of aged wood, but I knew it was plastic. Wood was much too expensive, being shipped in from Earth. It all looked much as the log cabins in the videos. I could see the walls were decorated with streamers of red and green. Line drawings of the Nativity scene were scattered here and there. It all seemed "right," somehow.
Doug touched a keypad near the door. The walls changed to show a tropical scene with lots of sand, palm trees and tropical birds. It seemed so real!
Then they changed again to show snow high in the mountains. Brrr. I cold feel the chill.
"Cubic City?" I said.
"Think about it," said Doug. "Cleveland back on Earth is made up of many little villages. It's a location pattern. Cleveland: Mayfield; Stedley Drive; 911; Apartment 2-C. We do the same thing on Tiberias. It's a convenient way to identify a location. There are 150 such 'cities' which make up Tiberias Cylinder."
"Can you believe it," said Mina. "Christmas is just days away."
"Christmas takes me back to my childhood," I said. "But how do you celebrate with no snow? I see lots of green everywhere on Tiberias, but I see that in summer in Usono. What about a winter scene? How do you put up a tree?"
"Carl," said Doug. "The southern half of Earth celebrates Christmas in the middle of their summer. Usono is not the only culture on Earth. Only a few of them put up a tree."
"And," said Mina, "Earth has an endless variety of customs."
She touched the keypad to show Christmas being celebrated with firecrackers and mariachi musicians.
"This is a fiesta in Mexico," she said.
The people surrounded something like a clay pot hanging from the ceiling. They kept hitting at with a stick. It broke and all sorts of colorful gifts and favors fell out.
"That's a piñata they hit," said Doug.
I recognized the name.
Next the walls showed a nativity scene in mountains. I could recognize this as being near my home in West Virginia, Usono.
Then a scene from Australia, in the desert in the midst of a blazing sun.
"Wow! You surely are hi-tech!"
"Things change more rapidly than we have language to express it. We have thousands of TV channels with much more from the Library Computer. Millions of videos: movies, travel, scenic areas, you name it. We can even show your house back on Earth. You can buy anything you want or need through the Internet and have it delivered direct to your cubicle."
Let's see the news," said Doug. The walls showed a meeting of the UN on Earth. They were trying to deal with problems in the middle eastern part of Earth, Bosnia, and the Island of Crete. The Arab nations were protesting vehemently.
Doug touched the keypad and the red and green streamers were back. And the line drawings of the Nativity.
"You know," I said, "back on Earth Christmas is so commercialized. People just go wild buying things. The whole economy depends upon the Christmas season."
"Tiberias is not all that different," said Doug. "We are like Manhattan in New York City back on Earth. We could not live without the business function to create jobs. We have an intense import-export trade, with ships docking at all times. For example we can manufacture pharmaceuticals here that would be impossible on Earth,. And electronics and other things. We have a very controlled environment. But we need so many things which must be imported from Earth."
"Yes," said Mina. "We cannot grow air and water. It must be brought in from somewhere. We do our best."
"But," she continued, "Christ is still the center of things. Listen to the Carols. 'Born the King of Israel.' Everyone is very much aware of Christ at Christmas and Easter. These are important holidays here. In church, of course, we honor Jesus continually. Especially, as you know, in the Holy Meal, the Lord's Supper."
"Bread and wine," I said, "and the One Spiritual Body of Christ."
"That's it," Doug said. "We take very seriously our relationship to every other Christian believer in the Universe. Didn't someone say, 'the more things change, the more they stay the same'? People are people wherever they live. Christianity is about people and God, and about people problems and human needs and especially hope! We experience and we learn. Earth, Tiberias, wherever."
"Communication," Mina said. "We need lines of communication between each of us. We're so happy you came from Earth. We want to know all that is happening there."
"And I am here to learn from you," I said.
"But how do you do things when you are cramped up in little cubicles? How do you get together in groups to celebrate?"
"In two ways," said Mina. "We get together in small groups in the solariums. And we get together through networking."
"Networking? I thought that had to do with computers."
"Watch that wall." She touched a control.
"Yes? Rod here."
"Viewing?" Mina asked.
"You got it." Rod appeared on the wall screen.
"We're just showing our guest how we network. We wanted him to see one of the ways we get together at times."
On the screen we could see Rod touch a control. People began appearing on the wall screens around the room. Soon we had a crowd gathered, but only we were actually in the cubicle.
