si tacuisses philosophus mansisses

If it were not for our words we would all seem like philosophers. But then life would be dull in the extreme. Chatting with friends is the spice of the daily diet. Good health is the base on which we can paint our dreams. Good friends are the inspiration for life and dreams and visions. What more should we expect from this life?
The Old Age is characterized by the constant dwelling on memories. Young hearts always talk about the future, the new plans for "tomorrow." The choice is ours, always. So! Nulla dies sine linea. We must move forward constantly, perseveringly, steadily, confidently, and above all inteligently... every day. Carpe diem, means not so much :grab the opportunity, as, do what you need to do today! I have enjoyed chatting with my friends in Poland. It was a relaxation after 2 hours of high quality tennis. I am going to Poland loaded with tennis racket, 24 cans of balls, and 958 feet of strings for stringing rackets. Hopefully the weather will smile at our efforts to "exercise" and keep in shape.

Myślę o tobie, gdy te słowa piszę
Wiem żeś jak jaskółka za morzem, daleko
Tęsknota mnie chwyta, kiedy głos twój słyszę
Wiem, jesteś bezpieczną pod Bożą opieką

Twe listy jak ptaszki co jawią się wiosną
Niosą radość sercu, koją moją duszę
Malują twe myśli, postać twą radosną
Ja widzieć cię znowu, codziennie się kuszę.

As you can see, I am switching from English to Polish in my prose and in my poetic expressions.
I have immersed myself into ancient Egyptian history and have tried to find materials that will shed light on the events described in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The field is enormous, but the materials are scattered through all sorts of sources, mainly fragmentary and often obscure. The tendency of earlier scholars was to push forward into the arena of antiquity, but then the "definitive" works have been published and since then, very little new syntesis or evaluation is presented, for fear that the writer will step on the toes of the "assured results" of scholarly research. The mere imitators of the great teachers who built their reputation by quoting and often referring to the works of their teachers, are unwilling to even consider the possibility that their teachers missed at least part of the total picture. Seldom do we find an original work based on the reevaluation of primary data. Usually the evidence of scholarly work is looked for in the number of footnotes sending the reader to the "giagants of the previous century." Will finish it ...in the near future.

ad ha yom ha ba

As the title says: Till tomorrow! It is unbelivable that I have not written earlier. Two weeks went by and I found no time to share with you my experiences. What dereliction of pleasure! what intelectual slothfulness! But, I have been in touch with my friends in Poland. The last few days I have been energized to start packing for my trip to Poland. I communicated with the 'powers' that be in Podkowa. My trip will include a series [short lectures] of presentations on various topics from the ancient days in the Near East, otherwise known as the Biblical world. Most of my time I am spending in reading and brushing up on the facts and artifacts from antiquity. I even started reading anew the Egyptian grammar, of all things. Now I am reading up on the evidence from monuments and literature regarding the history of Egypt. In short I have topics like Elephantine, Amarna...in Egypt, Mesha stone from Moab, Incriptions in Phoenician from Sphire, Ugarit and...to name a few. Busy, but not impossible. I plan while in Poland, that in between lectures...to keep in good health, will be...of course... visits to Warsaw Synagogues, and tennis in Cieszyn. Most of all I will again relish the evening discussions with interested theology students, on any topics [Biblical] they wish to pursue. Today I went for the first time into the Museum [Archaeological] and got lost in reading the texts from Mesopotamia that are housed at Andrews University collection. Fascinating, and all absorbing exercise. I hope to buy a set of pictures that illustrate life and literature and history of the Biblical lands...from the Archaeological Society. I found a "sponsor" [my wife] who will help me in this project. My sister Zofia and her husband Jonas will be spending 3 months in Poland and I may join them at their house in Krakow. Hopefully we will squeeze a couple of weekend trips to Zakopane, Pieniny, and some other interesting places. I would like to visit the prison in Wisnicz where my father was held from '54-'56. Maybe they will let me tour the place? Who knows? Nearby lives the family of close friends, the Korostenskis, and Barrs. Poland is a wonderful country with great potential, and glorious future. The downfall and shortcomings of Poland came mainly when the nation was dominated by foreign agencies. Among the most influencial agencies must be counted the Roman section of the christian church, the military powers of Austria, Prussia and Czarist Russia, and USSR, the international communism lead by Stalin and his successors. We can only hope that Poland as a nation will not again fall under the all dominiering influence of Vatican. It was against that kind of domination that Martin Luther protested, and was successfully supported by the princes of Germany [some of them]. No one opposes the religious teachings of any church, but when a church, any church becomes a purely political power and dominates another country or nation, then it is an "invasion and occupation" with destructive results. Well it is late at night and I have a wonderful match of tennis in the morning. My 'beauty rest' is calling and I must answer the call. ET, I love you and will see you on Wednesday evening. My friends in Poland...a happy new week to you. Special greetings to Ann [you figur out which one among all twenty of them]and wishes of quick return to the courts.

