Words of Truth

It was everything I thought it would be. There was a standard sized baseball field and a bunch of seats.  It was dirty, it was old, and it was beautiful.   Just like my first NFL game at the RCA dome, I was shocked by how small the field was.  You watch these games on TV and it seems like the field should be bigger, but an NFL field is 100 yards long, and a MLB field has 90 feet between bases. It’s the same size.

I successfully navigated the Chicago area transit system.  I drove from Indy to Gary, parked my car (I know, I was surprised when it was still there when I got back), and got on the train.  Then in downtown Chicago I got on another train to Wrigley, which dropped me off a block west of the stadium.  Of course my iPod and phone both had low battery by this time, but I had no way of recharging them. I saved them for taking pictures and contacting people.  I got in touch with my family (brother, brother in law, and nephew), and we went in the stadium.

How was it? It was COLD!  April 1, 2011 was opening day.  That’s usually pretty cold.  This year it was 46 degrees on opening day.  How cold was it last Thursday (May 26th)? FORTY DEGREES! And there was a 12-20 MPH wind blowing in from the outfield, making the windchill around 33 degrees. I loved being there, experiencing the history of it, and watching the Cubs play live, but the cold was like too much cinnamon in an apple pie:  the pie tastes good, but the cinnamon is ever present.

This was before the game started, when we were still basking in the warmth of "first time at Wrigley"

At the beginning of the game we were surrounded by NY Mets fans.  But after a few innings they left.  Not sure if the cold was too much for them or the Cubs (it was 4-1 Cubs in the fourth inning, and 6-2 in the fifth).

A few innings into the game my brother and brother in law went to the gift shop (which was heated.  Score!) and came back with these hats:

My brother, looking awesome in his Cubs stocking cap. Dig the tassels!

I watched our stuff while they were in the gift shop.  When they got back, I decided to go down and get a hat.  I don’t know if I went to the same gift shop as them or not, but the one I went to didn’t have any more of the stocking caps.  So this is what I ended up with:

I know. It is teh awesome!

Yes, it was so cold my brain stopped working correctly, because I actually paid money for that hat.  It was able to warm my brain to the point where I knew it was dorky looking, but not warm enough to care.   Seriously, if I knew it was going to be that cold, I would have worn my winter coat, my hunting boots, and my fleece hunting hat, which looks like this:

This is how I look when hunting, but without the pretty eyelashes.

The irritating thing was that two days later the temperature was about 30 degrees warmer. I saw people on television at the Cubs game wearing tank tops and shorts.  But that’s ok, because the Cubs won the day we were there.  We got to see the W flag fly, and we got to sing “Go Cubs Go” at the end of the game.

Evidently I need to get back to Wrigley, because the Cubs have only won one game in the week since I left.  I would like to go back again sometime (probably not til next year or later), but whenever it is, NEXT time it will be in June-August. Go Cubs!

I am leaving in a few minutes to drive to Wrigley Field in Chicago, Ill. Even though I’ve been a Cubs fan for most of my life (when I was two, I didn’t really care about baseball), I have never been to Wrigley before.  Then they had a great sale, and so me, my brother Tony, my brother in law Jim, and my nephew Kyle are going to be sitting in section 223 row 14 to (hopefully) watch the Cubs beat the Mets.

This is a picture of section 223 I found online.

The forecast is 50 degrees and rain.  We’ll see what happens. Our seats are supposed to be under the overhang, so we shouldn’t get wet. But whether it rains, snows, or whatever, I’m going to Wrigley field!!!

They fly this flag when the Cubs win. I want to see this flag!

Today is May 19th. We all know what that means: the rapture is supposed to happen in a few days (according to Harold Camping and the false teachers at Family Radio…and he’s never been wrong before about this, has he?). Given that the event is supposedly on Saturday, I figured I should cover it. Do I agree with these people? No.

For those of you who haven’t heard it, here’s their logic: Harold Camping says that the number five equals “atonement”, the number ten equals “completeness”, and the number seventeen equals “heaven”. He states that Christ died on April 1, 33 AD. The time between April 1, 33 AD and April 1, 2011 is 1,978 years. If 1,978 is multiplied by 365.2422 days (the number of days in a solar year, not to be confused with the lunar year), the result is 722,449. The time between April 1 and May 21 is 51 days. 51 added to 722,449 is 722,500. (5 x 10 x 17)2 or (atonement x completeness x heaven)2 also equals 722,500.

So, according to Camping’s logic, since the number of days since Christ’s death equals the product of three numbers squared, He’s coming back Saturday. Do I need to start going over how ludicrous this is? I do? Ok.

Let me begin by saying that I believe in the pre-tribulational rapture. At any moment, Christ will return, and all church-age believers (both living and dead) will instantly leave the surface of the earth and meet Him in the clouds, at which point we will go to heaven for approximately seven years, while bad stuff happens here on earth. Then Christ will return (with us in tow), crush His enemies and set up a one-thousand year reign on earth. That’s the basics of my view on end-time events (also called “eschatology”).

Here are my problems with the Family Radio view: 

1.  I don’t know where he’s getting this “five equals atonement” business (or any other of the other numbers). The only numbers I’ve ever heard of that meant anything were 666 and “7” which is the number of perfection (but I wouldn’t base a doctrine on that). 
2. Christ died on April 1, 33 AD? According to whom? Personally I believe He died around 29 AD, which throws this whole thing in the trash. 
3. He multiplies by the amount of days in a solar year. He totally rejects the fact that the Jews don’t use a solar calendar, they use a lunar calendar. This is a weak point, I know, but it bears stating.
4. My final point is more of a question: Why does he square the product of those three numbers? What is the logic behind doing that math step?

In conclusion, Christ could return on Saturday, but I don’t think He’s any more or less likely to return on Saturday than He is on Friday, Sunday, next week, or in 2013 (that one’s for you Mayans!). I wonder what Harold Camping is going to say on Sunday if the rapture doesn’t take place on Saturday. One friend of mine suggested he will say something like, “We prayed to God for an extension of His mercy, and He has granted that extension…the rapture has been postponed so that more people can be saved.” I’ll be interested to see what happens.