Dear Readers,
my sincere apologies for sending you double posts of 90 and 91. Word Press has changed it’s format and I as an “Older man” have a hard time keeping up with these changes. Please just delete the extra ones you received. Thank you and God bless you. Richard.
Nr.90 ended with: “Then a man got up and began to speak about revolution. Her husband whispered, “We’re in the wrong place here, this guy is a communist……..!” (See richardandmarina.net).
Marianne looked at her husband, who through all the difficulties had stayed true to her, and said, “I would really like to hear what he has to say.” He agreed and they stayed. The speaker said that before continuing he wanted to go back to the film for just a few comments. He explained that one of the most important things a pilot has to learn is “flying blind,” which means that he is not to go by his feelings, but by the instruments on the panel in front of him. When pilots are flying through thick mist or clouds, they will lose their feeling of direction. One of them may say that they are climbing, while the other will disagree and argue that they are descending. The speaker applied this to us people, who seem to be flying through a mist and have lost their sense of direction. One will say that there is a God, while another will disagree. One will believe that there is life after death, while another argues that death is the end. Who do we listen to, there are so many opinions? But God has given us a dashboard with instruments, the Bible, and we need to heed that.
Then the speaker, I Richard, changed the subject. I knew that there were a number of younger people present who had communistic ideas. I told them that I wanted to speak about a word that could very well be the most important one in their dictionary, namely “Revolution.” Many nodded approvingly! I said that I had looked up the word and found two very good definitions. The first was, “Revolution, a total rotation or turn around.” Again nods of approval. The second, “Revolution is the overthrow of the present government and the establishing of a new one.” Many cheered! I continued, I agree wholeheartedly with you, what we need is a total turn around and the overthrow of the present government and the setting up of a new one. There is only one thing on which we differ…….!”
Nr.89 ended with: “Then a colleague of Mieke talked to her about his wife who was having such a hard time and had come to the point of wanting to commit suicide, in fact, one day while he was at work she left a note for her husband and walked to the canal……………!” (See richardandmarina.net).
Marianne (not real name) walked slowly while all kinds of thoughts and memories raced through her head. Her father’s death when she was 9, her mother trying to raise five children by herself, then re-marrying. The painful relationship with her stepfather, the terrible times of depression, getting a job as a teacher, but not able to handle a class with 30 mentally handicapped children ages 6-12. Getting married, many things going wrong, having a serious nervous breakdown, it was all too much, why continue, life wasn’t worth living, she had no energy left, her life was in ruins, there was only despair. Her only thought was now, how do I end this, I want to die.
Close to the canal a small piece of newspaper blew over the ground and she picked it up. The first words (by accident?) were “Is there life after death?” All at once fear set in, the fear of dying. Was it because of her Catholic upbringing, or the lessons in religion she herself had given to her students about God’s existence? Whatever, it kept her from jumping into the canal. How long she sat there thinking she can’t remember, but she got up and started walking, halfway home meeting her husband who had found her suicide note and came looking for her. That night in bed fear overwhelmed her and she cried out to God. The next morning there were two Jehovah Witnesses standing at the door, who caused even more confusion. She decided to go along with her husband to a meeting in a hall in town where a film was going to be shown and someone would talk about the Bible. The film was about a pilot who crashed his plane because he did not follow his instruments, but his own feelings, what a lesson! Then a man got up and began to speak about revolution. Her husband whispered, “We’re in the wrong place here, this guy is a communist………..!”
Nr.89 eindigde met: “Een collega van Mieke sprak met haar over zijn vrouw die het heel moeilijk had en met gedachten van zelfdoding rondliep. Op een dag, terwijl hij op zijn werk was liep zij, na een briefje voor haar man achtergelaten te hebben, naar het kanaal………!” (Zie richardandmarina.net).
Marianne (niet echte naam) liep langzaam terwijl allerlei gedachten en herinneringen door haar hoofd vlogen. De dood van haar vader toen zij 9 jaar was, haar moeder die vijf kinderen alleen trachtte groot te brengen en die toen hertrouwde. De pijnlijke relatie met haar stiefvader, de verschrikkelijke periodes van depressie, als jonge onderwijzeres een klas van 30 geestelijk gehandicapte kinderen van 6 tot 12 jaar te moeten in toom houden, haar prille huwelijk, en vele dingen die mis liepen, een ernstige zenuwinzinking, het was allemaal teveel geworden, waarom doorgaan, het leven was de moeite niet waard, ze had geen energie meer, haar leven was een puinhoop, er was alleen nog maar wanhoop! Haar enige gedachte was, hoe kan ik hier een eind aan maken?
Bij het kanaal waaide er een stukje krant op de grond dat ze opraapte. Toevallig (?) stond er een vraag op: “Is er leven na de dood?” Ineens kreeg ze grote angst om te sterven. Kwam het door haar katholieke opvoeding of door haar eigen godsdienstlessen aan haar leerlingen over het bestaan van God, het doet er niet toe, het weerhield haar van in het water te springen. Hoelang ze daar bij het kanaal gezeten heeft kan ze zich niet herinneren, maar ze stond op en begon terug naar huis te gaan, terwijl ze halfweg haar man tegenkwam die haar zelfmoord briefje gevonden had en haar nu kwam zoeken. Die nacht werd ze overweldigd door angst en riep tot God. De volgende morgen stonden er twee Jehova Getuigen aan de deur, die voor nog meer verwarring zorgden. Ze besloot om met haar man mee te gaan naar een samenkomst waar een film gedraaid ging worden en iemand over de Bijbel zou spreken. De film ging over een piloot die met zijn vliegtuigje neerstortte omdat hij op zijn gevoel afging in plaats van de instrumenten, wat een les! Toen stond er iemand van voren die begon te spreken over revolutie. Haar man fluisterde, “Hier zitten we niet goed, die kerel is een communist……!” (Ga naar Overpeinzingen)
richardandmarina 