The Least Of These

Below is a copy/paste version of the paper publication “The Least Of These” which I wrote in 1999.  This book was to be my “message in a bottle”, to get the real story out to the world, should the powers that put me in the State Hospital try to keep me there indefinately.  You’ll have to judge for yourself as to the morality of the actions I took, and my reasons for doing so.  NOTE:  This text is 10 years old as of today 19 August 2009.  Therefore, some things have changed, and as I paste the text into this blogbook, I will modernize my own title from “Mr.” to “Dr.” and I may change the original wording in places to make the text more readable, and less offensive to the reader.
And one more thing; after today, when I place the actual manuscript online here on wordpress, I will use password protection, securing this post to only those who possess the password – and that password will change every couple of days.  So, if you wish to read the text, then email me at oldranger53@gmail.com and ASK me for it, with an explanation of WHY you want to read the text and what you plan to do with the information you may get from it.  If I am satisfied that your motives are honest, then I will send the password to you in an email.  ZWH

First Edition

Dr. Z. Wade Hampton

SlamDunk Enterprises, Inc.

The Least of These, First Edition

Author:  Dr. Z. Wade Hampton

Copyright © 1999 SlamDunk Enterprises, Inc.  All rights reserved.  Printed in the United States of America.

Published by SlamDunk Enterprises, Inc.

1 Nutty Way, Warm Springs, MT 59756

 

Editor: Z. Wade Hampton

Production Editor: Z. Wade Hampton

Printing History:

 

 June 1999:                  First Edition

DISCLAIMER

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

The Least of these

This is a story, observation, judgment, and opinion of:

Dr. Zechariah Wade Hampton

 

Table of Contents

Forward

FORWARD

Composed, written, and edited while incarcerated in the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs, MT;  this soldier describes the conditions, events, circumstances, and personalities that shaped his life and the life of countless others in America in the late 1900′s.  It is his hope that someone will read this material and arrive at a wider perception of the created environment that we all operate within, and how we think it is of our own creation.

Dr. Hampton made a stand against governmental tyranny and organized crime in 1997 / 1998, in Montana USA.  He conducted covert operations, Psy-Ops, subversion, and espionage of his own design against drug lords, flesh peddlers, and those in local, State, and Federal government positions that are supporting organized crime in Billings, Montana.    Dr. Hampton was committed to the institution after being caught with weapons in Helmville, MT in September 1998.

Dr. Hampton was survived by his wife Karlyn Lee Hampton and her son Milo Wade Pierce at the time of this writing in 1999..  Dr. Hampton divorced himself from this girl, and her family in the year 2004.

Preface………………………………………………………….i

PREFACE

In a way I suppose this is an attempt to communicate with someone, anyone who may care how all this happened to a man in America, and America itself, in the late 1900′s.

I did not always feel this way about life.  There was a time when I  believed things would be different with me, and with others in the world.    It could be that life was always as hopeless as it seems now.  It could be that I have just finally become aware of it.  I do not know.

We are taught as children to strive, to achieve, to compete with others around us to be the best, to get farther than anyone else, to own more  possessions than anyone else, to have more money than anyone else.

We are also taught to follow the “rules.”  The rules of society, the rules of law, and the rules passed down by our ancestors all play a part in the way we are indoctrinated to behave.

The spoils go to the “best,” the “winners” in our society.  We are taught  not to lie, not to cheat, to play fair.  Yet we see the “winners” lying, cheating, and NOT playing fairly.  We wonder how they get away with it.  We wonder why some people are “winners,” while some are “losers.”  We are told that constant effort and motivation will overcome unfavorable odds against any of us in society and that those who do not make it are those who lack the desire to succeed, lack motivation, lack will.

The weaker ones, the slower ones are caught in the eddies along side the torrents of humanity who are trying to advance their own wealth.  Those within the stream are taught to despise those in the eddies.  Those in the eddies envy those in the stream.  One side looks at the other as if each were on opposite sides of a mirror.  Each resenting the other, and neither realizing how much like the other they are.  Neither realize that with a slight shift in their own quantum past(s), that they could be on the other side of that mirror, and that THEY would be living the life of those they despise.

We all think of how we would have done better than this person and that person if we were in their shoes, living their lives.  We think we know better than those we despise, how they should have lived.  It’s all folly, all fantasy.    For everyone acts within their own capabilities and limitations for each moment of their journey, on each step of the way.    We cannot predict the future with certainty.  At best, we can only arrive at probabilities based on past events.

I used to believe I knew the “way,” the right state of being to attend.  The ways I was taught early in life were enough, were adequate for the bulk of the early part of my journey on Earth.  Society has changed though and my ways are no longer adequate, no longer enough.  Love, honor, duty, and probity are no longer enough to validate ones’ existence.  We must lie, we must cheat, we must propagate our own causes even at the expense of others, even to their destruction.  To survive, we must put ourselves above all others, above all else, all beliefs, all compassion.  We must allow the weaker of our species to fall into the eddies, and if necessary, fall into hell, if we are to survive.

A plague of hatred, of greed, of lust, and of complacency has permeated our world.  Global mendacity is law one of survival.  We advance our causes at any cost, and squash anyone who may impede our progress, who may inhibit our acquisition of possessions, of wealth.  Our own government, those in whom we are indoctrinated to believe, are sacrificing our weaker ones, those caught in the eddies, for their own wealth.

This book is about one of those in the eddies, and my marriage to her.  I met Karla in 1992, in Missoula, Montana.

