The Testament Spectator

While reading Genesis 6:6 earlier this year, the three words “on the earth” jumped out at me. Here's the entire scripture in the King James Version (KJV). “And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart.” Man was so wicked and evil, the LORD regretted that He had made man “on the earth.” This verse precedes the story about Noah and the ark and God destroying everyone and everything in the flood. But after reading and thinking and analyzing these three “on the earth” words, it prompted me to ask: Perhaps the LORD God created people elsewhere? Perhaps God created man eons ago at other location(s), and Adam was the first man on earth?

It is possible. We are all familiar with Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (KJV). But David expands on the creation account when he wrote Psalms 33:6. According to this verse, God created more than one heaven. “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (KJV).

Thus in the beginning, God created the “heavens” (plural) and the “earth” (singular). But how many heavens are there? Who -- or what kind of heavenly inhabitants -- comprise the host? Perhaps the LORD God created people elsewhere? Perhaps those people were/are perfect? Perhaps they did not sin and they didn't have to be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb? Perhaps God didn't have to send Jesus Christ to die for them and their sins like God sent Jesus to do die for us and our sins?

What a reunion awaits those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as their LORD and savior! We will be fellowshipping with millions of believers in this age and in other ages for all eternity. We will be fellowshipping with the "host” (whoever they may be) in heaven and in other heavens!

Just something to think about on a Sunday!

-- ronald f. owens, jr.

By Ronald F. Owens, Jr.
March 2, 2011

In 1878, Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), my favorite classical music composer, composed Concerto in D, Op. 35 for Leopold Auer (1845-1930), “who was perhaps the most noted virtuoso and certainly the greatest teacher of his time,” according to the “Brahms & Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos -- Heifetz/Reiner's” compact disc (CD) liner notes. Tchaikovsky was disappointed because Auer wouldn't play it. The piece was so difficult, Auer deemed it “unplayable.” But Russian violinist Adolf Brodsky (1851-1929) played it in on December 4, 1881 in Vienna. I guess Brodsky did all right. But he wasn't good enough for Auer's standards. An aging Auer introduced the violin concerto to his young prodigy -- Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987). Heifetz's first public concert -- at ten years old -- was in St. Petersburg on April 30, 1911. Throughout his life, Heifetz traveled more than two million miles. According to this CD liner notes, most of those miles was traveled on behalf of World War II troops. Heifetz had a “prodigious recording program,” appeared in concerts, on radio, in several films and TV programs. Heifetz also taught.

After many, many years of countless performances, Heifetz had become a worldwide renown violinist. Thus on April 19, 1957, just under a month before I was born in Japan, Heifetz played Tchaikovsky's Concerto in D, Op. 35 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. As a child growing up, I listened to Heifetz's Living Stereo RCA Victor rendition of Tchaikovsky's violin concerto on a record player, thanks to my father, who played French Horn in the United States Air Force and my Mother, who was a violinist throughout high school. Indeed, one of my many fondest childhood memories is repeatedly hearing and listening to this record. Fortunately for classical music lovers, this April 19, 1957 recording was digitally remastered and converted in 1993 to CD! Years later, I downloaded the CD on my desktop computer. That nearly 54-year-old recording is now memorialized in my iPod, iPhone and iPad.

My favorite part of Heifetz's interpretation of Tchaikovsky's violin concerto is eight minutes and 25 seconds into the first movement. One can hear, and certainly attest, why Auer said 79 years earlier that Tchaikovsky's violin concerto was indeed “unplayable.” Because Heifetz's plays a most impressive, most impeccable and most impassioned one minute and 25 second solo. No other violinist has interpreted Tchaikovsky's Concerto in D, Op. 35 like the late, great Jascha Heifetz! Here is the Wikipedia link of Jascha Heifetz: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jascha_Heifetz

Here is the illustration that appeared on the record and now on the CD jewel case: http://pixhost.info/pictures/973245

“Maafa” is a Swahili word which means “a terrible tragedy” and used to define the time of the middle passage during the slave trade. “21st century” indicates the “Maafa,” or “a terrible tragedy,” has not ended but is still occurring today through abortion. Maafa 21 shows the connection from slavery and eugenics, to birth control, abortion and black genocide. The documentary is routinely called “stunning,” “breathtaking,” and “jaw-dropping.” Many viewers have said they were left “speechless” by what they saw and several said that it filled them with anger. One African-American pastor and 1960’s civil rights activist said, “I had always been suspicious about some of this stuff, but this film connects the dots in a way I never really understood before.” Another described it as “lightening in a bottle” and said that for the first time in his life he has a tool to educate the African-American community about the abortion lobby’s real agenda. Maafa 21 is for mature audiences.

