STRONG FOUNDATION

They sat beneath the old willow in the back yard, sipping tea steeped long and strong by the grandmother. As they did, an occasional crunch could be heard as one of the three boys bit into an ice cube piled high in his tumbler. They were discussing the sermon of the day as delivered by the grandfather. "And just why do you suppose they were arguing in those days... If it wasn't over the women?" A brother replied, "There's always an argument for women, it makes them feel like someone. They always want to be... Feel special." The third brother insisted it was over the right to have things of one's own. "Some of them had lots of money. If they had money, then there were others who would have tried to take the money or their things. The argument is better than killing the thief... They had to argue over money and things because you can always get another woman." They each sat quietly for a moment, contemplating the rationale of valuable things, women and money. The possession of things could bring one fame.

The company of fine women could do the same but add the glamour of personal satisfaction. Control of money... Now that had to be a reason to argue. One had to preserve what was his. "It was definitely the money and things." They never noticed the sun dropping beneath the mountain peak in the west and would have lingered into the night if not called inside by the grandmother they were visiting for the summer. Each lived in his own area with his respective family...they were half brothers. Each in a collective split far from the others. Summer was the time to mingle and remember their kinship. Now, in the present time of Gad, Levi and Dan family gatherings were restricted to close relations. No longer did they assemble as in distant times, there had been too many arguments... Too many mishaps. The Tower of Babble had evolved from one massive reunion. A reunion of their forefathers. The forefathers... Parents... Family elders who had indeed grown away from their original family. That reunion was one remembered even unto today for the calamity caused by its culmination. Culmination to a point of confusion. Confusion of intent... Confusion of instruction and confusion of definition. They had grown apart from one another in the distance of space and development of humankind. They were arguing because they could not understand what was being said. Though they had all originated from within the same family, they had populated vast areas... Learned a separate dialect of speech in each and mannerisms of posture came to be used as subtle forms of communication. As he stood to get more drink, Meshak had snatched his girdle waist tucking his hand inside. His cousin who stood in his presence responded, "Hey man... no! What do you mean by that... You think I'm some... Some woman!? We only mingle with women in my family!" This action was done before Nebi... his distant cousin, saw this as a threat. In his town... his side of the mountain, the snatch was a challenge of bravado if done for a man. For a woman it was meant as a suggestion for courting. In trying to calm Nebi from the direct insult, Shad had grabbed one long braid of hair which hang from Nebi's head. This was also an insult to ego. The three went into a turmoil of anger, with fists flying and name-calling in spite of the family gathering below them. As family member after family member tried to pull them apart, more comments and actions were seen as insults. Insult to character, insult to ego and to intelligence. There were insults to history of following and to the women of each family group. The oversight of insult and the misunderstanding thereof, would not allow the purpose of the gathering to calm the animosity among them. By the day's end, they had separated in anger, each group and sections of groups to their preferred areas in and about the land.

This is what the grandfather's sermon was about on today. The three brothers... half that they were, were struggling to keep a clear mind of the lesson intended by the grandfather. Dan, Gad and Levi were brought into to same family each under a different roof. Though each was a child of the universe, they were trained up by those around them. Those in their immediate vicinity shaped their every thought and influenced their will for living. Each was instilled with primary facets of being for their clan during the visits to the grandfather's home; and the grandmother reassured them equal treatment in their every thing, including the love provided in the grandparent's humble home.

They had all lived in the same neighborhood until their parents determined to leave the immediate home in search of their own future. On moving away, the brothers had promised to keep in contact and visit at the grandparent's home to keep their brotherhood strong. Bilhah brought with her, Dan, the youngest of the three brothers, her son. She followed the line of travelers into the desert to a small settlement which would be called Betlehem. Here she stopped to bring up her family in the ways of the grandfather's teaching and the grandmother's mannerism.

