They Come from Dust Part Three

The foursome, which made their way to Janet's parents, stopped on the way at a bookstore, which had the door wide-open. Inside, a young man in a baseball cap was eating muffins and an Italian soda.

"Hi, guys. Nice to see some people. All food is on the house. Help yourselves."

Dan answered first, "Thanks, we could use some food. Should we help ourselves?"

The young man waved a hand in the direction of the small eating area. "Help yourselves."

The four made up some Italian sodas. They found a pot of cold coffee and some chocolate croissants, lemon muffins and Danish rolls. The four did not realize how hungry they were until they began to eat.

Dan was the appointed leader of the group. "What's your name?"  The young man answered, "Levitt, yeah, I know it is a last name, but my dad was a famous author and well, I got stuck with this. Where are you heading?"

Dan answered, "We are walking to one of our relatives. Why are you here?"

Levitt took off his hat and mussed up his hair as if he had a nervous habit. "Well, someone stole my car during the night. and I live in the suburbs with my parents, so I can't get home. I figure I may as well stay here and see if one of my brothers comes looking for me. Who knows? Do you know what happened? I sleep upstairs now and then in a small apartment, and stayed overnight last night. This is crazy."

"Volcanoes, 69 of them, " mumbled Jimmy between bites. Levitt looked at him with wide eyes. "Wow, is this crazy? I mean where and how do you know? I guess that explains the dust."

"That explains the dust," said Janet, who was still wearing a mask. "We are scientists from the seismology lab."

"Wow, " Levitt sat down next to Jimmy at the largest table in the small cafe. "This is really bad. I suppose California is gone."

"We were told as much, but we honestly do not know much more than you do." Dan did not want to hurt Janet with references to Dave.

"Wow, I wonder what will happen next?"

Jimmy finished his cold coffee. "Nothing. The sky will look like this for a year."

"Wow, " Levitt apparently could not say much. Then, he added. "My brother is a prepper, but I use to make fun of him."

Dan smiled. "Well, I hope he forgives you. You will need him now."

"Yeah, he lives out somewhere and has a cabin full of stuff. Maybe I should go there."

Dan looked at Levitt. He knew Mason's cabin, but did not want to share any information. He was beginning to think one could not trust unknown people.

"Where is his cabin?"

Levitt scratched his head. "South Carolina." Dan said nothing. Jimmy said, "If I were you, I would go as far south as possible. But, wait to see if someone will come for you."

Just then, a Chevy truck pulled up in front of the bookstore. Levitt yelled. "Bobby, hey Man. Am I glad to see you."

It was the prepper brother. Levitt ran out and hugged his brother. He spoke to them for a minute. Then, Bobby came in.

"Hey, guys, I shall take you to the house, but then we need to get going. It is dangerous."

Dan looked at the others. "OK, great, the girls are tired." The men bundled into the back of the truck and with Levitt and Bobby squeezed the two women into the front. Janet gave directions. Bobby took back roads and in ten minutes, the foursome were at Janet's parent's house. Bobby did not say much. He was intent on his plans. "I am glad to get Levitt. I have seen some bad stuff." He stopped. He did not want to scare the women..

At the house, everyone got outside and just stood there in silence for a while. The house was quiet. But, they four waited to say thanks to Bobby and Levitt

The brothers got back in the truck and the four waved the two goodbye, knowing full well they would never see them again.

Life seemed so strange. But, there were some good people left.....

to be continued...

They Come from Dust Part Two

After the four left to walk the miles to Janet's parents, Mason, just for the heck of it, tried his cell phone. Amazingly, it worked, for a few seconds. He quickly checked a text from Adam.

"Gone to base 2. No electricity expected until cloud goes-one year, states Rob. I am walking south."

Then, the phone went dead. Mason got up and walked over to Brandy, who was just sitting, staring at her computer.

"One year prognosis from Base Two." Brandy stared with her big brown eyes. "One year?" She could not comprehend the news. "Nothing will be alive in a year. Adam is leaving and walking south. I expect he is going to his wife in North Carolina."

"What? Walking to NC? Walking?"

"His car ran out of gas and all the stations have electric pumps. He got as far as Base Two. Well, what would you do?"

"I don't know, I just don't know. We all talked about this for weeks in staff meetings. Weeks, and none of us prepared. I mean, we laugh at the preppers."

Mason smiled. "I have to tell you something. Don't laugh at me. I am a prepper."

Brandy looked at him. "You hypocrite." Then, she smiled. "Well, what is the point of staying here."

Mason said he would break into the canteens, but the food was all spoiled by now. He would try and get money out of the machines.

"We drank all the pope yesterday."

Brandy stood up, "Let's go, now. This place is creepy, and there is not a thing we can do here. I have a full tank of gas. Where do you live?'