END

-- ronald f. owens, jr.
916-997-9804
rotestspec@aol.com

“Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.”

-- Proverbs 3:27

Sent from my iPhone.

Author’s Note: In this first fictitious Letter To The Editor, the Chief Priests and Pharisees attempt to discredit the resurrection story and accuse the disciples of stealing Jesus’ Body while the soldiers slept. In this second letter, anonymous disciples or followers of Jesus the Christ claim that He resurrected.

HEADLINE...‘Jesus is dead! It would be foolish for anyone to believe otherwise’

Dear Editor:

Adhering to the Sanhedrin-adopted policy that it would be expedient for us that one man die for the people than the whole Jewish nation perish, we the Chief Priests and Pharisees, reluctantly sanctioned Jesus of Nazareth’s arrest, arraignment, conviction and crucifixion several days ago.

But unfortunately for the Jews, our Roman fathers and, yes, even our Gentile brethren, Jesus’ followers just will not allow Him to rest in peace. What we have feared and sought to prevent has indeed happened.

Unbelievable as it might sound, we must announce that a group of religious fanatics and political agitators audaciously stole Jesus’ Body from the tomb and now sensationally claim that He rose from the dead.

We are undoubtedly convinced that Jesus’ disciples are responsible for this horrendous, tasteless and macabre act, intended to foment insurrection and raise your false hopes that He will establish a Jewish Kingdom.

We were grieved to learn about this unfortunate Body-stealing-incident from our trusted Roman guards, members of Jerusalem’s Regional Army Detachment.

Fatigued from being on a heightened state of alert three days following the Nazarene’s death, these Roman soldiers forthrightly came to us and with honest-driven motives, disclosed to us during a closed-door executive session that Jesus’ disciples flawlessly yet luckily stole His Body during the night while they slept.

Quite naturally we will keep their identity secret to protect them from Jesus’ extremists who, in an attempt to corroborate this untrue and fictional resurrection story, might try to bribe, harm or perhaps even kill them.

At our bidding, these Roman soldiers bravely volunteered to help us keep the peace by guarding Jesus’ tomb.

Yes, we paid these brave warriors a large sum of money, not to bribe them as it has been alleged by insurrectionists intent on discrediting us, but to compensate them as a token of our appreciation.

We remember all too well that while this Deceiver was alive, Jesus convincingly assured us all that after death, He would arise on the third day.

We reminded Judean Governor Pontius Pilate just three days before the Body-missing incident that such a deception would be worse than the first. That’s why we recommended that he order a Roman guard be posted at Jesus’ tomb.
Why are many of you so willing to believe that Jesus must be this “Christ,” “Messiah” and “Son of God,” capable of supernaturally, dramatically, and miraculously arising from the dead and establishing some sort of Kingdom here on earth?

Perhaps Jesus the Deceiver devised, conspired and then carried out this resurrection hoax with His disciples just last week!

Haven’t you considered that the reason the burial cave is empty is because a small determined band of zealots plotted, planned and then pirated Jesus’ Remains away? Couldn’t these rogue disciples be assisted by the very same women who claim they saw, felt and talked with Jesus?

Who knows what strong potion these women could have carried with them when they transported spices to complete anointing Jesus’ Corpse that early morning? Could they not easily and discreetly have slipped a drug in the guards’ canteens?

It would be unwise for anyone to believe in this resurrection tale, propagated by a bunch of hysterical women and stubborn disciples unwilling to allow Jesus of Nazareth’s death to close this chapter once and for all.

We, the Chief Priests and Pharisees who are guardians of Mosaic Law, must inform your readers that anyone who believes Jesus arose from the dead is at minimum in danger of facing legal consequences which could lead to probable religious excommunication. And at maximum, they could face Jesus’ fate. We are reluctant to ostracize or crucify anybody, but we will if we have to do so.

Jewish and Gentile brothers and sisters, let’s put this Jesus matter behind us. Jesus is dead! It would be foolish for anyone to believe otherwise.

# # #

HEADLINE...The Romans killed Jesus –– but whose report will you believe?