I moved to Montana in 1991.  My life in Oklahoma, where I moved from, was materialistically pleasing.  I had all the toys and job security a man can reasonably hope for in modern times.  I was not happy though.

I quit my Millwright position at Zinc Corporation of America in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and moved to Montana.  It was June 1991.  I did not have a job waiting.  I did not know anyone in Montana then.  I did not know what I was going to do once I arrived.  I just knew I was tired.  I wanted to retreat in to the mountain woodlands, distancing myself from society.

By the time I met Karla, depression had grown into episodic psychosis.  Thoughts of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and failed interpersonal relationships drove me ever deeper into myself.  I knew I had to do something.  I wanted to do something.  I felt I had great potential, if the situation fit me.  Beyond that, I only existed.  Day bled into day, night, an endless thought.  I felt I was on the threshold of major changes.  I was right.

Like an unwitting sleepwalker, I entered another dimension.  As if in the “Twilight Zone”, I entered a world where nothing was as it seemed on the surface.  I entered Karla’s life, and in so doing, entered the Pierce Empire.

Now, I am on the eve of divorce from Karla, and the Pierce Supremacy.  My relationship with Karla started here at Montana State Hospital.  It is ending here, six and a half years downstream.

If age and experience counts for anything, I am older and infinitely wiser.  I passed through the gails on the other side of the hurricane.  Courses charted, boilers fired, I set sail again.

Turbulent waters now, the Universe changed while I was not looking.  The world has gotten mean.  A blanket, a fog of collective insanity covers global populace.  As a species, humans are in trouble.

Dr. Z. Wade Hampton

June 1999

(in revision this summer 2009)

Matthew 25:41-45

Then he will say to those on his left,

‘Away from me you that are under God’s curse!  Away to the eternal fire that has been prepared for the Devil and his Angels!  I was hungry but you would not feed me, thirsty but you would not give me a drink; I was a stranger but you would not welcome me in your homes; naked but you would not clothe me; I was sick and in prison but you would not take care of me.’

Then they will answer him,

‘When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and we would not help you?’

The King will reply,

‘I tell you, whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me.’

 

Matthew 25: 41-45 (from some version other than the Authorized, King James Version of the Holy Bible)

Prelude…………………………………………………………1

The Eye of the Hurricane

“Wolves which batten upon lambs, lambs consumed by wolves, the strong who immolate the weak, the weak victims of the strong: there you have Nature, there you have her intentions, there you have her scheme: a perpetual action and reaction, a host of vices, a host of virtues, in one word, a perfect equilibrium resulting from the equality of good and evil on earth.”

Marquis de Sade (1740-1814)

French author

Chapter 1…………………………………………………..17

People of the Lie

“The most typical victim of evil is a child.  This is to be expected, because children are not only the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society but also because parents wield a power over the lives of their children that is essentially absolute.  The dominion of master over slave is not far different from the dominion of parent over child.  The child’s immaturity and resulting dependency mandate its parents’ possession of great power but do not negate the fact that this power, like all power, is subject to abuse of various degrees of malignancy.  Moreover, the relationship between parent and child is one of enforced intimacy.  A master could always sell a slave if the relationship was one he found intolerable.  But just as children are not free from their parents, so it is not easy for parents to escape from their children and the pressures that their children impose.”

Dr. M. Scott Peck

From the book, “People of the Lie”

Chapter 2…………………………………………………..29

Break for Freedom

“Tyranny destroys or strengthens the individual; freedom enervates him, until he becomes no more than a puppet. Man has more chances of saving himself by hell than by paradise.”

E. M. Cioran(b. 1911)

Rumanian-born French philosopher

Anathemas and Admirations (1986)

Chapter 3…………………………………………………..37

Muskogee

“I decided to go back to Richardson Aviation one more time before deciding to load up and return to Montana. Neither one of us really wanted to go back to Montana, but we were not making any progress in Muskogee and both were wanting a change. Montana seemed like the thing to do.

 

Chapter 4…………………………………………………..51

The Crash

“From the middle of life onward, only he remains vitally alive who is ready to die with life.”

Carl Jung (1875-1961)

Swiss psychiatrist

The Soul and Death (1934)

 

Chapter 5…………………………………………………..85

Jail

“The ground for taking ignorance to be restrictive of freedom is that it causes people to make choices which they would not have made if they had seen what the realization of their choices involved.”

A. J. Ayer(1910-89)

British philosopher

 

Chapter 6………………………………………………….99

Return to Billings

“When we got into office, the thing that surprised me most was to find that things were just as bad as we’d been saying they were.”

John F. Kennedy (1917-63)

27 May 1961

 

Chapter 7…………………………………………………117

Metamorphosis

“Unless democracy is to commit suicide by consenting to its own destruction, it will have to find some formidable answer to those who come to it saying: ‘I demand from you in the name of your principles the rights which I shall deny to you later in the name of my principles.’”

Walter Lippmann(1889-1974)

U.S. journalist

 

Chapter 8…………………………………………………129

Desperation

“We are like horses who hurt themselves as soon as they pull on their bits – and we bow our heads. We even lose consciousness of the situation, we just submit. Any re-awakening of thought is then painful.”