They asked the reigning lord for everything they needed or that they wanted. Asked for solutions to their problems. They even asked for money. In Betlehem, the family grew mindful of the need to remember their lord in favors and determined to hold the reason for the many actions of the grandfather. They created special days and called them Lord Regioner Day and Lord Regioner Birthday to remind them of when to do the grandfather's actions for gathering days. "It should be served with the wine!" "No, it is served alone; we avoid the strong drink!" "He did dip me in the water!" "No dear, it was sprinkled upon your head." "I didn't understand what he was saying, and he didn't use the water he left it in the bowl. But he did have us stand and kneel, like this... I do remember that part!" They called themselves a name, named after the foremost of their remembrances. The foremost of their teachings of ways of grandfather... They called themselves a REGIONERS. And for all the many ways they wanted to remember traditions, each became his own house within the Regions name. There were within one block many members of this family, most of which held their own rule of practice. The houses in the block were called Aps... Baps and Cats. There were four and more. Though the block was a crowded one, they all professed the same belief. There were those of true Methods and those who focused all on a one day of the week plan... The JeWas and numerous sections within each house of the block. Upon the separation of households... The growth into her own right, Zilpah had gone into the east beyond the Lebanon Mountains taking her son Gad, with her. They were all content to be out and among those of their regions chose, and each content to see only life in the way that they did; while grandfather was the basic foundation of their all.

She rested at the sight of the rising moon and awakened with the first light of day. As she traveled, she kept mindful of the teachings of the grandfather; "Prayer and salvation" and reminded her son Gad of the same. He and the brothers had learned well from the grandfather. They knew the way of ask and the best purpose for asking at any time in the course of a day. It could enable one to withstand things that could otherwise cause frustration and anger. He developed his focus on demure emotion in asking as the center of his existence and timed the hour of therefore by the rise and fall of the moon and the sun in the skies above. The foothills of the Lebanon Mountains where they lived and survived, and the sea that lay beside them provided for his every need and his family grew over time. As they grew, some drifted from intensity of asking to ever have that support for the evolution of the family. They focused efforts on holding a family together as one unit in thought. One unit based upon the race they reflected. Others focused upon the act of procedure. "I remember the process for asking are to be done in this way!" "First we wash... Then we ask, once clean... Like this." Another remarked, "No, we kneel... We don't stand... Like this!" "Then we should make them cover... that they remain clean and not taunt the man before them." "We will develop strong will that we may endure the hard times along with those days of plenty and therefore bear peacefully those days when bare." They asked for soundness of mind as a major course of life. And though they all professed to the same belief, they were divided in their procedure. Divided in determined names for themselves and divided in gender. Though they called themselves believers of I, there were many houses in the name. I... believing in strength and courage and Will to bear what life brings, was a divided dwelling place; Sunny, Suffy, Shity and Babiy. And within the halls of these dwelling spaces were many trails of thought. Though they were held fast for purpose of tradition, individualities caused differences of opinion. Though controls were put in place for consistency, determination of memory from an alternate direction was recurring. Though all opportunity was expressed for cooperation, those preferring to recall the history of race chose to separate into a NATION calling itself I. And though they were the same, they were different.

Leah, mother of Levi, moved to a distant land beyond the Jacobite Mountain taking with her, her son. Although Dan and Gad were not with him as often, there were others to spend idle time and moments of contemplation with. There were organized groups for almost every need he could imagine... BaiBri and Bethan, there was the ARIES unit to provide community fellowship and even a Handmaker section for the older people of his family. The family of Levi was one keen in the sense of business. They were shrewd, and he would learn to be and think like them. He too, remembered to ask. He asked for forgiveness and for direction... For prosperity and strength of family. Most kept to the conservative tradition passed from generation to generation, but some ventured into more diverse thought. Nimrod followed those concerned with the evolution of mankind. The development of class and the structure of self within creation. They called themselves then, Hes after the language the family would speak. Nimrod, Levi's cousin was proud of his own family and was often heard telling the reason for listing themselves as Hes. It was to maintain their place within the varied collectives of mankind. With such great population in the land, the designation of family by something unchanging was the wise choice... They would speak the language always and be known for the words they spoke. They created for themselves the City of David. They created for themselves the city of DAVID, and that was Betlehem. They later called themselves I after the father of their clan... Ishmal. Ishmal had become such at the will of the Regional lord after asking for a land to call his own. He was given the land which he left behind. They were back to where they all began.

