Throughout history and before, and in every culture around the world, such things as God, gods, spirits and angels have made their mark. Can the so called 'rational' thinker totally dismiss these things as whimsical and fanciful, I say not. Some scoffers have said, 'If there is a God, why does he let such bad things happen?' This statement is an example of a misconception of the nature of life and God. Since God has had such a powerful influence on humanity all through our existance, it is not rational to think that God acn be stamped out, yet that is what some seek to do. Down through history, God, the spiritual realm, or energy realm, has been trying to get throught to us. Just as humans often misunderstand what another is telling us, we have failed to fully understand what God has been trying to tell us. Our own freedom for greed and selfish desires has blurred God's guidance. Through much trial and error, the answer is becoming more clear.
I have discovered dates, names, and events that link the original American Woodstock festival of 1969 and at least one of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Woodstock was originally to be held in Wallkill, NY on 8/15, 16, & 17/69, but the people there did not like the hippie crowd and they protested. So, Woodstock ended up being held in Bethel, NY on 8/15, 16, & 17/69. I Kings ch. 12 in the Bible tells about another sinful and misguided festival held in Bethel on 8/15. Some have pointed out that the calendar used to schedule Woodstock in different then the calendar used to schedule the festival in I Kings. I take this as a sign of just how unimportant a particular calendar is to God. The reason for the festival is the important thing. This same line of thinking has lead me to come to another conclusion about what makes a land Holy. Any land is as Holy as another, it is the actions of the people presently on a land, which make it Holy. The Dead Sea Scroll here is called the Damascus Document(or Damascus Rule). The original author of about 100 B.C. interpreted several Bible verses in this particular scroll. One of those verses is Micah 2; 11. In my modern Catholic Bible(I do not believe in every Catholic practice), Micah 2; 11 reads, If one acting on impulse should make the futile claim: "I pour you wine and strong drink as my prophecy," then he would be the prophet of this people. Concerning this verse the scroll author wrote about a, follower of the wind, one who raised storms and rained down lies, had preached to them(Mic. 2; 11), against all of whose assembly the anger of God was kindled. At Woodstock Joe Cocker sang, Lets Go Get Stoned, and then, With A Little Help From My Friends. Just seconds after Joe was finished singing, it began to rain. A witness recalled that there was no rain forcasted for that day. These two songs give negative and positive messages and therefore constitute a following of the wind. Joe should not be considered an anti-Christ or any thing like that, but just as another lost sheep. A lost sheep with a microphone and LOTS of listeners. The words, their wine is their ways, are also stated in the scroll. There are two kinds of wine involved. The other wine is the thinking that we as individuals and thereby the world can not change OUR sinful ways.
Main References:
Woodstock the Oral History, by Joel Makower
Dead Sea Scrolls in English, by Geza Veremes
The New American Catholic Translation Bible
www.woodstockanddeadseascrolls.net
Some key scans from books:
www.woodstockanddeadseascrolls.net/files/20b.JPG
www.woodstockanddeadseascrolls.net/files/21b.JPG
www.woodstockanddeadseascrolls.net/files/10b.JPG
www.woodstockanddeadseascrolls.net/files/15b.JPG
www.woodstockanddeadseascrolls.net/files/16b.JPG
I highly encourage you to listen to mp3's of Joe Cocker at Woodstock and several other songs from the late 1960's and early 1970's era, which are at my site. Joe Cocker, singing With A Little Help From My Friends, was the theme for the Wonder Years TV show. I am far from being the only one who believes that it was a special era, but little do many realize just how special. Joe adlibs a lot in the Woodsotck version. It is quite something to hear him pleading for the crowd together and be friends.
The situation reminds me of a saying by Jesus, taken from a Gnostic Gospel, the Gospel of Thomas: If those who lead you, say to you: See the kingdom is in the sky, then the birds of heaven will precede you. If they say to you: It is in the sea, then the fish will precede you. But the kingdom is within you and it is with out you. When you know yourselves then you will be known, and you will know that you are sons of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you are in poverty and you are poverty. In America, in the late 1960's and early 1970's there was a primarily unorganized group of young people known as hippies and some were known as Jesus freaks. The people in the scroll known as scoffers, roughly equate to people known as yuppies, in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Instead of encouraging the dreams of peace and harmony of the hippies, drugs and chemical dependency quelled real progress in the peace and harmony social movement. The scroll mentions this with the words, for they sought smooth things and preffered illusion. These among other lines has lead me to believe that the scroll is telling about the times that we are living in. Whether it is a first time happening or history repeating itself, these words should be heeded.