Simone Weil (1909-43)

French philosopher, mystic

Factory Journal (1934-35)

 

Chapter 9…………………………………………………143

Escape

“The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad, and if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well? You may say the wisest thing you can, old man, – you who have lived seventy years, not without honor of a kind, – I hear an irresistible voice which invites me away from all that.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817-62)

"Economy" (1854)

 

 

Chapter 10……………………………………………….149

The Bullshit Begins

“…As one can easily imagine, I am very cautious about whom I confide in regarding the mess in Billings.  There is real danger. The most dangerous part in all this is the role city, state, and federal officials play in this drama.  They “allow” . . . dare I say “SUPPORT!” …this  interstate drug and prostitution ring she got herself into last year (long story here, it started before I left her and got worse after I moved out). There is a big hole in the barriers of communication between “thugs” and  “law enforcement” in this situation! The police know instantly what the thugs are doing;  those thugs know instantly what the police are doing.  I believe they tap certain phones.  I believe I know where the leaks are in the lines between the good guys and the bad guys.”

September 1998

 

 

Chapter 11……………………………………………….157

Mrs. Robinson

“Do not be misled by the fact that you are at liberty and relatively free; that for the moment you are not under lock and key: you have simply been granted a reprieve.”

Ryszard Kapuscinski (b. 1932)

Polish journalist

 

 

Chapter 12……………………………………………….171

April Weekend

“In the consciousness of the truth he has perceived, man now sees everywhere only the awfulness or the absurdity of existence . . . and loathing seizes him.”

Friedrich Nietzsche(1844-1900)

German philosopher

The Birth of Tragedy(1872)

 

Chapter 13……………………………………………….177

AK-47

“There is all the difference in the world between the criminal’s avoiding the public eye and the civil disobedient’s taking the law into his own hands in open defiance. This distinction between an open violation of the law, performed in public, and a clandestine one is so glaringly obvious that it can be neglected only by prejudice or ill will.”

Hannah Arendt (1906-75)

German-born U.S. political philosopher

 

Chapter 14……………………………………………….193

Hard Times

“The most dangerous follower is he whose defection would destroy the whole party: that is to say, the best follower.”

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

German philosopher

The Wanderer and His Shadow(1880)

 

 

Chapter 15……………………………………………….209

Surveillance

“We are at war with the most dangerous enemy that has ever faced mankind in his long climb from the swamp to the stars, and it has been said if we lose that war, and in so doing lose this way of freedom of ours, history will record with the greatest astonishment that those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent its happening.”

Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)

"A Time for Choosing," television address, 27 Oct. 1964

 

 

Chapter 16……………………………………………….211

Vision Quest

“You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of your grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.”

Seattle(c. 1784-1866)

Chief of the Duwamish,

Suquamish and allied Indian tribes

 

Chapter 17……………………………………………….225

The FIJA Website

“Unless they are immediate victims, the majority of mankind behaves as if war was an act of God which could not be prevented; or they behave as if war elsewhere was none of their business. It would be a bitter cosmic joke if we destroy ourselves due to atrophy of the imagination.”

Martha Gellhorn (b. 1908)

U.S. journalist, author

The Face of War, Introduction (1959; rev. 1967)

 

 

Chapter 18……………………………………………….235

Combat Extraction

“I have only ever made one prayer to God, a very short one: ‘O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.’ And God granted it.”

Voltaire (1694-1778)

French philosopher, author

Letter, 16 May 1767

 

 

Chapter 19……………………………………………….243

Karla in Helmville

“The real trouble with war (modern war) is that it gives no one a chance to kill the right people.”

Ezra Pound (1885-1972)

U.S. poet, critic

"Gaudier: A Postscript," in Esquire

 

 

Chapter 20……………………………………………….251

Last Days

“To the rulers of the state then, if to any, it belongs of right to use falsehood, to deceive either enemies or their own citizens, for the good of the state: and no one else may meddle with this privilege.”

Plato (c. 427-347 B.C.)

Greek philosopher

The Republic, bk. 3, sct. 389

 

 

Chapter 21……………………………………………….259

Arrested

“A shocking crime was committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all.”

Tacitus (c. 55-c. 120)

Roman historian

The Histories, bk. 1, sct. 28

 

 

Chapter 22……………………………………………….267

Damage Control

“Finally, who is to say what the evil suffer? It is consistently true that the evil do not appear to suffer deeply. Because they cannot admit to weakness or imperfection in themselves, they must appear this way. They must appear to themselves to be continually on top of things, continually in command. Their narcissism demands it. Yet we know they are not truly on top of things. No matter how competent the parents described thought themselves, we know that in fact they were incompetent in their parental role. Their appearance of competence was just that: an appearance. A pretense. Rather than being in command of themselves, it was their narcissism that was in command, always demanding, whipping them into maintaining their pretense of health and wholeness.”

Dr. M. Scott Peck

From the book “People of the lie.”

 

 

Chapter 23……………………………………………….279

Theft, Lies, Abandonment

“Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards.”

Tacitus(c. 55 - c. 120)

Roman Historian

 

 

Chapter 24………………………………………………299

Milo Wade

“Ours is the century of enforced travel . . . of disappearances. The century of people helplessly seeing others, who were close to them, disappear over the horizon.”

John Berger (b. 1926)

British author, critic

 

 

Chapter 25………………………………………….307

Ere Morning

“Progress and reaction have both turned out to be swindles. Seemingly, there is nothing left but quietism – robbing reality of its terrors by simply submitting to it.”

George Orwell (1903-50)

British author

"Inside the Whale" (1940)

 

Summary……………………………………………311

In summary:

Our nation has collapsed from within. We have become the mirror image of the way society was portrayed in Soviet Russia during the Cold War. Recent attacks on the 4th Amendment of the Constitution by Congress to allow unwarranted searches of private homes, based on “visitors,” and recent legislation to allow “pin taps” on private phones are but two examples supporting this assertion.

