I was born a week before Halloween. I wonder if that is where my love for classic Horror and Science Fiction originated from? Neva J remarked on a few occasions that she saw a suspicious shadow or felt an invisible presence in our home. I usually enjoyed the Frankenstein and Dracula movies at the Orpheum Theatre. There were Monster Magazines in my halcyon days as well as Monster Models. I had Frankenstein and Dracula as well as the Wolfman and the Mummy. Neva J threw them in the burning barrel after I moved out of the familial home at 17. I enjoyed Tricker Treating due to having the best receptacle to accept my ill-gotten gains in…a plastic Jack-O-Lantern.

I DEALT WITH A TRUE GHOST STORY when I was employed at Southern Illinois University. Anthony had several Malaysian students on the custodial crew that cleaned what was in its inception a dormitory for women but in recent years had been converted to the office of the President of the University and his Vice Presidents. The crew supervisor asked me to come to Anthony as his Malaysian students were afraid to work in it. I discovered that a young lady had been checking the floors to ensure that all of the doors were locked and the lights off when she saw a woman with a white blouse and her long hair done up in a bun on the back of her head and she was wearing a black dress that went to her feet. The suspect apparition was behind a pane of glass that separated office areas and when the student saw her she sat motionless. When the Malaysian student hurried to get her boss to see the lady in the strange garb she was no longer there. This story went far and wide on Campus and resulted in the Vice president requesting a full report regarding the Ghost Of Anthony Hall. Later Jack the crew boss took me into the attic of the building and showed me a photo of Anthony when it was a Women’s Dormitory and there were many women assembled with their hair in a bun and white blouses and long black dresses.

Anthony’s Ghost was so widely discussed that the Malaysian Community refused to work in the building again.

Neva J loved the study of Edgar Cayce who was called The Sleeping Prophet. She believed in a spiritual realm that was just beyond our senses…usually.

We moved into a haunted house in Eldorado in the early 60s.
The feeling was spine-tingling and the Lemp Mansion that we visited almost two years ago in St. Louis reminded me of my first home in Eldorado. We not only had dinner in the Lemp Mansion, we also took a tour of the old Lemp factory where the Lemp family made their beer and they were the premier beer makers in St. Louis. Our tour guide swore that he had heard voices who spoke to him when he was alone in the factory. He also said that he had a human head submerged in formaldehyde that was set on his desk. Aaron and I bought a few rosaries from him. One of the Lemp family committed suicide in the mansion and the blood stains are still on the carpet.

As I lay in the bed in the cavernous bedroom and adjoining sitting room at Lemp I considered why I had chosen to make such a scary visit…while the little television droned on with peculiar programming…

I watched two British/Israeli citizens speak on the BBC at an open forum in Central London early this morning. They had grown up on a Kibbutz together that is near Gaza. They spoke of the unimaginable grief that they shared as one of their mothers had been taken hostage by Hamas and the other’s friend’s autistic daughter had been taken as well. The woman’s father had worked for peace all of his life. He took pride in having many Arab friends. Their calm and serious manner represented the solution to solving a crisis that Israel had not seen since the Holocaust.

Secretary Of State Anthony Blinken spoke of being Jewish. He talked of members of his family escaping the Holocaust. He told the audience in the Joint Press Conference that he and Prime Minister Netanyahu were conducting; that the photos that he had witnessed were beyond words and overwhelming.

MJ and I sit in peace and harmony and a seeming security that will ensure our years of retirement. This is what the residents of the Kibbutz thought as well. The thing about Terror is that it happens when you least expect it. Hamas had no consideration for the babies the young the old and the infirm. The government had taken its eye off the security of the nation. Israel is noted for having the best security in the world.

Terror changes everything. The veneer of safety that we enjoy is torn away and we discover that there are barbarians. Barbarians do their crimes against humanity and genocide by perverting their holy writings. I had a supervisor at Southern Illinois University tell me that God had commanded his armies in the Old Testament to kill every one of whom they were fighting and to bash the babies’ heads against the wall. Have we forgotten that what binds us together is that the people who were butchered the babies who were riddled with bullets and those who were decapitated…were human…

When Israel and the United States are compared by population…they have experienced 10 9/11s.

