Part 2

The student's voice betrays him and cracks. 'Yes, professor, I do.'

The old man stops pacing, 'Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?'

'No sir. I've never seen Him.'

'Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?'

'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'

'Yet you still believe in him?'

'Yes.'

'According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?'

'Nothing,' the student replies. 'I only have my faith.'

'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats. 'And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.'

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. 'Professor, is there such thing as heat?'

'Yes,' the professor replies. 'There's heat.'

'And is there such a thing as cold?'

'Yes, son, there's cold too.'

'No sir, there isn't..'

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet.

The student begins to explain...

'You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees.'

'Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.'

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

'What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?'

'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation. 'What is night if it isn't darkness?'

'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. 'So what point are you making, young man?'

'Yes, professor.. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.'

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time, 'Flawed? Can you explain how?'

'You are working on the premise of duality,' the student explains...

'You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought.'

'It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it...'

'Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?'

'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.'

'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?'

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

Part 3

'Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?'

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

'To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.' The student looks around the room, 'Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?' The class breaks out into laughter.

'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir..'

'So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?'

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers, 'I guess you'll have to take them on faith.'

'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,' the student continues, 'Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?'

Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.'

To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.'

The professor sat down.

Is Steve Vai in Denmark today?

Ozzy_Fud--Great quote from a genius. I wuv the wabbit slayer!! Those wascally wabbits are as numerous as squirrelly creatures around here. They are so obstinate, when I tell them to take a hike they shake their bushy tails at me as if they were flipping me off!! lmao!!

I am so weary after an almost sleepless night!! I don't want the state of California to go up in flames!! Maybe, I should fill my storage space with huge tanks of water and several fire extinguishers.

Dang it, world, we need H2O desperately. Do I need to mortgage my house and empty my life savings to buy truckloads or trainloads of water for Cali?? What is Sacramento going to do about this??

HELP!!! SOS!!!! H20 NEEDED NOOOOOWWWW!!!

ç:-) --{--/--{

sorry GG i couldnt help it lol, dont suppose theres any chance for an op on yer thyroid? takin 2 many meds cant be all that great for ya either

alls good here Al, think its goin t get chilly l8rs more south tho

Did someone say...No Rain?

Okay thanks :D

Hey Everyone,

I got off work early so I get to talk to you all. It is freakin' freezing over here in Fort Wayne. Right now, we are below zero degrees (right now at about -2 or -3 degrees). Tonight's low is 8 below. We have some kind of Wind Chill Warning or Freeze Warning right now until 1:00 P.M. tomorrow. I'm trying to stay warm myself.

I just bought the Joe Satriani Original Album Classics off of Ebay. I can't wait for it to come in the mail.

SuperDaveMcCarthy: Good grief!!! -30 Degrees over there? That is really, really, really cold!!! We are now hitting below zero, so I will be prepared if we encounter -30 degrees. How's the gig going and your family doing?

Joe Satrini: What intrigues me about running is because I enjoy the feeling of it. I like to go outside and run in and around the city to see what is happening. I have been running for a little more than 10 years now. I started running when I was in junior high. I was on the varsity cross-country and track teams in high school and lettered in both of them (all four years). After high school, I decided to keep running and I have joined the Fort Wayne Track Club and I have been running with people all around the Fort Wayne area (from high school, college, etc.).

Satriella: Sometimes it depends on how many races I feel like doing. Last year, I ran about 15 races. Same as the year before. I want to try to do more than 15 this year (I have about 20 lined up for now). I run for fun, but a lot of my friends and coworkers think I should go professional, but I don't think it will be happening. I am already balancing my running with work at the Holiday Inn, family, etc.

Ozzy Fudd: Great three-part story. I liked it a lot.

Okay, time for a little NLP: Neurolinguistic Programming. I would like to thank Skippygirl for this.

Michelle: Let's start thinking and chanting, "Super Bowl XLIII - Eagles and Steelers." This better happen.

GoldenGirl2: Let's think and chant, "Water, Rain, H2O!" I hope that mother nature brings the rain/water over there.

I hope this NLP works for the both of you!!!

Skippygirl: How's the guitar playing going? I ran six miles last night (in the cold).

Do the Stu, js1200js1000, Cheese 101 (Tracie), death cube k, Keniko, Blue_Moon, Guitarman77897, tikimon, maritime, slashroom, fatape, cosmic ape, castle49, ibanezplyr, JS_JS, roo, alexandre-caetano, Railton, and everybody else:

How are things going with of all of you? Been quite some while since I have heard from you. I'm trying to stay warm with this frigid cold weather. Have my running races starting up soon in about three weeks. Hey, check out (on the Internet) the hotel where I work at guys: The Fort Wayne Holiday Inn at IPFW and the Coliseum. Hope you guys can come over and check it out. Just refer it by me. I am continuing to spread the word out about our hotel.

ibanez-god - thanks for the linky, I had everyone singing Cracklin Rosie at work yesterday, it's a catchy one.

Trouble is I don't recognise any of the chords in that link!! I'll have to look up my book and try them - or can I just use the major chords instead?

Heading off tomorrow for 9 days down the beach with a huge gang - taking the guitar so I can practice every day and will be seeing the bro-in-law who is a flamenco guitarist.

Okayz, I have a tape recording of Joe (recorded from radio 1), from 1992 when he played at Hammy Apollo, London - question for ya's all - if I buy a tape to CD recording thingy, do they really work? Does anyone have one that they can recommend? I want this recording to live on forever.......geez, thanks all.

Slans--The doc has me on a Japanese regimen of Tapazole and Levoxyl (thyroid suppressant and replacement). I did have radioactive iodine treatment 17 years ago. That dampened the hyperactivity to a certain level, but not completely. I see the doc tomorrow morning and get some answers.

Al--How much does it cost to send a shipment of rainwater over to Cali? Prolly something like a billizion euros? Maybe I can convince Governor Arnie to import from Ireland, The Netherlands and Switzerland. I'll let ya know what happens.

Joe always has something insightful to say about practicing and teaching/learning guitar. He was fortunate to find his calling early.

Yngwie has some interesting riffs and phases as well. I like his accent. He seems like a 20th/21st century Beethovan or Mozart. Only beeeeeeeyyyyyyooooonnnnnd!!!

I feel like I'm sinking AND I AM FIGHTING THIS MORASS OF DISABILITIES WITH MY WHOLE BEING!! I WILL GET THROUGH THIS!! (I am reminded of the character June, the woman with the brain temor telling the doctor with throat cancer to, "Fight it! Fight it!"