"Kayor!" said Rod. "Let's show Carl some good old-fashioned koinonia! Carl, koinonia is the kind of close fellowship they had in Bible times. It is a close, loving relationship. Reba and her children (they waved) are back on Earth. The others are here on Tiberias. Yet we are 'here' in this network."
"Carl," said Doug, "this is a convenient way to get together. Families, especially children, can meet anytime on the network. Even though we are not actually present in the same cubicle, we are together is a very special way."
"I can see that," I said. "Reminds me of the book, 'Caves of Steel' Asimov wrote in the 20th century. But he envisioned some being so radical they couldn't bear to actually be present with another person."
"We'll see that never happens!" said Rod. "We insure that there is much face to face interaction between all of us. We really love each other as family."
Some children began playing games in a corner. None of them were actually there. They were networked in virtual reality.
Away from home at Christmas time! And even away from Earth??? This would certainly be a new experience for all of us. We are a group of ten from Tennessee in Usono, Earth, visiting Tiberias Cylinder, a city of half a million out in space.
I rode the lift down to the hotel lobby and walked out on the street. Music from a great many Christmas traditions hit my ears. Some I could recognize. Much was foreign to me. Decorations of red, silver and gold were mixed in with the ever present green foliage. I had looked in some of the shops along the street. I was amazed at the variety of items for sale. People from the many nations of Earth were all intermingled into the Canister City that was Tiberias. They brought along the cultures that were close to them.
As I stood looking around, I saw Rod coming through the crowds.
"Rod! Saluton! What an exciting new experience this all is! Christmas time and out here in space!"
"Kayor, Carl! Christmas is a happy time here on Tiberias. We honor Christ Jesus in many ways and traditions. Today I want you to go with the McWhorters and see something of how we celebrate Christmas. I am sure God uses the excitement of Christmas and also Easter to bring Jesus to the attention of people. After all, God is Boss of the Universe. His will & purpose is being carried out."
"I do want to see everything that I can, Rod. Sound like fun and perhaps I can pick up something new. But all these crowds! I still can't get used to so many people! Doesn't this ever bother you?"
"I'm used to it. Did you ever see a video of life on a submarine? Talk about being crowded!"
A wave of motion in the crowd caught my eye. A man and woman were working their way toward us.
"Here they are." Rod reached out to touch the hand of the man.
"Carl, this is Doug and Mina. They are both librarians. If you want to know it, they can tell it to you or help you find it."
They both gave me a hug.
"Kayor, brother! We're your hosts for the next few days. I'm sure you were cramped up in that hotel cubicle! We'll show you some hospitality."
We all hugged Rod. Doug led the way across the street. We got on a floater, rode a while, then got off at an intersection.
"This is 'Cubic City,'" Doug said. "We live just down here." I followed Doug and Mina to a door leading into a solid wall. No windows at all.
Mina punched a code into the lock and the door slid open.
"Welcome to our home," she said.
I stepped through the doorway into a large room. It still looked much like the tiny cubicle in the hotel. As I looked around I could see this was much larger.
The furniture had the look of aged wood, but I knew it was plastic. Wood was much too expensive, being shipped in from Earth. It all looked much as the log cabins in the videos. I could see the walls were decorated with streamers of red and green. Line drawings of the Nativity scene were scattered here and there. It all seemed "right," somehow.
Doug touched a keypad near the door. The walls changed to show a tropical scene with lots of sand, palm trees and tropical birds. It seemed so real!
Then they changed again to show snow high in the mountains. Brrr. I cold feel the chill.
"Cubic City?" I said.
"Think about it," said Doug. "Cleveland back on Earth is made up of many little villages. It's a location pattern. Cleveland: Mayfield; Stedley Drive; 911; Apartment 2-C. We do the same thing on Tiberias. It's a convenient way to identify a location. There are 150 such 'cities' which make up Tiberias Cylinder."
"Can you believe it," said Mina. "Christmas is just days away."
"Christmas takes me back to my childhood," I said. "But how do you celebrate with no snow? I see lots of green everywhere on Tiberias, but I see that in summer in Usono. What about a winter scene? How do you put up a tree?"
"Carl," said Doug. "The southern half of Earth celebrates Christmas in the middle of their summer. Usono is not the only culture on Earth. Only a few of them put up a tree."
"And," said Mina, "Earth has an endless variety of customs."
She touched the keypad to show Christmas being celebrated with firecrackers and mariachi musicians.
"This is a fiesta in Mexico," she said.
The people surrounded something like a clay pot hanging from the ceiling. They kept hitting at with a stick. It broke and all sorts of colorful gifts and favors fell out.
