James Emerson Hough - Eighty-Nine Years and Still Evolving: Essays and Writings

Chapter 1

My Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Maturity

August 29, 2019

My body grows older and tires easily, is shorter of breath and unsteady afoot; the daily four-mile walk in my awe-inspiring forest preserve with my dog Freedom is history.

My mind grows more mature and wisdom; the ability to discern what is true, right, or lasting is augmented.

My soul is created in Gods imageunchangeable, immortal, infinite, eternal, neither matter nor energy, neither male nor femaleand remains with me until my body and mind are near death or die, at which time God takes my soul.

My mind grows either more mature or remains immature. My body does not age; it gets older. Cheese and alcoholic beverages age. Good health and mental maturity allow me to physically and mentally relax, to listen, to hear what is said and not said, to respect other opinions (even opposing opinions held rigidly by others), and to reason clearly before speaking.

Spiritual maturity permits me to learn by eagerly seeking recondite information and to experience a divine presence in my forest preserve, outside of which fewer than five percent of my hours are spent. Spiritual maturity provides me peace of mind, joy in life, total lack of fear, depth of understanding, and compassion.

I give thanks to all the mature persons who have engendered in me by word and example the desire for a healthy mature life and the meaning of living life to its fullest.

The Twelve Disciples

May 31, 2019

PETER . Galilean, uneducated, oldest teenager, married, fisherman, older brother of Andrew, the group spokesman, crucified head-down on cross AD 64 in Rome.

JAMES the older. Galilean, uneducated, teenager, fisherman, older brother of John, from well-to-do family, beheaded AD 44.

JOHN . Galilean, uneducated, age twelve when called by Jesus, younger brother of James the older, from well-to-do family, born AD 14, died age ninety-eight AD 112 of natural causes on the isle of Patmos.

ANDREW . Galilean, uneducated, teenager, fisherman, younger brother of Peter, crucified AD 69 in Greece.

BARTHOLOMEW NATHANAEL . Galilean, uneducated, teenager, of royal blood, sister was wife of David, killed by skinning using knives.

JAMES the younger. Galilean, uneducated, teenager, brother of Jude and Mathew.

JUDAS ISCARIOT . Galilean, uneducated, teenager, betrayed Jesus and afterward hung himself in the Temple of Jerusalem AD 29, replaced by Matthias who was stoned to death years later in modern-day Georgia.

JUDE . Judean, uneducated, teenager, brother of James the younger and Mathew, killed by arrows in Armenia.

MATHEW . Galilean, uneducated, second oldest teenager, tax collector, older brother of James the younger and Jude, martyred in Ethiopia.

PHILIP . Galilean, uneducated, teenager, fisherman, hanged in Egypt.

SIMON the zealot. Galilean, uneducated, teenager, fisherman, martyred in modern-day Turkey.

THOMAS . Galilean, uneducated, teenager, a skeptic, killed by a spear in India.

Except for Jude, all the disciples are Galilean, and all are uneducated Aramaic-speaking Jewish teenagers. The oldest is Peter who is married. The second oldest is Mathew. John is one of the youngest, if not the youngest. There are three sets of brothers; two sets of two and one set of three, comprising seven of the twelve. Five of the twelve are fishermen. None of the twelve ever recanted their belief that Jesus was who He claimed.

TIMELINE

The following dates and information are established and arranged in chronological order by officially recognized historians using three different calendars, each generally described as follows.

The Hebrew calendar is both solar- and lunar-based. A lunar month has about 29.5 days. Because the month is not divided into full days, the lunar months in the Hebrew calendar have either twenty-nine or thirty days. Hebrew days begin at nightfall. Twelve lunar months total only 354.4 days, whereas twelve solar months total 365.25 days. To account for the eleven-day difference and maintain a solar year, the lunar calendar has periodic leap years which add an extra thirty-day month to the end of the year. The leap year occurs about once every three years. Hebrew year 5779, before Rosh Hashana, corresponds to Gregorian year AD 2019. After Rosh Hashana, it is Hebrew year 5780 and Gregorian year AD 2020.

The Julian calendar is solar-based, introduced 46 BC by Julius Caesar, is divided into 12 months, 365 days, and a leap year of 366 days every fourth year.

The Gregorian calendar is solar-based, sponsored by Pope Gregory XIII AD 1582, is a corrected version of the Julian calendar and used worldwide today. Britain converted AD 1752. USSR converted AD 1918. Greece converted AD 1925.

1800 BC. Abraham alive

1660s BC. Writing of original Old Testament begins

1400 BC. Moses alive

587 BC. Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem

510 BC. Beginning of Roman Empire

400s BC. Writing of original Old Testament ends

145 BC. Book of Daniel written, final book of Hebrew Bible

63 BC. Conquest of Palestine by Romans

44 BC. Assassination of Julius Caesar by Cassius and Brutus

4 BC. Birth of John the Baptist, six months before Jesus

4 BC. BIRTH OF JESUS

4 BC. Herod, king of Jews, orders the killing of all males age two and under

4 BC. Mary and Joseph flee with baby Jesus to Egypt

4 BC. Death of Herod, king of the Jews

AD 6. Birth of Apostle Paul

AD 14. Birth of John

AD 8. Jesus age twelve visits the Temple in Jerusalem

AD 826. Jesus works, age twelve to thirty, as carpenter in Nazareth

AD 26. Jesus baptized in the River Jordan by John the Baptist

AD 26. Jesus in the Judean Wilderness

AD 26. Jesus hails fishermen Andrew, Simon, Philip, and Bartholomew

AD 26. Jesus turns water into wine and drives moneymakers from temple in Jerusalem

AD 27. Jesuss Sermon on the Mount

AD 27. Jesuss miracle of the leper

AD 27. Jesus calls Matthew

AD 27. Jesus and the imprisonment of John the Baptist

AD 27. Birth of Josephus, Jewish historian

AD 28. Jesuss miracle of the loaves and fishes

AD 28. Jesus walks on water

AD 28. Jesus foretells his death and resurrection

AD 28. Jesus questioned by the Jews

AD 29. Jesus and Lazarus

AD 29. Jesus tells of imminent betrayal

AD 29. Jesus on the Mount of Olives

AD 29. The Last Supper

AD 29. JESUS CRUCIFIED

AD 29. Judas Iscariot hung himself

AD 29. JESUS RESURRECTED

AD 29. Jesus after resurrection, Sea of Galilee

AD 29. The ascension

AD 33. Conversion of Apostle Paul

AD 44. James the elder beheaded

AD 64. Peter crucified

AD 64. Apostle Paul beheaded in Rome

AD 66. Writing of original Christian New Testament begins, based on oral tradition

AD 6670. Writing Gospel of Mark by highly-educated Greek Christian

AD 69. Andrew crucified

AD 8085. Writing Gospel of Luke by highly-educated Greek Christian, used Mark

AD 9095. Writing Gospel of John by highly-educated Greek Christian, used Mark or Luke

AD 100. Death of Josephus, Jewish historian

AD 112. Death of John

A Treatise:
Creation, Spirituality, Science, Religion

September 6, 2007; last revision October 15, 2019

The significance of God, the Eternal Being, I did not fully understand until after four years of studying geology; a near-death out-of-body experience when injured at age twenty-four during military service; two years graduate study of geology and engineering; six years professional applied earth science working experience; and twenty-two of thirty-five years in private professional practice of the applied earth sciences. I was fifty-six years of age at the time.