A ROCKY FOUNDATION

                    The British ocean liner, the R.M.S. Lusitania , was struck by a torpedo from a German submarine on May 7, 1915. It appears that in an effort to minimize panic, the captain, William Thomas Turner, created a false sense of assurance. Shortly after the torpedo struck the liner, a female passenger called out, "Captain, what do you wish us to do?" He replied, "Stay right where you are, Madam, she's all right.""Where do you get your information?" she asked. "From the engine room, Madam," he said. But the engine room clearly had told him no such thing. The woman headed back toward the stern, and as she walked she told other passengers "The Captain says the boat will not sink." The remark was greeted with cheers and many people who had been endeavoring to get a place in the boats, turned away in apparent contentment." Turner's words merely confirmed what the passengers and crew already believed, or wanted ...

    Merv is a major oasis located in the plain of Karakum Desert in Central Asia. It is the oldest and the most completely preserved of the oasis spanning 4000 years of human history. In 1999 UNESCO listed Merv as a cultural world heritage site noting that the oasis has exerted considerable influence over the civilization of Central Asia and Iran for four millennia. The well watered zone in the midst of the dry Karakum serves as a natural stopping point along two major routes. Merv is located along the Murgab River which rises in mountains on the north western Afghanistan and runs to the Karakum desert in Turkmenistan. The inhabitants (Turcomans) have dammed up the streams that flow down from the Afghan mountains and led their waters along artificial canals, and so the country is watered and reclaimed. Day and night the dam is watched by Turcoman sentinels, because if it is destroyed the area would again become a desert. But as long as these streams are preserved, and th...

                             House builders in ancient Palestine had two site choices; build a house in the valley on sandy soil or build it on the rocky hillside. Building in the valley was easier than the building on the hillside. Hillside builders planned for the worst, valley builders hoped for the best. Very few people wanted to build on the rocky hillside. It meant grading the side of a slope and hauling up materials. Living on the hill made travel much more difficult, water had to be toted and winter winds were colder. Most people followed the path of least resistance and build along the sandy riverbeds. The scenery was more pleasant, the water more conveniently located and the house was sheltered from the cold winter winds. Most of the year the streams trickled pleasantly down the hillside into the river below. However, on rare occasions there would be an unusually heavy snow or a torrential downfall ...

    The story is told of two inseparable friends who enlisted together, trained together, and fought together during World War I. During an attack, one of the duo was critically wounded in a field filled with barbed wire obstacles and because of that, was unable to crawl back to his foxhole. The entire area was under enemy fire and it was suicidal to try to reach him. Nevertheless, undaunted, his friend decided to give it a go. Before he could get out of his own trench, his sergeant yanked him back and told him, “You’re mad! It’s far too late. You can’t do him any good and you’ll only end up getting yourself killed.” A few minutes later the officer turned his back and instantly his mate went after his friend. Shortly afterwards, he staggered back, mortally wounded, with his friend now dead in his arms. The sergeant was both angry and deeply moved. “What a waste,” he blurted out. “He’s dead and you’re dying; it just was not worth it.” With almost his last breath, the dyin...