"That's a piñata they hit," said Doug.
I recognized the name.
Next the walls showed a nativity scene in mountains. I could recognize this as being near my home in West Virginia, Usono.
Then a scene from Australia, in the desert in the midst of a blazing sun.
"Wow! You surely are hi-tech!"
"Things change more rapidly than we have language to express it. We have thousands of TV channels with much more from the Library Computer. Millions of videos: movies, travel, scenic areas, you name it. We can even show your house back on Earth. You can buy anything you want or need through the Internet and have it delivered direct to your cubicle."
Let's see the news," said Doug. The walls showed a meeting of the UN on Earth. They were trying to deal with problems in the middle eastern part of Earth, Bosnia, and the Island of Crete. The Arab nations were protesting vehemently.
Doug touched the keypad and the red and green streamers were back. And the line drawings of the Nativity.
"You know," I said, "back on Earth Christmas is so commercialized. People just go wild buying things. The whole economy depends upon the Christmas season."
"Tiberias is not all that different," said Doug. "We are like Manhattan in New York City back on Earth. We could not live without the business function to create jobs. We have an intense import-export trade, with ships docking at all times. For example we can manufacture pharmaceuticals here that would be impossible on Earth,. And electronics and other things. We have a very controlled environment. But we need so many things which must be imported from Earth."
"Yes," said Mina. "We cannot grow air and water. It must be brought in from somewhere. We do our best."
"But," she continued, "Christ is still the center of things. Listen to the Carols. 'Born the King of Israel.' Everyone is very much aware of Christ at Christmas and Easter. These are important holidays here. In church, of course, we honor Jesus continually. Especially, as you know, in the Holy Meal, the Lord's Supper."
"Bread and wine," I said, "and the One Spiritual Body of Christ."
"That's it," Doug said. "We take very seriously our relationship to every other Christian believer in the Universe. Didn't someone say, 'the more things change, the more they stay the same'? People are people wherever they live. Christianity is about people and God, and about people problems and human needs and especially hope! We experience and we learn. Earth, Tiberias, wherever."
"Communication," Mina said. "We need lines of communication between each of us. We're so happy you came from Earth. We want to know all that is happening there."
"And I am here to learn from you," I said.
"But how do you do things when you are cramped up in little cubicles? How do you get together in groups to celebrate?"
"In two ways," said Mina. "We get together in small groups in the solariums. And we get together through networking."
"Networking? I thought that had to do with computers."
"Watch that wall." She touched a control.
"Yes? Rod here."
"Viewing?" Mina asked.
"You got it." Rod appeared on the wall screen.
"We're just showing our guest how we network. We wanted him to see one of the ways we get together at times."
On the screen we could see Rod touch a control. People began appearing on the wall screens around the room. Soon we had a crowd gathered, but only we were actually in the cubicle.
"Kayor!" said Rod. "Let's show Carl some good old-fashioned koinonia! Carl, koinonia is the kind of close fellowship they had in Bible times. It is a close, loving relationship. Reba and her children (they waved) are back on Earth. The others are here on Tiberias. Yet we are 'here' in this network."
"Carl," said Doug, "this is a convenient way to get together. Families, especially children, can meet anytime on the network. Even though we are not actually present in the same cubicle, we are together is a very special way."
"I can see that," I said. "Reminds me of the book, 'Caves of Steel' Asimov wrote in the 20th century. But he envisioned some being so radical they couldn't bear to actually be present with another person."
"We'll see that never happens!" said Rod. "We insure that there is much face to face interaction between all of us. We really love each other as family."
Some children began playing games in a corner. None of them were actually there. They were networked in virtual reality.
LONG JOHN THE PIRATE chapter 6
LONG JOHN THE PIRATE chapter 6
The Blue Star Lounge is in the shopping district known as the Holodeck. The name Holodeck comes from the Star Trek video series, still popular after all these years. A series of businesses in this shopping district duplicate scenes shown in the Star Trek video.
The Blue Star was decorated in Old Earth style to look like a sailing ship in the videos. Lengths of heavy rope were draped around the walls. Chairs and tables were made of imitation wood. Light came from lanterns which appeared to be made of polished brass. Even scents and aromas of the sea filled the air.
The barkeeper was an android woman dressed in the style of Old Earth. She kept up a steady chatter as she polished the imitation wood bar and served the customers. She had a computer memory; therefore she knew each of the usual customers, remembered their favorite drinks, and could immediately punch the code into the synthesizer to produce the exotic drinks of a thousand Cylinder Cities and a million cultures.