From childhood we are indoctrinated to obsequious lives through subtle manipulation of the facts presented in the news media, in school textbooks, in nonfiction television shows, and in disinformation carried from one generation to the next. Political duplicity, born of self-serving greed, designed to perpetuate the politician’s own careers, fortunes, and those of their descendants, is the origin of this indoctrination.

The average middle class person, the working class person, is afraid. They are afraid of losing what they have. They are afraid of not getting something they feel they should have. They are afraid they will do without some comfort(s) of “civilized” life if anything happens to the structure of society as they have come to know it, as they have come to learn to operate within it. They are afraid of change, afraid of suffering, afraid of loss, afraid of poverty, and afraid of the government that promises to them the reduction, or absence, of that which they are afraid of. A classic work that deals with this phenomenon is Plato’s “Parable of the Cave.”

Not having external “enemies,” such as an invading army from a hostile nation, a society must create internal enemies. America has not had a real national enemy since Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnam war. Russia supposedly gave up, and no longer is a reported threat to us. The Cold War is over. The “enemy” now, according to political interests is the War On Drugs. Drug dealers are the focus of political gain, political prosperity. The news media flouts accounts of massive importation of drugs from other countries, and the people who import them. We as a society cry out for more laws to stop the importation, thereby justifying more politicians, more law enforcement, more courts, and more jails to house the current “enemies.”

Political rulers, their employees, and others who are dependent on the survival of their fiefdoms do not want to rid society of the enemies, the drug dealers. They need the drug dealers to justify their own existence. Law enforcement does not want the end of drug dealers because drug related crimes comprise nearly 80% or more of all reported felonies. A reduction of crime would call for a reduction in the numbers of law enforcement soldiers. A reduction of crime would also call for a corresponding reduction in laws, judges, courts, jails, and government in general.

For its own survival the government must keep the working class citizen afraid of the identified enemy. It must keep the working class working to pay taxes, to provide more social “programs” thus more government control over how we conduct ourselves. It must promote hatred of the identified enemy while indoctrinating society with the idea that we are unable to govern ourselves, and that we desperately need more laws, and more law enforcement, thereby justifying their own existence and further multiplication of their numbers. Government needs the drug dealers.

Every event in time is a result of a specific chain of previous events that occurred. Equally, every event that occurs in the “now” is one key event in every other event that follows directly from it.

A thin veil separates the material world from the spiritual realm. Most people, who are indoctrinated to greed in this material world, believe the spiritual realm exists but are largely ignorant of its influence on the material world. The Dark Side of the spiritual realm is guiding the course of our future through human greed, fear, and lust. The forces of Good are losing. Evil is overpowering Good, and government is perpetuating Evil by cashing in on its perpetuation. Meanwhile, innocent victims such as my wife Karla and her new baby are swept away into the dark corners of social awareness and forgotten. Tragic, senseless human loss and suffering are the byproduct of governmental greed, which is being directed and guided by the Dark Side, by Evil.

I stood in the way of Evil last year, Evil that was about to overrun and destroy my wife Karla and unborn baby. Metaphorically speaking, I threw myself in the way of a moving vehicle, the nefarious vehicle of government supported organized crime, and my self sacrifice provided just enough time for her to get out of the way and survive with baby.

I made a stand against Evil, a lone stand for the most part, and became a casualty of this ongoing spiritual war.

The war continues. I will not be the last individual to stand against the rising tides of Evil. Others will notice and continue the struggle. Someone must, or Evil will win.

Z. Wade Hampton

31 January 1999

“Dedicated to those Rangers

who laid down their lives,

so that lesser men

could be free to cry ‘peace’,

when there was none.”

Why would a Baptist minister and his wife convert to the LDS Church?

To my aunt Francis in my home town of Exeter, California, “THANK YOU FOR ASKING ME WHY” we became Mormons, after a lifetime of being “Baptists”.

Truly, Suzi and I both come from L – O – N – G lines of Baptist families.  Why, it’s unheard of forthe likes of “us” to become one of “them”, eh?  So it begs the question, “WHY?”

My dear aunt was the first one in either of our families to ask either Suzi, or myself that question.  Now, what do you think about that?  We were baptized into the LDS Church on 14 February 2009 in Monroe, Utah, and Confirmed members the next day in Church.

Two days ago, my aunt asked me “WHY?”  That means almost 6 months have passed without so much as a passing inquriy by either side of our Baptist families.  I’ve got my own “WHY” question here!  WHY hasn’t anyone asked me, an Ordained Baptist Minister, “WHY” we would leave the Baptist church and join the LDS Church?  I”ve been scratching my own head for months on this one!  Why hasn’t anyone even asked us “WHY” until now?  I have a theory about the possible answer, but first I will address the main topic of this blog; and that is WHY a Baptist Minister and his wife dropped the Baptists and joined the Mormons.  And, I’ll try to be as “nice” about it as I can while still telling the unaltered truths as they come up, whether in order or not.

Truth #1 in this discussion is that most humanoid units don’t know what they believe, let alone be able to defend a stance of any kind.  This includes “Christians” of all denominations, flavors, and persuasions.  Truth #1 is universal.  The reason for this is simple laziness on the part of the individual.  99.9% of humanoids who proclaim some kind of belief in “something” have not (LISTEN!) HAVE NOT done the individual Scriptural research necessary to know for themselves “…What saith the Sctiptures?“

Hereafter, I will refer to the above group of individuals as “sheeple”.  They will believe anything that someone else says that the Sctiptures say, because they don’t know for themselves.  Sheeple go to church.  Sheeple pay their tithe (if they are proper sheeple).  Sheeple sing in the choir.  Lord have mercy, SHEEPLE even preach from the pulpit to other Sheeple!

