In Vest Kentucky, 1974, down by “the hole” in Knob Bottom Branch under Yellow Mountain; preacher Harlow stood on a slab, knee deep on the edge where green water held still and dank against the drought of summer. The place was shaded by locust trees, poison ivy and arching kudzu. He held an infant baby in his arms and soothed its screeching yowls by shouting at the gathered crowd:

God above, bless this child that we give over to you today
May she be born again by this baptism that we perform
But hear us Lord, we are distracted by the nervous urgent talk of men
They say much loudly but mean little
Their talk is remote and confusing
Today men seek the world of the material
The world of flesh of money, of power
They deny your spirit world, oh Lord
Men rush at great speed in roaring machines
They hurl themselves up into the air into nothingness
At great expense, at great risk; and, why
Simple horse sense would tell them that there is nothing up there
No air, no water, no gravity, nothing to be found
Except maybe God, who might be saying:
“What makes you think you can reach heaven this way?”
And men might be saying: “Do not talk thus, these are modern times.”
But the sacred book has already spoken to them of
The folly of reaching ever nigher and higher for what, they do not know
The holy Bible says that it came to God’s attention
The people of Babel were building a tower to reach the Kingdom
In order to enjoy the fruits of which they were not  worthy
When the children of men builded a tower to heaven
The Lord came down to see the tower and the Lord said:
“Behold, the people are all of one mind and all have one language
“It seemeth that nothing will be restrained from them
“Go to and let us approacheth them and confound their language.”
And so the Lord scattered them and their language became as babel
The brick layer called for bricks and was sent none
The crane operator called “heads up”
The workers below did not undewrstand his call and so were crushed
The confusion continued until the tower tumbled
True these are not Bible times nor Babel times, even so
Have men not builded towers of electricity and motors and steel and pride
Have they not intended that their work reach unto the heavens
Have we not heard the language of scientists
Uniform and numerical and as cold as babel
What fools we are to cry out in alarm:
“Airplanes drop to the earth and crash
“Rocket ships fly high into the sky and nothing is found”
I hear the Lord speaking: “No, do not use that machine to search for heaven
“Scatter ye scientists, cease thy language of uniformity,
“Confound you, do not look to sky for salvation
“Look to your family, your neighbors, your church
“Look to Jesus for salvation, for peace and happiness.”
Now let me ask you friends, do you want to fly through space
Do you want speed and power. You have it
God has already given you a flying machine and one lined with comfort
On God’s flying machine, no need to be strapped in
No need to have a fish bowl on your head
No need to pump in water and gravity
On God’s flying machine you bask in the sun, you walk in the woods
You eat a chicken dinner after church on Sunday
And, thank God, there are no system checks
On the modern plane, there are hundreds of checks before takeoff
Is that gauge right, is that wire tight, is the fuel topped up, seat belts?
But on God’s green flying machine, only ten items to check
So let us do God’s countdown:
Ten: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife
Nine: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house
Eight: Thou shalt not bear false witness
Seven: Thou shalt not steal
Six: Thou shalt not commit adultry
Five: Thou shalt not murder
Four: Honor thy father and mother
Three: Keep holy the Lord’s day
Two: Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain
One: Have no other gods before me
And: BLAST OFF, paradise, here we come
And: I baptize thee child as witnessed here today
He dunked her all the way in
Said: “Can’t have no Achilles’ heel.”