Here is another portion of the scroll: Interpreted, these are the three nets of Satan with which Levi son of Jacob said that he catches Israel by setting them up as three kinds of righteousness. The first is riches, the second is fornication, and the third is profanation of the Temple. Whoever escapes the first is caught in the second, and whoever saves himself from the second is caught in the third(Isa. 24). In America and in much of the world these things have gone from being social taboos to being virtual forms of righteousness since the early 1970's. Here are just a few examples of the three nets. (1) Lotteries, casinos, and personal debt have risen. There is at least one casino in nearly every state. The there are the junk lawsuits. (2) There is the simultaneous popularity of teen pregnancy, abortion, and sexual stimulants. (3) Now we have the exaltation of homosexual clergymen, and the sanctioning of same sex marriage.
Another section of the scroll: This was the time of which it is written, Like a stubborn hiefer thus was Israel stubborn(Hos. 4; 16), when the Scoffer arose who shed over Israel the waters of lies. He led them astray in a wilderness without way by bringing low the everlasting hills, and by causing them to depart from the paths of righteousness... Performers at Woodstock were flown in by helicopter because of the huge crowd. If the author or authors of the scroll had visions of the distant future, bringing low the everlasting hills, might have been the best way he could describe what he saw. Also, upstate New York is very forested, thus the reference to wilderness.
Why has Nostradamus gained such notoriety? The author of this scroll tops Nostradamus. The answer is, the scroll states things more clearly, too clearly for some. If one allows any credence for this scroll, feelings of guilt are sparked. The reaction for many is to scoff. One must work through this guilt. Many have not reached their breaking point yet. The problem of terrorism will hasten that breaking point. Like a stubborn hiefer thus was Israel stubborn. This is not to say that terrorists are in the right. They are not. However, the society that created the terrorists has it's roots in the self serving and short sightedness of the founders of Islam and the mistreatment from outside the Islamic region. In other words, we and all of our ancestors share a portion of the blame. The terrorists have been brainwashed to believe that America is a great Satan. American liberals(scoffers) have done nothing to prove the terrorists wrong. Unless Americans and the rest of the world(including the good and wise portions of Muslim society), what to be picked away at for the next 20 or 30 years(possibly with suitcase nukes), we must become a glowing example of what we CAN be. A glowingly good example that the brainwashers can not obscure. Man is at a point of maturity and decision. The scroll talks about this decision time: God loves knowledge. Wisdom and understanding He has set before Him, and prudence and knowledge serve Him. Patience and much forgiveness are with Him towards those who turn from transgression: but power, might, and great flaming wrath by the hand of all the Angels of Destruction(terrorists) towards those who depart from the way and abhor the Precept. They shall have no remnant or survivor. For from the beginning God chose them not; He knew their deeds before ever they were created and He hated their generations, and He hid His face from the land until they were consumed. For He knew the years of their coming and the exact duration of their times for all ages to come and throughout the everlasting years. And in all of them He raised for Himself men called by name, that a remnant might be left to the Land, and that the face of the earth might be filled with their seed...
I grew up in a small town where people did not lock their doors. If this can happen in one place, it can happen everywhere! The key to making it happen is communication and a sense of community. This is where festivals and sabbaths are so important. Again the scroll: He made His Covenant with Israel forever, revealing to them the HIDDEN THINGS in which all of Israel had gone astray. He unfolded before them His Holy Sabbaths and His GLORIOUS FEASTS, the testimonies of His righteousness and the ways of His truth, and the desires of His will which A MAN MUST DO IN ORDER TO LIVE.
Both the Bible and the Quran have their imperfections, however genuine the inspiration, they were written by the hand of Man. The early Catholic Church suppressed science and technology, while Muslim society at the time encouraged it. The scroll: God loves knowledge. There are negative aspects to Islam too. Islam does not recognize the value of monogamy, this is why I called the founders of Islam selfish and short sighted. The scroll: The builders of the wall(Ezek. 13; 6) who have followed after 'Precept' - 'Precept' was a spouter of whom it is written, they shall surely spout(Mic. 2; 6) - shall be caught in fornication twice by taking a second wife while the first is alive, whereas the principle of creation is, male and female created he them(Gen. 1; 27). also, those who entered the Ark went in two by two. And concerning the prince it is written, he shall not multiply wives to himself(Deut. 17; 17): but David had not read the sealed book of the Law which was in the ark(of the Covenant)...