AtD translation: in a great heavenwide twinkling they came / Jesus-rapt ascensionary

[Mike Jing]

OK, I thought I understood, but...

The word "ascensionary" occurs again on page 18:

P18.17-22   Darby, recognizing them as members of Bindlestiffs of the Blue
A.C., a club of ascensionaries from Oregon, with whom the Chums of Chance
had often flown on joint manœuvres, broke into a welcoming smile,
especially for Miss Penelope (“Penny”) Black, whose elfin appearance
disguised an intrepid spirit and unfaltering will, and on whom he had had a
“case” for as long as he could remember. “Hello, Riley, Zip . . . Penny,”
he added shyly.

What does the word "ascensionary" mean here exactly? I also couldn't find
it in the dictionary.

Are they religious zealots, or something else entirely?




On Sat, Dec 2, 2017 at 10:58 PM, Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Understood. Thanks a lot, Jochen, Mark, Monte, and Becky.
>
> And sorry for the late replay.
>
> On Sat, Nov 25, 2017 at 12:30 PM, Becky Lindroos <bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net>
> wrote:
>
>> “… in a great heavenwide twinkling…”
>>
>>  “ heavenwide" - all over the sky they came "twinkling” (like) little
>> lights going from bright to faint
>>
>>  “...bearing all degrees of aviator from laboratory skeptic to Jesus-rapt
>> ascensionary…”
>>
>> The aviators ranged from serious skeptics to religious-like true
>> believers.
>>
>> Becky
>> https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com
>>
>> > On Nov 25, 2017, at 4:40 AM, Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > I connect the twinkling to the aeronauts' arrival  "long after
>> sundown": they are high enough to catch sunlight coming from, below the
>> terrestrial watcher's horizon, so are as bright as stars against a
>> darkening sky.
>> >
>> >  Ascensionary <--> skeptic = the range of context and expectation, from
>> millennial/transcendent to "merely" technological, that people brought to
>> early flight.  Compare the range vis-a-vis IT today...
>> >
>> > https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b8/7f/6d/b87f6da02d3eb0af6e40
>> 501486b3e4cf.jpg
>> >
>> > On Fri, Nov 24, 2017 at 9:51 PM, Mike Jing <
>> gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > P14.13-25   Since that morning, before the first light, a gay,
>> picnic-going throng of aeromaniacs of one sort and another had been
>> continuing all day now to volà-voile in, till long after sundown, through
>> the midwestern summer evening whose fading light they were most of them too
>> busy quite to catch the melancholy of, their wings both stationary and
>> a-flap, gull and albatross and bat-styled wings, wings of gold-beaters’
>> skin and bamboo, wings laboriously detailed with celluloid feathers, in a
>> great heavenwide twinkling they came, bearing all degrees of aviator from
>> laboratory skeptic to Jesus-rapt ascensionary, accompanied often by
>> sky-dogs, who had learned how to sit still, crowded next to them in the
>> steering-cabins of their small airships, observing the instrument panels
>> and barking if they noticed something the pilot had failed to—though others
>> could be observed at gunwales and flying bridges, their heads thrust out
>> into the passing airflow, looks of bliss on their faces.
>> >
>> > What does "in a great heavenwide twinkling" mean here? And what is a
>> "Jesus-rapt ascensionary"?
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
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