A mysterious program
Far beyond our reasoning,
The ones open to mysteries
Never fall on their knees.
Do have the faith, then,
Never be felled by confusion!

Close not your eyes to the beauty
Do not be stuck in the ugly!
Behold Him as mountains do the sun!
Watch ever for His Holy Light,
Put the darkness aside!

Keep whirling within the phenomena
As the sage do!
Glimpse the good sides of both
pleasure and grief

Relinquish gloom and worry
If your willpower is bustling
Become the spring of hope for all,
If you can!

Till the seekers of a tranquil corner
Shall run to you;
And those joining your aura
Shall overflow with fervent happiness.

In the mountains, people use mason jars for everything: canning, flower vases, gifts, moonshine, drinking glasses, treasure jars – the list goes on and on. There’s not much a good old mason jar can’t do for us country folk. Believe me, a person has never had a good glass of tea until they have drank it from a mason jar full of ice, with a slice of lemon shoved down in it. It is m…..m….good!

The treasure jar is the one I want to write about. The name treasure jar explains itself. It’s very simple. People decorate the jars and then put items in them that they treasure themselves. The treasure can be a simple recipe passed down generations through the family, or it can contain rare old coins worth a fortune. It all depends on what the person holds dear to them in their own hearts. Once the jars are filled, they are given as gifts.

When I was a child, I would catch lightning bugs and put them in an old mason jar and set them on a table beside my bed. I would watch them light up until I fell asleep. It was a “simple” but “great” treasure in my young eyes. But no matter how hard I would pray for them to live forever beside my bed, they would always die.

I have thought about it a lot, and if I only had seventy-two hours to live, this is what I would do: First, I would buy five-hundred mason jars in different sizes, then I would put my “prized” possessions in them. Next, I would distribute them in unique ways so that the people getting them would surely smile. Remember that where I’m from, “prized” possessions do not have to have monetary value. They only have to mean something special to the one giving the jars.

The people that I would give my jars to would be chosen very carefully because, after all, I’m giving away “my” prized treasures. The first jars made would be for my four grandchildren. I have three boys and one girl, ages running from newborn to age seven. In my granddaughter’s jar I would put some pictures of us together, as well as a recording of my voice with a special message just for her. I would also add my pearls and ask her to wear them on her wedding day. That way a part of me will be with her on her special day. I would arrange for the jar to be given to her on her wedding day. The boys’ jars would also contain a recording of my voice and some pictures as well , but one would contain a watch given to me by my father. Another, a case knife I’ve had for years. The last one would contain an old engagement ring of mine, so that whoever receives it can give it to his true love someday. I would want their jars given on special days as well, such as their senior graduation or eighteenth birthday.

The next jars would go to my son and daughter. My daughters jar would contain the rest of my jewelry, and then I would share with her my whole life story. I would tell her things about myself that I have never told anyone. I think she would be very surprised about some of the things she would learn. I believe some things are better left unsaid until the time is right to share them.

My sons jar would contain some old coins that belonged to his father and all of my old love letters written by his father when I was only fifteen years old. I would also include the poetry and songs I’ve written over the years that no one else has ever seen or heard.

The next thing I would do is take twenty of the jars and write down all of the hopes and dreams and goals that I had, but never got to accomplish. I would release them into the river along with a note to those who found them that would say,” live everyday like it’s your last, because it may well be.”

The rest of my jars would travel across the seas, to other states, and hopefully to the White House. Some jars would be painted red, white and blue and sent over seas for the men and women serving our country. Their jars would contain thank-you notes for their brave gestures, and also a lucky penny in each one. Next, I would love for one of my jars to make it to the president and his family. In their jar I would place inspirational notes for them to read to lift them up when times seem really hard. I would also explain how happy I was to have lived long enough to see a historical moment in time. I would also include two handkerchiefs that were embroidered. one would say, “MR. PRESIDENT’ and the other one would say, “FIRST LADY”. The only way I can think of to get it to the president is to go to the media, so that’s exactly what I would do.

Finally, the rest of my jars would be divided in half and shipped to The Shriners Hospital and to The ST. Judes Hospital, because they treat very sick children for free. The jars would be decorated and filled with small toys and trinkets along with an inspirational note to encourage them to keep on fighting until they find a cure for their diseases. I would want the jars to be given to the children as soon as possible, because these children are fighting for their lives, and some may not make it.

I believe my jars would bring peace to others as well as myself because they would know they were on my mind in my final moments of life. It would also bring me peace to know that I left a part of myself all over the world. And that’s something special, considering I’ve always lived in the mountains and have lived a very simple life.