"About twenty-miles east, but my cabin with my stash is south of here. And, I want to avoid the metro areas. Looting, I mean people will be going crazy. Let's go now. As you know, I only have the motorbike and we are safer in a car. And, I have a gun."

Brandy looked shocked. "You are full of surprises. OK, let's go."

Within minutes, Mason was driving on back roads to his place. In the car, he explained to Brandy, that she would have to accept that he was "way more conservative" politically than he ever let on. "I belong to two gun clubs and, well, I vote far-right."

Brandy just smiled. "Well, I never thought I would be riding with a red-neck scientist." She laughed out loud. "I guess I have to set aside my prejudices."

"If you are coming with me, I guess so," Mason answered and they raced to a small state park area south of Reston. "I bought this cabin years ago, for fishing, just at the edge of the park area. I have tons of food and supplies for cooking and warmth. But, I only stocked for six months, not a year."

Brandy felt like she was in a dream. "I wish I knew how my family was doing in Arlington. I just never thought we would ever be completely cut-off."

Mason looked out his rear-view mirror. "We are being followed. I am taking a diversion. I know where I can leave this car and we can walk through the forest. Are you ready? I am not going to be killed over a car. And I don't want to shoot anyone, yet."

Brandy put her hand on his arm. "I'm scared." Mason pulled over to a housing estate and parked the car in the parking lot, They could see the edge of the woods. "I am leaving the keys in the car. Get into that open garage, Run, I am behind you."

Brandy ran to the small garage, and Mason followed with his small pistol. They hid behind some boxes. An old Buick came up and two men jumped out. They looked around and then opened Brandy's car. The one gestured to the other, they got in and drove away, fast. They move due west.

"Someone is chasing them. We need to make those woods in the next few minutes. Can you do it?"

"Sure, I was all-state runner in college. Let's go." Mason smiled, "I guess I am not the only surprised one today. Let's go."

Within minutes, the two made the woods, Mason told Brandy to lay down. He really wished she was not wearing red today. "Smear mud on your clothes." She obeyed.

He looked back and saw a police car drive into the parking lot and two men got out, in military gear. They went over and checked the car. "Move, now, Go." Mason whispered. The two were off.

Forty-five minutes later, Brandy and Mason found the cabin. Brandy collapsed at the door. "Get in, now," Mason helped her in and went out, dust was falling everywhere. Their tracks were already covered.

"Well, We are here for awhile. No one followed us. I have clothes you can change into."

Brandy fell on a small sofa. "Yea, I guess red is not combat color."

Then she began to cry. "I'm sorry. This is too much."

"Take a nap. I be on first guard." Mason went to a cupboard and pulled out a pillow and blankets.

Within minutes, Brandy was asleep. "Poor thing, She has no idea how bad this can get." And, he propped himself under one of the front windows.

to be continued...

They Come from Dust.....Part One

Dan looked at his cold cup of coffee. He was not sure he wanted to drink it, but he thought, ruefully, this may be his last cup for a long time.

Only a handful of people had made it to the office in Virginia this morning. Six or seven employees of the government seismology group which dealt with emergency information stood around. Janet looked like a surgeon with her mask on. This was not a good day for asthmatics. She looked tired as well, but smart in her blue suit. Carrie stared out the window at the grayish-red sky.

"Well, we predicted this, but no one believed us, Jim, " she said to the man sitting near her. Jimmy looked up. "Yeah, and I want to take the generator out and see if I can determined any activity. Do you want to go out?" Carrie lowered her voice, "Yeah, I'll go. Janet will be imprisoned inside while this is going on."

Jimmy stood up and walked over to the window. "I know, but without the air working, this office will not be much better than outside, to be honest."

Dan was taking notes on a small notebook. In the entire area of North America, this reddish-grey cloud covered the land, from the top of Canada to the edge of South America, covering Mexico and Central America.

Last night, about 1:00 a.m.,Yellowstone blew up, setting off a chain reaction of volcanoes and earthquakes from Colorado through California, including Baja. Before his cell died, Dan had three texts from his best friend in Denver, Dave

"7 here, California is dead. Moving out of the building to the south in car. Have generator/stuff."

Stuff meant his mobile instruments. Then, about a half hour later, Dan received another text, "Going farther south. This will be the day that I die. But, want more readings. Stupid song on the car radio-the last song I shall ever hear-American Pie. Why is Sirius working in the Twilight Zone?"

Dan could hardly read the third one, but wrote all these down before his phone died.

"Bye, friend. Pray for me. Dust is poison here. Tell Janet I love her. Can't get through to her. See you all, God willing, on the other side. Radio died. All is silent. God is Good."

Dan stared at Janet. Dave and Janet were supposed to be married in January, right after Christmas.

He had showed her the texts about two hours ago. Now, all was silent.

