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| Cheryl Campbell as Jennie Liddell in Chariots of Fire |
I began my full-time career as a chemical engineer at the beginning of July, 1980. In the seventeenth month of that career, the girl who would become my bride came to work in the same building as me. She was 29. The building number was 309.
The 1982 "Best Picture" was Chariots of Fire1, and it was released in the USA on 4/9/82. I saw it in a theater, but not with the girl from the office. We did not have our first encounter until about two months later, when we shared our first kiss. We were married exactly seventeen months after the movie release date, on 9/9/83.2
I realized this when I recently re-watched the movie and found myself particularly enamored with the woman who played the sister of Eric Liddell, Cheryl Campbell. Then it hit me. She looks a lot like my wife, especially in the screenshot, above. My wife's bridal dress included a wide-brimmed hat, similar to the one in the picture. It's not exactly the same, but factoring in facial features, hair and eye color, that picture reminds me of my wife. When the Holy Spirit prompted me to calculate the dates, I was astonished. Another one of God's fingerprints on our lives!
I tried to share this with her, but I don't think she saw it. It's one of my regrets. I was being patient, but "the clock ran out." It's just between her and me.
Some people dabble in the Occult, and they have their reasons. I don't do that, but I am aware of some things that are important to them. One of those is certain numbers, and many of them come from the Bible.3
I believe God uses numbers to communicate. He chose to establish seven days as a week, and He chose to begin the Flood on the seventeenth day...
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month--on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. (Genesis 7:11-12 NIV)
The Flood was also over on the seventeenth day...
The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. (Genesis 8:3-4 NIV)
Notice that the Flood lasted exactly five months. Five means something, too.
The seventeenth letter of the English alphabet has been rather controversial in the past few years. I discussed it in Critical Thinking.
My wife put this printout on our refrigerator about a month before I discovered the "seventeenth letter." I find that fascinating, and am comforted that we always saw things together. We both saw some strange things during our marriage, and the fact that we both saw them confirmed we were not crazy.
That's what I'm really going to miss, now that she's gone. We would see things, talk about things and share things. We shared a common workplace in the beginning, and we shared many experiences afterwards.
I understand everybody goes through losses like this, and I understand we all die, but it's really, really hard when you go through it yourself. And... it's lonely.
Once again, I can be more empathetic towards others because I am actually going through it myself. God knows what He's doing. He disciplines those He loves and has called according to His purposes.
I am still heartbroken. So, so heartbroken...
All glory to God.
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UPDATES, March 15, 2022...
1 It is unclear to me how "chariots of fire" (2 Kings 6:17) relates to the content of this movie. I do see a clear connection to what is going on around me, however. I am convinced "those who are with me are more than those who are with them," and the apparent connection between my marriage and this movie does seem to make some sense in hindsight.
3 Occultists try to mimic what God does and that is sin.4 I just observe facts and apparent coincidences and simply rejoice in what He is doing.
Pay close attention to the numbers and dates in this entire blog and observe how each of them "reduce." Simply add the digits and then add those digits until you can reduce no more. The richness is astounding. Personally, I think God is mocking the Darkness, and I am overjoyed to be a part of it!
UPDATES, June 27, 2022...
Changed footnote 2 to footnote 3 to maintain proper order in the main text.
2 This date is exactly 207 years after the founding of the unincorporated Federation of States called "The United States of America," a holding company operating in international jurisdictions for the actual American Government. See this Anna von Reitz article (page 1) for verification, along with others at her website.
207
2 + 7 = 9
9
UPDATE, October 11, 2022...
Last evening, I re-watched the end of Chariots of Fire. Today, I was a bit bewildered about where things are heading and asked the LORD for help. Soon afterwards, I watched Wings on Their Heels: The Making of Chariots of Fire, and heard this near the end...
"It's Christianity and Judaism getting together, and getting on together."
That's His Project.
That's why Chariots of Fire.
That's why The Mystery.
That's why my involvement with Burned Toast.
UPDATE, November 9, 2022...
4 My spiritual sibling asked me yesterday why so many people are drawn to negative or dark symbolism and why people think following symbols of any kind is so important. I had mentioned symbolism in a conversation earlier in the day. I said it was an intriguing question and that I needed to pray about it.
I did pray about it, and after breakfast this morning I read my next chapter of Brent Allan Winters' Excellence of the Common Law book, which I have been reading and have mentioned elsewhere in this blog (here and here). It was section 4.5.1, Rule of Law in the Ancient World, pages 513-515. It answered my prayer and my question, and I plan to share it with my sibling later today. I quote part of it here...
In ancient civil law--as yet today--men believed that power over others proceeded from certain created objects: e.g., certain mountaintops, cities, thrones, seats, staffs, crowns, or jewels. Such belief is the essence of idolatry. They further believed that the one gaining control of such an object or place--whether by manipulation or raw force, or both-- also gained control of the power attaching to it. For example, men attributed such aura to certain chairs placed in certain places. ... To speak while seated in these special places was to legislate, whether by general decree or by specific judgment. Further, objects such as a certain crown sitting on one's head or a certain scepter in one's hand, men believed to lend power to the one possessing it.
One's belief that getting hold of, or control over, a certain person, place, or thing brings with it the power of legislation--such as bones of holy men, grails, artifacts, and shrouds--is sometimes called occultism. Humanity's unquenchable quest for objects and trinkets believed to bring spiritual or political advantage is the gist of idol worship.
It's idol worship. That's why it is sin.
Isn't it amazing how my prayer was answered? As Paul said, ...
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV)
This life is so amazing. 😊
UPDATE, December 25, 2022...
Here is a useful study of numbers in the Bible: https://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/introduction.html.
UPDATE, November 4, 2023...
What is an executive producer of a motion picture and what do they do?
Who was the credited executive producer of Chariots of Fire?
What happened to him?
What was the narrative? Who was he with?
What was his religious heritage?
Why would he want to make a movie about Christians and Jews getting along?
Who might not like that?
Curious. 🤔