Once my goal was achieved, I would spend time in prayer. I would pray for my loved ones as well as myself because I would not tell them I was going to die, because I want to remember them with a happy, joyful spirit, not with a sad broken one. But if, for some reason, I was given more time to live, I would do the things I’ve always wanted to do, like write a book, record the songs I’ve written, and I would love to be able to travel to places I’ve never been to.

Life is short, and time passes quickly, but I want to live. But just like the lightning bugs I caught as a child, I will eventually die. Life and Death walk together hand in hand. Life screams, “LIVE!” and Death screams, “YOU BETTER LIVE BECAUSE I AM COMING AFTER YOU SOONER THAN YOU THINK!”

Belinda Sturgill is a freelance writer. She lives in McRoberts, KY, and she can be reached at belindasturgill12@yahoo.com. With this essay, she won an honorable mention in The Fountain Essay Contest 2010.

Just as in the case of this volcanic eruption, Harold Olcese, one of the finalists in The Fountain essay contest 2009, opens a window in this issue enabling us to see the brighter side of events. His essay is an empowering one and will inspire many to survive even the seemingly most tragic of all misfortunes.

However, chaos is more catastrophic not when a volcano erupts, but when individuals and societies “breathe resentment, swallow hatred, curse all that is deemed to be an enemy with a fixed and determined passion, as if programmed for fury.” The lead article portrays the chaotic drama of persistent denial vis A vis the mystical world of faith.

We learn in this issue that mountains-despite occasional explosions of lava from volcanic ones-are indeed the “water towers of the world.” Quoting from the article, 70% of the human population depends on the water originating from the mountains.

The Matter & Beyond interview with Dr. Katherine Marshall from Berkeley Center for Religion establishes the fact that millions of people still live in misery and at extremely low standards of living. According to Marshall, this imbalance can be solved “with a revival of some of the best traditions of spirituality.”

Another mountain involved in this issue of The Fountain is the famous K2, the world’s second highest peak. Bulut reviews Three Cups of Tea, a book which sold millions of copies, written by Greg Mortenson who tried to climb this peak. However, he ended up in a village where he was inspired to write this book telling of his fantastic adventure to build schools.

Please check out the essay contest 2010 announcement at the back of this issue. “What would you do if you were told you had only 72 hours to live?” is the theme of this year’s contest organized in cooperation with Ebru TV.

On the face of the Earth, mountain regions are defined as areas more than 1000 m in elevation. Although mountains cover only 27% of the total land area of the planet, the percentage of the world population who are dependant on the mountains is much larger. In terms of water dependency, about 70% of the population uses water originated in the mountains. This ratio becomes close to 100% in arid regions. Interestingly, the water towers of the world are generally located in the arid regions of the world. It is not unusual to see an arid lowland region with a big river crossing it. These regions are usually connected to a nearby mountain from which the river originated. The significance of the mountains is mentioned in the Bible as the following: “For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land” (Psalm 95:3-5).

All great rivers of the world originate in mountains. For example, the arid region of Central Asia is watered by the Tarek, Amu Darya, and Tarim Rivers. All of the big rivers of China and India originate in Tibet. Pakistan is dependant on the Indus River. Asia Minor and Northern Arabian Peninsula are supplied by Euphrates and Tigris Rivers while Northern Africa is supplied by Nile River. All Australian waters are supplied by rivers originating from eastern highlands, and Europe is supplied by the Po, Rhine, and Tiber Rivers, which originate in mountainous areas. This makes mountain water strategically important in these areas, and in fact, some countries prefer to keep their need of mountain water a secret!

Here it is worth discussing the global water cycle in order to understand the peculiar role of the mountains. All of the precipitation onto land comes from evaporation on land and oceans. A significant portion of the land precipitation goes back to seas and oceans via river discharge every year. And the main source of fresh water for humans and other living organisms comes from rivers. For low-land precipitation (as opposed to mountain precipitation) the discharge happens rather quickly, within weeks. Therefore, humans build dams in order keep the water for longer periods of time. Another longer term solution to keep more water on land is planting trees, which benefits not only humans but all other living creatures!

For mountains, the water cycle works quite differently. Since the mountains are in high elevations, precipitation starts early in the late fall and continues until the end of spring. The river discharge does not begin until early summer. Especially in arid regions, the low-land discharge mostly diminishes by early spring, and no predictions can be made as to how arid the coming summer will be. On the other hand, because of lower temperatures in the mountains, evaporation is also minimal, which makes them efficient natural storages. At the end of spring when the lowland precipitation starts to diminish, the mountain water discharge begins in a steady manner and continues during the entire summer season. When we look at the yearly usage of water even in a humid region like Europe, more than 50% of the water during the hottest and driest months of June and July is released from the Alps. This percentage is more than 95% in arid regions of the world, such as Mesopotamia and North Africa. The Holy Quran mentions the storage of bounties, including water, explicitly as the following: “There is not a thing but the stores (for its life and sustenance) are with Us, and We do not send it down except in due, determined measure. And we send the winds to fertilize; and so We send down water from the sky, and give it to you to drink; it is not you who are the keepers of its stores” (15/21-22).