Janet had gone into a little cocoon of her own, quiet, distant. She knew Dave was dead, out in the field somewhere, covered in ash, in a land where all the trees, plants, people would die completely, perhaps already now, burnt or poisoned, choked,

Dan watched her, giving her space. He understood her and knew that she would work this out by herself and talk when she was collected. He admired her strength.

The two with the mobile stuff moved outside. Dan walked over to the window and watched them set up the generator and instruments on the "flat" as they called it, a small piece of land in a small courtyard. Dan did not expect any activity this far east, but the city was getting a fair amount of dust even in Virginia.

He looked at the sky.  Dust fell like rain. "Man," he thought, " the West must be like Pompey. 69 explosions recorded for prosperity, for who?"

As a child, Dan and his parents had gone to Italy and visited both Pompey and Herculaneum. He was eight years, old and then and there, he had decided to go into the science of volcanoes, specializing in debris dynamics. He never thought he would be watching such a show. He had been to Mt. Etna in 2003 when in college. That is where he met Dave and Janet. They became instant friends.

Carrie and Jimmy walked in with the stuff. "Some activity even here-2.5s." Dan looked at them. His mind flew to the map in the staff room of America's fault lines. He had them all memorized. He knew the West, most likely from the Mississippi, was dead, burning, covered with the debris of the sixty-plus explosions which were triggered by Yellowstone.

"Carrie got a message from her sister before the cells stopped. All the airlines are closed. Absolutely no flights from Alaska to Nicaragua. Her sister is stuck in Alabama." Carrie's sister worked as an airline flight attendant for Delta.

Dan stood up. "Well, I would imagine people are alive there." Carrie came over and put her arm over Dan's shoulder. No one said a thing. They all had loved Dave. He was special. He loved people, God, nature. His nickname was "The Monk".

Janet finally left her vigil at the window and turned to look at Dan. Dan knew she would be OK, She had absorbed the tragedy.

She came over and sat down next to Dan. "Want some cold coffee?" She took the cup from Dave.

"At least he is buried. I would not want to think of him just laying out in the open."

"Yes, God buried him with His Own Hands." Janet stared at Dan, "Thank you. I thought the same thing. He was the best man I ever met. Maybe just too good for me, for this world."

Dan knew this was true and said nothing. "Well, I guess we have to think of what to do next."

"My parents live about four miles from here. I can walk it. There is nothing to do here without electricity. Do you want to go?"

Carrie walked over to the small table where Dan and Janet sat. "I'll go. Why not? What about Jimmy?"

"Well, they will have food and none of us have eaten since last night. Sure, I cannot phone, of course, but they would be less worried if they knew I was fine."

Dan murmured, "Can you realistically take the walk?"

"Sure, for my mom and dad, anything."

The other two in the office, Brandy and Mason, said they would stay and hold down the fort. They did not expect anyone else to make it in. Just in case electricity came on again, they would hang around. A seventh person, Adam, had disappeared hours ago. No one knew where he went.

The four got raincoats and the girls changed into their walking shoes, which they kept at the office for field duty. The four set off, south, not knowing what to expect.

to be continued...

Hello to Readers in Australia, including one dear American friend

Hello to Friends in The Netherlands

Hello to Friends in France

Too Many Children Are in Darkness

Children who are baptized are radically different than those who are not.

http://www.sensustraditionis.org/webaudio/Sermons/ID/OS%20Effects/Darkness.mp3

The problem is the lack of baptism, as well as the following formation.

More later. We lack acuity of judgment, keenness of memory, discernment....

(Savants remind us of what we lost.....)

Dullness of the intellect and the senses are results of sin, Original and our sin...we get dumber and dumber.

Etc.

Say a decade of the rosary for Fr. Ripperger.

Two More Posts From Fr. Ripperger

Tomorrow, I hope to post two more and the last posts I shall do from Fr. Chad Ripperger's book, Introduction to the Science of Mental Health, which I highly recommend to anyone in counseling or spiritual direction, as well a psychologist.

I am passing the book on to someone else, so I need to work on it later today.

In the meantime, read everything else....God bless.

Why Do Women Want To Be Men?

Sent by a reader....

Happy Feast of The Archangels

Archangel St Michael. Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco. Venezia ITALY

St. Gabriel, the Duomo

St. Raphael

Good News

The Bishop of East Anglia, His Excellency, Alan Hopes, will celebrate a Pontifical High Mass in the EF at the Cathedral, St John the Baptist, Norwich, on the Feast of All Saints, November 1st, 2014.

http://www.lms.org.uk/around-the-country/east-anglia-rep

News about the Net

http://news.yahoo.com/inventor-world-wide-warns-threat-internet-224455080.html;_ylt=AwrTWf2ygCdUCj8AYlfQtDMD

Follow Up Commentary on Garrigou-Lagrange

St.Catherine with Demons

There is much confusion on demonic possession and obsession, which is why I put the two long excerpts from Garrigou-Lagrange on the blog on Saturday.

