Bless the Earth All Who Dwell In It

I know that many people scoff at the mere mention of Bible and science in the same sentence, but do you think the first people to write down Genesis knew about the importance of light to the rest of the world? Could they have guessed that space was a vacuum? I wonder if they did. Is it coincidence that the days of creation revealed the priority creation events?


The order of the events is one of the things that people scoff at more than any other, but look carefully - Day one is Light, which might also be considered the beginning of all energy. Day two is the dividing of the atmosphere, which is "the water above," and the earth, which is the "water below." Day three is the dry ground and plants. Day four is the sun, moon and stars. Day five is birds and the sea creatures. Day six the earth produced the animals, and God fashioned humans by his own hand out of the earth.


Not only are these days in the exact same order as evolution's representation of the events, each day's product is a necessary ingredient for the following days. I am not suggesting to you that we should push religious beliefs as science, but if you study the Bible at all, you will notice the people who wrote it were observant of the world around them, and they knew the significance of God's blessings on it. The earth is a rich and beautiful place, but we don't want to be the spoiled rich kids who won't clean up after they wreck the nice sports car and trash the nice apartment our Father gave us.

Worthiness

What makes your life worth something? It doesn't matter what I think. What do you think makes your life worthy? There are many things that people use to prop up their worth. There are many ways to measure up a human's days to see if life is worth living. I don't pretend to have all the answers to the meaning of life, but I want you to understand a few things.

First, let me make it clear what does not make you worthless. Suffering does not make your life worthless. Poverty can't take away your life's meaning. Nothing about the shape of your body or brain capacity makes you unworthy of living. Your belief system, religious or political, is valuable because it is an expression of what you think has influence and importance in the world. Your worth is not about what others call important.

But it is also not only about what you think makes you important. There are a few values in the world that cannot be changed. They cannot be manipulated for very long and they stand, eternal and steadfast because every generation can see their worth, and throughout history worthy things have been agreed upon by men and women who take the time to evaluate it.

No one may ever talk about you or I in the future. Our names may be limited to our tombstones, if we are blessed with one. After our parents and our children die, no one may ever speak my name or your name again, but if someone wrote down your story, what would the story be? Or even better, if someone could play a video of your life, what would others see?

There are a few things that people treat as important, every day of their lives. What do you do for money? Money is needed in our society. It isn't evil, and there is nothing wrong with having money, but everything about your money says something about you. What activities are you willing to do for money? Where your boundaries lie says more about you than how much you have. Besides that, where does your money go? Will the things that you use your money for last? Does it contribute to your health or your death?

People use their time and resources for obtaining and maintaining power. How much is your power worth? Will you keep it after you die or even for that long? Power always crumbles and is given to other people. It cycles through your hands into another's hands because you can't hold onto power. It just doesn't work that way. If you have power, you must use it to maintain it, and in showing it off and in using it to keep it, you take a risk of losing it, but trying to hide it and store it means it disappears under your nose, so living for power is like living year-round for one season of the year. It comes around to you, but you cannot keep it if it is time for it to leave. What makes power praiseworthy is how you obtain it and what you do with it. That's the only thing that will last. If history exclaims about how much power you had, will it praise you for it?

Glory seems like a good thing to live for. It makes others praise you, but if they saw the tape of your or my life, would they still praise it? No person can stand the weight on their souls of obtaining glory. The only way to have true glory that you can keep is to do things in your life that honor other people. Honor yourself and you will do it alone. And human glory is not eternal. The value of glory fades in your mind, so that it is not an eternal thing, it becomes just a memory.

Perhaps you live for honor. Maybe it is important to you or I to have others esteem us. But living for the praise of people will make you crazy. One person cannot make even one other person happy, so the esteem of others is out of your control a majority of the time. Better to be yourself and live your simple life and let praise, honor, glory and power go or come to you, according to the season. Any of these things might be seem desirable, but once you die they lie on the ground like a pile of dead leaves and are only good to noursish the soil. Some things you just can't take with you.

Before you condemn me for making others feel like what they value isn't important, perhaps you should consider yourself. You must think it is ok for them to continue to devalue their lives by pursuing worthless things, whereas I at least have the compassion to tell them they are making themselves worth nothing.

But keep reading, because there are a few things worth pursuing and living your life for. The test of their value is how long they last. And if you are conscious after death, what will still be there when you wake up?