Jesus said something kind of strange once, and it is one of the most mis-quoted passages of Scripture that I’ve ever noticed.

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  St. John 8:31-32

To shorten this early part of the discussion I’ll focus on the not so obvious question here.  Just what shall “the truth…make you free.” from?  In short I’ll answer the question for you, but don’t just take my word for it – YOU THINK ABOUT IT TOO.  Listen up now.  Here it comes!  Knowing the truth, ”shall make you free” from lies, deception, mis-information, false doctrine, and ALL the snares the devil puts in the way of believers to disrupt our faith.  Got it? That IS the answer to “what” the truth will make you free from!

Ok, now I know that you don’t have time to read the entire King James Bible before I next continue this rather lengthy blog post, so then I am going to give you a few Scriptures to look up and ponder between now and the next time I sit down at this keyboard and continue.  If you really want to know the answer to the “WHY?” question, then get hold of these Scripture verses I’m about to give you and study them over and over, in context, and by whom they were penned under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Here we go:

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.“  2 Timothy 3:16

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:“  Amos 8:11

That is enough for right now.  Don’t worry, I’ll get to plenty of other Scriptures later in this blog post.  I estimate that answering this “WHY” question will take several sittings – perhaps months of time.  Moreover, I am quite sure that I’ll catch flack from those who disagree with what I write in answer to that orginal “WHY” question.
All you Sheeple think about what I’ve written so far.  AND, if you can turn your TVs off long enough to read the King James Bible, especially the above named verses, then start studying for yourselves!  Don’t take my word for it, and for heaven’s sake, don’t take anyone elses word for it either!  Read the King James Bible for yourself!  Make the effort for yourself.

“I’ll be back.”

Early morning Tuesday 11 August; more preparing the canvas on which to paint the answer of the “WHY?” question.

“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”  Ephesians 5:15-16

Yes, I’ll get around to addressing the prior Scripture references, but for now, think about the above verse.  Why would Paul admonish all believers to “…walk circumspectly,…”?   Look around!  See what is going on, all around, circumspectly.  Up, down, side to side, underneath, behind, in front…circumspectly.

There is so much to God’s creations, so many things to know, so many dimensions to this “universe” wherein we reside that one mortal life on the planet is not enough time to know it all, see it all, experience it all, etc…  Just as our physical senses can only receive and process a narrow band of available stuff, even so it is that our finite minds can only perceive parts of God’s total plan, His total purpose, His complete creations.
The multi-dimensional nature of God and His never ending plan of creativity is such that we’ll never fully grasp it while still in these mortal bodies, with these finite brains.

There are questions that I’ve heard since childhood that are seldom answered correctly (if at all) by standard “Christian” dogma.  I’ll not go into these questions this morning because I don’t have the time.  However, know this: we are living in a small section of what we call “eternity.”  ETERNITY does not “start” sometime later on.  It was going on before you and I got our human bodies, and it will continue long after our soul and spirits depart from these bodies of flesh.  Eternity streaches out in all directions, and timelessness underlays it all.
Time is something that has no practical “eternal” meaning.  In other words, it is always “NOW” in eternity.  There is no yesterday or tomorrow in eternity.  It is always “today”, as eternity comprehends itself.

And so, with that in mind, …

I’ll be back!

31 August and I’m back!

Let’s leave off with the Scriptural “proofs” for now and look at some recent FACTS about just “who” is, and has done “what” in our lives since the last part of July when we were stuck in Washington, completely broke and without transportation.

I sent out URGENT pleas to all of my “family” members as well as my “best friend” in Missoula, Montana.  I begged everyone I knew, and Suzi knew for, in one case 1,500.00 as a loan; and in another case to my sister in Alabama 2,000.00 as a loan to get us out of the abyss of a financial hole that circumstances occurring around our emergency trip to Washington created.

Do any of you remember why we went to Washington for the week of the 19th, returning the 28th?  I’ll remind you that is in case you were listening the first time.  Esther, our oldest daughter (33yrs old) a diabetic, had a massive heart attack the Saturday before then, and it was uncertain that she would live.

We dropped everything as soon as we could make Suzi’s last doctor’s appointment (on the 21st), and loaded out 1997 Chevy Venture mini-van and went to be with her, to care for her and to just be there for her and her husband.  If you remember that, then maybe you remember that just before we left, the General Surgeon in Brigham City Suzi had been seeing called us in and gave us the results of her MRI that he’d ordered.  During that doctor’s visit, we were told that Suzi has an “impressive” (the doctor’s exact word) sized tumor in her thyroid and that it would have to be surgically removed – but, we had a higher priority at the moment, remember?  We had to go to Washington to be with Esther, who may not have made it through the next 24 hours with her own medical emergency.

So we packed our mini-van and left Willard, UT at about 12 noon heading for the Skagit Valley Hospital in Mt. Vernon, Washington.  At about 3am the next morning, while we were still on the road, ascending the eastern slope of Snoqualmie Pass, about 10 miles West of Ellensburg, WA, the engine in our mini-van could not take the pressure any longer and destroyed itself from the inside – leaving two emotionally and physically exhausted pilgrims stranded along side Interstate 90 as semi tractor-trailer rigs passed us by so close and so fast that with every passing the van tilted over to the right.

Cell phone.
“Google SMS” for all night towing service.