Dear Editor:

Jesus the Christ is not dead. He is alive! How can anyone believe the Chief Priests and Pharisees who claim it would be foolish for you to believe otherwise? And why should anyone believe the Romans who said we stole our Lord’s Body when it was they who participated in Jesus’ arrest, torture, suffering and death?

As members of Jerusalem’s Roman Regional Army Detachment, it was probably they who were part of the 600-man posse, dispatched to arrest Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane.

These very same soldiers could have been members of the squad which transported Jesus from Annas’ house to Caiaphas’ palace.

They could have been the ones who shuttled Jesus to Judean Governor Pontius Pilate’s “Stone Pavement,” then taken Him back to King Herod, only to have Him returned to Pilate again to face judgment.

After Jesus was brutally flogged at the Common Hall, it was probably they who spat on Him, slapped Him in the face. They probably mocked Him, “King of the Jews,” hitting Him repeatedly atop of His head with a makeshift reed scepter.

It was probably they and their comrades, standing at parade-rest in full battle gear, who watched our Lord Jesus drag His cross-beam through Jerusalem’s dusty streets.

Perhaps the very same Roman guards who are blaming us for stealing Jesus’ Body were assigned to the Centurion’s crucifixion detail on Golgotha Hill that dark afternoon.

Maybe one of them was the one who, when piercing Jesus in the side with his spear to confirm that He had truly died, saw a mixture of blood and water spew forth from His Body.

How can anybody, who knows a Roman soldier sells his sword to the highest bidder, trust their word –– particularly when it’s obvious that they had a strong motivation to lie?

These guards, posted at our Lord Jesus’ tomb by Governor Pilate’s precept at the behest of the Chief Priests and the Pharisees, were duty-bound to fulfill their mission.

For three days and two nights they did. Divided into four-member squads, the Roman soldiers dutifully guarded Jesus’ tomb on a rotational basis.

Their imposing presence dissuaded “religious fanatics” and “political agitators,” inflammatory rhetoric which Jewish religious leaders called us, from even thinking about entering in the cordoned- off gravesite and stealing our Lord’s Body.

On the third day –– which would have been the last day of their mission –– something miraculous, inexplicable and supernatural occurred, several women at the burial site so insisted and we now believe.

While the women went on their way to tell us this good news, some of the guards reportedly went to the city and told the Chief Priests everything that happened. Perhaps others went AWOL, fearing execution for dereliction of duty. Who knows, but they, the Roman soldiers, had to offer some rational, perhaps reasonable even slightly believable explanation –– and blame someone else for the disappearance of Jesus’ Body.

After the Chief Priests had met with the Mosaic Law Elders they devised a plan, we learned from inside sources.
They told them to say that one of us came during the night and stole Jesus’ Body away while they were asleep. Their story is preposterous! In exchange for perpetuating this lie, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money. They then assured them that if this report gets to the Governor, they would satisfy him and keep them out of trouble. So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.

Must we remind you that these same religious men had already established the precedent of paying one of us 30 pieces of silver to assist them in arresting Jesus in the first place?

There can only be one explanation how Jesus’ dead Body, anointed with spices by Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus of Jerusalem then wrapped in yards and yards and yards of linen cloth three days before, vanished after entombment.

We insist without any hesitation or equivocation that the miraculous resurrection of God’s only begotten Son Jesus Christ was conceived and supernaturally-wrought by the Lord Almighty through the power of the Holy Spirit!

Undoubtedly, some Jews and Gentiles will believe the Roman report. You must make up your mind: Whose report will you believe?

# # #

(Source: Page 45, The Testament Spectator, Copyright © 2000, 2001 and 2007. Facts and events gleaned from Gospels).

-- ronald f. owens, jr.
916-997-9804
rotestspec@aol.com

"Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it."

-- Proverbs 3:27

Sent from my iPhone.

Author’s note: The following fictitious first-person narrative graphically describes, from the Roman Centurion’s perspective, Jesus of Nazareth’s death.

“It was I, a Roman Centurion stationed in Jerusalem, who crucified the Righteous Man Jesus.

“Based upon my word as a Roman officer, I will recount how Jesus of Nazareth suffered during the six hours He was nailed to that cross and died.

“Immediately after Governor Pilate handed Jesus over to us to be crucified, I went to the Common Hall, headquarters of Rome’s Regional Army Detachment in Jerusalem, with quickstep gait.