Many people live or die for freedom. This is a worthy cause and something that you can share with others when you pay for it. But it doesn't have the lasting value of some other things. You may die for freedom, but your son or daughter may still give theirs away. Your death for the sake of freedom teaches others it is important, though, so the pursuit of freedom is valuable.

Many people focus their entire resources on faith. What they believe - talking about it, teaching it, or sifting through it becomes everything to them. This is a valuable thing. What you believe in can share good things or bad with others. But its value is in it's shareability, and only if what you share will improve with age and not deteriorate. Is it a seed of health and life or a seed of death for other people? Only time can tell if a belief brings good things or bad. Theories don't make the cut for good faith. Beliefs have to be practical - able to be used for something good- in some way. Faith/belief is one of the three most powerful things on earth, more powerful than power or money or even glory, which are the three most desired things on earth.

Hope is priceless and somewhat eternal. It can heal the body and soul and mind. It can be shared with others, and it is contagious like a nice fresh breeze from the ocean. Almost nothing else can challenge the value of hope. The greatest hope is a sure one that lasts for eternity. And the only hope that meets that criteria is the hope found in Jesus Christ. His death paid a price for something... And his resurrection guarantees it will be given as promised.

But the greatest and most lasting and most powerful thing known to men, alive and dead is Love. Like the universal solvent is water, love is the universal carrier of everything good. Love means you can't let others suffer for very long. Love means you look for the good in a person, and if you see bad, you suffer with that person in that way. Love is an eternal list of powerful activities a human does with compassion that are positive forces in his or her own life and in the lives of others. You can take Love with you forever. It is placed in your mind and it cannot ever be taken away. Human love alone is limited, but the love of God is invincible. Mere human love can be changed or subverted, but that's not the same as the unchanging love God has given us in Jesus Christ.

KEEP YOUR COOL!

When you answer the call for a wreck or domestic situation, how do you manage the high stress situation you find yourself in? Take supplements daily to manage the never ending cycle of law enforcement. Officers are faced with difficult choices every day and must make judgments on volatile situations and ascertain the truth of matters on the street quickly and fairly. So here are the supplements I recommend you keep on hand in a safe location for use every single day.

The first supplement you should take without fail is the water soluble B-complex vitamins. They are the ultimate Keep-Your-Cool vitamin. The first symptom of a deficiency is anxiety and lethargy and a long list of other symptoms, including most mental health issues. The B-vitamins protect and repair the nervous system and support your metabolism. They keep cravings to a minimum and help you remain even and balanced when others around you are losing control.

Another supplement, this time an herb that supports good adrenal function is ginseng. If you start to feel worn down, it aids your adrenal gland to respond to your body's needs. Calcium, vitamin D and magnesium are also important to help repair bones, joints, cells and provide for good brain function.

The digestive enzyme bromelain is also the top remedy to reduce pain, especially lower back and joint pain. It helps break down the cycle of toxin-producing imbalances in your body, and if you take it with turmeric to fight inflammation, your joints and organs will thank you. Also keep peppermint and lavender oils on hand in a diffuser or spray bottle with water to reduce stress headaches and clear the air.

Every day a person is exposed to different harmful substances in the environment, and when your body is overwhelmed, these substances can slow down your brain function and contaminate your circulatory system. Super greens like chlorophyll and spirulina can help eliminate toxins and supply needed minerals and vitamins, including vitamins A and E, as well as essential fatty acids.

There are other remedies that can help detoxify your system when you are getting hit hard. Drink a round of noni juice to help reduce pain, eliminate parasites and detoxify the nervous system. Detox tea will aid your elimination through your kidneys and support good liver function.

Keep packets of an electrolyte mixture with a high dose of vitamin C, since it is essential for over 500 metabolic processes, and it is your first remedy when you have gotten underneath the job. When you don't feel like taking care of yourself, make a cup of this solution, which includes calcium and magnesium and other minerals, as well as b-vitamins.

Use a tincture of wormwood, black walnut and cloves to fight parasites and disinfect your body, skin and environment. Keep a four ounce spray bottle with about 7 or 8 drops diluted with water. The alcohol in the tincture can make an effective hand sanitizer. Mix it with a drop or two of the essential oils from the formula traditionally called thieves oil, including eucalyptus and tea tree oil, sage or thyme and oils from citrus fruits.

