{"id":155,"date":"2009-12-20T22:43:26","date_gmt":"2009-12-21T04:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anthonyreinke.com\/?p=155"},"modified":"2009-12-20T22:43:26","modified_gmt":"2009-12-21T04:43:26","slug":"wrestling-is-innate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anthonyreinke.com\/index.php\/2009\/12\/20\/wrestling-is-innate\/","title":{"rendered":"Wrestling is Innate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><strong>Wrestling is Innate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The skies roared with  thunder and the earth heaved,<br \/>\nThen came darkness and a stillness like death.<br \/>\nLightening smashed the ground and fires blazed out;<br \/>\nDeath flooded from the skies.<br \/>\nWhen the heat died and the fires went out,<br \/>\nThe plains had turned to ash.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The  Epic of Gilgamesh<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The ominous stanza was a  dream.\u00a0 In ancient times mankind wondered about his position, his place.\u00a0 Were  the gods aligned against him?\u00a0 Life was not a simple task full of convenience.\u00a0  Food, shelter, and security were never taken for granted.\u00a0 Simply living was a  constant struggle.<\/p>\n<p>Upon receiving this dream  Gilgamesh turned to his comrade and searched for meaning.\u00a0 Gilgamesh, two-thirds  god and one-third man, the most feared and respected of man still did not know  his place and was overcome with fear.\u00a0 Enkidu, a wild-man from the forest, was  once his rival, but now together they were on a great expedition.<\/p>\n<p>They were headed into the  dark cedar-forest, a place full of fright shrouded in the unknown.\u00a0 The forest  was guarded by a demon named Humbaba.\u00a0 No one dared to enter the forest.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly four thousand years  after Gilgamesh and Enkidu approached the edge of the forest with trepidation,  Ralph Waldo Emerson put a poetic spin on their attraction to the place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not follow where the  path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On that day the two  wrestled evil they were victorious.<\/p>\n<p>Before man understood time,  he understood to survive he had to wrestle.\u00a0 He wrestled against the elements,  and the threats to his security, and he wrestled to contain his own fear.<\/p>\n<p>He wrestled.<\/p>\n<p>It is no wonder that the  story of wrestling appears in the oldest written story of human history.\u00a0 When  the Tigris and Euphrates nourished the ancients, people didn\u2019t have much time  for luxury.\u00a0 Reading and writing weren\u2019t high on their list, so they wrote about  and drew of the things most precious to them.<\/p>\n<p>Art and literature  reflected humankind\u2019s fascination with the combative nature of wrestling.\u00a0 In  ancient Sumeria, came the Epic of Gilgamesh.\u00a0 And, for the ancient Greeks and  Romans were the Iliad and the Odyssey contained within the pages were the  struggles of courage taken from stories of wrestling.\u00a0 When the Myceneans used  mythology to explain their civilization, we found their youth wrestling against  a creature half-man half-bull named the Minotaur.<\/p>\n<p>When Alexander the Great  built an army and expanded farther than any civilization before, the stories  that came from the pursuits of the legions battling against the barbarians  inevitably turned to wrestling.\u00a0 Alexander found comfort in wrestling as did  Socrates who once said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI swear it upon Zeus an  outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ancients new wrestling,  and modern society needs to know wrestling.<\/p>\n<p>Like most people, I will  never forget September 11th 2001.\u00a0 Etched in my memory is the  horrible tragedy of human suffering, not on a distant shore but in the heart of  America.\u00a0 That morning I sat at the Olympic Training Center Athlete Cafeteria,  commiserating with others as a seemingly never-ending horror played out before  our eyes.<\/p>\n<p>One Tower was hit, then the  next. The Pentagon was just evacuated; more people were dead.<\/p>\n<p>As if the suffering wasn\u2019t  already too unbearable, then came the news a fourth plane appeared to be under  the control of the terrorists.\u00a0 It was turning around, target unknown.<\/p>\n<p>The gasps from the athletes  were audible.\u00a0 No one really knew what would happen next.\u00a0 Four thousand years  removed from a battle against evil in a cedar forest, another was about to take  place on that stolen aircraft.