Religion has proven to be not effective against tribalism and feverish zealotry. The marginalization and dehumanization of a group of people is the story of religious persecution. A political candidate is saying that immigrants are deleting the blood of our country…Hitler said the same…

Jeff invited me to a Jewish dinner put on by the Temple in Benton, Illinois when we were both teenagers. I felt at home. Jeff as well as several of my friends were Jewish. I have always believed that I am in part Jewish on my mother’s side of the family. One of the finest leaders that SIUC had was Sam Goldman. He is a mensch!

I saw a newscast where my friend of many years ago, Glenn, and a church group touring the Holy Land were having difficulty getting a flight out of Israel. I remember what a kind and considerate person Glenn is as well as his departed wife Pam. MJ and I as well as Jeff and Margo stayed with Glenn and Pam many years ago for a night or two.

The heinous carnage that Hamas has wrought upon the people of Israel is beyond description. Israel is revered by all three major religions. There is no precept of any of these faiths that validates crimes against humanity…genocide…

Israel has captivated my imagination for all of my life. It is not only the homeland of the Jewish people…it is the home of my faith. I still want to visit Israel. The Jewish people fascinate me. Their dedication to their faith is unparalleled.

The Wailing Wall is a remnant of the Old Temple. People from all over the world go to the Wall to pray and place a paper with their prayer in the cracks of the ancient structure. My prayer is for the Dove Of Peace…

‘My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;’

Forty-five years ago today I was working for my friend Brent. He was teaching me how to install carpets. Brent was one of the best bosses that I ever had. I asked Brent if I could take a few minutes to walk down to the pay phone in Carterville and place a call to my minister’s wife Mickey. I had left her number at Building Services at SIUC in the event that I was called to be hired in the department. When Mickey answered the phone her voice was full of joy. She announced that Building Services called to offer me a job with the University and that she had assured them that I accepted and would soon call them back. Mickey was my friend.

October 10th is the day that changed our lives MJ says. Indeed our lives changed in many ways for the better as a result of my affiliation with Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale. It was a chilly afternoon when I reported to work. At first, the night supervisor could not find my name on the new hires until I assisted him in pointing out Bradley Brooks.

I was a poor boy from a poor family. Everything about the university was big and bold and international and different than what I had become accustomed to in my 20 years of life. I soon developed an appreciation for people from over 70 countries. I set about proving that whatever I was given to do I would produce an excellent product. I sought to be friends with all whom I encountered. I immersed myself in what it meant to be a part of SIUC…

Through the years I learned to be a voice for the voiceless. I discovered the beauty of diversity. I understood fully that we are all God’s children. I learned what love was…

October 9th is here and I am reminded that tomorrow is a big day in my family. October 10th, 1978 was the day that I was hired at Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale and the rest is history. Forty-five years ago I was a newly married young man who needed a job. SIU changed my life! Two weeks later MJ and I purchased a new LTD two-door automobile. I soon saw that the University was the place to make my career.

I endeavor to savor each day of autumn. I enjoy the changing of the leaves’ colors and their falling to the ground. There is a group of wild turkeys that I see almost every day. I fashion myself as a bit of an expert in the woods as I have been spending part of most days there. My plant-identifying AP on my iPhone has enabled me to know my surroundings. There is a rhythm to life in the woods. As I observe nature I realize how artificial we of the human family have constructed our lives. The woods exist as a lovely manifestation of God and it worries not if the oak is larger than the elm or how much money the sassafras have. The woods do not strive…the woods…is…

Fall taught me that we did not ask to come to our lovely Earth and have a unique and singular purpose for being here. Stress, fear, and heartbreak are our particular inventions when climbing the social, religious, or political ladder.

Good things come to those who wait has been said on occasion. Nothing could be more true in autumn. The falling leaves and the grey skies of winter and the brown leaves on the ground seem to say that all is lost and the end has happened…until spring…

It is a lovely October day. As I perused the woods this afternoon I noticed a family who had representations from the young to the old. They were helping Grandma negotiate the uneven ground of the park as they held her hand. As they sat at a picnic table I could see the joy of nature in their eyes as they drank in the autumn splendor. I often listen to articles from the Washington Post on my iPhone as I walk and snap photographs…or multitask. An article caught my attention that was about the need for more atheists in our nation. Now, this seemed a bit obtuse until I listened to the piece’s thesis. The idea that Christians have inserted themselves into government and their quest and success in having the god they represent transfigured into laws that govern the rest of us.