Since lowland water discharge is mainly controlled by precipitation, it is also unpredictable and rather quick. This is particularly inconvenient for farmers who have to make business plans for the entire of the year ahead of time. The knowledge of yearly precipitation is vital for farmers to make reliable investments. In lowland areas, prediction of water distribution months in advance is very difficult, and almost impossible before it actually precipitates! (In fact, an area of geological sciences is devoted to forecasting precipitation. This is also important for preventing causalities in potential floods). On the other hand, mountain discharge offers stability during the year, which makes life much easier for farmers.

Mountains are generally seen in our distant horizons of our living areas with their magnificence and silence. They have many benefits that we may or may not be aware of. Indeed they are the water towers of the world.

H. Huseyin Erdem is an earth scientist living in the USA.

Note

1. More discussion on this topic may be found in The Risale-i Nur Collection (e.g., see The Words, 33rd Word) by Bediuzzaman Said Nursi.

References

1. Wiegandt, Ellen (Ed.), Mountains: Sources of Water, Sources of Knowledge, The Netherlands: Springer, 2009.
2. B. Messerli and J.D. Ives (Ed’s), Mountains of the World: A Global Priority, Parthenon Pub., 1997.

Surely We created humanity of the best pattern. Then We reduced humanity to the lowest of the low, except for those who believe and do good deeds. (95:4-5)

In the following five points, we will explain five out of the thousands of virtues of belief.

First point

Through the light of belief, we reach the highest degree of perfection and become worthy of Paradise. On the other hand, the darkness of unbelief reduces us to the lowest level so that we become worthy of Hell. Belief connects us to our Majestic Maker, and our value derives from using our belief to demonstrate the Divine art and manifest the Divine Names. Unbelief breaks this relation, thereby veiling the Divine art and reducing our value to that of a mere and almost valueless physical entity, for we are no more than a perishable thing, a transient animal. We will explain this truth through a parable.

The value of the iron (or any other material) from which a work of art is made differs from the value of the art expressed in it. Sometimes they may have the same value, or else the art’s worth may be far more valuable than its material or vice versa. An antique may fetch as much as a million dollars, while its material is not even worth a few cents. If taken to the antiques market, it may be sold for its true value because of its art and the brilliant artist’s name. If taken to a blacksmith, it would be sold only for the value of its iron.

Similarly, each of us is a unique, priceless work of God Almighty’s art. We are His Power’s most delicate and graceful miracles, beings created to manifest His Names and inscriptions as miniature specimens of the universe. If we are illuminated with belief, these meaningful inscriptions become visible. Believers manifest them through their connection with their Maker, for the Divine art contained in each individual is revealed through such affirmations as: I am the work of the Majestic Maker, the creature and object of His Mercy and Munificence. As a result, and because we gain value in proportion to how well we reflect this art, we move from insignificance (in material terms) to beings ranked above all creatures. We communicate with God, are His guests on Earth, and are qualified for Paradise.(1)

But if unbelief is ingrained in us, all of the Divine Names’ meaningful manifestations are veiled by darkness and therefore non-expressive. If the artist is unknown, how can the aspects expressing the art’s worth be identified? Thus, most meaningful instances of that sublime art and elevated inscriptions are concealed. In material terms, unbelievers attribute them to trivial causes, nature, and chance, thereby reducing them to plain glass instead of sparkling diamonds. They are no more significant than any other material entity, self-condemned to a transient and suffocating life. They are no better than a most impotent, needy, and afflicted animal that eventually turns to dust. Unbelief thus spoils our nature by changing our diamond into coal.

Second point

Just as belief illuminates us and reveals the messages inscribed in our being by the Eternally-Besought-of-All, so does it illuminate the universe and remove darkness from the past and the future. We will explain this truth through what I experienced regarding the meaning of: God is the Protecting Friend of those who believe. He brings them out of the layers of darkness into the light (2:257).

I saw myself standing on an awe-inspiring bridge set over a deep valley between two mountains. The world was completely covered by a thick darkness. Looking to my right, I imagined I saw a huge tomb. Looking to my left, I felt as if I were seeing violent storms and calamities being prepared amid tremendous waves of darkness. Looking down, I imagined I was seeing a very deep precipice.