Generation after generation passed into and out of the earth adding and removing from the entirety of traditional ways as were extended from the grandfather and the grandmother. Many reunions were assembled but within the varied blocks of individuals. Families were designated from among the many blocks and held fast, each within its own walls. Where a family went in to visit among its neighbors, it also went out from among the crowd, they called this then the FELLOWSHIP. And the fellowship was among them all. The people of Gad fellowshipped with the people only of GAD. His sons were Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Aradi and Areli. Those of Dan as extended from his son Hushim, fellowshipped within the block of DAN. And those of Levi, Gershon, Kohath and Merari networked only in LEVI. Those of the HE clan, Levi's cousin, were left without.

For the displeasure at the complexities formed thereof, others of the earth grew restless. They turned to neglect the traditional memory of the grandfather. They preferred the practice of the grandmother. The gentle ways and nature-promoting ways in which she had cultivated them. They worshipped those memories. In worshipping those memories, they were set aside from all the other peoples of the earth. They called themselves a menagerie of titles... Buddi and Hindi, Bhai and Krisni. The remaining few grew tired of separations of tradition.

They grew angry for the indecision of the total ideal. They resolved that the idiom of traditions was ludicrous. They no longer wanted to believed in the old ways of grandfather, and so called themselves an UNBELIEVERS. From among the unbelievers grew Scientists who endeavored to explain their reasons for disbelief. They believed as Darwin did, saying "...we have developed from the fish."

The huddle of women...

Women were held separate from but regarded as an important entity to procreation. They were the source of regeneration for the continuance of mankind. They held the key to existence but remained a separate entity from their man. So separate that at times they became insecure in the company of men. They taught the children of the terrors borne by them in early relations....and the latter years of dealing with men. The women of the huddle made themselves estranged to the family and to the upkeep of the family tradition because of the required male presence. They felt at risk to male intervention. They grew to prefer the company of women, keeping themselves safe away from intervention of men. Carol was of this group. She was born into the huddle never knowing a man as father, she was administered guidance by one of the older women. She and the other young women of her age saw this as the natural procedure of life. "I saw one just the other day," Melissa was overheard telling her clan sister of her latest adventure, "It was big and hairy... And it was dragging a large object behind it. I was quiet so it did not see me or I would have run!" The clan sister shivered to think of being handled by the hairy creature. They had been told of the harrowing acts performed on women and young girls often enough that they were cautious in their adventures to the wild. Neither had seen it happen, but enough older women had testified to the pain and agony caused at the hand of man. They had seen evidence of many women blistering at the abdomen and bleeding uncontrollably all from being tackled by men. "I don't see how anyone could want one of those around..." Carol finished her tale of adventure to the sister.

The covenant of men.... The confusion of Terms... Babi... No, Bhai.... Bnai...? No, Bhai... Baath?.... No Babi.... Sufi?... No, Sunni ...shi'i? ummm... Hardcore?.... Hardcore what? We will have to figure this out. The end is near and we must all work together, figure who we are. There should be a reunion, a gathering of the faiths to determine right from wrong. To lay straight the golden rule. To recall the original foundation of our world.

The reunion........

And so they conferred to assemble. They assembled in troops for the cause of truth. The truth in the one and original way as taught to them by the grandfather. They assembled from every corner of the world with one goal, assessing the status of man in the eyesight of truth. Though Dan, Gad and Levi were long put to past, the generations assembled in light of the tradition of man. Assembled to recount and review all that they had been taught by the messengers and the teachers of the written word. Those of Gad brought with them then their scroll. The extensions of Dan brought their tablet and those of Levi, including his He cousins, brought with them the leaves; and the scientist brought his science book. They assembled at the close of many trains across the distance. They assembled - but for a cause. They were due, well overdue for a gathering. In their years, they had multiplied so greatly and with such focus that their numbers were unknown even to themselves. A gathering of relations from as far as the world had grown. From as far as Ophrah in the north and the Nile to the south. In their numbers, the announcement was made that they would then gather. It was to be a reunion of immense proportion. A reunion with central focus... to the all of mankind... to: "Let us meet at the old place." ...Which was heard from within the realm of the Levites, and "Yes, the traditional place of our fathers!" Was circulated among those of the tribe of Dan. "Where then but the place of our origination - there shall we remember our purpose for existence!" - so claimed the descendants of Gad. They intercepted then the paths, one of another, that they would determine a day. One great son of each brother was given the chore of appointment.

The tower of Babel... bring in The Rosetta Stone.

History repeats itself.

the end

Miranda Writes, Ltd. 1995