Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, December 24, 2016

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2016

SECTION B

AROUND SAN GABRIEL VALLEY

PORTANTINO PROPOSES SEGMENT OF CA-134 
FREEWAY TO BE NAMED AFTER PRESIDENT OBAMA


Glendale, CA – Today Senator Anthony J. 
Portantino introduced Resolution, SCR 8, which 
will name the segment of the CA-134 freeway 
between the Glendale CA-2 and the Interstate 
210 Freeway the “President Barack H. Obama 
Freeway”. President Obama attended Occidental 
College in Eagle Rock from 1979 to 1981 and 
lived in Pasadena during his sophomore year. His 
attendance at Occidental College influenced his 
political trajectory and led him to become one 
of our most revered and respected Presidents in 
American history. President Obama is leaving 
office with tremendous approval from across our 
country. 

 For his contributions as a community activist, 
constitutional scholar, United States Senator 
and President, it is only fitting to honor our 44th 
President by naming a part of a freeway he most 
certainly used while living in the area. Over this 
past weekend, local activists in the 25th Senate 
District suggested to Sen. Portantino that given the 
President’s connection to Southern California and 
Eagle Rock in particular, it would be appropriate to 
memorialize his time in Southern California with 
a freeway naming. Sen. Portantino has spoken 
with Asm. Jimmy Gomez who currently represents 
Eagle Rock and he will be joining Portantino on 
this resolution. Portantino represented Eagle Rock 
while in the Assembly. 

 “I am honored to be in a position to bring 
appropriate respect to President Obama’s 
leadership, his fond memories of living in the 25th 
Senate District, his college days in the 51st Assembly 
District and his tremendous legacy. California 
has a long history of designating our freeways as 
reminders of the accomplishments of important 
leaders who have shown character, strength, and 
passion. President Obama is a laudable person 
to showcase and for Southern Californians to 
appreciate,” commented Sen. Portantino.

THE FAITH THAT FOLLOWED A STAR

If ever there was an age motivated by magic, it was 
brought to our world in those olden times of our past. 
The generation that drew breath during these days 
had less reason for belief in their arduous season of 
suffering, but more gallant did their pulses gallop with 
belief. The events of this age plainly expressed far fewer 
ornaments of hope, but more stridently did flourish 
their indomitable expectations of courage. 

 It has been suggested that the world is a dramatic 
game of movements, with each player being 
characterized by the conduct of how they play. If one 
can fathom the world as such, he or she might imagine 
the most ingenious chess match ever devised. The 
standards of our practice and play has essentially 
remained the same since the beginning of time. Our 
ancestors of yesteryear yearned to conquer that game 
labeled “life,” just as we do. Granting our ancestors’ 
instincts and intellect are equal to ours, and knowing 
that we arrogantly dismiss such meditations of theirs 
by complacently assuming our libraries of knowledge, 
entitles us to a degree of clarity more magnificent than 
the means of their possession. One might consider, 
however, that the shelves of our time are filled by more 
ignorance than the collect works of knowledge. The 
truth was as intensely alive in their age, as we might 
hope to discover it in ours. 

 In those decorated days of our past, there existed 
three men of the most extraordinary ambition. If the 
world was established with one of these men, it would 
be spoken of itself with an abundance of fortune. If two 
such souls were joined into the same such moment of 
time, an intense sense of coincidence would wet the lips 
of those who understood. However, the admittance of 
this third unselfish soul eradicated every implication 
of casual luck, inscribing the history that follows as a 
wondrous work of magic. 

 If the reader is affable to the idea, they may 
emphatically edit the word “magic” from the page and 
substitute the word, “miracle.” I shall not be the writer 
to argue the wisdom of such interpretations. I only speak 
of magic in the voice of a child who is wonderstruck by 
the world he sees in this story.

 Three boys were born to the sands of the desert, 
sprinkled about a world where the cool of the night, and 
the delight of the wind, whispered away the burning 
sight of the sun. The three boys were not linked by any 
biology of parents, nor did they share the same city of 
sand, but their brotherhood was deeper than the bonds 
of blood; or the proximity of place. These three boys 
shared in the dearest yearnings to know God.

 The vast places of empty desert and the continents of 
sand, were the citizens of the cities in the ancient age of 
kings, nourished by the night. They were dragged from 
darkness -- not by the light of terrestrial torches, but 
by those candles of the night that sheltered above the 
earth in the holy magic of stars. So natural where those 
nights in which three curious children joined as one, in 
their appreciation of the lights overhead. By the age of 
responsibility, these three men were known by the kings 
of their land as the single-minded seekers of knowledge, 
and the ultimate testers of the truth. By the advantage 
of daylight, they scoured the sacred scrolls of the Old 
Testament and studied the pronouncement of prophets. 
By God’s Holy night, they charted the Heavens, and 
those nomadic stars that sailed the dark ocean above. 