30min later, we were being towed off the mountain back to Ellensburg.

Cell phone.  This time to an emergency car rental service in Ellensburg who was compassionate enough to get out of bed and rent a 2009 Jeep Gran Cherokee to us (it was all he had that morning).

By the time the sun was emerging over the Eastern horizon we were back on Interstate 90, only with about 400.00 less in the bank and the Capital One card, and a LOT more fatigued.

Days went by and we had to rent a cheaper car.  Got at the Avis dealer at the airport about an hour north of Mt. Vernon – then Suzi and I had to drive the Gran Cherokee back across Snoqualmie Pass to Ellensburg and turn it in.  We spent about 7 hours the following Monday doing that, then drove the smaller, and cheaper car back to Mt. Vernon where Esther was still in the hospital. 

More days passed and we had to get back to Willard, UT – but one problem!  We had just enough money to make one more car rental and get ourselves home, but finding a car rental place that would rent one way, out of state was like pulling teeth.  Even our own Mormon Bishop was at a loss as to how to proceed, and that is a RARE condition to be sure.
We finally found a place in town that would rent a luxury car one way to the Salt Lake City airport, which we gladly took and by Tuesday or Wednesday we were back in Utah, at the SLC International Airport turning the car in. 

Taking public transportation, we got all the way back to Willard from SLC.  IT was the end of the month and all our bills were due, and we had absolutely NO money, and NO reserves left.  Credit cards were maxed out from the week we spent in Washington, towing bills, and rental car bills, and food expenses, and everything else that would be incurred.

 I made more desparate pleas for help from both Suzi’s and my own families – even friends we thought would be concerned enough to help us financially. 

Emotions were so strong here with us that we broke down and cried together, many times, just wishing that those who SAY “I love you” would ACT on those words and keep us from becoming like those people you see holding signs on street corners, begging for handouts.

Not ONE, NO BODY, NO ONE on either side of our “Baptist” families – nor my long time “best friend” who claims to be an agnostic even looked our way – they didn’t even try, and most didn’t say anything at all about it.

Then, a few days later, a check arrived in the mail for 1,000.00 (that’s right, a thousand dollars) from a Latter Day Saint in southern Utah that we knew when we lived down there, from a man and his wife that I did not ask for help from.  They just took it on themselves to help us, and GOD BLESS THEM for eternity for it!

Then, one of my Priesthood brothers in our LDS Ward here in Willard loaned us an old pickup truck to drive until we could get something else going on for ourselves – and I didn’t ask him for help either.  As in the case of the thousand dollar check above, the Holy Spirit prompted them to ACT in behalf of other Christians in desparate need.

And now, tomorrow morning, I’ll be taking my old pickup (which needs a new clutch in order to work right) down to a reputable garage in town for the clutch to be fixed – the bill to be sent to the Bishop of our LDS Ward.  Again, I did not ask for this help from the LDS Church, or its members.  They just listened to us and our overwhelming problems, and listened to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and followed that which the Saviour would have had them do.

That was the “big” stuff.  There’s more.

Many times since we’ve been back from Washington, Ward members have brought us food, dinner so we would not have to cook on any given night.  We’ve been given referrals for possible jobs for me, in fact, I’ll be starting a new job that the Bishop of the Church refered me to in a couple of weeks.  People come by just to see how we are doing, and Suzi in particular since she is in DIRE STRAIGHTS with her thyroid cancer, impending surgery, and a neurological condition that has now got her on official medical leave – so she is not working.

CAN ANYONE OF YOU BAPISTS OUT THERE HEAR ME?

WE USED TO BE “BAPISTS” – but not any more!  Baptists are too busy convincing themselves that they are “right” theologically, and that “they” are the best, etc, etc… to get off their blessed assurance and DO something for one of their own who is in trouble through no fault of their own.

We left off being “Baptists” because we don’t have the time, or energy, to belittle people who don’t believe the way we do.

I’ll get back to Scriptural PROOF in a few days but for now, all you self righteous DO NOTHING, stingy “Baptists” had better get your King James Bibles out and read II Corinthians again – and don’t bother me any more about our conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints until you do.
“I’ll be back”

Don’t believe that Veterans are being cared for.

If you are one of the millions of taxpayers in the United Soviet States of Amerkia (USSA) who put in your time, drive the fork truck, stuff the evnelopes, put out the fires, or whatever, then you almost cerainly giving some of your tax deductions to insure that VETERANS, those men and women are getting the highest quality medical, emotional, and spiritual “care” that your money can provide.  Am I rigtht about that?

Ok, here it is – the “MORE” I promised.

Less than a week ago, I got myself to the ER in the Salt Lake City VAMC.  I was advised to do this by a nurse on the phone after I described current events and issues going on in my little ol’ life.

Recently I got myself back enrolled in the VA Medical system after being out of it since 1998.  I stayed away from the VAMC for all those years for a reason.  Last Monday, I remembered just why I stayed away.

In short, for this edition of this post, I’ll just state that the callous indifference that I felt from the VA during the Clinton administration was different now.  Yup.  It was WORSE than ever.

Excuse me?  The VA Medical system is NOT NOT NOT “welfare” everyone!  We veterans paid for those services with our lives.  Even if we were not all shot up and dismembered in a firefight south of Da Nang, that thing that makes us “veterans” consumes our entire lives, even now, even 40 years later.  AARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH   I’ll get back to this one later, I promise.  Read my lips!  I’ll get back to this one later!

What Will You DO with the time you have?

HEY LISTEN UP!  THIS APPLIES TO YOU!

