Real Wealth Society: I’ve been thinking about second-comings By Fred Cederholm

Column for on/after April 8th

I’ve been thinking about second-comings. Actually I’ve been thinking about Easter Week, Putin, Pelosi diplomacy/ the “UK 15,” the Creston Opera House, and the Rochelle News Leader. The observances of Easter Week commemorate Jesus the Christ's suffering, death and resurrection, and mark the climax of the Christian calendar. It is a time when we Christians focus on the darkness in the world and the light of the Easter resurrection. It was a time to contemplate hope, a re-birth, second comings, and the promise of better things coming on the horizon.

You see, this past week before Easter Sunday I participated in my normal round of observances with one “not-so-religious” activity – but even that had its roots within the intentions of “staging a comeback.” The week began Monday evening with my being a guest of my friends, the Cook family, in their special Witness observance of Nissan 14 at Kingdom Hall. On Good Friday I attended the evening service at St. Johns Lutheran Church. Easter Sunday, I attended both the sunrise service and the regular communion service at St. Johns and I spent the afternoon visiting with my aunt and uncle. The message of Easter figured predominately in my thoughts throughout all activities and also in my daily review of news worthy events as I surfed the web – giving me a renewed sense of optimism about things to come.

Last week, the Russian government announced it would hand back land that was seized from the Russian Orthodox Church after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. Since coming to power, Russian President Putin has not tried to conceal his Russian Orthodox beliefs. He was not always religious, but recent images have shown him lighting candles at the Vatican and praying at the edge of the Jordan River. These acts in-and-of-themselves may not seem like a big deal, but taken in the context of the promise of Easter represent a huge step in a positive direction. On Easter Sunday, Putin attended the service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in central Moscow. These events were not covered here.

Diplomacy is frequently described as “the art of the possible.” The last week’s fact finding mission, which took new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to Israel, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, can only be regarded as a step in the right direction and a renewal (or second-coming) of diplomacy to the Middle East. The seizure of the “UK 15” by Iran had only escalated tensions there. Then… as if by some miracle, the Iranian government pardoned the British captives and returned them home to their families on Good Friday. While it’s not possible to directly equate the Pelosi mission with the release of the hostages, the peaceful discussions certainly couldn’t have hurt. The highly speculated “Operation Bite” was diffused – at least for now. This, too, should be taken as a positive step in the right direction.

On Maundy Thursday, I volunteered for the Creston Booster Clubs fourth (and final) charitable games casino of 2007 to help raise money for the restoration of Creston’s 19^th Century Opera House. (I know what you’re TH*NK*NG and you’re right, MEA CULPA!) This was the fourth year that we have worked through Rockford Charitable Games holding up to four events on our special license from the State at various locations in Northern Illinois. “Staging a comeback” to bring the Booster Hall (aka the Creston Opera House) up to code and to make it a community center available for various activities has proven quite a project and very costly, but we will have something truly special when we are done. We are clearly beginning to see progress as we commence putting things back together – hallelujah.

On an even higher note, Easter Sunday marked the first availability of the on-line edition of the Rochelle News-Leader, my official local publication of record. This is fantastic news and marks the birth (or second-coming) of a great local resource for news and information which we subscribers to the print edition already enjoy. Now, my weekly columns can have the supplemental: To “audit” this column and to learn more about the subjects discussed – which appears at the other on-line web portals which carry my column weekly. I’ve already signed up and completed my own personal profile. I don’t TH*NK so much personal information about me appears anywhere else, or ever has. Please sign up and definitely check it out. I’m Fred Cederholm and I’ve been thinking. You should be thinking, too.

To “audit” this column and to learn more about the subjects discussed:

Pope starts Easter, Says Love Trumps Evil, Death

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2007-04-07T234747Z_01_L07685604_RTRUKOC_0_US-EASTER-POPE.xml&src="rss&";rpc=22

Putin's personal faith raising questions

http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idarticle=8860

Pelosi Defends 'Message' of Middle East Trip

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9434802

Who will bite first, the U.S. or Iran?

http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20070405/63158196.html

Rockford Charitable Games

http://www.rockfordcharitablegames.com/