Time to remember those unforgettables

I’m one of the fortunate ones. There have been a raft of unforgettables, who have crossed my path. Those extraordinary individuals, who have defied great odds and pursued their dreams (or visions) no matter what the obstacles and the criticism of mere mortals.
And from that list three stand out from the rest. Of course, I’ve written about them in the past, and they certainly deserve to be written about again and again.
With the Israel-Gaza confrontation at a fever pitch I decided to search my files from 1999-2000 when I walked the streets of Jerusalem as a newsman for World Net Daily and a number of other publications. It was there I met a distinguished man named Gershon Salomon, whose mission in life was the rebuilding of the great Jewish sanctuary on the Temple Mount.
In 1999, hundreds, and I was one of them, walked with Salomon towards the closed gates of the Temple Mount and later to other Biblical sites. It was a sweltering day and there aboard a flatbed truck was a massive rock, which Salomon designated the “Foundation Stone” for the Third Temple.
Salomon believes the mission to rebuild the Third Temple came as a result of a life-changing experience, which occurred in 1967.
As a commander of an Israeli unit of paratroopers, he helped "liberate" the Temple Mount and Biblical Jerusalem.
He described it this way: "It was after a critical time in my life after I had been seriously wounded in a battle in the Golan Heights against the Syrian enemy which had attacked the Israeli villages. In a great miracle, G_d, together with His brave Israeli soldiers defeated the Syrians and saved my life.
"He appeared in my life on that critical day and promised me that He had not yet finished with me, but that He had something great for me to do in my life. He surrounded me with His angels as the Syrians later testified. They told the UN observers that they saw angels with their own eyes.
"After a year in hospital with terrible pains and struggling together with G_d Who stood with me to recover and be ready for what He would tell me to do, I volunteered back to my unit using two crutches and G_d continued to heal me.
"When the Temple Mount was in Jewish hands once again after nearly 2,000 years, Salomon was elated. He felt, at that moment, G_d had saved his life and "that I should build His House."
Salomon’'s tears of joy turned to sorrow shortly afterwards when Israeli Minister of Defense, Moshe Dayan, had the nation's flag and the Star of David removed from where Salomon believes is the Holy of Holies and "placed it on the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, which is the symbol of destruction and exile."
While he considered Dayan's decision sinful and anti-godly, Salomon re-iterates his mission to anyone, who will listen, and that is to rebuild the Third Temple and for that purpose he's still leads The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement. Unforgettable.
Even today as Israel is once again going through agonizing war pains, Salomon remains firm in his belief that he’s still “commissioned” to build the Third Temple.
In quoting from his magazine called The Voice of the Temple Mount Faithful, Salomon believed G_d said to him: “I am not finished with you. You will build My house on My holy hill to where you used to watch when you were a kid.”
The second Unforgettable has to be Ernest Frank Mauck, aka Prophet Elijah, whom I also met in Jerusalem.
In 1999, Elijah had been locked up in the stark confines of the Kfar Shaul mental hospital for “mentioning the Name of Yeshua (Jesus) and issuing pronouncements of judgments against Jerusalem and Israel unless “they repented of their evil ways.”
As I wrote at that time, Mauck, with his flowing wild mane of white hair, was mocked constantly for his appearance, however, he gained hundreds of supporters.
These days Elijah lives on the island of Cyprus and uses the Net to send out “messages” of impending doom, believing certain prominent world figures are demonic and that the earth is on a collision course with the mysterious Planet X, aka Niburu.
The third Unforgettable was someone I talked to just the other morning. The one-time athlete from Nova Scotia suffered through the agony of an incurable disease – multiple sclerosis until the morning of Jan. 27, 1951.
In a dramatic “miracle from God” she was able to walk again, had another child and also returned to university. The now 93-year-old mother also taught for 22 years in the Calgary school system.
“Would you put a poem I wrote in your column?” she asked.
“Of course,” I answered.
Prayer For 2009 – Walk With Me.
Dear Lord, guide my steps into the New Year
Lest I lose my way and become entangled
With the mundane things of life and miss your plans for me.
The beautiful lady continued with three more inspiring verses and then she added: “Please make sure you add my name: “Composed and written by Annona Corbett, Jan. 1, 2009.”
“I certainly will, Mom.”