<\/p>\n<p>We know the result;  thankfully the list of the dead wasn\u2019t longer.\u00a0 Imagine what the devastation  could have been.\u00a0 How many more lives would have been lost?<\/p>\n<p>Sports Illustrated writer  Rick Reilly took note:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy does America need wrestlers?\u00a0 One former wrestler\u2019s unselfish courageous  determination can best illustrate the value in answering this question. Former  New Jersey all-state wrestler, Jeremy Glick with two fellow passengers aboard  Flight 93 (Tom Burnett and Todd Beamer) heeded the famous 9\/11 call &#8220;Lets Roll&#8221;,  and proceeded to &#8220;wrestle&#8221; on behalf of us all, against terrorism.\u00a0 &#8220;At a time  like this, sports are trivial. But what the best athletes can do &#8212; keep their  composure amid chaos, form a plan when all seems lost, and find the guts to  carry it out &#8212; may be why the Capitol isn&#8217;t a charcoal pit&#8221;. Sports may be  trivial but the lessons and courage learned through them can become the  foundation to monumental achievements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No  comfort can be gained from that day, except for the comfort of learning the  valiance that came from people, a wrestler, like Jeremy Glick.<\/p>\n<p>As  I tried to make sense of it all, it was no accident to me that wrestling played  a role on that fateful day.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t an accident and it wasn\u2019t mere chance.<\/p>\n<p>Intertwined in the human spirit and again not by accident or by mere chance is  the spirit of wrestling.<\/p>\n<p>A  philosophical question that the brightest minds have wrestled with throughout  history is \u201cwhat do people know when they are born?\u201d\u00a0 The concept is known as  \u201cinnate knowledge\u201d.\u00a0 If you knew it when you were born it was innate within  you&#8212;your mind&#8212;-maybe even your soul.<\/p>\n<p>Descartes, Kant, Freud, Socrates, Mill and many more came across this point in  their wonderment of the human condition. Assuredly, many views have been  proffered but the philosophers missed one obvious innate quality in those born  to earth&#8212;wrestling.<\/p>\n<p>Wrestling is natural; it is  essential; it is a part of the human spirit.\u00a0 It is innate.<\/p>\n<p>History has taught us and  anthropology reveals that every time period and all cultures have realized a  connection to the sport of wrestling.<\/p>\n<p>Why is wrestling there at  each point in history and within the rituals of societies and civilizations  throughout the world? Simply put, the instinct of wrestling is inborn within all  of us.\u00a0 It is innate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was the first sport?\u201d  is a question that many athletes philosophically toss-around when discussing  sports.\u00a0 Running is often an answer, but to me it seems quite wrong.<\/p>\n<p>When the ancient tribes,  closer to apes on the evolutionary line, needed to decide who had ownership of  the cave and who would face the freezing elements, it is doubtful that they had  a foot race.\u00a0 Rather, combat, wrestling was their instinct.<\/p>\n<p>The Darwinian notion of  survival of the fittest is rooted in the combative skill of wrestling.\u00a0 And from  our Neanderthal roots, we modernized and civilized but wrestling inherent and  innate in all of us remained.<\/p>\n<p>When wrestling flourished  in ancient Greek society, Plato asked a question to the citizens, \u201cWhat kind of  mettle are you made of?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Plato was defending  his view for a society separated by classes that inevitably seems  anti-democratic in today\u2019s terms, the question seems all the more relevant  today.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind of mettle are  you made of?\u201d\u00a0 The words seem fit for a wrestling coach to challenge his  wrestlers with.<\/p>\n<p>The challenge that the  Spartans, the rival of the Athenians, made to their people was fierce training  based out of sport.\u00a0 Plato responded by recognizing the value:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe obtain better knowledge  of a person during one hour\u2019s play and games than by conversing with them for a  whole year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Greeks most renowned  wrestler was Milo of Kroton, a man unequaled, seemingly unbeatable.\u00a0 Probably  one of the most valuable but often overlooked values that wrestling teaching is  that of humility&#8212;the art of being humble.\u00a0 Hubris as the Greeks called it.