Copyright 2013 PJ Stassen
All Rights Reserved
Nowhere on your birth certificate did it say that life would be fair.
Nowhere on your birth certificate did it say that life would be fair.
- Trevor Jones.
Admittedly, as youngsters we could not have
cared less whether some of these people were real (e.g. Audie Murphy, the most
decorated soldier of WWII, Davy Crocket, Daniel Boone, Jim Bowie, Wild Bill
Hickok, and Roy Rogers) and some others fictitious (Zorro etc.). ... a hero is a
hero (is a hero).
I grew up on a regular diet of Cowboy Westerns,
and in 1953, at the age of six (when I was in Grade 1) I used to run around the
yard shooting at all and diverse kinds of criminals, perpetrators and fugitives from the ‘law’ … with my dad’s little oil can, commandeered from his
makeshift workshop. I am sure you are
acquainted with those gadgets that mechanics used in mechanical workshops: They used to be red (they still are) and,
with a little imagination, could easily pass for some futuristic, Flash Gordon or
Star Trek type of laser gun or something.
The neighbours must have considered me insane … imagine them watching me
through a curtain from next door trying to make out who or what this crazy kid was
actually trying to lubricate. During
1959, we also used to cut up our hula hoops into three parts and employ the parts conveniently as
‘rapiers’ (swords). My favourite opponent
was my namesake, Piet, a Sotho-speaking boy and good friend from Witsieshoek (the so-called
‘Switzerland region’ of South Africa, very close to landlocked Lesotho).
Naturally, my male ego does not allow me to elaborate too much today on my culture-specific (Afrikaans-speaking, South African) heroes locally idolised during my early
boyhood: People such as Die Swart Luiperd
(‘The Black Leopard’ … a Tarzan-like figure who used to swing around in the
jungles of central Africa accompanied by his two tame but very lethal cheetahs,
Simson (Samson) and Spikkels (Spots). This guy, the terror of poachers, murderers
and smugglers, had the skin from the head of a decapitated black leopard drawn over his
head like a mask, hence the epithet: The
Black Leopard. Local (superstitious) folklore had it that he was a 'hybrid' somewhere between a man and a leopard. Another big hero for South African boys to emulate was Theuns Stegmann, a hardy, robust (South African) soldier in the French Foreign Legion.
During my adolescent and young adult years I
used to follow the exploits of The Saint, the brainchild of Leslie Charteris (born Leslie Charteris Bowyer-Yin) with considerable gusto. His private detective, Simon Templar
(The Saint) used to be enormously talented and humourous, and incredibly successful as a sort of modern-day version of the 19th Century bounty hunter. I had most of the books in my collection and
devoured them by the dozens (I was then still hopelessly too immature for more slick and ‘adult’ persona like Messrs. Mike
Hammer and Perry Mason).
Once, during 1971, I sat down to actually write a letter to the legendary author-creator of the The Saint, i.e. Leslie Charteris (incidentally, according to Wikipedia, also a legendary member of Mensa) who was
living in London at the time. To my
surprise he replied in the most charming manner, and I was so disappointed later
to hear that he had passed away at Windsor, Berkshire during 1993.
At the time the cause of his death, if I remember correctly, was reported in some South African newspapers as a result of injuries sustained in a traffic accident, although many sources today, including Wikipedia, unfortunately does not report cause of death. NNDB (http://www.nndb.com/people/820/000104508/) reports cause of death as 'Unspecified'. Some readers insist that he died as a result of ill health, which I, in good faith, accept as probably correct. Regardless of how he died, I nevertheless enclose a copy (see insert) of his reply to me, which I am still cherishing as a dear memento.
At the time the cause of his death, if I remember correctly, was reported in some South African newspapers as a result of injuries sustained in a traffic accident, although many sources today, including Wikipedia, unfortunately does not report cause of death. NNDB (http://www.nndb.com/people/820/000104508/) reports cause of death as 'Unspecified'. Some readers insist that he died as a result of ill health, which I, in good faith, accept as probably correct. Regardless of how he died, I nevertheless enclose a copy (see insert) of his reply to me, which I am still cherishing as a dear memento.
Humans mature very late, if ever, and I am
no exception to the rule. I still get sickeningly
nostalgic and melancholic over the simplest of events, incidents and
reminiscences on the past. But, sooner
or later, we have to grow up, and such growing-up event in my life was when it
finally dawned on me that there was only one real HERO worthwhile to cherish
and follow … the humble carpenter from Nazareth: Jesus Christ. Fallible, human idols (demigods?) may fail and disappoint. They grow old and decrepit, and soon may lose their glamour and attraction. In fact, some time ago I tried to read the autobiography of a very famous male Hollywood star (no names, no packdrill), but the content was so vulgar, sordid and disgusting that I tore the book up and finally dumped it into the rubbish bin. I actually believe:
True maturity in life is to realise that one is a
sinner guilty before God and standing in need of a loving, forgiving
Saviour and holy Heavenly Father. Take away the legacy of Jesus
Christ (His birth, ministry, His Gospel of Salvation without merit, His sacrifice at Calvary, death, physical resurrection, bodily ascension to Heaven and His Second Coming) and what have we left to live for?