But just now the synthesizer wasn't working. Which made for unhappy customers.
The doorway into the Blue Star was shielded by a simple force field. No sliding door to wear out. Yet the force field kept the scents and aromas in and the odors of the masses out.
Annie looked up to see Big Al come into the Blue Star.
"Al Mowrer, where have you been! I can't get this blasted synthesizer to work! I have to mix drinks by hand and we don't keep anything but a few bottles back here. I've got a lot of unhappy customers!"
"Keep your microchips cool, Annie. I'm doing the best I can. Everything needs repair and everybody wants it done yesterday. I can't work 24 hours a day like you do."
"Al," said a heckler, "you're just playing around. Aren't you always screwing things up just to annoy the Captain? I bet you screwed up the synthesizer on purpose just to annoy everyone."
"Chauncey, get off my back! I'm likely to do something drastic to you that a microchip won't fix."
Chauncey snickered.
Al removed a panel at the base of the synthesizer. He took his test probe and searched among the junctions. He sent a microjolt of power into the right place. "There! It's working again!" He replaced the panel, and stood up.
Al punched in the code for an Earth style beer. He picked up the container and took a big swig. "Ah," he said, "this is what my Granddad used to tell me about. Real Polish beer from Old Earth."
"Thanks, Al," said Annie. "I'm back in business again!"
A figure came through the doorway, medium height, dressed in the style of the Video Pirates. His hair stood up in spikes. He had a patch over one eye (made of one-way plastic so he could see), a silver shirt with a leather vest, black trousers and black boots. A cutlass swung at his side.
"Ahoy Mateys, you're a sight for sore eyes! I been sailing the spaceways and I just docked my ship on Tiberias. I'm wild and woolly and full of fleas. I'm a ring-tailed roarer and ready for shore leave!"
"Long John, you old fake," said Al. "You wouldn't know a sailing ship if it bit you."
"Now Al, ain't I entitled to a little fun? I like to strut around and impress the tourists. It really blows my mind when some kid says, 'Wow! Are you a real pirate!"'
"And your getup," said Al. "Don't those earrings hurt your ears? Those bangles on your earrings have got to be heavy. How do you stand it, going around like that?"
Long John sighed. "Al, don't give me any trouble. I have to relax somehow. I work with the computers and everything is crisis, nothing but crisis all day long! When I turn into Long John the Pirate, everything changes. I'm free! I roam the streets and impress people. It's wonderful! I'm happy! But these blasted boots hurt my feet and you wouldn't believe how these earrings pinch and pull." He reached up to take off the earrings. "That's a relief. I read that real pirates punched holes in their ear lobes and hung bangles and things from them. I had these made up to look the real thing, but they have clamps that snap on and hold tight. They hurt my ears something fierce. It's a relief to take them off."
"Long John, step up to the bar," said Annie. "I'll fix you something now that Al has my synthesizer running again. What'll you have?"
"Rum, Matey! Gim'me some of that Old Earth rum. That's what real pirates drink in the videos."
Annie punched in the code, then handed the rum to Long John.
He took a big swig. He coughed and choked and wheezed and tried to get his breath. Al pounded him on the back. Finally he could breathe again. "My, that was good," said Long John. "When I finish this I want another!"
"Al," said Long John, "tell me something. I hear you have taken up with those Bible thumpers."
"Nah. But I do work with some of them and Rod invited me to one of their Bible studies. I went a time or two and may go again. They do seem to have a peace that I would like to have. What they said seemed to make a lot of sense."
"I didn't figure you for a religious kind of person?"
"But I'm not irreligious either. Granddad Mowrer held to the same religious views that Rod holds. He said that this Jesus really did live and that He rose to life again. Granddad certainly had the peace and trust to look into the future."
"Well, I don't know. But maybe I ought to look them up and hear what they have to say? I'll think about it."
"They do help one another. That's something in their favor. Give Rod a call."
Long John had decided one rum was enough. He put his earrings on, then stood up, drew his cutlass (plastic, of course), flourished it, then put it back in the sheath. He went out the doorway and got on a floater.
The Blue Star Lounge is in the shopping district known as the Holodeck. The name Holodeck comes from the Star Trek video series, still popular after all these years. A series of businesses in this shopping district duplicate scenes shown in the Star Trek video.
The Blue Star was decorated in Old Earth style to look like a sailing ship in the videos. Lengths of heavy rope were draped around the walls. Chairs and tables were made of imitation wood. Light came from lanterns which appeared to be made of polished brass. Even scents and aromas of the sea filled the air.