Lavender is also an important oil for the protection of the skin and its detoxification. Add all the ingredients above with 10 or 20 drops of essence of peppermint to almond oil to make an effective muscle rub for your skin to help reduce toxic buildup, as well. If you have a biodegradable cleaner based on coconut oil or other natural product, mix a few drops into your sanitizing spray bottle with the other ingredients. Use it to clean your steering wheel and radio and anything else you touch frequently.

Arnica is the top remedy for sprains and bruises, but take this with caution, because it is homeopathic, which means it induces the symptom when taken before symptoms arise. I suggest you use it topically, and minimize its oral use.

All of these items are perishable if exposed to extreme temperatures, left in your car or a damp place, so keep them fresh and use them up within six months. You will feel better and more protected, and don't forget the fresh batteries in your microrecorder.

The Great Emancipator

(This post is from my homework for American History 2)

Although his overall stance might be characterized as a bit compromising by some standards, in 1837 Mr. Lincoln spoke publicly of the "injustice and bad policy" of the slave trade. Mr. Lincoln was part of the Whig party. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in the election of 1848. Congressman Lincoln was a politician, without a doubt, but in his law practice, he took the part of advocate for slaves, which is where he absolutely earned the title the "Great Emancipator." While more radical abolitionists advocated succession from the Union because of slavery, Mr. Lincoln understood he was attempting to challenge some of the most powerful lobbyists in the history of the United States, and he was determined to fight that battle.

He later attempted to unite the Whig party regarding the slavery issue, but he did not go unchallenged. In 1849, newly elected Congressman Lincoln penned a bill to abolish slavery in the city limits of Washington D.C. in response to a livery stable that was a holding location for slaves who were being shipped to the South. Prominent southerners visited his backers and persuaded them to abandon the bill. It seems to me that Mr. Lincoln was a strategist, and the provisions of the bill shed light on his long term plan as an abolitionist Whig. It included the following:

1. Abolish slavery in D.C. (free all slaves existing there and prohibit any new slaves)
2. Temporary apprenticeship for newborn children of slaves.
3. Cash value from the US Gov't treasury for applicable slaves
4. Prohibiting all slave trade in the city limits
5. Existing Fugitive Slave law remains in force
6. Provision for a local popular vote by all males to see if the bill would be passed.

There is no doubt that various interpretations about Lincoln, slavery, the Civil war and the Reconstruction range according to the radically different conceptual lenses of the historians and observers who comment on them. I would submit that the current accepted interpretation of the 1860 Slavery and Reconstruction issue lacks the passion of the day and a complete grasp of the southern situation for blacks and whites, alike.

A good sampling of the bias in interpretations about Reconstruction, specifically, are the writings of William Dunning contrasted with WEB DuBois. The popularity of the film "Birth of a Nation" is another good example of the way a society looks at history through a variety of cultural norms, and reevaluating those norms is appropriate, and it can improve where the moderate perspective lay on the gradient. But we are in danger of forgetting what a system of terror looks like, and if we do not learn from our mistakes quickly, this lack of perspective threatens to overwhelm us on the two plus fronts of the war we fight today.

I grew up in the south, and perhaps I have a different perspective on the whole thing, but having spent so many years in the southern culture, I've spent a lot of time in personal reflection about this issue. My great grandfather owned a plantation, complete with slaves, and my grandmother was reared by a slave woman who stayed with my great-grandfather until her dying days. My grandmother was a gentle woman who faced many hardships, and she always addressed this issue with respect and a disposition of equality for blacks, although the culture she grew up in interpreted that equality in a way I do not agree with.

Reconstruction in the South

(This post is part of my homework from American History 2)

Sometimes it seems as if American history is still being defined and influenced by the issue of trafficking humans for monetary profit. It still makes the news in South Carolina, and the authorities have become vigilant against the industry. There are segments of the American society who will do anything for money, and they find it useful to maintain their supremacy against whomever might challenge their economic status. The proponents of the slave trade in the 19th century did not have any qualms about utilizing a system of terror to maintain the status quo. The slave industry was not only about the utilization of slaves in the south, but also about the supply of humans, which included enterprises in the North and UK. This became a factor in the abolitionist's movement and the Civil War.