In that dreadful darkness, my torch’s dim light revealed a horrifying scene. All along the length of the bridge were such horrible dragons, lions, and monsters that I wished I had no torch. Whichever way I directed it, I got the same fright. This torch brings me only trouble, I exclaimed, angrily casting it to the ground and breaking it. All of a sudden, the darkness was replaced by light, as if I had switched on a huge light by breaking my torch. I saw everything in its true nature.

I discovered that the bridge was a highway on a smooth plain. The huge tomb was a green, beautiful garden in which assemblies of worship, prayer, glorification, and discourse were being led by illustrious persons. The turbulent, stormy, frightening precipices now appeared as a banqueting hall, a shaded promenade, a very beautiful resting place behind lovely mountains. The horrible monsters and dragons were, in fact, camels, sheep, and goats. Praise and thanks be to God for the light of belief, I said, and then awoke reciting: God is the Protecting Friend of those who believe. He brings them out of the layers of darkness into the light.

The two mountains are the beginning and end of this life, and the life between death and Resurrection. The bridge is the lifespan, between the two phases of the past (on the right) and the future (on the left). The torch is our conceited ego that, relying on its own achievements, ignores Divine Revelation. The monsters are the world’s events and extraordinary creatures.

Those who have fallen into the darkness of misguidance and heedlessness because of their confidence in their egos resemble me in the former state”in the dim light of a torch. With their inadequate and misguided knowledge, they see the past as a huge tomb in the darkness of extinction, and the future as a stormy scene of terror controlled by coincidence or chance.

The torch shows them events and creatures. In reality, these are subjugated to the All-Wise and All-Merciful, fulfill specific functions, and serve good purposes in submission to His Decree. However, they see such things as harmful monsters. These are the people referred to in: As to those who do not believe, their protecting friends are false deities. They bring them out of light into layers of darkness (2:257).

But if people are favored with Divine guidance so that belief enters their hearts and their Pharaoh-like egos are broken, enabling them to listen to the Book of God, they will resemble me in my later state. Suddenly the universe will fill with Divine Light, demonstrating the meaning of: God is the light of the heavens and the Earth (24:35).

Through the eye of their hearts, such people see that the past is not a huge tomb; rather, each past century is the realm of authority of a Prophet or a saint, where the purified souls, having completed the duties of their lives (worship) with: God is the Greatest, flew to higher abodes on the side of the future.

Looking to the left and through the light of belief, they discern, behind the mountain-like revolutions of the intermediate world and the next life, a feasting place set up by the All-Compassionate One at palaces of bliss in gardens of Paradise. They understand that such events as storms, earthquakes, and epidemics serve a specific function, just as the spring rain and winds, despite their apparent violence, serve many agreeable purposes. They even see death as the beginning of eternal life, and the grave as the gateway to eternal happiness.

Adapted from Bediuzzaman’s Twenty-third Word, First Chapter.

Footnote

1. For example, prayer is a form of communication with God, who speaks to us through Prophets, inspiration, or Scriptures.

Travel here and there seeking the seas they parted from.

They fall with the sound of plucked lute-strings;

And hearing it, the earth begins to breathe.

Drops of rain float down with the grace of butterflies,

As if arranging some meaning in most rhythmic verse.

They resonate in the ear like a sweet melody,

And skies seem to weep for the grass on earth.

Each drop has said farewell to its heavenly life,

And returns to its origin, which is a roaring ocean.

Everything on earth holds still to listen to rain;

Each drop descends to the ground like an angel.

Eyes seeing the rain fall in such thrilling harmony

See worlds beyond this world come into view.

The skies rejoice with smiles observed everywhere;

Everyone is enchanted by the heavenly rhapsody.

Vapour rises in masses as great as mountains,

Then it seeks the green, blue and orange on earth.

Rain always brings down a peculiar contentment;

And carries fragrance of Paradise and exhilaration.

That fragrance pervades everywhere, deep into the soul,

Earth awakens to life and flowers burst open.

The whole of creation finds peace and serenity,

The window open to the realms beyond becomes visible.

***

Many have pondered over God’s description of rain. He said:

He sendeth down from the heavens mountains wherein is hail (al-Nur, 24.43)

Traditional commentators have discussed the meanings of ‘mountains in the sky’. Literally the verse says: ‘are sent from the skies from mountains of (from) cold’. The construction is passive. The word min appears three times. The first indicates the general origin of the rain in from the skies, the second specifies the Origin further in from mountains and the third describes of what the mountains consist, what they contain or are characterised by, namely, cold This led the early generations, among them the Prophet’s cousin, Ibn ‘Abbas, to conclude that ‘there are mountains in the skies just as there are on the earth’. ‘Mountains’ can be used figuratively to mean ‘a great quantity’, as when we say that so- and-so has ‘mountains of gold’, meaning ‘he has a lot of gold’.