The barkeeper was an android woman dressed in the style of Old Earth. She kept up a steady chatter as she polished the imitation wood bar and served the customers. She had a computer memory; therefore she knew each of the usual customers, remembered their favorite drinks, and could immediately punch the code into the synthesizer to produce the exotic drinks of a thousand Cylinder Cities and a million cultures.
But just now the synthesizer wasn't working. Which made for unhappy customers.
The doorway into the Blue Star was shielded by a simple force field. No sliding door to wear out. Yet the force field kept the scents and aromas in and the odors of the masses out.
Annie looked up to see Big Al come into the Blue Star.
"Al Mowrer, where have you been! I can't get this blasted synthesizer to work! I have to mix drinks by hand and we don't keep anything but a few bottles back here. I've got a lot of unhappy customers!"
"Keep your microchips cool, Annie. I'm doing the best I can. Everything needs repair and everybody wants it done yesterday. I can't work 24 hours a day like you do."
"Al," said a heckler, "you're just playing around. Aren't you always screwing things up just to annoy the Captain? I bet you screwed up the synthesizer on purpose just to annoy everyone."
"Chauncey, get off my back! I'm likely to do something drastic to you that a microchip won't fix."
Chauncey snickered.
Al removed a panel at the base of the synthesizer. He took his test probe and searched among the junctions. He sent a microjolt of power into the right place. "There! It's working again!" He replaced the panel, and stood up.
Al punched in the code for an Earth style beer. He picked up the container and took a big swig. "Ah," he said, "this is what my Granddad used to tell me about. Real Polish beer from Old Earth."
"Thanks, Al," said Annie. "I'm back in business again!"
A figure came through the doorway, medium height, dressed in the style of the Video Pirates. His hair stood up in spikes. He had a patch over one eye (made of one-way plastic so he could see), a silver shirt with a leather vest, black trousers and black boots. A cutlass swung at his side.
"Ahoy Mateys, you're a sight for sore eyes! I been sailing the spaceways and I just docked my ship on Tiberias. I'm wild and woolly and full of fleas. I'm a ring-tailed roarer and ready for shore leave!"
"Long John, you old fake," said Al. "You wouldn't know a sailing ship if it bit you."
"Now Al, ain't I entitled to a little fun? I like to strut around and impress the tourists. It really blows my mind when some kid says, 'Wow! Are you a real pirate!"'
"And your getup," said Al. "Don't those earrings hurt your ears? Those bangles on your earrings have got to be heavy. How do you stand it, going around like that?"
Long John sighed. "Al, don't give me any trouble. I have to relax somehow. I work with the computers and everything is crisis, nothing but crisis all day long! When I turn into Long John the Pirate, everything changes. I'm free! I roam the streets and impress people. It's wonderful! I'm happy! But these blasted boots hurt my feet and you wouldn't believe how these earrings pinch and pull." He reached up to take off the earrings. "That's a relief. I read that real pirates punched holes in their ear lobes and hung bangles and things from them. I had these made up to look the real thing, but they have clamps that snap on and hold tight. They hurt my ears something fierce. It's a relief to take them off."
"Long John, step up to the bar," said Annie. "I'll fix you something now that Al has my synthesizer running again. What'll you have?"
"Rum, Matey! Gim'me some of that Old Earth rum. That's what real pirates drink in the videos."
Annie punched in the code, then handed the rum to Long John.
He took a big swig. He coughed and choked and wheezed and tried to get his breath. Al pounded him on the back. Finally he could breathe again. "My, that was good," said Long John. "When I finish this I want another!"
"Al," said Long John, "tell me something. I hear you have taken up with those Bible thumpers."
"Nah. But I do work with some of them and Rod invited me to one of their Bible studies. I went a time or two and may go again. They do seem to have a peace that I would like to have. What they said seemed to make a lot of sense."
"I didn't figure you for a religious kind of person?"
"But I'm not irreligious either. Granddad Mowrer held to the same religious views that Rod holds. He said that this Jesus really did live and that He rose to life again. Granddad certainly had the peace and trust to look into the future."
"Well, I don't know. But maybe I ought to look them up and hear what they have to say? I'll think about it."
"They do help one another. That's something in their favor. Give Rod a call."
Long John had decided one rum was enough. He put his earrings on, then stood up, drew his cutlass (plastic, of course), flourished it, then put it back in the sheath. He went out the doorway and got on a floater.
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