“I mobilized and assembled the 100 Roman soldiers under my command, part of the 600 men which one of Jesus’ followers received to aid in this Man’s arrest the evening before.

“My comrades in arms already placed a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head and tortured Him at the Common Hall. So I could obviously see that He probably would not be able to bear the cross all the way to Golgotha Hill.

“When my men were in proper formation and Jesus was ready to carry the cross-beam on His shoulders, we slowly marched Him through Jerusalem’s market district.

“Based on the recommendation of informants –– as evidenced by the near riotous situation Governor Pilate faced at the ‘Stone Pavement’ –– I had already secured reinforcements.

“The five Centurions assigned at the Common Hall with me quickly mobilized their men. As a result of that preparation, 500 helmeted Roman soldiers, standing at parade rest, brandishing spears and carrying shields, were deployed in full battle gear along the route toward Golgotha Hill. This impressive show-of-Roman-military-force was intended to dissuade those from rioting or crush anyone foolish enough to attempt rescuing Him.

“The crowd was awfully rowdy, yelling and cussing at Jesus along the way.

“I didn’t understand why they were so angry at a Man, who, in my opinion, appeared to be so peaceful. As an officer and seasoned soldier trained to assess an opponent and size people up, I clearly could see that Jesus wasn’t like the other condemned thieves we were ordered to execute that day.

“But my job wasn’t to question superiors nor shirk my duty as a Roman officer –– just obey orders! And that’s what I did.”

THE BRUTAL CROSS

“Jesus was unable to carry the cross-beam the entire way to Golgotha Hill as it customarily was done. So we forced a man who was watching in the crowd to carry the heavy, splinter-laced wood for Him.

“As a result, we arrived at the crucifixion site a little quicker. I ordered the man to lay the cross-beam on the ground and dismissed him.

“Two of my men tied the cross-beam to the vertical-beam with thick rope. Another soldier stripped Jesus’ robe, commanded Him to remove His bloodstained white tunic and then tossed His garments to the side.

“Jesus stood there naked but very serene, unashamed as we prepared for His execution.

“We laid Jesus on the cross and stretched His arms from one end of the cross-beam to the other. I could see that He was sore, stiff and cramping from the beatings, flogging and torture He endured.

“We positioned Jesus’ torso so His buttocks could sit on the piece of wood, protruding like a crude seat halfway down the vertical-beam.

“We pressed one two-inch-diameter-head by seven-inch-long-shaft spike against a thin square piece of wood, and hammered the sharp nail to His left hand, boring a hole through the cross-beam.

“Each hammer stroke driving the spike through wood, flesh and lumber would cause anyone to wince in intense agony. But not Him.

“We pressed a second spike against another piece of wood, and hammered the sharp nail to His right hand, drilling a hole through the cross-beam.

“Each hammer stroke driving the spike through wood, flesh and lumber would cause anyone to cry with excruciating pain. But He opened not His mouth.

“We positioned His feet atop one another and hammered a third spike to a square piece of wood into His heel, puncturing a hole through the vertical-beam.

“Each hammer stroke driving the spike through wood, flesh and lumber would cause anyone to yell out in anguish. But He didn’t.

“Yet I could see that the three spikes boring into Jesus’ left hand, drilling in His right hand and puncturing through His heel caused sharp pain throughout His entire body.

“And then there was the constant pressure of that sharp crown of thorns on His head, probably feeling like many needles piercing into His scalp.

“Four of my men –– two on each side –– raised the cross with a rope, while two other soldiers steered it in the pre-dug hole where the crosses of other countless convicted criminals were placed.

“The cross quickly descending into the deep hole –– which produced a vibrated dull sound –– must have caused Jesus’ bones in His arms and legs to disjoint.

“The cross swayed just for a moment –– eventually righting itself as it pointed toward the heavens.

“The contravening effect of three spikes restraining Jesus’ own body weight stapled to the cross was painfully tortuous. As the cross gently rocked back and forth in the spring breeze, this excruciating pain must have intensified.

“Jesus’ legs, positioned in a squatting posture, were pointed toward the right direction of His torso.

“His Blood flowed freely on the cross and seeped on the ground.”

ENDURED THE PAIN

“We offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh, but He refused to take anything to alleviate the pain.