The author’s contention is that there are many more atheists in the United States than are self-identified due to their fear of being persecuted or set apart by a fundamentalist tsunami of political/Christians. This assertion stirred my imagination and agreed with something that I have been observing for the past 50 years. First, if you demand that prayer be returned to school…are you speaking of all prayers or the prayers of your narrow faith? In addition…how do you know that you are right? If the John Wayne Gospel is the Gospel that Jesus preached why did he exhort us, ‘A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another?’ It is clear to me that with the surge in fundamentalist teaching and their current immersion in the political process the term Christian has been eroded into what people see in the media.

‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.’ Hate and hurting your fellow human can not be found in
Christ’s gospel. The disintegration of political/religious speech has damaged the cause of Christ. When those who claim no faith are motivated to help their neighbor and to battle global warming and open Warming Centers to keep the homeless from freezing to death and those of us who claim a direct line to God…worry not about the babies or the children who are hungry and say that the homeless should pull themselves up by their bootstraps when they do not have boots…what fruits of faith have we demonstrated?

Thoughts and Prayers we offer when there is another mass shooting. Mass shootings are more prevalent than a change in the weather…have the thoughts and prayers accomplished their purpose? Those who believe in the Dominion Doctrine…do you see evidence that God had asserted dominion over any aspect of life other than your peculiar religious doctrine? Do we really believe that to follow Jesus is to exclude everyone who is not exactly like us…and we have yet to define what that likeness is?

How do we Christians convince a suffering world that we have hope and peace and a morsel of bread and water to slake their thirsty souls…

‘I have not been this cold in some time,’ She said.

‘It is so dark that I can not see my hand in front of my face,’ He said.

‘Who took the Sun away…and how long did we sleep,’ She asked?

‘I think that we just napped. We closed our eyes just before landing at Portland, Maine and when we opened them we were here,’ He said.

‘Where is ‘here’,’ She asked with trembling in her voice?

‘It certainly is at least 30 degrees cooler than when we left…and the darkness is engulfing,’ He said.

‘Could it be the end of the world that we have been hearing about all of our lives…is this Armageddon,’ She asked?

‘Oh my God I feel something on my chest and now it is licking my face…is it the monster that eats your face off,’ He said with terror.

‘I see a crack of light and I am going to walk toward it…the light has to be the answer,’ She said.

‘Woof…Woof…lick…lick…lick,’ the monster uttered and did.

The door opened and light flooded in. It was the morning of their departure to Woolwich, Maine and they had slept in the dark basement and the fall temperatures had taken an abrupt downturn during the night…

Mylo looked from one to the next and wondered how they would feel when they woke up and discovered that he was their master and they were his slaves?

In 1973 I was in high school. It was the year of the Eldorado Centennial. I recall Mr. McRoy growing a beard for the special celebration. The thought of 50 years later writing a piece about the event did not cross his mind.

Billy B. thought of many things in 1973. The church work that he was involved in took up a large part of his time. Academics came easy to him and he studied little. Chet joined him at his little non-denominational church on the weekends. Chet seemed to like it very much. Billy B. often thought of him and Chet playing with Chet’s Daniel Boone action figure and eating Oscar Meyers Wieners directly out of the plastic wrap that they came in. Also their mutual affection for the Orpheum Theatre and trips to Pounds Hollow for summer swims. Chet had his cap set to become an accountant. Chet was good with accounting. His dad had passed away in the night a few years earlier. His mom Thelma was a no-nonsense woman. Thelma described Chet as a little fleshy.

Chet and Billy B. met on the first day of First Grade. They both were named Brooks and their birthdays were both on October 24th. Billy B. had the goal of moving closer to his church and becoming a minister. The day after graduation he moved. Billy B. either assisted in officiating at funerals or indeed was the minister for many of them.

Eldorado was a happening place. Fifty years ago the coal mines were still the best job around in Little Egypt. Eldorado Coal Miners had nice homes and often a new vehicle and a boat as well. They worked a lot of overtime. Those days were the days of the Wild Cat Strike. A miner friend told Billy B. that all that was required for a Wild-
Cat was for a miner to pour his water out of his two-tier lunch and water container…then everyone on the work shift walked out and went home.

