New Horizons by Max Roy

         ONE  View Of World History We know the Neanderthals were replaced by Homo sapiens. It is thought that one of the big differences between the two was the latter’s capacity to tell stories. With that comes the ability to elaborate larger regimes, many supporting the ideas of a leader to foster large projects like kingdoms. Archeologists tell us about the ancient regimes, in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. In the latter we know about the Sumerian civilization leading to the Akkadian (Assyrian and Babylonian) supremacy. The Pharaohs of Egypt ruled to the south. When the persecuted Jews bolted from Egypt, settling ultimately on both sides of the river Jordan, they persisted as a minor ethnic entity at the pleasure of the giant empires of the region. What distinguished them was their non-material monotheism in a pagan world. Akhenaton of Egypt offered the Sun God to the Egyptians during his reign, but this monotheism was buried at his death witho...

                      Can I Forget Thee? Jews are descendants of the Judeans who inhabited a scrap of Middle-eastern territory called Judaea for some two thousand years. They were a dispersed people whose members wandered the face of the earth, yet retained a cohesion in sufficient numbers to create a unique culture that marked them. During their passage, the message Jews shared with the peoples of the world has been adopted in various forms by billions on this planet, impacting their lives in important ways. Some 2000 years ago, a process of dispersion began when the Roman Empire, under whose rule they were at that time, tired of their rebelliousness. Over the next sixty years, much of the population that survived the continuous uprisings was sold off into slavery. Concentrations remained in the northern Galilee and Jerusalem. The model of community living that was established in J...

  Summing Up Finding a Heroic Purpose   Today, it was a beautiful day in Vancouver. As often as not, we have had sun here rather than rain. It was truly glorious.   I am hoping for more of the same this year. I am hoping for the same for the rest of my life. I have reached an age when I am counting my blessings. I am a happy man with my Bride by my side. My kids are flourishing and they even call me up to see how I am doing. If it rains too much I can pick up and move to a place where the sun shines. I can read about the storms and watch them on TV. I can even dial them on my Iphone. I can see the snow and ice without feeling their bite. I can watch the suffering of multitudes from the safety of my armchair. I am rubbing my tummy. Things are good, right? I left the workaday world almost twenty-five years ago. Is that what we are supposed to do then, we rest on our laurels? Do we creep off to some corner to quietly wait for an unheralded end? Is that what happens...