Which of the two went home justified?

A week went bye and much water under the bridge has flown. All is well in the land and all systems are on go! Life is good, health ok, Spring time in the air and plans have changed only minimally. How is that for a successful week? The Family has advised me not to spend too much time in Poland and to enjoy the time with friends. So be it! I am adding to my tennis account as much exercize as I can. Starting tomorrow I will also start regular swimming exercizes at the Y. I want to be able to climb the Tatra wierchy in good condition. I understand that by May 11 all snow will be gone and we can go to Kasprowy wierch and walk to Giewont and down to Zakopane in one day. Then I want also to walk in Czorsztyn and go down the Dunajec on a tratwa. Climb the 3 korony and have relaxed time. When my sister Zosia will be in Krakow I will have a base for all my escapades. When Michalscy will come we will plan something more substantial. Maybe Maniewicze, or Budapeszt, or who knows where. We have almost decided...like 99%.. to switch our base to Jellico and Ann is going there this October to work. We will have two places to take care of. When Prymas comes in October we will visit Jellico also. We had a wonderful conference on the Trinity doctrine in the Bible, at Southern Uni. Nice presentations, though the one presented by the dean of the school of theology Ron Clouset was the most useful of them all. It was nice to see old friends and true friends and acquaintances. My days of teaching at the Polish Theological Seminary seem to be over, they now have their own people to carry on their lectures...etc. It was nice and pleasant to work with the students, some of whom are indeed good scholars. Just about all my friends among the students are graduating this June and the new ones are not known to me at all [there are always exceptions]! I made some good friends at Podkowa, starting with the Rector Kozirog Family, The dean Dr. Polok Family, The Dr.Dr. M. Tarsiuk Family, the Prof.Dr. Igor Baron family, The Director Romanowski Family and the new Director of the School of English prof. Zbigniew, the pleasant and vivatious teachers of English: Dorothy and Monaika, and others too numerous to mention. I will try and keep in touch with my friends Gosposia, Ira [my Cyganeczka], Katiusza, Nadia, Paszka, the Pilat Family etc. Of course there are also private friends like Smok, Arequ, Sankowski, the Kot Family in Warsaw etc. These I will try and visit every year...inshallah!
Zosia, my daughter is finishing her BA in accounting and planning to go for the MA degree at Southern also. Andrew? the ET of my life is coming home but we still do not know what he will decide to do. Zosia may teach accounting at CHA for one month... this June.
As you can see, things will be different from now on, as we grow older and more selective. We learn and live, we live and learn.
We look at our lives and consider what we have done or even accomplished and the story of "the two that came to the temple" comes to mind. If we justify ourselves before God we go home worse off than before! If we humble ourselves before God we can go home justified and at peace. He who succeeds at the expense of someone else will be the ultimate looser. The wheels of God's justice turn slowly but inevitably, they cannot be stopped. What a man sows that he also will reap. But to the faithful one ...even the curse will be turned into blessing...if he relies on God. We all can make mistakes...but the man after God's own heart is the man who humbles himself and redresses the hurt he has done. The reading of Dr. Martin Luther's Vater Unsere or [Pater Noster] brings up wonderful thought about the character of God and our loving obligation to Him and to His family...you! Oswald Chambers adds to the understanding of our situation in regard to being God's children, and the privileges given to us.
I wish you all good night or day and deep satisfaction knowing that God loves you.