In those halcyon days, every graduate was not expected to attend University. Many politicians did not have college degrees. People did not concern themselves too much about what their neighbors were doing except for what could be gleaned by front porch evenings or over the fence after hanging out the laundry to dry and fasten the wet garments and towels and sheets with wooden clothes pins to the clothesline. Communication was slow…almost like the Pony Express. If you wanted to know how your friends or family who lived a few miles away….you wrote them a letter or dropped them a postcard. The postage was cheaper on postcards.

Billy B. was focused on treating everyone as he wanted to be treated. He had dreams of a good life. He has had one and is grateful for it.

I sat and watched the hard rainfall in the woods this morning. I am a rainy-day person. The heat of September has broken. The pleasant sound of rain hitting the earth or the roof is a peaceful melody. I do my best thinking in the rain. Many leaves were falling with the gentle coaxing of the drops on them. Rain enables me to reflect on the beauty of life and its simplicity. No rhetoric or ravings or righteous anger.

I listen with some interest when I hear ministers or Christians exclaim that they are the example of what Christ taught and if we do as they say we will be alright with the Man Upstairs. Sadly when I look into their eyes I see a bit of sadness at their incapibility to measure up to the doctrine that they swear is from the mouth of God who uses the human mouth of the minister to proclaim it.

Society has grown increasingly virulent violent and mean in response to those with whom they disagree. God’s love and concern for his creation is much like the gentle rain that falls on all of us. He does not seem to pick or choose who to be good to or who is worthy of understanding and patience. Let us face our humanity. We are all living off of the Grace Of God and we are unique creations.

Some of us are angry people. Our preset is to be red-faced and smoke coming out of our ears. We search for someone to blame for our anger. It must be the dreaded and detestable…them…that is the cause for our high blood pressure.

Rain affords the opportunity to reset and endeavor to understand that each of us humans has a burden to bear. We are each a bundle of fears and doubts and questions. When no one seems to care we say that we do not need anyone. When in reality we are as the author G.K. Chesterton said, ‘We are all in a boat on a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.’

Billy B. and his cousin Brenda enjoyed watching the Friday Night Scary Movie. Brenda was a few years older than Billy B. and doted on him. She was his fun cousin. Neva J. was a surrogate mother to her niece. Brenda came from a religious fundamentalist background that allowed her to do very little that many girls her age were doing. Brenda spoke slowly like her dad Uncle Bill. She smiled often and enjoyed getting into mischief. Brenda did not possess the false artifice of holier than thou and was just what she seemed to be. Grandma A. thought she was a bit promiscuous…but that is what made her interesting. Billy B. thought of her as his sister.

October was a special month for Horror and Science Fiction movies. There was Frankenstein and Dracula as well as The Return Of The Mole People and This Island Earth and Steve McQueen in The Blob. The Blob came to Earth in a crashed space ship and it was indeed a gelatinous substance that a passing man found when he was investigating the crash and picked up the little Blob on a stick. As he watched the little glob of goo it suddenly climbed the stick in a rapid manner and attached itself to his arm. Soon the Baby Blob had consumed the curious gentelman and that is how after many human dinners it became an Adult Blob. The culmination of the movie was filmed in a movie theatre where the Blob, now gigantic oozed out of the Projectionist Room and began attacking the audience… The movie had a realism to it that was common in the scary movies of the day and the Blob seemed somewhat believable to the theatre audiences who already wondered what was in the Cry Room and what was the sticky substance on the floor underneath their feet.

As Brenda and Billy B. sat underneath their October blanket and munched Jiffy Pop Popcorn Brenda suggested that Billy B. go to the restroom and examine something she found on the sink. When Billy B. entered the bathroom he found a slime blob of gelatinous material resting on the sink and dripping onto the floor. At this same time, Brenda slipped up behind him and grabbed his shoulders and he let out a loud yelp! Brenda had placed a toy of the ’60s called Super Stuff on the sink and it looked remarkably like the Blob in the movie.

After the initial fright…Billy B. and Brenda laughed and laughed until it was time for her to go home and Neva J. was to drive her in the 57′ Chevy Convertible. As they drove to Brenda’s house…Neva J. insisted on enjoying the cool October air and left the top down.

‘Something is dripping on me,’ Brenda said with some apprehension.

‘Don’t worry my dear…it will be over well before we reach your house…, said Neva, J. with a Jack-O-Lantern smile on her face…