From the Cradle

From the Cradle...

We are born onto this sphere of water and rock. We live a fixed number of trips around the sun, and then we die. We all die sooner or later – but no one know when their time is coming…

So tell me, tell us all, What Will YOU Do with the time that you have?  Huh?

Pink Floyd put forth, deftly, this question in music form on the Dark Side of the Moon LP in the 1970′s.

“Well you run and you run to catch up with the sun, that is sinking…Racing around, to come up behind you again!  The sun is the same, in a relative way, but you’re older; shorter of breath, and one day closer to death….”

The song goes on and on crying out to whomsoever can hear, that time is a finite quantity, and is running out, and running out FOR YOU!

You have today.  What are you going to do today?

I like the attitude of 2Pac in one of his rap tunes.  The lyrics go something like this, “The game don’t stop!  If you don’t remember nothin’, remember one thing, IT DON’T STOP TILL THE CASKET DROPS.”

The idea, of course, is to make every possible advantage out of every possible minute of your life – because your life IS (not maybe) going to end.

This idea, this truth is stated very well in the Holy Bible also!

“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.“  Ecclesiastes 9:10  Written by King Solomon roughly 3000, or so, years ago.

Sorry to say this, but YOU are going to die someday – whoever you are.  Nobody gets out of this place alive.  We all have to die physically.  To some, that thought is a great comfort.  To some, it is a great fear.

Live every moment as if it is your last!  Seek the Lord while He may be found!  Don’t hold back!  Don’t be afraid!  You can never acquire too much education, too much wisdom, too much knowledge!

Jesus said,”And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.“  Gospel of St. Luke 11:9-10

How do you spend your time?  What is the first thing you do every morning?  The Bible says, “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” Proverbs 8:17

Use your time wisely.  It will end someday, and maybe sooner than you think.

...to the grave

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What Would Jesus Do? What Would You Do With Jesus?

What Would Jesus Do?

We’ve all heard that saying, possibly even seeing it on T-shirts and on posters.
The idea, of course, is that of Matthew 7:1, which says, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”
What a nice idea that is!

I propose a variation in the old “What Would Jesus Do” idea.
How about this: “What Would YOU DO if you were dealing with the Lord Jesus Christ in person?”

What do I mean by that?
I’ll tell you.

If Jesus Christ Himself entered a church, joined the congregation, and became involved with the lives of the other parishioners, would YOU ignore Him when He came in and sat in the pews on Sunday morning?
If Jesus Christ Himself was about to loose His home and property in your town, would the congregation band together, pool their resources, and make sure that He did not loose His place to live?
If Jesus Christ Himself had a problem with His only source of transportation, and you, and your brothers and sisters in the church could rally together to get His truck fixed – wouldn’t you DO IT?
If Jesus Christ Himself, a member of YOUR church, was struggling day in and day out in His job, and could not continue in it much longer for physical reasons, and YOUR CHURCH had someone designated as “Employment Specialist”, would not a hue and cry go out throughout the congregation to find, or even create a source of employment for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, one that He could actually perform without degrading His physical condition further?

The answer to all four questions above is a resounding “YES!” Of course you would. Let’s face it; we’re talking about the LORD JESUS CHRIST!
Hey, if you’re “in” with the LORD, then you’re good to go! Do for Him, and He’ll do for you. Right? It only stands to reason that you’d open your homes to Him, you’d help Him fix His truck, and you’d make sure that His life was a good as you could possibly make it.
Doing something, anything, for the LORD JESUS CHRIST almost guarantees you a place near Him in eternity. Right?

By contrast, stark contrast, let an older couple enter the church, join, attend regularly, pay honest and full tithe, make ourselves available for anything the church body may need, and what happens?
I’ll tell you what happens. It happens in every single church we’ve ever been involved in, from non-denominational, to Baptist, to Latter Day Saints. It’s universal. It’s human nature.
What happens is this, the church body collectively from the very bottom ranks and all the way up to the upper “leadership” is more than happy to shake our hands, smile, make small talk, and allow us into their functions.

But when we start looking around for any kind of practical help, any help, to solve an issue of living, all those smiling, hand-shaking, light-hearted, and friendly “Christians” are no where to be found.  They have their own little piles of acorns to attend to, and cannot let anything jeopardize their own well being.

HUH?  You seen this too?  Think they’d be like that with Jesus Christ Himself? Answer: NO

Like the old song “Elijah” says, “These people been friendly, but they never be your friend…”

Lot’s of “Christians” are FRIENDLY. Very few are FRIENDS.
I mean, let’s face the fact! WE are not the LORD JESUS CHRIST! OR, are we?

What does the Bible say in Matthew 25?

“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Matthew 25:34-40

Hummmm. Seems to me by this passage that anyone who extends themselves, gets out of their comfort zone and off of their Blessed Assurance to help a brother or sister in Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself COUNTS IT AS BEING DONE TO HIM!

Do YOU fall into the above category? Probably not, not if YOU have everything that you and your family need – but wait, WHO IS YOUR FAMILY?
Is the Lord Jesus Christ your family?

Let’s get back to Matthew for a moment.

“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.” Matthew 25:41-45

Remember the beginning of this blog?
Would you do these things for the Lord Jesus Christ Himself?
Would you go out of your way to help the Lord Jesus Christ?
Of course you would! It only makes sense that you would extend yourself and your resources for the Lord Himself!

But would you extend yourself for a mere brother or sister in Christ?
Probably not. Most “Christians” won’t cross the street to tell someone about the plan of salvation – let alone help with physical needs of brothers and sisters in Christ!
But yet, Matthew chapter 25 still stands.

