Creative History

  It is Christmas Eve 1801 and a most unusual sight, something never before seen in all of human history, is witnessed that afternoon in the small city of Camborne located in Cornwall County in the southwest corner of England. Lumbering down Fore Street and then continuing up Camborne Hill to the neighboring village of Beacon, in the cold pouring rain is a cast iron, wheeled contraption that is belching acrid black smoke straight up into the earth’s atmosphere by means of a large vertical pipe. This is the Puffing Devil: so named by its most remarkable inventor Richard Trevithick.  The Puffing Devil is the first ever man made self-propelled wheeled vehicle in the history of the world.  It is the precursor to all of today’s cars, trucks and wheeled gas and electric powered vehicles. It is carrying six passengers, one of whom is Richard Trevithick himself, along with his cousin Andrew Vivian, who is standing just aft the enormous smokestack and steering the devil by means of a cumb

  It is December in the year 1223 in the tiny Italian village of Greccio.  Mendicant friar, ascetic, holy man, lover of animals and of all mankind, one day to be canonized by the Church as Saint Francis of Assisi, invites all to come and gaze upon what he calls “the Babe of Bethlehem”. Francis is too overcome by emotion and reverence to dare utter the name of the Lord Jesus aloud. The faithful flock to central Italy by the thousands to catch a glimpse of this living wonder. It is now only days before Christ’s Mass on December 25, one of the most holy days on the liturgical calendar, set aside to celebrate the birth of the One who was born to save us all. St. Francis, with both his name and his reputation for holiness preceding him, had recently petitioned Pope Honorius III for permission to recreate the birth of Jesus in living form to place emphasis back on, “Christ and not material things,” as he put it. Pope Honorius not only gave Saint Francis of Assisi permission to crea

  Archie Mitchell just turned twenty-seven years old four days ago.  Archie is the young, popular Pastor of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, an evangelical Bible based non denominational congregation located in Bly, Oregon.  Archie and his wife Elsie are expecting their first child in just a few months. Bly, Oregon, is a very tiny hamlet of under 500 souls.  It is located in the southern part of the state, nestled among dense forests, and is only about an hour or so drive from northern California. It is May 5, 1945.  The Second World War, after nearly six long years, is finally coming to a merciless and protracted end.  In two days Nazi Germany will surrender on all fronts to the allied armies thereby effectively ending World War Two in Europe.   But the Empire of Japan, the nation which first brought the United States into the war nearly four years earlier with the unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor will hold out against the onslaught of American might for four more

  November 15, 1572.   The weather in Kriesbuhl, a small picturesque farming village in the foothills of the Swiss Alps is cold, even for that time of year, but clear. On that day, a Saturday, Hans Buchmann, an impoverished peasant farmer, has a debt to pay.  He owes sixteen florins, roughly the equivalent of $600 in today’s money, to a creditor in the nearby market town of Sempach.  Hans has been borrowing heavily against his small plot of land to make ends meet and provide for his family. But no matter how much Hans borrows, the money seems to always disappear and his family remains impoverished. Lucky for him this fall’s crop has been quite lucrative and he’s saved up the money to pay off his creditor.  Now in the crisp early morning sunlight Hans is preparing to walk the four miles to Sempach to pay off his debts.  Unfortunately, for Hans, the road from Kriesbuhl to Sempach is mostly uphill and through wooded terrain, but in November of 1572, though the temperatures have been