Eye on Faith: March 2018

Saturday, March 31, 2018

Van Hulst's 'Underground Railroad'

Johan Van Hulst in 1980 (GFDL license)

The Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial center in Jerusalem has deemed Johan van Hulst, who died recently at 107, to be Righteous Among the Nations.

During the Nazi occupation of Holland, Van Hulst was running a Reformed Teachers’ Training College which “bordered the garden of a Jewish nursery.” This “Calvinist Protestant” managed to smuggle many of those Jewish children to safety during the darkest of times.

He did this by cleverly waiting until a tram routinely blocked his school from Nazi view. Van Hulst would then quickly “hide the Jewish children in baskets and sacks” and whisk them off to “their next underground destination.”

This went on for quite some time until approximately 600 children were rescued. Van Hulst had to eventually go into hiding to avoid being executed for these “crimes” of compassion.

During his subsequent long life, Van Hulst “resolutely closed the book” on this chapter. Rather than “play a resistance hero,” he instead thought mainly of the tortured kids that he wasn’t able to save.

Resources

https://www.pressherald.com/2018/03/28/johan-van-hulst-who-saved-600-jewish-kids-dies-at-107/

Friday, March 30, 2018

Back-seat cheetah

What's up? (Photo by William Warby)

Note to self: When on safari in the wilds of Tanzania, roll up the windows. What! No windows? Then be prepared for a

back-seat cheetah.

This dreaded scenario occurred when some tourists were admiring the African scenery. As safari-goer Britton Hayes was sitting up front, he felt something breathing down his neck. It wasn’t a cat on the hot tin roof, but rather a cat on the hot back seat.

Whereas curiosity didn’t kill the cheetah, it might have killed the tourists. Quick instructions from the tour guide saved the day. Hayes was told to sit very still and not make eye contact with the animal. This would minimize actions that seem threatening to a wayward cat.

In order to still his body, Hayes needed to quiet his mind. If the cheetah were to detect fear, then it could pounce. Hayes worked to clear his mind of any thoughts, even though this was “probably one of the scariest moments” he had ever experienced. His meditative technique worked, and the cheetah wandered off as quickly as it had wandered in.

Resources

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2018/03/29/Cheetah-surprises-Oregon-man-by-jumping-into-vehicle/5311522329941/

Cloudy Vision

Cataract in Human Eye (Photo by Rakesh Ahuja, MD)

Sometimes it’s best to just change the subject. One such time is when "fake news" goes viral.

Eugenio Scalfari, a so-called journalist who might not even take notes during interviews, has put forth the word that souls who don’t repent “disappear" rather than land in hell. Scalfari attributes this revelation to none other than Pope Francis.

The Vatican denied that Francis denied the existence of hell, then changed the subject. Did you know, for example, that the pope suffers from cataracts? He certainly does, and surgery is scheduled for next year.

In the meantime, cloudy vision remains. The pope, at least, is aware of his own blinders. He urges the rest of us to see past ours.

Resources

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/did-pope-francis-say-there-is-no-hell-not-quite-the-vatican-insists/ar-AAvgyrI?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=BHEA000