“As I had seen countless crucified criminals do before, Jesus periodically pushed Himself up toward the top of the cross to prevent suffocation and ease the pain from His extended arms. Yet this still caused excruciating pain from the spike in His heels.”

PILATE'S PLACARD

“Meanwhile, Governor Pilate ordered us to advertise Jesus’ charge on a placard and mount it on top of His cross. Since Jesus was crucified near Jerusalem, Pilate commanded that we write ‘The King of the Jews’ inscription in Hebrew, Greek and Latin.

“The religious folks who gathered at Golgotha Hill to cheer on Jesus’ death objected to ‘The King of the Jews’ label.

“These Chief Priests and Jews went to Pilate at the Judgment Hall and protested vehemently, but the Governor reportedly told them ‘What I have written, I have written.’”

CHEAP ENTERTAINMENT

“While we crucified Jesus and were waiting for Him to die, we entertained ourselves.

“We divided up His clothes into four parts, but only gambled for the undergarment, an exquisite seamless cloth woven in one piece from top to bottom.

“‘Let’s not tear it,’ we remarked to one another. ‘Let’s decide by lot who will get it.’

“We rolled the dice to let chance decide who would own it. It didn’t take long for that question to be answered.

“When this cheap form of entertainment was over, we simply sat down –– quite bored. We kept watch over Him and from time to time rustled bystanders away so they wouldn’t interfere with the crucifixion.

“Amazingly, Jesus still had the physical strength and presence of mind to talk to His family and friends. He even had a conversation with the other malefactors (one on each side) who were crucified with Him.

“We offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh a second time, but again He refused to take anything to ease His pain.”

'IT IS FINISHED'

“A considerable time transpired. It is a terrible thing to watch a man die, especially so slowly.

“At what looked like to have been the moment of death, Jesus said He ‘was thirsty.’

“For the third time we offered Jesus something to drink. Someone soaked a sponge in a jar of wine vinegar and lifted it on the stalk of a hyssop plant to His lips.

“Another suggested that we leave Jesus alone to see if some dead Jewish prophet of old named Elijah would supernaturally come and save Him.

“When Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He declared ‘It is finished.’

“Even though it was actually midday, it had already become very dark –– as dark as midnight. But when Jesus uttered the three words: ‘It is finished,’ the darkness seemed more penetrating and the winds suddenly billowed as I have never seen it storm before. The ground shook violently and the rocks split, chasing many bystanders away from Golgotha Hill.

“The loud rippling and cracking noise of uprooted trees toppling over on the ground could be heard and seen everywhere.

“It was as if all of nature was somehow affected by or protesting the misdeeds done to this Man today!

“I tried not to show any fear. But since my men were cowering so much in fright they failed to notice that I too for a moment lost my soldierly composure.

“The agonizing and tortuous ordeal of crucifixion, considered by some to be one of the most brutal methods of execution ever devised by man, normally lasts for three days –– sometimes even longer. But Jesus survived the cross for just six hours.

“Nature became serene again. I reminded myself that I had to carry on with my duty.”

JESUS WAS DEAD

“I wanted to go back to the barracks and cry or get drunk or find a woman –– do something to take my mind off of the days events.

“But I sensed that what agitated, disturbed and bothered me so could not be cured by my self-pity, self-absorption nor self-gratification. It seemed as if this dying Man was the only One who would or could truly absolve me from me.

“To hasten the deaths of the crucified men, members of my detail broke their legs and then went to brake Jesus’ legs. They saw He had already died.

“However, we were unsure because the darkness and earthquake distracted and caused us great fear.

“To verify whether Jesus was dead or just clinging on to life, another soldier pierced Him in the side with a spear. Blood and water flowed from His heart. It was obvious that Jesus indeed was dead.”

HE WAS 'THE SON OF GOD'

“Although from time to time my duty as a Roman Centurion required that I command a crucifixion detail, I still regretted that I was the one in charge of crucifying the condemned Jesus that day.

“And, yes, I feel remorse, regret and guilt for being part of Jesus’ death. But strangely enough even though I was taking orders from my superiors, I believe that I was merely an instrument of some Higher command.

“When I as well as those soldiers guarding ‘the King of the Jews’ at the crucifixion site with me saw the earthquake, witnessed what happened and experienced the events which occurred on Golgotha Hill that day, we feared greatly.

“Yet I Praised God. Not only did I remark that this was a ‘Righteous Man,’ I also acknowledged that truly this was ‘the Son of God!’”