<\/p>\n<p>Milo of Kroton, perhaps  bored with his inability to find a worthy adversary, began to show his strength  to the people of Greece in rather sideshow like exhibitions.\u00a0 Holding his arms  out in a cross, and challenging men to force his arms to his sides.\u00a0 Palming  weighty rocks, much like our basketball friends do with their feather-light  ball.<\/p>\n<p>Milo of Kroton\u2019s hubris got  the better of him in a forest the story goes.\u00a0 He stumbled upon a large tree  with a \u201cV\u201d in the trunk chest high off the ground.\u00a0 With no one around but  himself to impress, Milo attempted to pry the \u201cV\u201d apart, but the trees desire to  remain intact got the best of the famed Kroton, snapping back and trapping his  hands.\u00a0 No one knows how long he lived before succumbing to the wild beasts.\u00a0  Humility was his last lesson.<\/p>\n<p>In 1960 American Doug  Blubaugh triumphed by winning an Olympic Gold medal.\u00a0 It must have been a  glorious feeling for him.\u00a0 Years of dedication and perseverance went into the  victory that brought with it the title of Olympic Champion.\u00a0 The spectacular  backdrop for the tournament was the ancient Roman Coliseum.<\/p>\n<p>There, thousands of years  ago, combat was king.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the Roman society lost perspective, blood  lust superseded honor.\u00a0 At one point as many as one thousand elephants were  slaughtered in a frenzy of sacrifice on a single day for the Roman citizens.<\/p>\n<p>When the contests first  began honor and fair play was paramount.\u00a0 But as the empire expanded and reached  into modern England, Germany, Turkey, Russia, and northern Africa, people became  fodder for spectacle.\u00a0 In its truest form of sport wrestling was a part of the  greatest period of peace in ancient times the Pax Romana.<\/p>\n<p>Entangled in the massive  history of the Roman civilization springs forth Christianity.\u00a0 The New Testament  is houses a series of letters of defiance to the Romans from early Christians.\u00a0\u00a0  The Romans hell-bent on dismantling their faith through bloodshed persecuted the  early Christians.<\/p>\n<p>One such verse reads, \u201cwe  rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance  produces character, and character produces hope.\u00a0 And hope does not disappoint  us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The persecuted soul that  wrote these words and steadfastly fought for his faith gathered courage from the  Old Testament.\u00a0 In the Old Testament, the genesis\u2014our beginning\u2014god challenged  man.\u00a0 Again not to a foot race and not to a random activity that a bounce of the  ball determines the victor, the challenge, of course, was wrestling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJacob was left alone; and  there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.\u00a0 And when he saw  that he prevailed not against Jacob he touched the hollow of Jacob\u2019s thigh; and  the hollow of Jacob\u2019s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled the angel.<\/p>\n<p>And the angel said, \u201cLet me  go, for the day breaketh.\u201d\u00a0 And Jacob said, \u201cI will not let thee go, unless thou  blesses me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jacob in this story was  called to a test.\u00a0 He was called to account for his life.\u00a0 He was overmatched,  nowhere to hide.\u00a0 Even though Jacob suffered a horrific injury to the strongest  muscles and joint in the human body, he did not relent.<\/p>\n<p>Courage, determination,  perseverance, and tenacity, desire: all of the values that we hold dear in  today\u2019s society were present there for Jacob.\u00a0 He hung on and as the sun rose on  his struggle with the angel.\u00a0 Jacob though bloodied and bowed stayed strong.<\/p>\n<p>He was asked his name,  \u201cJacob\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n<p>The creator\u2019s response to  him was that \u201cYour name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have  struggled with God and with men and have overcome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The root of Christian  society\u2019s very name comes from a story of wrestling.<\/p>\n<p>The Egyptians in  hieroglyphs and the Japanese with their ancient folk form of wrestling called  sumo honored the instinct of wrestling, as did countless other cultures with  their own unique \u201cfolkstyle\u201d of wrestling.\u00a0 And as the centuries past into  millennium and the human race slipped into the dark ages and was resurrected in  the Renaissance, wrestling remained.<\/p>\n<p>When the balance of power  shifted from Europe and to the Americas the colonists readied to defeat the  imperial powers of England.