Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 7, 2016

12

THE WORLD AROUND US


WATCH PLANET MERCURY CROSS THE SUN ON MONDAY, MAY 9


NASA is inviting viewers around the world to see 
a relatively rare celestial event, with coverage of the 
transit of the Sun by planet Mercury during the 
morning of Monday, May 9.

 Mercury passes directly between Earth and the 
Sun only about 13 times a century, its last trek 
taking place in 2006. Viewing this event safely 
requires a telescope fitted with a solar filter.

 NASA offers several ways for the public to view 
the event, including images on NASA.gov, a one-
hour NASA Television special, and social media 
coverage.

 Mercury will appear as a small black dot as it 
crosses the edge of the Sun and into view at 7:12 
a.m. EDT (4:12 a.m PDT). The planet will make a 
leisurely journey across the face of the Sun, reaching 
mid-point at approximately 7:47 a.m. PDT, and 
exiting the golden disk at 11:42 a.m. PDT.

 CAUTION! NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE 
SUN WITHOUT A PROPER SOLAR FILTER, AS 
THIS CAN CAUSE SEVERE EYE DAMAGE OR 
BLINDNESS!

 Images from NASA’s Solar Dynamics 
Observatory (SDO) will be posted at http://www.
nasa.gov/transit

 NASA also will stream a live program on NASA 
TV and the agency’s Facebook page from 7:30 to 
8:30 a.m. PDT—an informal roundtable during 
which experts representing planetary science, 
solar physics, and astrophysics will discuss the 
science behind the Mercury transit. Viewers can 
ask questions via Facebook and Twitter using 
#AskNASA.

*******

VIEW THE TRANSIT FROM MT. WILSON. 
Mount Wilson Observatory, located in the 
mountains above Pasadena, welcomes you to see 
Mercury as it travels across the face of the sun 
on Monday, May 9. The transit will be visible at 
sunrise at 5:56 a.m. and continues until 11:42 a.m. 
Observatory gates will be open at 5:30 a.m. and 
visitors will be welcomed into the observatory to 
observe Mercury and the sun with various solar 
telescopes including the observatory’s 150 Foot 
Solar Tower and the Snow Solar Telescope. 

In addition, the Cosmic Café on the Observatory 
grounds will be open to sell food, drinks, and 
souvenirs. Tours will be offered to see inside the 
domes of the 60 inch and 100 inch telescopes, each 
the largest in the world at the beginning of the last 
century.

 A $10 donation at the gate is suggested for this 
event.

 The last time Mercury transited the face of the 
sun was in 2006. The next time a transit of Mercury 
will be visible from Los Angeles is in 2019, then 
again in 2049. Don’t miss this chance to see it. 

 Mount Wilson Observatory is located 19 miles 
from La Cañada Flintridge in the San Gabriel 
Mountains. Take Angeles Crest Highway (Hwy 
2) east for 14 miles to the Red Box/Mount Wilson 
road, and turn right. The Observatory is 5 miles up 
the road. A map is available at the Observatory’s 
website at http://www.mtwilson.edu/vis/map.pdf.

 Follow updates to this event and ask your 
questions at the Mount Wilson Observatory 
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/
events/1713781242238389/

 In the event of rain or heavy fog, which will 
cancel the event, the Facebook page will have the 
status of the event. May is often cloudy in the LA 
basin, but the observatory is usually above the 
marine-layer clouds. Check the weather at the 
Mount Wilson Towercam page (http://obs.astro.
ucla.edu/towercam.htm) before you come up.

 This event is hosted by the Mount Wilson 
Observatory with support from the Los Angeles 
Astronomical Society and The Planetary Society.

 

 You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@
MtnViewsNews.com.


CHRISTOPHER Nyerges

OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder

A LOOK AT MOTHER’S DAY

[Nyerges is the author 
of “Til Death Do Us 
Part?”, “Squatter in 
Los Angeles,” “How to 
Survive Anywhere,” 
and others. He 
conducts field trips and 
seminars. For more information, contact www.
ChristopherNyerges.com or Box 41834, Eagle 
Rock, CA 90041, or on-line at www.SchoolofSelf-
Reliance.com. He also participates in the exploring 
the real meaning of holidays via WTI, at www.
wtinc.info.]