One must make distinctions, which, sadly, Catholics who are not working in order with the Church confuse. I have cautioned about so called charismatic deliverance teams before on this blog many times.

Obsession can occur for several reasons: family history of sin; personal sin; or God allowing a holy person to be tested for further growth in holiness. Many saints were subjected to horrible obsessions in order to become perfect.

One can discern the difference easily. But, if one feels "tormented", the beginning of freedom is in the confessional.

Possession is either brought about by years of serious sin, or by the giving of an innocent person over to evil. God allows possession for His great glory, but some people choose it by following witchcraft, satanism, years of drug abuse and so on.

As Fr. Ripperger notes in his talks, the hardest possessions to break are those when a child has been given over for satanic use. Sadly, this is a real thing which happens, as some of you know.

The reason I am posting and discussing this topic is that many Catholics are encountering difficulties in proceeding on the path of perfection. They seem to get so far and then hit blockages which seem out of their control.

All freedom from obsessions begins with repentance of certain sins. Once a person is in sanctifying grace, that person can speak with a priest about the persistence of spiritual and physical obsessions.

Sometimes, all it takes it weekly Adoration and frequent even daily Mass, if possible. Adoration is essential to freedom.

But, one cannot expect to be free of obsessions unless one repents of serious sins.

Of course, real possession, which is rare, but increasing, takes a Catholic priest exorcist to deal with the demonic presence.

I think Garrigou-Lagrange and Fr Ripperger's talks, as well as his book, are the best sources for discerning obsessions or possession.

As Father Ripperger notes several times, the devil is not under every rock, just every other rock.

to be continued...

Job, Paul, And The Dark Night of The Soul

What does Job have to learn? He has not sinned, but he is not humble. Job's life is the Dark Night of the Soul. He is learning perfection. 

The same is true of St. Paul, who was not sinning, except for zealously killing Christians, but he was loving the Lord. He had more of an enlightenment, rather than a conversion. His enlightenment was that God was the Trinity and Christ revealed Himself to him. He came into the Illumination Stage after his eyes were darkened, a sign of the Dark Night.

The Dark Night is the time we become, finally, humble. These ideas were given to me by a seminarian, who has been reflecting on Job, Paul and the Dark Night.

Job 38 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

The Lord Answers Job

38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up your loins like a man,
    I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
    Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
    Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
    or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together,
    and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors,
    when it burst forth from the womb;
9 when I made clouds its garment,
    and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed bounds for it,
    and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
    and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
    and caused the dawn to know its place,
13 that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
    and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 It is changed like clay under the seal,
    and it is dyed[a] like a garment.
15 From the wicked their light is withheld,
    and their uplifted arm is broken.

16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
    or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
    or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
    Declare, if you know all this.

19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
    and where is the place of darkness,
20 that you may take it to its territory
    and that you may discern the paths to its home?
21 You know, for you were born then,
    and the number of your days is great!

22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
    or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
    for the day of battle and war?
24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
    or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

25 “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain,
    and a way for the thunderbolt,
26 to bring rain on a land where no man is,
    on the desert in which there is no man;
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
    and to make the ground put forth grass?

28 “Has the rain a father,
    or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb did the ice come forth,
    and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?
30 The waters become hard like stone,
    and the face of the deep is frozen.

31 “Can you bind the chains of the Plei′ades,
    or loose the cords of Orion?
32 Can you lead forth the Maz′zaroth in their season,
    or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
    Can you establish their rule on the earth?

34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
    that a flood of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
    and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who has put wisdom in the clouds,[b]
    or given understanding to the mists?[c]
37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
    Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38 when the dust runs into a mass
    and the clods cleave fast together?

39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
    or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens,
    or lie in wait in their covert?
41 Who provides for the raven its prey,
    when its young ones cry to God,
    and wander about for lack of food?

A Good Scene

From one of my favorite movies...

Rudy: Maybe I haven't prayed enough.

Father Cavanaugh: I don't think that's the problem. Praying is something we do in our time, the answers come in God's time.

Rudy: If I've done everything I possibly can, can you help me?

Father Cavanaugh: Son, in thirty-five years of religious study, I've come up with only two hard, incontrovertible facts; there is a God, and, I'm not Him.

FYI, my top fifteen favorite movies, not in order:

The Passion of the Christ
Ben-Hur
Lawrence of Arabia
Tree of Wooden Clogs
Little Dorrit
Rudy
The Mission
Gandhi
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Star-Trek Four
Funny Face
A Man for All Seasons
Becket
King Lear with Paul Scofield, Irene Worth, Cyril Cusack because Scofield is brilliant
Random Harvest