\u00a0 The forefathers relied on their instincts and again  not by accident a wrestler was chosen first President of the fledgling nation.\u00a0  George Washington was fit to lead with his prowess honed in youthful exploits of  wrestling.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly a century later a  rail-splitter took the oath as a Commander in Chief. Abraham Lincoln, who  succeeded only by failing, running many times for elected office only to lose  came forward to lead a nation in trouble.\u00a0 This Midwest farm boy though lanky  was known throughout Illinois for his wrestling skills.<\/p>\n<p>When he rode to Washington  D.C. knowing that the nation was ready to disintegrate over the questions of  slavery and states rights, surely he longed for the simpler days where one  opponent stood across from him to challenge his stature.<\/p>\n<p>The nation may not have  elected him because he was a wrestler, but surely the innate quality of  wrestling resonated in his voice to the citizens of America.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe probability that we may fail in the struggle ought  not deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lincoln\u2019s choice was inevitable the nation would go to  war against itself.<\/p>\n<p>Men who idled away the hours between battles with a sport  that honored their innate instincts fought the bloody Civil War that tore at the  cornerstones of our nation.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t uncommon for wrestling matches to be a  part of the long days, even to the point that as truces between the north and  the south came and went matches between the blue and the gray were sometimes  arranged.<\/p>\n<p>Famed soldiers like William Muldoon lived well past the  Civil War.\u00a0 In fact Muldoon engineered the transformation of bare-knuckled  boxing into respectability, becoming the first boxing commissioner of the United  States.\u00a0 Without wrestling even boxing wouldn\u2019t be at where it is today, names  like Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney might have been lost had it not been a fan of  combat sports like Muldoon, a wrestler in his youth and during the war.\u00a0 Muldoon  lived a full life, fighting in and surviving America\u2019s Civil War, and then  growing a sport like boxing before succumbing in 1933 at 88 years of age.<\/p>\n<p>Time moved steadily forward, a great nation was built and  then saved.\u00a0 As times changed so must the structure of the society if it is to  remain great.\u00a0 The United States next step was to build the bridge from an  agrarian culture to that of an industrial leader.<\/p>\n<p>The nation turned to a leader fond of saying \u201cspeak  softly and carry a big stick.\u201d\u00a0 Theodore Roosevelt, once the commander of the  \u201cRough-Riders\u201d was elected president.\u00a0 Roosevelt a former wrestler himself, even  brought wrestling to the White House with him, staging matches in the ball  rooms, making sure one of America\u2019s most famed men, World (Real) Wrestling  Champion Frank Gotch from Humboldt Iowa was a special guest to the White House.\u00a0  Fans of true wrestling often look at the turn of the century as the glory days  for real wrestling.\u00a0 Gotch was a celebrity extraordinaire, being as recognized  as the most famed actor Charlie Chaplin.<\/p>\n<p>One can\u2019t be struck to see how often the innate instinct  of wrestling was nourished in our nation\u2019s leaders.\u00a0 But if you look deeply at  their words it really is very easy to see.\u00a0 Could anyone but a wrestler like  Theodore Roosevelt have uttered these words?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is not the critic who counts, not the man who points  out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them  better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face  is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes  short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and  spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph  of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring  greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who  know neither victory nor defeat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In our most difficult times, we\u2019ve selected wrestlers as  our leaders.\u00a0 Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt were not isolated incidences.\u00a0  Throw in Zachary Taylor and William Howard Taft too.<\/p>\n<p>When the Republican Revolution as it was deemed began to  falter and Newt Gingrich was no longer viable.