When William Lloyd Garrison, editor of "The Liberator" in Boston, Massechusetts who was considered the most radical abolitionist, advocated succession from the union on the basis of its acceptance of the slave trade and those who utilized slaves, he faced physical abuse along with other whites who challenged the industry. Mr. Garrison said in 1831, "I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. . . . I am in earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I will not excuse -- I will not retreat a single inch -- AND I WILL BE HEARD." He was a catalyst in the movement that transpired over the next 30 years to utilize government to bring equality to the slaves, although he himself did not believe the government was capable of it.

Angelina Grimke from Charleston, South Carolina became the first American woman to address a legislature, besides being one of the first Southerners to speak out against slavery, perhaps because of the organized intimidation against them. This was an extension of the lynching that blacks received on a regular basis in order to maintain the status quo.

The Republican party of the time, still considered and widely accepted as "radical," adopted the philosophy that the slave trade must be abandoned and equality granted to every male in America. Although Lincoln took a more tolerant view of the slave trade, after the war the push for more radical reform of the agriculture industry in the south and the utilization of humans won out, and sweeping measures were adopted and enforced by the federal government with the presence of troops to provide stability. (question #2)

The Wade Davis bill, submitted by Benjamin Wade and Henry Winter Davis required states to renounce slavery and succession from the union, to grant blacks citizenship and the right to vote, and to accept a provisional governor and essentially a complete provisional government, in effect. It also required an "Ironclad Oath" --more than 50% of white males in a state that had succeeded had to affirm that they had never supported the confederacy, in effect keeping states as territories until that number could be met. Historically, this has been seen as outrageous, although the 14th amendment is in keeping with the spirit of these measures. (Question #2)

The situation was temporarily improved for the black man in the south, although it was only the presence of troops that had improved them. Ultimately, the conflict between white southerners who advocated the use of slaves and the federal government was ended in certain states, such as South Carolina, when the troops left and the provisional government collapsed to the factions that would later become the KKK. In 1876, the democrats gained control over the U.S. legislature and Rutherford B. Hayes, a republican, was voted POTUS. The pressure to end occupation was great, which would also effectively end the effort to reconstruct the south. The Compromise of 1877 was an informal agreement reached in order to stop the contesting of Haye's election over Samuel Tilden. U.S. Congressional Democrats threatened to fillibuster until after inauguration day, which is required in the Constitution, in order to leave the country with no president and no clear leadership of the military, perhaps opening it to the threat of a coup. Slaves had been granted their freedom, so to maintain order and avoid what appeared to be a threat of war, General Grant withdrew, leaving democrats who advocated white control and the oppression of blacks to continue their control of the southern states. (Question #4, 7)

The reign of terror on the southern states would continue for a hundred years. All sorts of tactics to control became the experience and culture of blacks in America across the nation, including the use of sharecropping and separate public facilities. In Plessy Vs. Ferguson, a man (who actually had no physical resemblance to a black) was barred from using a railroad car. The court upheld the use of separate, but equal facilities for blacks, and this ruling would be used to maintain their oppression until 1954 when it was overturned. (Question #5)

In 1915, "The Birth of a Nation" became a film of great renown because it is considered the first modern movie. It was essentially propoganda to clean up the reputation of the Ku Klux Klan. Perhaps the publicity over the system of terror that the KKK was using caused the public to move to a more moderate position, but the locus of power remained with those who committed acts of domestic terror. In my opinion, the culture of blacks has been dominated by the use of a system of terror, and the statistics that appear to prejudiced men to affirm their beliefs about the black race have been skewed to predispose blacks to an experience that is more criminal. (Question #3, 7)

Receipts

Last night I was doing homework for my Greek mythology class when a receipt tumbled out of the book and onto the floor. I picked it up, and it made me smile because that little book by Edith Hamilton has been one of the highlights of my week.

You see, I have had gross delays in getting my financial aid straightened out. First one thing and another has kept me from assurance that my college bill will be covered this semester. So I spent a considerable part of yesterday afternoon researching my classes to see which ones had required books that cost less so that I could get them in time to keep up with the work. When I came across the class for Greek and Roman mythology, I threw my head back and laughed, because the only requirement was a little $5 book. Unbelievable! Some of the books I have been required to purchase have cost $100 USED, and no bookstore was allowed to sell them any lower because of the deals that had been cut with the publisher.