 One of the victims of our uniquely “American”-
style capitalism and greed is the demise of real 
meaning within our many holy days and holidays. 
There is plenty of blame to go around for this, 
even beginning with the marketing of holiday 
“stuff” by the various stores, the media for going-
along-with the pablum messages, and the general 
population for passively accepting this dumbing-
down of our sacred traditions.

 When we reduce what should be a time of great 
reflection and learning to a time of buying foods 
and “stuff,” we become the victims of our own 
ignorance. We deprive ourselves of these annual 
reminders that our lives should be something 
more, something greater than merely going 
through some pointless physical motions. 

 Mother’s Day is therefore not alone in the way it 
has been outright perverted. And this is really sad, 
since everything begins at home. A child learns all 
his or her values in the home. We have heard it 
said that charity begins at home, but much more 
begins at home. He who is undisciplined at home 
will practice that same undisciplined thinking in 
the workplace, at school, and in the community, 
even though such is easier to hide “out there” than 
it is at home.

 He or she who practices hypocrisy and 
dishonesty at home will practice the same in the 
workplace, at school, and in the community. This 
is so, despite the defensive denials of so many 
public officials who want the gullible among us 
to believe that what they do at home is wholly 
separate from “their job.” No! That’s a big lie. 
The idea that we can think and act one way at 
home, and another in the community, is absurd! 
The home is the fundamental “training ground” 
where one’s ideas and ideals and principles can be 
practiced and tested “safely,” and where one can 
grow and evolve, hopefully amidst a loving and 
concerned family.

 The mother is more often than not the heart 
of family, carrying on a 24-hour a day job. The 
ultimate essence of motherhood is self-discipline. 
First, self-discipline to conduct one’s self in a 
manner that is a fitting example to one’s children. 
After all, children “learn” the most from watching 
what their parents do. Then there is the self-
discipline of motherhood to see that all the 
physical and emotional and spiritual needs of the 
children are tended to. 

 In the traditional family where the father works 
at a regular job and the mother raises the children, 
the mother’s job is far more important and far 
harder than men ever give them credit for. The 
average man’s job is relatively simply. He get 
ups, eats breakfast, goes to a job, works, comes 
home, eat dinners, maybe goes to a meeting in 
the evening, goes to bed, and repeats it all the next 
day. 

 But the scope of responsibility of a mother at 
home is much vaster than the father’s. The mother 
who exemplifies the Principle of Motherhood is 
working at a level akin to a CEO of a company, 
focusing on the education, security, nutrition, and 
spirituality of the children. The mother, more 
often than not, is the psychologist and nurse, and 
provider of entertainment and stimulating mental 
activities. Of course, all this is taking place while 
the mother must put many of her personal desires 
on the back burner.

 The point that is lost on so many of us today 
is that we have confused “the Principle of 
Motherhood” with a female body who has given 
birth to at least one child. This is a serious error 
in our thinking. The Principle of Motherhood 
is a Universal Principle, which means it’s there 
to be studied and learned by anyone, including 
men (actually, especially men). The principles 
of motherhood can and should be studied, and 
practiced by all. It begins with a way of thinking, 
a way of taking responsibility, a way of embracing, 
a way of loving. Men are the most deficient in 
motherhood principles because they have been 
duped (by their peers, by society, by themselves) 
into thinking that since they reside in male bodies, 
they needn’t be concerned about that female stuff. 

Men attempting to learn the principles of 
Motherhood create balanced and stronger men. 
This is equally true for women attempting to learn 
and apply the principles of Fatherhood.

 Men perform spiritual violence upon our 
beloved mothers when we fall for the grossest 
Mother’s Day marketing campaigns -- such as 
buying chocolates, sexy underwear, perfume, or 
jewelry. (Did you already do that? Well, there’s 
always next year!) 

 We have attempted for years to explore the 
real underlying meanings of each holiday and 
Holy day, and this effort has opened our eyes 
to how ignorant we have all chosen to become. 
Becoming part of the solution to this problem 
may seem difficult and socially-unacceptable. 
Though picnics and heart-felt hand-written 
cards have their place, it is also good to take the 
time on Mother’s Day to recognize and honor 
our mothers, and to find ways that all of us can 
emulate those highest principles of Motherhood.