\u00a0 The Republican caucus selected a  new leader a wrestler and coach, named Dennis Hastert.\u00a0 Senators like Lincoln  Chafee, Chuck Hagel, and the recently deceased Paul Wellstone have cited their  days as wrestlers as powerful life-altering forces that made a difference for  them.\u00a0 Literally dozens of American leaders have competitive wrestling in their  background.\u00a0 Frank Carlucci, former Secretary of Defense joins George W. Bush\u2019s  Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with a heavy dose of memories in  wrestling.<\/p>\n<p>When America took on Saddam Hussein\u2019s rogue country in  1991 America\u2019s resolve was ratcheted and buoyed by \u201cStormin Normin\u201d.\u00a0 Norman  Schwartzkopf, former West Point wrestler, guided America to victory in Desert  Storm.<\/p>\n<p>There success wasn\u2019t accident; their place in history has  been earned.\u00a0 And, wrestling\u2019s innate stature advances well beyond that of wars  and politics.\u00a0 American society has had many successful actors who have also  learned the values of wrestling: Kirk Douglas, Tom Cruise, Billy Baldwin and  Robin Williams.\u00a0 On the lighter side guys like John Belushi and Chris Farley  were wrestlers as well.\u00a0 Even the last two White House Press Secretary\u2019s Arie  Fleischer and George Stephanopolous were wrestlers.\u00a0 Astronauts like Michael  Collins from the Apollo 11 mission recognize the value of wrestling.<\/p>\n<p>Figures from other sports also counted wrestling as one  of their great pursuits.\u00a0 The most famous of these crossover athletes would  probably be Jim Thorpe, but don\u2019t forge jockeys Pat Day and Bill Shoemaker, or  Sugar Ray Leonard or the countless gridiron players in the NFL or even baseball  star Brett Butler.<\/p>\n<p>My favorite NFL star is a man who never even played  college ball, Stephen Neal.\u00a0 Instead he was an NCAA Champion in wrestling next  he won a World Title in amateur wrestling.\u00a0 When he was finished with amateur  wrestling he stepped right into the pro-ranks and within one year he was  starting for the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patritots.<\/p>\n<p>Wrestlers have conquered politics, war, sports and the  business world.\u00a0 Business leaders such Scott Beck, creator of Boston Market,  Jeff Levitetz owns a billion dollar company called Purity Wholesale Grocers, the  CEO of Golman Sachs, Steve Friedman and the CEO of Charles Schwab know the sport  of wrestling.<\/p>\n<p>The professions that wrestlers master are so varied it is  astounding.<\/p>\n<p>Geraldo Rivera, Andy Rooney, and even Jay Leno, Tony  Danza: the names are familiar to us but what should not be overlooked is that  these people and many more like them proudly call themselves wrestlers.<\/p>\n<p>Literary genius is hardly the thought the narrow-minded  would have about wrestlers.\u00a0 But they are there as well.\u00a0 Authors like Ken Kesey  of One Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest and John Irving of Cider House Rules and the  World According to Garp cite wrestling as a part of their success.<\/p>\n<p>Listen to John Iriving\u2019s words and you will understand  his affinity to the sport of wrestling:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel more a part of the wrestling community than I  feel I belong to the community of arts and letters.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because wrestling  requires even more dedication than writing; because wrestling represents the  most difficult and rewarding objective I have ever dedicated myself to; because  wrestling and wrestling coaches are among the most disciplined and  self-sacrificing people I have ever known.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As recently as a few weeks ago, snipers in Maryland  frayed America\u2019s nerves. At times like these we keep track of our nation through  television reports and newspaper accounts we look for comfort. During this  trying time our comfort came from a strong sheriff named Charles Moose, a former  wrestler from North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>Wrestling is innate it is a part of all us; however, only  the luckiest truly get to know it.<\/p>\n<p>Mankind has traveled thousands of years, a long journey  that started with a few simple steps.\u00a0 The drive that moved us forward  throughout time has often been the innate instinct of wrestling. The grandeur of  wrestling is limited by the term sport, but born within this sport are the vary  values that have determined greatness throughout our society and throughout  history.