# # #

(Source: Page 37, The Testament Spectator, Copyright © 2000, 2001 and 2007. Biblical references: Isaiah. 53:7; Matthew 27:27-24; Mark: 15:22-39; Luke 23:26-47 and John 19:16-37).

-- ronald f. owens, jr.
916-997-9804
rotestspec@aol.com

"Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it."

-- Proverbs 3:27

Sent from my iPhone.

ITEM 1: Eli, who possessed the Biblically shortened name “Elijah,” an Old Testament prophet that represented a type of John the Baptist (Luke 1:17);

ITEM 2: Eli, who as a lone prophet and desert wasteland wanderer, had been on a mission “for 30 winters" to protect, preserve and promulgate God's Word;

ITEM 3: Eli, who as a living repository of The Holy Bible, memorized scripture and symbolized what it is to be a living epistle (II. Corinthians 3:3);

ITEM 4: Eli, who bore scars on his back as if he too had been previously scourged (Matthew 20:19 & 27:26, Mark 10:34 & 15:15, Luke 18:33, John 19:1);

ITEM 5: Eli, a disciplined, ascetic, monastic, scriptural-quoting warrior who used violence to defend himself, others and his mission;

ITEM 6: Eli, who severed the road robber's hand (Matthew 5:30, 18:8 and Mark 9:43) of a man that committed the eighth "Thou shalt not steal" Mosaic Commandment;

ITEM 7: Eli, who served in a capacity of a Catholic priest at confessional, whispered in the ear of the road robber's hand as if to absolve his soul before killing his body;

ITEM 8: Eli, a disciplined and determined man who resisted the temptations of wealth, power, sex and comforts of life;

ITEM 9: Eli, defended the chastity of Solara (a variation of the word “solar,” or “sun” or even “son”) after she was brutally attacked. Solara eventually become Eli’s follower and enabled him to complete his mission;

ITEM 10: Eli, who while shot by a man that symbolized Satan, fell to his knees while thunder clapped and lightning strobbed in the cloudy background sky;

ITEM 11; Eli, who sustained a mortal wound in his side (John 19:34), appeared to die only to raise from the dead to complete taking The Holy Bible to Alcatraz, a former military fort and federal prison known as “The Rock,” a symbol where, “upon this rock,” the LORD “will build His church” (Matthew 16:18);

ITEM 12: Eli, who trusted God to see (II. Corinthians 5:7). Whether Eli was totally blind or visually-impaired, he was miraculously protected by Almighty God!

In a politically-correct gesture not to offend non-Christian or non- religious moviegoers, "The Book of Eli" conveyed, at the conclusion, an ecumenical message. Here’s why. "The Holy Bible's Alcatraz Edition" was placed on a book shelf between two other books. On the left, Hebrew characters were displayed on the spine of one book. On the right, Arabic lettering was printed on the spine of another book. The book on the left was The Torah and the book on the right was The Holy Quran.

More than four months from turning 101 years old, Lovelei Sterling (Nana) struggles to walk, much less carry her own bowl and glass, to the sink.

It was after noon and Nana had just finished eating cold cereal for a late breakfast. She got up from her chair and was walking with her dishes when I met her.

My mother was running errands. My father, recovering from the flu, was reclining on the couch. So the three of us had been watching African- American conservatives on Glenn Beck's "Time To Be Heard" on Fox News. It was 23 minutes past the hour and the commercial break had just concluded.

From the left side of our living room TV set, I heard and saw an attractive black woman opine.

"I think conservatives want less government," said the black, shoulder- length hair woman, clad in a black blouse and red smock. "And they want the power back in the hands of the people."

I instantly thought, "Who was that?" From the corner of my eye, she looked awfully familiar. I turned off the water faucet, quickly dried my hands with a paper towel, walked to the coffee table and grabbed the remote to see who was being interviewed. I rewound the Beck program and froze the image.

There it was! I spotted "Adrienne" inscribed on the nametag. That's got to be Adrienne Ross, of Hudson, New York, on Fox News!

"I know her," I said proudly to my father and Nana. "She and I have e- mailed. I just talked to her a few days ago."

Mary Baker, formerly of Kent, Washington and now of Houston, Texas, has been on Fox News and now Adrienne Ross!

This is the forth time in my life someone I've known was broadcast nationally.

