This is not about UFOs but it is a true story about how wonderful the universe and its Creator can be. This happened to me and some friends in my youth.
I was going to Confirmation, a Catholic ritual of educating you so you understand your faith before you can be confirmed into the faith in the public ritual of the same name. I was about nine.I had this thirst for spirituality born out of a questioning mind. In Confirmation class the nun had spoken about how “God will answer a prayers especially if it done with pure motives”. I lived two small blocks from the boardwalk in Atlantic City. This was the 1950, just before the Some Like It Hot movie with Marilyn Monroe extended Atlantic City’s fame beyond the East Coast.
My friends and I used to go up to the Boardwalk in winter if it wasn’t too cold. There were very few people there, the summer folk were gone and it was quiet and peaceful. We were told to stay away from the beach. It was an innocent time.
One night we were walking and I brought up what the nun had said. I don’t know how it was decided, but we decided that we could be pure in prayer and so we asked for a sign that God existed.
I remember very clearly walking on the AC boardwalk with my friends, deciding what kind of proof we would group-pray for. I suggested three red roses from a tale I’d heard at Sunday school. Someone said “yellow” instead, and we all agreed on that sign.
So we started to pray on the boardwalk on a November evening for God to send us these Three Yellow Roses as a sign “He” existed.
Well, it happened.
Someone shouted “Look!” as we walked along the boardwalk. There on the deserted beach, the three yellow roses came into view. Yellow and perfect.
We all ran together from the boardwalk, astounded and overjoyed, onto the beach to collect this wonderful present from God.
I remember being so high with joy from what had just happened. But most of all, I remember the freedom from all fear I felt at that moment. Here it was… the answer!
We pick up these magical yellow roses on long stems lying alone on the beach and headed back toward the boardwalk. We were all laughing and ecstatic over what happened.
We were ready to go up the boardwalk steps, when one of group shouted to look under them. It was there our moment of joy was broken. Lying under the steps --where you could see through the steps-- were three dead, very young kittens. We were completely saddened and in shock at finding these small, innocent bodies.
So we tried to find meaning from this. We couldn’t, but we knew what we had to do.
We buried the kittens. We had a small ceremony on the beach. We took the yellow roses and laid the petals as a covering on the kittens’ bodies and buried them with a cross made from the stems. I remember being angry at myself later on for thinking maybe I didn’t have any proof, after all.
We kids never talked much about the roses and the kittens later; maybe it was the sadness. Until now, I’ve only shared this story with a few people. My wife knows the story and some of my close friends and family have heard it. It wasn’t until I confronted my own probable death that I had an epiphany about why we found the roses and kittens --and at least for me, personally.
These words came into my mind in my own voice “Even Unto Death I Am With You” and the three yellow roses flashed.Was this sign about a certain faith or dogma? I don’t know. But for me, I never thought of it that way; I always felt, even as a child, that this sign was sent to us as a comfort and to assure us God existed, and that has been always enough for me.
And as you’ve guessed, I am still alive.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Joseph Capp
UFO Media Matters
Non-Commercial Blog
Do you still live in Atlantic City? I have been Confirmed, but not gone through an experience comparable to what you describe. Have you had any other experiences in Atlantic City? Any UFO citings?
ReplyDeleteJesse O. Kurtz,
Managing Editor
The Atlantic City Scoop
http://cityofatlantic.wordpress.com
Yes I did. When I was around 21 years old in 1962 I was on the beach at Texas Ave. My friend was with me and I went down early to put our blanket next to a girl who always was at a certain spot. As we were putting the blanket down my friend shouted for me to look over behind me. I turned around and I will tell you the truth my world never quite felt the same. There were two of them disk. A type of copper color. They look like the old Frisbees. Not flat like pancakes but cupped. I check all the physicals as they went by. They were close maybe the height of 500 feet. They were quiet and going about 30 miles an hour against the wind. The sun which was around 10 or 11 o'clock glinted off there skin. They traveled over us and directly toward the Atlantic Ocean as they went out I saw a glint of light(which I think was when they turned) and shot off paralleling the coast very fast toward the Stell Pier. I remember later thinking their could not have been a pilot in that craft not at that acceleration. I don't know if you remember Pomona air base but I always thought they were keeping an eye on that secret air base and what they were experimenting with. I've had other spiritual experiences but in NY and Main. I had something happen recently but not with UFOs. My quest is to see another close up sighing before I die. Very really do we get what we want. But that is ok at least I know they are here and that a Great Creator exist -What else should I want and believe me in my life I needed both.
ReplyDeleteJC
UFO Media Matters
Non Commercial Blog
What scares me about this story, is did three kittens have to die, so you could find 3 yellow roses? Did the "life force" of the kittens have to be used to create 3 out of place roses? Are ALL prayers a trade off then?
ReplyDeleteDear cpepinc,
ReplyDeleteI have always had cats to this day. I have saved many cats one from experimentation at Downstate Hospital another recently from the streets(extremely intelligent cat by the way). So I hope if your right I have made up for it.
I don't know the answers to that question and the hardest part of any belief in a loving God is the horror that goes on. But If the creator just wanted perfect I guess he would have not made the universe at all. I believe nature is not horrible it is what it is and there are wonderful lesion for any intelligence to learn from it's beauty and what we perceive as cruelty. Humans on the other side seem to kill everything that moves.
Thanks
JC
UFO Media Matters
Things like this bring one question to mind for me: Why won't God heal amputees? You know, why would a prayer like your be answered when the prayers of starving children are not? The implications are disturbing unless .
ReplyDeleteAmputees play a part in the divine economy of the world. But we are like moths flying through the doors of a theater where a performance of Hamlet is taking place. We see lights, color and movement, but we can't understand the purpose or the meaning of the play.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you,Joseph, and a Merry Christmas.
Pavel
Dear Kent,
ReplyDeleteI don't know the answers. I guess it is assumed that when you have these experiences that you have the answers. I had maintained in my life at times the atheist belief even after this happened. But I had strange things happen since then when I moved to New York and I can't explain it nor do I share it much - but one thing does happen when I'm have faced death, and I have in many ways, it just comes to me and gives me some hope that this is not all there is - so I am thankful.
Now as far as innocent humans I haven't found any. As far as human beings go we as a species are a mess. We have killed and maimed and used every animal we can. Now If humanity had gotten it's act together a long time ago rather then trying to control every spiritual and scientific and political human expense for there own benefit, we may not be questioning Gods motives but rather our own. We would be living in a world built with all living things in mind. We would have spent our time wisely on this world living in cooperation with nature and healing our problems with our fellows.
Many of natures problems would be solved. So why blame God.
The creator evolved us to the capability of higher thinking. And please don't say cancer. Do you really believe we couldn't solve cancer if we removed the money around it.
I was a party at thanksgiving with my wife's family it was warm and a dragonfly had gotten into the house People were chasing it trying to kill it young and old were bent on killing this innocent thing. I got up and ran to it and grasp it gently by it's body and brought it outside and it flew away. Now all of these people are college educated and well verse in nature they all knew that this dragon fly could not hurt them but their reaction was to kill it, why? We are taking about many "Vegans" who preach all day long about killing animals to eat them
Something my God allows as shown in Nature.
I am a hypocrite I eat meet I am not innocent either but maybe at nine fearing what life was ahead for me at that moment I was - my creator showed me the joy and the sorrow of the reality life based on a material universe.
Joe Capp
UFO Media Matters
Non-Commercial Blog
Dear Pavel,
ReplyDeleteThank you. I am still trying to figure out why humans do what we do,
I am just an amateur when it comes to God.
Joe