If you don’t extend yourself, if you don’t do your best to help your brothers and sisters in Christ along, and towards a better life, then you are guilty of not helping the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Now, you all think about that for a while, while you’re safe in your large, warm homes, with your 50k+ income, and with your new cars – and you are hearing the nagging pleas for help from a couple who are your brother and sister in Christ, for help gaining some measure of stability in the temporal realm through more lucrative employment; think about it!
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is pleading with you – and you are passing the buck and ignoring those in your midst who desperately need your help.

Are you going to be like the “Good Samaritan” or are you going to be like the Pharisee, and the Levite Priest who passed by the man on the road; not wanting to disturb your own routine?

Which are you?
Are you a sheep?
Are you a goat?

Only you can decide, and your works will follow you. The Scriptures guarantee it.

I say these things with utmost conviction, and in the name of our precious Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Z. Wade Hampton
Willard, Utah

Where did everyone go?

Hey! Where did everyone go?
Anyone noticed that me and Suzi are, like, getting a lot older than most of you?
4 children out there. One in Afghanistan emailed a birthday greeting for us today. One called from Washington. One other, the father of this child that Grandpa is loving on in the picture below – while “dad” is partying with friends – did not even call, hurting mom’s feelings.
The other one, the one lacking the most gray matter in relationships did not call either. This same one of lesser gray matter just received a box of work clothes that WE bought and sent to her.
She works herself to death every night in a nursing home while her adulterous boyfriend (married to another worman) stays in their flea bag apartment playing video games. SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THAT PICTURE.

And, those last two mentioned actually think of me and Suzi as “dumb?”

When the chips are down, come to Grandpa Wade. It works every time.

Even the little kids can tell who is reliable amidst a gaggle of so called “adults” in a family situation.
It’s too bad that this young one’s father does not posess the same about of perception that his own son possesses.

We’ve about given up with the primary children in the family, except for one or two. Most all of them think they know more than me and Suzi, even though they are roughly half our age and longevity. Strange, eh?

None of them ever ask us questions about how we got to be so old! Not one of them ever asks advice as to how they should deal with their ever growing personal problems.
WHY? Why don’t they ask someone who knows more than they do? Someone who actually loves them and cares for them?
Nope! They’d rather fumble around on the planet, convinced within themselves that they are exceedingly “smart” and “wise” – never knowing that their mistakes have already been made, years ago, by us; and the problems already have solutions. Solutions that are available to them for the asking.

Take a lesson from the child in the picture above. They know who’s stable and who is not.
That’s why little Mikey came to Grandpa Wade on this particular day for the safety and comfort he needed.
Think about this.

Soldiers then, and now

I dropped out of high school in 1972 and volunteered for Vietnam service in the U S Army. I volunteered to be Infantry, Airborne, Ranger, Air Assault, Scuba qualified, Jumpmaster, Rappel Master, Recondo and just about every other super macho thing a young man could do in the latter years of the Vietnam Era.

I remember how the country treated us soldiers back then. More than that, I remember how we thought of ourselves and the job we did for our country, this same country that soldiers today fight for.
Back then, it was not advisable to wear our uniforms when we went off base. John Q. Civilian hated the military, hated uniforms, and hated the young men and women who wore those uniforms.

So easy it is to forget those days. They say we “lost” that war in Vietnam. It’s easy to forget the sacrafices made by soldiers of that time, so long ago. Easier still to forget the several thousand POW / MIA still unaccounted for, and doubtful that they’re still alive anyway.

So what is different nowadays? The war in Iraq started out the same way as did Vietnam. Anybody still remember the “Tonkin Gulf Incident?” And if you do remember that, can you compare it to the “Weapons of Mass Destruction” Iraq was reported to have?

Young men and women still sacrifice their lives in defence of this country, and God Bless them for it! But something has changed in the “Land of the Free.”
Now our soldiers are proud of themselves, and unafraid to wear their uniforms out in public.

This war started out on a false premise, just like Vietnam started with. People die in this war, just like in Vietnam. War is war – no matter when and no matter what.
The only thing that changes is the people in the uniforms, and the weapons they wield – but killing is still killing.

So why are soldiers popular now, and not back then?

I know the answer to the question above. I lived through it and watched public opinion change right before my eyes. I saw who did it, I saw how they did it, and I see now the results of their actions.

Am I against “war”, not necessarily.
Am I against “modern soldiers”, certainly not!

I am against shallow, unthinking, sheeple who blindly follow the subtle indoctrination of the news media, which is guided by governmental policy and GREED.

Think about it the next time you go out and buy an American Flag for display!
I have been flying that Flag since BEFORE the Vietnam war, and have NEVER put it away.

Nowadays someone wants you to be proud of your country, but it has not always been so.
Someone is cashing in on patriotism – and who pays for it? Who supports “them.”

Support the troops now, and when they return. They need you to respect what they’ve done.
Their own personal sacrifices will never be real to you, you who do not sacrifice for this country at all.

Most of you merely enjoy the fatness of LIBERTY – never considering the complete personal sacrifice of every single soldier that ever wore a uniform, no matter what time period they lived through.

I say these things with the utmost conviction and personal commitment to this country.

The government doesn’t care about YOU. The government cares only about its own procreation and expansion. So, when you fly our Flag, fly it for the men, women, and children who live within our boarders.
And, buy a soldier a beer when you see ‘em. Tell ‘em that you appreciate their love and commitment to you and your family.

ZWH