Even better, this little book had a receipt from my sister's college days. She had used the book for her Greek mythology class, and she paid the bill with the funding she had received for her education. The bill had been paid, and here was this receipt letting me know that my sister had taken care of it. Someone else had helped me a little in my education, and I am very, very grateful. Thank you, sis.

There are many things that work that way. The democracy and the freedoms that we enjoy here in America are a lot like that little book. When our freedoms are threatened and we have to work a little harder to maintain the free society that has been established, a little receipt might fall out of the social studies book or the US government book that we are studying. It says - Deposit paid... by untold heroes who have given their lives and sacrificed many comforts to pay the price to keep our land free. Any one of us might be required to make a payment, but isn't the freedom of our children and their children's children worth suffering a little bit for a little while?

Love Is...

After thinking a lot about what it means to be committed in a relationship, I realized that my ideas can be stated simply with the words, Faith, Hope and Love. My profile points out that these are the most powerful forces on earth, even greater than money or power, and I want to show you why in this note. Perhaps it is an overstatement, but many men and women seem to become more commitment-phobic the older they get. Thinking through it helps you pinpoint what makes commitment most difficult for you.

First, consider the word HOPE. I'm not talking about the English definition of the word, but a more meaningful idea that looks more like a soccer goal or homeplate in baseball than a subjective feeling. And it isn't just any goal you choose, but rather its THE hope you hold out for your friendship, which is the hope of always being a benefit to your relationship partner. Can you promise to only do good to that person, and never evil? Even if you have to part ways, you can part knowing that your thoughts and speech about each other will always be gracious. This is your hope for the relationship. It may seem like a unobtainable dream, but it is up to you to make it a reality. The peace this promise can create in a relationship is astounding, and worthy of consideration.

The second facet to committing to a relationship is to have FAITH in the hope you have between you. You have to believe the person extends the same hope to you. Can you expect your relationship partner to promise the same thing you have, that is to only benefit each other? This is definitive trust, and in return you have to be trustworthy, as well. Certainly this is the most difficult part of a relationship for some of us. People have a tendency to hurt and betray each other, so we become less trustful and thereby less trustworthy. If you make the commitment to trust your relationship partner, it can keep you focused when it is not clear what you should do in a given situation. Your heart can then consider what is wise, which is not really possible when fear or jealousy skew your thinking. It is always best to know yourself well enough to know what clouds your thinking in many situations.

The greatest part of a commitment to love someone is the LOVE part. It's not emotion based, but another, different promise to accept someone as they are. Genuine love for a friend does not require that person to change in order to obtain your generosity and peace. This part of the commitment is a balance to people's inevitable untrustworthiness, and this type of love is agape. The cost of agape love is self-sacrifice. There are not immediate warm fuzzies to making sacrifices for others, but it does reap physiological benefits which you have to experience to understand.

These are not the only types of love you can experience in a committed relationship. Some types of love are contingent on certain behaviors. Such as PHILEO, which is dependent on a feeling of unity with another person, and this can only be obtained through a little communication and relating to each other. Another type is EROS, which is sexual love. Pure eros is dependent on fidelity, otherwise a chemical reaction of this sort of attraction is only biological, which isn't the same as eros in the spiritual sense. Unlike agape, both of these types of love require interaction with each other.

Human tendency is to make a committed relationship a standard for everyone, but that wouldn't be biblically or psychologically wise. It is up to each person to determine if another person is capable of a commitment like this, and to draw appropriate boundaries for themselves. These are just principle guidelines, but the practical application of it is something that has to be considered carefully and determined individually. The power of these three dispositions in your life and in the world to affect change is immeasurable. If every person made this sort of commitment to one other person in their life, it could change the whole dynamic of a society, and without a doubt it would change history.

I mention in my profile that I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and that I believe he is the greatest story of compassion that has ever been told, if you understand the story thoroughly. Compassion is part of the hope you have established between you and your relationship partner. It is difficult to trust people for compassion once you have been hurt a few times. Trusting Jesus can be an effective path to the ability to trust another person, and it gives you a safety net when others are not trustworthy. No matter what humans may do, Jesus Christ can always be trusted to protect you from the worst of things. Grasping this type of peace with Christ is an extremely powerful tool to use in your most intimate relationships.