United States Air Force CMSGT. Timothy Dickens, a Bossier (Bossier City, Louisiana) High School classmate and friend, was featured in "Honor and Glory: America's Elite Military Honor Guards," a 1995 TV documentary. CMSGT. Dickens (we, my fellow Air Force Junior ROTC cadets and I, called him Tim in high school) was a White House Honor Guard commander.

On July 5, 2008, Fox News contributor Laura Ingraham conducted a five minute and 42 second interview with my sister, Terry Thornton, a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman; about a California prison desegregation case.

Mary Baker has been a guest on Beck's show several times last year and now Adrienne Ross on Beck's "Time To Be Heard."

I was Tim's fellow cadet who graduated with him from high school in 1976. Of course, I've know my elder sister, Terry, all my life. Sarah Palin's Web site is where I met Adrienne and Mary.

And who did I see later on in the same Beck program commenting about healthcare, but Ms. Adrienne!

In opining about big government and healthcare, Adrienne Ross got more broadcast time in those two sound bites then Beck's on-stage guests.

Just as I was proud of Tim and Terry, Adrienne, I'm proud of you and Mary, too! So proud -- I'm copying this e-mail with my family.

-- ronald f. owens, jr.
916-997-9804
rotestspec@aol.com

"Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it."

-- Proverbs 3:27

Sent from my iPhone.

We were supposed to get up at 5:00 a.m. But when I walked down the hallway to routinely check on my elders, my grandmother, Lovelei C. Sterling (Nana), was awake at 4:30 a.m.

Just about an hour later -- on the last day of the 100th year commemorating her birth -- she was dressed in a warm gray sweat suit, ready to accompany me to work on December 31, 2009.

At 6:25 a.m., Dora L. Owens, my grandmother's daughter who is my mother, helped slip her right foot inside her shoe. I then helped put the shoe on her left foot, threaded the leather strap in the slim metallic thingy, tightened the strap and affixed the Velcro together.

She was ready to leave. There she sat in her wheelchair, donned in a gray hooded overcoat, fuchsia knit cap and matching mittens. With the help of my mother, the two of us exited the front door at precisely 6:35 a.m.

"Oops, I forgot the wheelchair footrest," I said to Nana.

I quickly applied the brakes to both of her wheelchair tires, knocked on the closed and locked front door, explained to my mother when she opened the door what I had forgot. I retrieved the two footrests in the garage and quickly returned to Nana, who was patiently waiting for me. I attached the two footrests to her wheelchair and positioned her feet on them.

Good thing we decided to leave early. We were still ahead of schedule catching the bus. I pushed Nana down the walk, turned right toward the driveway and then pivoted left.

Heading west on Bovill Drive, I looked behind me and saw Nana's daughter and my mother standing on the front walk watching us distance ourselves from the house.

As I now think about that scene, my mind went back more than 45 years earlier when my mother stood at the front door and watched my siblings and I go to school. It's amazing how incidents in our lives seem to repeat themselves.

While my grandmother and I turned the corner on Nordham Drive, I heard my mother off in the distance invoke a blessing on us as she saw us turn right. We went left on Conda and I pushed the wheelchair more quickly.

“Isn’t the sidewalk smoother,” asked Nana, suggesting I push her on the sidewalk because it wasn't as bumpy as the street.

“It probably is,” I retorted.

I stopped, backed the wheelchair on the curb and proceeded down the sidewalk in the darkness.

The fog muffled the muted morning as we proceeded north on Hagerman toward Elk Grove Blvd. Since we left the house in plenty of time to catch my e-Tran commuter bus, I decided to go to the bus stop preceding the stop I usually wait. That bus stop, which has a green awning and matching green bench, has a street light illuminating people who wait for the bus.

We finally arrived at the e-Tran bus stop. The brisk walk, under shirt, brown corduroy long sleeve shirt, brown hoody, overcoat and beanie hat I wore heated me. And because of the fog, it was more humid than cold.

During the next six minutes we waited for the bus, Nana and I watched the cars go by. I momentarily wondered if e-Tran would even be operating on holiday schedule. If so, I internally questioned, would there even be a commuter. I was relieved to see, down the street just beyond the roundabout, the bus headlights approaching us.

The bus arrived a couple minutes late, but I wasn't complaining. At least he arrived! When the bus doors opened, Tyronne, the e-Tran driver, saw that my commuter companion was a mobility-challenged elderly woman passenger. Tyronne asked if he should pull the bus closer to the curb. I explained that that wasn’t necessary and thanked him.

