Colleges that Ain't, Genesis 6:4 and an Old Short Story

Still wondering about the fate of Flight 370?  No real answers yet?  Check out this blog's posting of April 25.
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Colleges that Ain't

I saw an advertisement on TV recently showing a bright eyed girl of about twenty looking upward at the stars and dreaming of herself in an astronaut’s space gear preparing for a launch into the cosmos, which the ad went on to show graphically.  Sadly, the advertisement was for the University of Phoenix, which might be the very last school a young person with aspirations of getting into a space program would choose to attend.  She would be better served by getting a real education, stressing science and engineering, from any of the excellent private and state universities in the country.  Of course, she would have to do well in high school to get into these kinds of colleges.

The late Sally Ride, America's first female astronaut

   

And if she couldn’t get into such a school, a community college or even joining the Air Force would be better alternatives than the University of Phoenix, a mammoth nationwide “distance learning” institution with no entrance requirements other than a high school diploma or a G.E.D. and whose primary objective is to make a profit for its shareholders.

It is reprehensible that such “for profit” institutions are allowed to prey on those who find it difficult to find a school which will accept them.  The fact that many respected “accrediting” associations have found a level of accreditation appropriate to award to such schools is equally reprehensible.  That they are allowed to designate themselves as “universities” (few bother to call their operations “colleges”) is equally misleading. 

 

I recently read a political piece in the Palm Beach Post contributed by a prominent businessman with which I disagreed.  He sounded like he was full of hot air. A little research on the internet revealed to me that he claimed to have a PhD from Kennedy Western University.  What a shock!  That phony baloney distant learning school, now defunct, had as much right to grant such a degree as any barber college, hence reducing the credibility (in my mind anyway) of  what the man was saying.

I frequently see ads on TV from local Florida trade schools, which now call themselves universities, aimed at enticing young people to enroll in their programs in fields such as sports medicine or sports administration.  It’s pathetic to see that there are people out there, probably without grades good enough to get into a real four year college, who actually enroll in these expensive “universities” and get a worthless education, involving minimal or non-existent classroom or faculty involvement.  They would be better served in a two year community college, where almost anyone with a high school diploma can be accepted, and from which, if they are successful there, they can move on to a real college, such as Florida Atlantic University (in my area) and possibly even end up being an astronaut.  Come to think of it, an FAU graduate is now serving on the space station. Can the University of Phoenix say as much? 

Jack Lippman

                                                         

                                                      

Noah:  The Giants of Genesis 6:4 

Those of us who saw Darren Aronofsky’s motion picture “Noah,” might have been a bit puzzled by the rocky and fiery "giants" (or "watchers" as they are referred to in the film) who assisted him in fighting his foes as he prepared to save a remnant of mankind and animal-kind in the ark he was building.  There is a biblical basis for them, right there in Chapter 6 of Genesis, which contains the story of Noah, continuing it up to Chapter 9.

A giant from the film, Noah

Genesis 6:4: There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

(King James Version)

The origin of these “mighty men,” (and whether that phrase included their offspring as well) is not clear, but they definitely are mentioned in the Bible.  In different versions of the Bible, Genesis 6:4 describes them in various ways and there are many commentaries dealing with them from various theological standpoints.  Sometimes they are referred to as Nephilim.  You might want to check out this subject on the internet or with a rabbi, priest, minister or other clergyman.

After a bit of reading, however, it appears to me that after the time of Adam and Eve, “Sons of God” appeared who may have had some powers that mortals lack.  They might have been “giants,” perhaps literally as well as figuratively.  Some might even refer to them as angels.  Once here, they had children with women, some of whom might have been descendants of Cain.  Some theologians feel that this angered the Creator who may have sought to punish these now “fallen” angels.  In the film, their physical appearance, rocky versions of today's “transformers,” might have been part of this punishment. If fathering children with descendants of Cain was not the reason that resulted in their punishment, it could have been other acts involving the descendants of Cain, carried out by these otherwise stalwart “men of renown.”  

Aside from this, however, these “giants,” and possibly their children as well who were born of the female descendants of Cain who might have also been "giants," were not essentially bad people. So, despite their being in what appears to be a state of eternal punishment, the fact that they were the Lord’s creation was sufficient reason for them to assist Noah in doing His work.  Some biblical sources suggest that they did not survive the Flood.

Russell Crowe as Noah 

If you haven’t yet seen the film, which is currently showing, try to see it.  It is uplifting.  It also might be helpful if you took two minutes to glance at Genesis Chapters 6 through 9 in any Bible or on the Internet before doing so.  It will enrich your theater-going experience.  

And while the motion picture does not attempt to be a literal "bible story," clearly the plot is inspired by those chapters in Genesis without which there would be no story at all to tell.
JL
                                                        
                                                                                                     

Old Times

Jack Lippman      (Written for a writing competition ten years ago which I didn't win.)

                                             

Old Times 

                                                 

           

“Mary, I’ve been thinking about Cheryl.  It’s been three years since the accident and it might be good for her to start getting out socially.  Your sister can’t live in the past forever.”

Looking at Tom, she knew he was right.  Since that spring evening three years ago when Cheryl’s husband and their fifteen year old daughter were killed coming back from a cheerleading competition in an accident with a drunken driver, she had understandably withdrawn into a shell, immersing herself in her job, and doing little else.

“I know,” Mary replied.  “Do you think we might take her out to dinner, and bring someone along for her?  Oh, we wouldn’t surprise her.  I’d talk to her up front, of course, and so long as we’re there, she might go along with it.  It’s worth a try.” 

“I think so,” Tom nodded.

“Do you have anyone in mind,” she inquired.