NOTHING!
Surely the
reader must have noticed by now that I reject the idea of a so-called ‘metaphorical
resurrection’ (imaginary resurrection) of Jesus Christ in the hearts of people as ‘the only true resurrection’
(as the ‘Jesus Seminar’ people would have it) with the contempt it deserves … such
a 'figurative' worldview on the dynamics of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ reduces
our Christian Faith to the status of a cheap, humanistic, pseudo-religious cult, ideologically over-promising and under-delivering on so-called ‘spirituality’ every time. I believe that Jesus Christ was (IS) God in the flesh, that He had physically risen from the grave, and that He
will physically return in His glorified, resurrection body to Planet Earth … period. He was humiliated and rejected by the
politicians, the local ecclesiastics and the vulgar, blasphemous and profane riffraff
of Jerusalem as a lowly servant and common criminal on this planet, and He will
eventually be vindicated as KING of Kings on this selfsame planet. The scales of Universal Justice demand
retribution.
Now, just
imagine, the Creator of the mighty Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans; the Mediterranean and the Baltic seas; the great lakes of the USA
and Africa; the majestic Niagara Falls and Victoria Falls; the mighty Amazon,
Nile, Mississippi, Yangtze, Zambezi, Congo and Ganges rivers; the lovely spring
and summer rains; the icy waters of Antarctica … this very Creator, who had spoken the crystal clear springs from the Swiss Alps, the Rocky and Drakensberg Mountains, and the cool water (or H2O) of the physicist into existence by the words of His
mouth, had to beg for a few drops of water from the hands of a callous Roman
soldier, and all they could afford to offer the Prince of Life was the common
drug of the day of vinegar on a stick. Thanks to His thirst, we can drink from the living waters of God's grace, mercy, forgiveness and Everlasting Life today!
But wait, this poet, Bev Lowry, describes it much better than I can ever
hope to do:
(Author: Bev Lowry/© Copyright: Homeward Bound Music [BMI]/Album: High And Liftged Up [1993])
One day I came to Him, I was so thirsty
I asked for water, my throat was so dry
He gave me water that I have never dreamed of
But for this water, my Lord had to die.
Now there's a river that flows as clear as crystal
It comes from God's throne above
And like a river, it wells up inside me
Bringing mercy, and life-giving love.
CHORUS: He said, "I thirst," yet He made the rivers
He said, "I thirst," yet He made the sea
"I thirst," said the King of the Ages
In His great thirst, He brought water to me.
Piet Stassen
He said, "I thirst," yet He made the sea
"I thirst," said the King of the Ages
In His great thirst, He brought water to me.
Piet Stassen
eLiterature/eLiteratuur:
- Scribd Publishing Site: www.scribd.com/PietStassen (ENGLISH & AFRIKAANS)
- eBook: 'Evolution: The Science That Evolved Into A Fairy Tale' (ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Bertrand Russell Revisited: Rebuttal Of Bertrand Russell's 'Why I Am Not A Christian''(ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Meditations & Contemplations: A Reader For Both Atheists And Creationists' (ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Conservation, Rhino Poaching And Hypocrisy' (ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Why Darwinism ('Evolution') Does Not Make Sense' (ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Names And Titles Of Jesus Of Nazareth (ENGLISH)'
- eBoek: 'Darwin Of Christus: Suid-Afrikaners By 'n Kruispad!' [AFRIKAANS].
- eBoek: 'Bevryding Van Die Anti-Evangelie Van Ateisme-Evolusionisme' [AFRIKAANS].
- eBoek: 'Name & Titels Van Jesus Christus' [AFRIKAANS].
- eTracts, Christian (Free, Downloadable): Free, downloadable Christian eTracts for free distribution (ENGLISH)
- eTraktate, Christelik (Gratis, Aflaaibaar): Gratis, aflaaibabre Christelike Traktate vir gratis verspreiding (AFRIKAANS)
Bibliography
1. Bev Lowry. 'I Thirst'. Accessed At <www.bevlowry.com> [online] 2013.'
2. Southern Gospel Blog. ‘I Thirst’. Accessed At <http://www.southerngospelblog.com/reference/cathedral-quartet/lyrics/i-thirst> [online] 2013.
2. Southern Gospel Blog. ‘I Thirst’. Accessed At <http://www.southerngospelblog.com/reference/cathedral-quartet/lyrics/i-thirst> [online] 2013.
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