The language of the Qur’an is so rich that the verse could also mean that ‘mountains of cold’ descend from the skies. Anyone who has been caught in a heavy winter hailstorm will readily understand the image. Most English translators render baradin as hail. This is no doubt correct but something of the quality of the image is diminished. However, striking and powerful though the language and imagery are, we shall not be concerned with them here. Rather, we shall concentrate our attention on the scientific implications of the words used in the verse.

Hail is ‘frozen rain’ or ‘stones of frozen water’ and can be aptly described as ‘mountains’ descending from heaven or ‘comets of ice’.

Several scientists have researched the hypothesis that the source of all the oceans is storms of icy comets that enter the earth’s atmosphere at a rate of 20 per minute. These comets, which are believed to contain about 100 tons of water each, vaporize on impact with the atmosphere and fall as rain or snow.

The roots of this hypothesis are found in data received by the Dynamics Explorer 1 (DE1), a high-altitude, polar- orbiting satellite. The DE1 had been conducting the first global exploratory imaging mission of the earth. Professor Frank of Iowa University was interested in receiving the first global maps of the earth’s aurora. From a vantage point on the satellite, which orbits as far as 14,500 miles from earth, a photometer designed and operated by his team, measured the ultraviolet emissions from atomic oxygen in the atmosphere.

The bright or visible half of the earth, illuminated by the sun, is known as the ‘dayglow’. The dayglow is caused by sunlight being absorbed and re-radiated by oxygen at 180 miles above the earth’s surface. Scientists use the dayglow to learn about the structure of the atmosphere at high altitude. The dayglow images Frank received contained some unexpected features. He noticed the sky was speckled with dark spots or atmospheric holes. Frank and his partners witnessed about 30,000 such spots or holes during their 2,000 hours of observation. They scrutinized the measurements for faulty instrumentation, possible computer glitches, statistical flaws, telemetry interference, failing sensors and paint flecks on the imager. After eliminating the possibility of spurious effects, the scientists published their results on the atmospheric holes (Frank et al, 1986, pp.307-10). The images revealed that the spots were about 30 miles wide and lasted up to three minutes. So what were they? How did they appear?

Frank concluded they were being caused by water vapour in the outer fringes of the atmosphere. He calculated that it would need a 30-ft ball of loosely packed water and ice breaking up and vaporizing about 1,000 to 2,000 miles away from the earth to produce a cloud of water vapour the size of the dark spots on his satellite images.

He suggested that the holes in the dayglow were formed by small, comet-like objects entering the earth’s atmosphere. Sixty miles from the earth’s surface, the cloud of water vapour continues to plummet until it reaches a height of about 35 miles, where it gets mixed up with the air in the upper atmosphere. Winds circulating into the stratosphere turn the water vapour into ice crystals, which then fall and become part of the lower altitude’s water vapour, eventually turning into precipitation and ending up in the sea. At the observed rate of 20 per minute, this is calculated to result in an increase of the equivalent of one inch of water all over the earth’s surface every 10,000 years.

Erikson (1987. p.20) suggested the barrage of icy comets began around 4.2 billion years ago, and that they were at their most intense during the 300 million years that followed. Dr Clayne Yeates, deputy project scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said that the comets of ice or snowballs continue to move at 10 km per second relative to the earth. At about 1,000 km above the earth they break up into hail due to tidal waves and then turn to vapour in the atmosphere. Finally, the vapour falls as rain and joins the earth’s water cycle.

Clayne Yeates (Huyghe, 1988, pp.8-11) began a direct telescopic search for these small comets using the 36-inch Spacewatch Telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona – one of the few telescopes in the world sufficiently sensitive to detect these small comets directly. As these objects are too fast and too dark to be picked up on a photographic plate they needed to use a charged coupled detector (CCD) that counts individual photons of light and is 100 times more sensitive than a photographic plate. The Spacewatch Telescope is just such an instrument. The objects are indeed there. Telltale streaks appeared on the telescope’s images at the rate of more than one a minute, just as Frank had predicted.

Frank certainly did not set out to interpret the Qur’anic verse quoted above, nor does the imagery of the verse need any strengthening to be effective. Yet, may we not say that, with every new observation of God’s universe, we are enabled to see new shades of meanings in His words.