I placed Nana's gray purse and blue tote bag on the seat. I went back for her in the wheelchair, where she was sitting patiently, waiting for me to return.

Nana arose from the wheelchair with my assistance. She stepped across the gulf, which separated the curb from the steps of the bus, and walked inside.

Tyronne advised us to sit up front. Two men passengers were already aboard. They patiently waited as I folded Nana's wheelchair and placed it between the seat and a partition in front of it.

Once the bus proceeded, Nana and I didn't talk much. She adjusted to the quiet demeanor of the other commuters. We did chat a little about our route.

"Do you have to transfer to another bus," Nana asked.

I responded by explaining that we're going directly to our stop downtown.

Tyronne drove the e-Tran bus north on Elk Grove Florin and then west on Sheldon.

"He will have a load pretty soon," Nana said at seeing the 12th passenger board the bus.

An African-American woman rider clapped her hands twice and smiled when I informed her that Nana is my grandmother and divulged her 100- year-old age. Another woman rider sitting across from me heard my remark and smiled. Then several minutes transpired as several more riders boarded.

The quiet bus ride became a little bit noisier when a developmentally disabled man, who boarded at the last bus stop on Calvine Rd. and Hwy. 99, sat across from us. He looked at me and said he liked my overcoat. For what I heard over the next few minutes and over the bus engine and ambient noise, he talked about a variety of topics -- such as not judging one another, Christianity, how he was once injured and health. He talked so fast and was so quiet and rambled from topic to topic so much it was difficult to get a word in edge wise. So I just sat and looked at him and smiled and nodded my head in agreement and internally asked God to bless him. He finally admitted that people told him that he talked too much. Just as soon as he started talking minutes earlier, he abruptly stopped talking and never said another word.

Tyronne exited at 16th Street ramp from I-80. I told Nana that we would get off the third bus stop. The talking man got off the bus at 16th Street and Q Street -- right at BloodSource, where I donate platelets.

Tyronne made all the lights, which made us, arrive at our stop more quickly.

When the bus stopped, I grabbed Nana's folded wheelchair and carried it off the bus. I went back for her. I was surprised to see Nana standing up from her seat, gripping the onboard bus bar with one hand and holding her gray vinyl purse and blue tote bag with her other hand.

I grabbed both of her hands as she descended the three stairs to the sidewalk. Tyronne held her left hand and I clasped her right hand. We both walked her slowly to the wheelchair.

"How old is she," Tyronne smiled and asked with inquisitive glee.

"She's 100 years old," I answered.

Expressing surprise, he wished us both a Happy New Year's.

When the two of us reached the California Department of Public Health's (CDPH) 1600 Capitol Ave. building, I suggested that we eat breakfast. We went to the eatery on the first floor. She ordered hot chocolate with whipped cream on top and an apple fritter. I bought a cinnamon roll. Upon arriving at my seventh floor cubicle, we decided to split her apple fritter and my cinnamon roll and share our donuts with the other.

There weren't too many people at work today. But in addition to meeting the bus driver Tyronne, Nana met the woman at the eatery, the security guard, and my boss, who is Al; plus Pearl, Roberta, Melinda, Ralph, Tony, Gloria and Sarah.

While I finalized answers for a Riverside Press-Enterprise reporter, edited a Chinese candy and Mexico candy recall press release, prepared and disseminated those two releases, fielded a San Diego Union-Tribune press query, and drafted CDPH's Daily Media Update, Nana read her 48- page, “Our Covenant With God” book and perused through “The Miracle of Garlic and Vinegar,” a 66-page, 99-cent book that boasts boosting health and fighting disease.

We arrived at work at 7:45 a.m. Just about six hours later, Nana's daughter and Ronald F. Owens, her son-in-law and my father, picked us both up in front of the building.

Nana said she enjoyed riding the bus ride, meeting my co-workers and watching me at work.

More than 21 hours from when I first walked down the hallway to check on my parents and grandmother, Nana had long since retired and was asleep after a very long and busy day.

I'm a blessed man. There probably weren't too many centenarians around the world who accompanied their grandson to work on the last day of 2009.

Happy New Year!

-- ronald f. owens, jr.
916-997-9804
rotestspec@aol.com

"Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it."

-- Proverbs 3:27

Sent from my iPhone.=