“Come to think of it, I do,” Tom answered.  “There’s that new lawyer with the firm.  I think he’s divorced and from what I know about him, he’s a nice guy.  I’ve worked on a few projects with him and we’ve gone to lunch a few times too.  I don’t think he has any serious attachments going, either.”

Mary’s face lit up.  “Are you talking about the fellow who drove you home a couple of months back when your car wouldn’t start?    Very impressive looking guy.” 

“Yes, that’s the one.  And if it’s okay with you, I’ll speak to him tomorrow, and you can touch base with Cheryl.”

And so it was that the following Thursday evening, Mary and Tom picked up a freshly coiffed Cheryl and drove to the restaurant they had carefully selected where they would meet Doug Ferris.  He was waiting at the bar when they arrived, and took his drink with them to the table overlooking the riverfront which Mary had specially asked for.

While the food was fine, the evening wasn’t working out as well as they had hoped it would.  After Tom introduced Doug to Cheryl, and reintroduced him to Mary, everything rapidly went downhill.  No matter in what direction Mary and Tom steered the conversation, and even when Doug made a few jokes about his prior marriage, which broke up when his wife ran off with a Hungarian nobleman, nothing seemed to help.  Cheryl was stony-faced, unresponsive and about as talkative as an iceberg.  She nibbled at her food and looked downward most of the time. That’s why, after dessert and coffee, Mary and Tom where shocked when Cheryl, seemingly awakening from the stupor in which she had been all evening, turned to Doug.

“Doug,” she said, “I’m having a wonderful time, but I do have to get to work in the morning.  I think we all do.  So, without my being the party-pooper, can I suggest that we all call it a night?  Mary and Tom have really gone out of their way to make this a fun night, and I don’t want to inconvenience them even a bit more, so could you drive me home? I’d just love that.  Really”!

Tom and Mary, still a bit dumbfounded, took care of the check as Cheryl and Doug walked out of the restaurant, arm in arm.

Once in Doug’s car, and out of the parking lot, Cheryl turned to him brusquely.  “Mr. Ferris.  I recognize you, but I don’t think you’ve recognized me yet.””

He fixed his eyes on her for a moment.  “Have we met before this evening?” he asked.

“Yes”, she said. “You were the defense attorney for the murderer who killed my husband and daughter three years ago.  You got that rotten bum off with three years probation and I lost my family.  I’ll never forget the smirk on that bastard’s face in the courtroom after the judge announced the sentence.  And I’ll never forgive you for convincing the judge and jury what a poor unfortunate victim of a dysfunctional family he was.  You bastard”!   Cheryl’s hand reached into her pocketbook, where she fingered the silverplated revolver she had carried with her ever since she had been left to live alone in the house.

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Driving in the opposite direction, Tom turned to Mary. “You know, I just can’t figure your sister out.  She looked like she was having one miserable evening and all of a sudden, she brightens up and asks Doug to take her home.  You women are just too much.”

“Tom,” Mary interrupted, a worried look crossing her face, “What did Doug do before he joined your firm”?

“Was in practice in the next county, I think.  Mostly criminal law, I recall.  He had quite a reputation, a real crackerjack, but he told us he was sick of it.  Didn’t like the kind of clients with whom he had to deal.  That’s why he moved over to the corporate world, and we were glad to get him.”

Mary was silent.  Then she let out a gasp, “Oh, my God”!  Tom looked at his wife who seemed to be catching her breath, and gathering her thoughts at the same time..

“Oh, my God,” she repeated.  “It’s all coming back to me, Tom.  Doug Ferris was the lawyer who defended the drunk who killed Cheryl’s husband and daughter, and got him off with practically nothing.  I thought there was something familiar about him, but I couldn’t pin it down until you mentioned his being in criminal law.

And if I finally remembered him, Cheryl certainly has too, and probably a hell of a lot sooner than I did.”

“That explains why she was so cold toward him at dinner, but why did she suddenly warm up and ask him to drive her home?   We certainly could have done that,” Tom said.

“Turn the car around, Tom!  Head for Cheryl’s house.  And quickly.  I hope we’re not too late.  Tom, since my sister has been living alone in that big house, she has been carrying a gun.  I saw it in her purse in the ladies’ room tonight.  She knew who she was going out with and I think she intends to use it on him.”

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Cheryl pointed the revolver at Doug.  “I would prefer to be pointing this at the man who destroyed my family, but since you were the one who set him free, I have no problem in killing you.  I don’t care what happens to me since my life is over anyway.  I died three years ago.”

“Are you going to shoot yourself after you shoot me,”?   Doug asked.

“Maybe.  I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought.”

“Don’t.  It’ll make things messy for your sister.  It always does.”

Looking directly into Cheryl’s eyes after pausing a second, his voice suddenly took on a new warmth as he continued. “You know, right after that case, I quit criminal law.  I was really good at getting my clients off, but when I stopped and thought about the kind of people I was defending, and what most of them had done, it made me sick.  That’s how I ended up working with Tom’s firm.  Actually, your husband’s and daughter’s deaths were what finally convinced me.  You may not believe it, but after the judge fell for my impassioned plea and didn’t give my client a day in jail, I went out to the men’s room and vomited.”

“Really,”?  Cheryl replied, still pointing the gun at Doug.

“Put the gun down, Cheryl.  Shooting me won’t help.  It’ll only make things worse.”

Cheryl started to cry and put the revolver back into her purse just as Tom and Mary pulled into Cheryl’s driveway where Doug’s car was parked.

“Cheryl,  Doug,  is everything alright.”?  Mary called out, jumping out of her car.

“No problem, little sister,” Cheryl answered.  “We’ve just been talking about old times.  You know, some of the people both of us knew in the past, but everything’s just fine now.”  Cheryl was no longer crying.

      

                                                       
                                                           

                                              

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