LAYING MY MOTHER’S DAY 

CARDS ON THE TABLE

I am not one given over to gambling unless you 
call life a gamble and then all bets are off. I do 
not even play the lottery because I would end 
up paying out $1,987.14 in order to win $10. 
I have a difficult time parting with my money 
because I am a Pennsylvania Dutchman; at 
least that is my excuse.

 That being said, there is only one area of 
my life where I indulge in a certain amount 
of gambling. That area is Mother’s Day cards. 
I am at a complete loss when it comes to this 
and knows not what I doeth.

 Now part of my quandary is in the loose 
interpretation of Mother’s Day. When we 
celebrate Mother’s Day, who in the world are 
we celebrating?

 I can remember when the Gracious Mistress 
of the Parsonage and Yours Truly were first 
married. It was so long ago that I do not have 
enough fingers or toes to count it. When we 
were first married, we bought two Mother’s 
Day cards; one for her mother and one for my 
mother. Oh, how I long for those simple days.

 A little over a year after we were married 
a little tyke came into our lowly domicile. 
Our first daughter was born in the month of 
August and I really did not understand the 
significance of it until the following Mother’s 
Day.

 That year we had to buy three Mother’s Day 
cards; one for my wife’s mother, one for my 
mother and one for my daughter to give to her 
mother.

 Now what I want to know is how in the 
world was I roped into buying a Mother’s 
Day card for my wife? After all, she is not my 
mother. And I do not know how many times I 
have reminded her of that very fact.

 I was conned into buying that Mother’s Day 
card for my wife by thinking that I was buying 
it for my daughter to give to her mother. I 
am not sure I am buying that story. I bought 
the card, all right, and when I gave it to my 
daughter; she immediately put it in her mouth. 
She had no idea what in the world a Mother’s 
Day card was.

 Several years later, we had a new addition to 
our family. Our son was born.

 Now I have more Mother’s Day cards to buy. 
One for my mother, one for my wife’s mother, 
one for my daughter to give to her mother and 
one for my son to give to his mother. These 
Mother’s Day cards are getting to be rather 
expensive.

 You will not believe this, but a few years 
later, a third child became a member of our 
family. Our second daughter was born. And 
you guessed it; my Mother’s Day card buying 
went up.

 Now I need to buy a Mother’s Day card for 
my mother, one for my wife’s mother, one for 
my first daughter to give to her mother, one 
for my son to give to his mother and one for 
my second daughter to give to her mother.

 I once suggested that I buy one Mother’s 
Day card for my three children to give to their 
mother. I was quickly and soundly outvoted 
on that issue. And so, I begin saving up my 
allowance right after Christmas for my 
Mother’s Day card extravaganza.

 If this was not bad enough, each Mother’s 
Day card has to be specifically chosen in 
respect to the person who is giving it. That 
person, not being me. How many times and 
how many different ways can you say “Happy 
Mother’s Day?”

 I thought I had reached the height of my 
Mother’s Day card purchasing, but then in a 
few years it took on a different perspective.

 Not only was I to buy all of these Mother’s 
Day cards, but I was to take the respective 
children along with me and allow them to 
personally pick out the card they wanted to 
give to their mother. And of course, their 
mother could not be along to supervise these 
purchases. Taking two toddlers and one semi-
toddler into a store to select appropriate 
Mother’s Day cards is as close as I have ever 
come to gambling away my fortune.

 Between the three of them, they had each 
boiled down their choice to 97 cards. Of 
course the youngest just grabbed as many as 
she possibly could. The two oldest had to look 
at each card and discuss the contents, meaning 
of course, I had to read each card to them. Not 
once, but over and over again.

 Looking back on that time I realize that my 
children had an ingenious strategy all worked 
out. After four hours of going through all of 
these cards I would say to them, “If you pick a 
card right now I’ll take you all to get some ice 
cream.”

 Now, those children are all grown up and 
married which has added to my long list of 
Mother’s Day card purchases.

 Solomon had it right when he wrote, “Many 
daughters have done virtuously, but thou 
excellest them all. Favour is deceitful, and 
beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the 
LORD, she shall be praised” (Proverbs 31:29-
30 KJV).

 Of all the thousands of Mother’s Day cards 
I have purchased throughout the years, I must 
honestly confess they have all been worth it.

The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the 
Family of God Fellowship, in Silver Springs 
Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail 
jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is 
www.whatafellowship.com.

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com