 They understood the prophetic words of Daniel, 
discerningly identifying the time of the great King’s 
coming arrival. They fully believed the scriptures, and 
they saw their faith endorsed by the advent of a star -- 
a star which spoke of this new King. They assembled 
with action, each going to their prospective Kings, and 
informing their rulers of the glorious birth of the peace 
loving prince. Each King made instruction that these 
men should journey forth with a supply of gifts to honor 
the “King of all Kings.” The three men embarked from 
each of their places with their caravan of camels. After 
forty days of travel, a wonderful lake of water appeared 
from the sand. The first caravan of camels tented for 
the night by the shore of this magical body of water. Not 
soon after, a second train of animals arrived to revel in 
the delightful appearance of a crystal clear lake that 
surfaced from the dry sand like the Garden of Eden 
to their thirsty throats. As this second set of settlers 
raised their tents for the night, a third convoy of camels 
adopted positions beside the water’s edge. The first man 
who had entered this place, invited these wandering 
travelers to dine as guests in his tent. It was soon 
discovered, that each of these three men were following 
the same star that appeared to them in the East.

 From then on, the three men, from their three 
separate places, followed the star as one. Their travels 
remained remarkably smooth from that moment 
forward, and they could feel in their chests, the physical 
happiness of their hearts as they entered Jerusalem to 
inquire of King Herod, “Where is the child to be born 
King of the Jews?” 

 Herod was ignorant of the Micah’s prophesy of the 
savior’s birth, and inquired of his chief priests this 
question, to which they said, “Bethlehem.” 

Leaving the city of Jerusalem, the three traveled toward 
Bethlehem, as the star of the East and the curious 
light it cast each night, went on before them. The men 
stopped to rest their camels for the evening outside of 
Bethlehem. From the place where the men stood, they 
could clearly see the torches of the little town swaying 
in the soft touch of the wind. Their eyes tracked the 
blades of grass that chased up the gentle hillside. They 
examined those places that clustered with scattered 
white pebbles -- the majestic starlight’s white pearls of 
glorious wonder. 

 A little after the tents were set, they stood and 
admired the welcoming world of almond, cedar, oak, 
and pleasant assortment of palm trees which decorated 
their landscape. As their campfire actively matured 
in warmth, a flock of sheep wandered down from 
the heights of the hill with their devoted shepherd in 
tow. The men, being of great curiosity as to what they 
would find in Bethlehem, called to the shepherd, and 
inquired of the city and the nature of its people. Once 
they were sufficiently answered in full, they moved to 
the question about the birth of a King. The countenance 
of the shepherd changed, as he told them of how it 
all happened: “It started much on a night like this, 
the glory of an angel appeared to me and the other 
shepherds of this hill, declaring, ‘This very day in King 
David’s hometown a savior was born to you.’” Then the 
shepherd looked to the sky as a complete sense of magic 
occupied his eyes, slightly hesitating before resumed his 
story, “A host of angels descended on us, while in the 
full praise of God! Then the angels commanded us to 
go forth into Bethlehem and to locate the savior, who is 
sleeping upon a bed of hay, and we did as the angels told 
us and found the child, to be named Jesus.”

 It was then, that one of the men said to the shepherd 
and the other two he was traveling with, “It was from 
these very fields, as David watched over his sheep, that 
Samuel called him into his Father’s home and anointed 
him King of Israel. God has made this shepherd before 
us a witness to the great Lamb of God, Jesus, who shall 
lead all nations from the penalty of sin.” The men were 
astonished, and now understood why this man, and the 
occupation of this shepherd, would be regarded as the 
most prudent to be summoned to the birth of God. 

 The telling of this story made the men eager to see 
the child, so they hastily packed all of their items and 
started off toward the little town of Bethlehem. As the 
men stepped upon the road, the magical light of the 
star which had guided them to this place, appeared 
once again, brightening the path before them. Under 
the noble spell of this sacred light, even the camels of 
this caravan buoyantly bounced upon the road toward 
Bethlehem.

 After passing through the heart of Bethlehem, the 
light of star settled upon the roof of a small house. The 
men knocked upon the wooden door, and as Joseph 
opened it, offering entrance, the men beheld the sight of 
Mary and her child. They instantly went to their knees 
and knelt before the child as they worshipped Jesus. 
Each of these men presented a gift from their kingdom 
which was common for a king to receive: one gave gold, 
the other frankincense, and the last man, myrrh.

The magic of this age was written by the hidden hand of 
Heaven, and of all the living chess pieces that walk this 
world. One thing was certain: they were three of the 
best to ever play the game. So great does their glory still 
exist, that they are enduringly identified by us as wise 
men. It was the action of study, and a measurement of 
faith, that placed these wise men upon the table of time. 
They are placed at that magnificent moment of historical 
magic, for the enrichment and glory of our knowledge. 
They could not have begun the game, nor known for 
certain as science tells us something is certain, but 
each of these wise men’s moves and whole of their faith, 
navigated them across the world’s chessboard to post 
them at that perfect place before their King. 

 May your path be pointed by the light of God, and 
may your faith be of such wisdom that it lifts you to the 
door of Heaven. 

Much Love and Merry Christmas!

Craig Hakola

CraigHakola@aol.com

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