<\/p>\n<p>Who wouldn\u2019t want their children to know the deeper  meanings of values like commitment, perseverance, dedication, determination,  desire, courage, tenacity, confidence, sacrifices, self-discipline\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n<p>Russ Helickson, Head Coach of Ohio State, addressed a  group of people gathered together to remember the passing of another wrestling  program at the college level.\u00a0 In profound eloquence he summed things up best in  his speech, \u201cI am wrestling do not weep for me\u201d.\u00a0 All of these values can be  found in different places in our society, but wrestling contains them all.<\/p>\n<p>This sport is complete because its essence is true.\u00a0 It  is not a concoction of the human imagination.\u00a0 Rather, wrestling is a reflection  of the human spirit.\u00a0 While others sports seem to be setting new records with  fan popularity.\u00a0 It is really the tortoise and the hare all over again.\u00a0  Wrestling, a strong and steady train continues moving forward.\u00a0 While some of  these sports at best have a hundred years under their belt wrestling ambles  along with more than four thousand years and still counting.<\/p>\n<p>As we look to the past it is fitting that we also look to  the future.\u00a0 Certainly more wrestlers using the values honed on wrestling mats  will work their way to success.\u00a0 But as we look for the next wrestler to step  out of anonymity and fill our tight-knit community with pride, know that the  world\u2019s most renowned inventor counts himself as a wrestler as well.<\/p>\n<p>A man named Dean Kamen, working out of Manchester New  Hampshire, has recently gained attention for his inventions that are aimed at  improving the human condition.\u00a0 His most recognizable invention is called the  Segway, a two wheeled people mover that he believes will relieve congestion on  crowded urban streets decreasing pollution and moving us away from the internal  combustion engine.<\/p>\n<p>Kamen states without hesitation and without a sense of  clich\u00e9 in his voice when he says, \u201cthere is nothing more noble than to make the  world a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This wrestler is already turning heads through scientific  communities.\u00a0 His next big step is an invention based off a concept called the  Sterling engine.\u00a0 In the poorest of places in the world people, mostly women,  spend up to five hours a day searching for a gallon of safe drinking water and  then carrying it miles back to their homes and huts.\u00a0 If they don\u2019t find it or  mistakenly bring home contaminated water, the next day they could be burying  their children.\u00a0\u00a0 Dean Kamen proudly states that his invention is on the verge  of making a mighty contribution to the 10 billion people that inhabit this  planet.\u00a0 His modification of the Sterling engine can produce purified potable  water and even generate electricity as a byproduct.\u00a0 Ingenuity pours from Kamen  as he enthusiastically says, \u201cwe can do this!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The first step of civilization was the battle for  security, for safety, and unfortunately, in much of the world that struggle has  not been won.\u00a0 But yet as we step to the future and continue on the path, the  innate instinct of wrestling will guide us.<\/p>\n<p>To me, the thought is comforting.\u00a0 Every person born to  this earth has within them the desire to wrestle.\u00a0 It is imprinted on their very  soul; it is innate.\u00a0 From that innate instinct greatness flourishes and the  human condition is bettered.<\/p>\n<p>America needs wrestling: Now More Than Ever.<\/p>\n<p>Ted Witulski<br \/>\nNCEP Manager<br \/>\nUSA Wresling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wrestling is Innate The skies roared with thunder and the earth heaved, Then came darkness and a stillness like death. Lightening smashed the ground and fires blazed out; Death flooded from the skies. When the heat died and the fires went out, The plains had turned to ash. The Epic of Gilgamesh The ominous stanza [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthonyreinke.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthonyreinke.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthonyreinke.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthonyreinke.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthonyreinke.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anthonyreinke.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthonyreinke.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthonyreinke.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthonyreinke.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}