In Memory of my Grandfather

Originally posted to firesofcreation.gaia.com on Nov 22nd, 2007

My grandfather just passed away on Monday. He was 87 years old. It was hard to see him go considering how close we were and that I've known him for 33 years. I have many great memories of my grandpa and it was a pleasure to see the progression he has made over the years in his development as a more integral human being. We didn't always see eye to eye and especially concerning religion. He leaned towards creationism and faithfully supported and watched TV evangelists that made me cringe. His book shelves contained many books on the rapture, Revelation and the End Times which helped educate me on the variety of extremist beliefs in Christian fundamentalism. Although I've always trusted my grandfather, I didn't trust the religious people he watched on TV and listened to on the radio. Perhaps my fears were over blown but they were a source for the material I drew upon in my second feature length screenplay; World W1n.

Although it has been difficult, my grandfather taught me tolerance and compassion for religious fundamentalists. For one of his birthdays I entertained his wish for driving him to see TV evangelist Jessie Duplantis speak. Although I didn't agree with everything Duplantis said, I could see there was some quality in his message. I have also learned to look for the good in other more extreme evangelists like John Hagee who believes in the Rapture. In an interview with Terri Gross, Hagee told her the Rapture was immanent which is why he had to be ready to meet his Lord at any time. When you move past a literal interpretation of Hagee's words, it's easy to see that he's subconsciously speaking about death. Death could come for any of us at any moment and to be ready for it is the first step towards being a more integral human being.

Initially, I believe my grandfather was as uncomfortable with my religious preferences as I was with his. We used to argue about religion and he once told me that Buddha was evil. But gradually both our fears began to dissipate. I was able to express to him on several occasions the respect I had for his faithful religious practice of prayer and Bible reading every morning and after reading a favorable article about the Buddhist king of Bhutan in Time Magazine, he was able to express to me his growing respect for Buddhism. My grandpa even apologized for saying my chronic Lyme disease was caused by lack of faith in scriptures. Although me and my grandfather use to butt heads over religion and our opposing world views, we were still able to put these differences aside and get along beautifully. Over the years I have traveled with him a great deal and we even built a cabin together in Colorado.

Now that he's gone, I can see that my grandfather's religion has been a gift in my life. It has helped shape my views of humanity's destiny as a united species. Several weeks before he died, I got to talking to him about his new book by John Hagee, Jurusalem Countdown. I pointed out the dissonance in Hagee's theology of wanting to attack Iran to prevent them from getting nukes so they couldn't strike Israel but at the same time, believing that an attack on Israel by Iran and Russia was needed for the return of Jesus Christ. My grandfather's response to me was, "cooler heads will prevail." Upon my request, my grandpa gave me many of his religious books along with most recent additions of Jurusalem Countdown and Kathleen Keating's The Final Warning. These are the perfect sources for some of the characters and ideas I will be using in my next screenplay, Neanderthals Return.

I don't know if I will ever see my grandfather again. My heart tells me I will but my mind tells me that I don't know. I hope the universe is arranged in such a way where it may be possible to be reunited with loved ones, but if it isn't, I will cherish the preciousness of the relationship and memory of my grandpa that much more while I still have it in this life with me.