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Show THE THUNDERBIRD A glimpse into our eternity It was once said in the heady days of the founding of the United Nations that ...men become more reasonable in resolving their differences as they draw closer to eternity." We can take no certain comfort in the realization that men must be brought to the edge of eternity in order to avoid it. There is a bit of eternity that sits quietly in a dusty, forgotten corner of the pipe tunnel that lies just underneath the Auditorium stage. It squats inobtrusively just inside the door with a staidness that provides a curious counterpoint to the frivolity of the theatre that flows around it. Through the years it continues its quiet vigil, waiting for a darker time there will be no thought of the stage or even of Bret Saberhagen's perfect slider, but only of the desperation of survival. It is not a comforting thing to encounter eternity because it minimizes those things in our lives that we hold as significant and it summons us to the consciousness that the inevitability of the future is far from certain. Yet, to face it is to come one small step closer to ridding ourselves of the squat sentinels of our future that bear the name, Civil Defense Iodine Concentrate: For use in the event of radiation exposure. Perhaps in order to enact change in the present, we must face the future. Consider a single thermonuclear device resting on the ocean floor 400 miles from Los Angeles. It is a time when the tension of men has loosed the nuclear furies upon the world and a quick burst of telemetry ignites our bomb. Nearly a mile beneath the surface of the Pacific, the ocean floor becomes hotter than the sun. The water for miles disappears. A shock wave is punched into the Earth's crust and the ocean floor shatters like glass. High above, the Pacific explodes. Vast sections of the Pacific become airborne. Billions of tons of highly radioactive water are blown into the atmosphere. In the long moments that follow, the ocean goes berserk with a fury unknown in the history of man. The message of eternity first comes to California in the form of tremors from the blast. The first cause no commotion, they have certainly felt stronger. But these tremors turn to earthquakes of a magnitude never before felt, and the buildings of Los Angeles turn to rubble. But all of it, all of this, is nothing. A new and distant thunder begins to roll in from the West. The sounds of the shaken earth die away and the earth stands still. A wind springs from nowhere and increases to a shreiking gale, screaming like the cry of a thousand banshees, and then they see it. Those who can see it feel their hearts go cold. For what they see is true. From the north to the south as far as the eye can see, compelled by a nightmare. A tidal wave worthy of Moses rushing toward them at 400 miles an hour. A bulldozer blade a thousand feet high and infinitely wide slashes into the mainland. It takes three minutes for all of Los Angeles to die and the water rushes on. The juggernaut rushes over California and on finally comes to a halt at the base of the Chocolate Mountains however radioactive Arizona-California The mist, border. fiercely the continues on in the prevailing winds killing millions. What would the land look like after the water had leceded? Do back from the moon? you remember those pictures our astronauts sent The bleak landscape? The lifeless mountains? You see, you do know what it would be like. Nuclear disarmament. It's not a bad idea really. Albert Einstein, Mahatma Ghandi spoke for virtually all of the great thinkers of our time. They looked ahead toward the grim future of the atomic age would and concluded that the final bulwark against be the common sense of a man who had the courage to act and add his light to the greater light of those who stand against the madness of a violent world. Unfortunately, those brave souls that do challenge the present order often shroud their message in the language of extremism and, as such, the important message of peace is lost. It is the challenge of the American middle class to become involved. If not us, then who? If not now, then when? But, you don't want to read about this. There are so many other things to think about; working, planning, falling in love and why the hell worry about a tomorrow that can not be controlled? We're guilty of this. ..all of us. ..of this world that we are passing on. Social events rear up and make their change and sometimes people even manage to get their voice as loud as a whisper. But, nothing really ever changes. Look off stage center into the wings. The real actors are there squatting silently, collecting dust, and going largely ignored. Still, within its unadorned message, Civil Defense Iodine Concentrate: For use in the event of radiation exposure, is our eternity. MONDAY MAY 18, 1987 PACE 5 A LITTLE SHORT ON CASHI and a get Bring in your student I.D. discount on a Arbys Meal Deal. 10 78 WEST HARDING 'AVE. CEDAR CITY 586-848- 4 $5a on a set of Acrylic Nail s Must present coupon. Offer good through June 5, 1987. Only Cre Ations, 78 West Harding Ave Cedar City, Utah. 84720 wstrxi : |
