Let's Change Christmas From Give Me Day To Give You Day

I’ve got an idea. Let’s rename Christmas Give Me Day. The day when we expect and want to receive gifts, preferably of what we want. And what we don’t want we can always re-gift it or give it to the needy, after all that’s what the needy are there for – so we can give them our junk.

In a way it’s hilarious. We rush out to get gifts as we MUST get them in time for the twenty fifth of December, no matter what the cost, frequently running up debt that we really can’t afford. (I don’t recall a law saying this, but I must be mistaken.) We endure crowded stores, streets and parking lots, plus thieves, for the privilege of buying these gifts. We rest on Christmas Day, well sort of rest. Usually we’re having family and friends over for dinner or going to family or friends for dinner. Then the very next day we’re back to the crowded stores, streets and parking lots to buy the other things we want to go deeper into debt as now there are better sales on.

To encourage the mood we have Santa Claus or, as I call him, Money Claus for his sole purpose is to get people to spend on their children and to feel bad if they don’t. And there’s then there’s the parade of endless Christmas movies and music. Ho! Ho! Ho! Come January the debt collectors are knocking at our door to collect the debts we racked up.

And if someone should chose not to follow the gift giving ways they’re either pitted or considered a freak. Actually what we do is praise the fools. We pretend we really admire them, when, to be perfectly honest, we think they’re idiots as it’s something we wouldn’t do ourselves.

And it’s not just the poor we don’t really care about. It’s the environment. Eat, drink, be merry and destroy for tomorrow we die and the sooner we die the better is obviously our philosophy. The environment never enters our thoughts as we drive our motor vehicles to the crowded store and make our purchases.

Now obviously I’m exaggerating as there are some people, who get and receive gifts, who really do watch their budgets, give to the poor and take into consideration the environment in their choice of transportation to the stores and in their choices of gifts.

All of us need to be more like these people and care more than just for ourselves and our families, but for those less fortunate and for the environment. We need to make Christmas not Give Me Day, but Give You Day and make it a year round thing.

My Year Of The Heart And The Royal Ancestors

This has been the year of the heart and the year of the royal ancestors for me. In January a stent was put in an artery in my heart to open it up. Recuperation took longer than the few days or weeks I was expecting. In the end it took roughly five months for me to return to my normal active self.

It has also been eye opening in terms of how much waste goes on in a hospital and how focused mainstream medicine is on medication to the exclusion of almost everything else. I call my new local hospital a garbage dump due to the enormous waste they create. And the medical profession seems focused on medication almost to the exclusion of almost everything else, except surgery and the like. This is shocking. And we wonder why we have a drug abuse problem.

The lowest point in my recovery came the first weekend in May when on the Sunday, when for the very first time in my life I had serious problems climbing the Niagara Escarpment via a very easy way. I had to stop and rest as I was VERY winded. Two days later, while walking downtown on some errands I very nearly collapsed. I felt very discouraged and depressed. That I might have to give up cycling and walking.

The cardiac rehab program I enrolled in (I found it about it accidentally and not through my cardiologist.) and my own determination to improve helped to turn things around. On August 2 I cycled 105 kilometers, which included a long, steep climb up the Niagara Escarpment, which I did without stopping, except for the crossing of two roads half way up. Today I’m back to my normal walking and cycling routine.

Coinciding with all of this has been my discovery of two gateway ancestors, which has helped me cope with the shock of learning I have heart disease. A gateway ancestor is an American colonist of proven European royal descent. The first was discovered in January shortly after having my stent put in and the second in early October.

I am a direct descendant of numerous medieval rulers of Europe, plus many prominent people from the time. Highlights include:  Lady Godiva (who did not ride naked through the streets of Coventry), Charlemagne, Alfred The Great, Hrolf The Walker or Rollo, William The Conqueror (and four proven veterans of the Battle Of Hastings), William Marshal (the most famous knight in history), three of the signatories of the Magna Carta, at least three veterans of the crusades, at least two veterans of the Hundred Years War, David I of Scotland and most of the main historical figures in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. (I am related to, but not descended from Macbeth himself.) I’m also related to Wenceslaus I, Duke Of Bohemia, famous as Good King Wenceslaus of the Christmas Carol, he was murdered by his brother, my ancestor Boleslaus I, The Cruel.

For a history lover, like me, this has been a real gift.

Yeshua's Focus Is Not Our Focus

Sex. It’s an obsession too many Christians have, along with abortion, evolution and traditions, which too many people and churches confuse with scripture. Some people and some churches focus on them to the exclusion of everything else, including God. They don’t seem to care about social justice, the poor, ethical behavior, the environment or peace.

Too many of these people and churches also seem to like to sit in judgement of others. They like to look down on those holding views that they consider immoral. Perhaps it helps them feel secure and superior.

Yeshua’s focus wasn’t on sex, legalism, traditions or anything else. His focus was on LOVE. When asked what is the greatest commandment, in Matthew 22:36-49, Yeshua did not pick any of the Ten Commandments, but said “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Deuteronomy 6:5). He continued, “This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18) All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” The second is really two commandments, love yourself and love your neighbor as yourself. This is repeated in Mark 12:28-31.

Whenever people tried to get legalistic with him, Yeshua refuted them. How many times must we forgive? Who is our neighbor? What you may or may not do on the Sabbath. The concerns about following traditions. The only sacraments that Yeshua left us were baptism, which shows repentance, and the Lord’s Supper, which shows remembrance of him. Yeshua seemed distinctly opposed to leaving us with a set of specific rules to follow and instead wanted us to think things out on our own. Does a particular behavior show love?

Even Paul emphasized love over legalism and tradition. One of the most beautiful passages in scripture comes in I Corinthians 13, the love chapter. Paul concludes it by saying, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Mercy goes hand in hand with love. When confronted with the adulterous woman, Yeshua, while not condoning her behavior, saved her from being stoned to death. When her accusers had all left he asked her if there was anyone there to condemn her. She replied there was no one. “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

So let’s quit focusing on the trivial and instead focus on the important, which is showing God’s love and mercy.

Time Travel

“The Time Traveler vanished three years ago. And, as everybody knows now, has never returned.”

H. G. Wells, The Time Machine

There’s something about time travel that fascinates people. Perhaps it’s because, like space, it’s mysterious and vast, as well as we’re simply curious about it. There’s also the fact that we can freely move about in the other three commonly accepted dimensions of length, width and height, but can’t in time.

The theory of relativity allows for time travel. In its bare bones basics the closer we travel to the speed of light the slower time goes for a us compared to an observer who is not travelling at those speeds. Theoretically if we were able to go faster than the speed of light we would then move backwards in time.

Can we do it without using black holes or worm holes? The simple answer is yes. One possible way to travel at or faster than the speed of light is to slow light down. This has been done experimentally. But could we both slow the speed of light down and build a machine capable of travelling faster than it at the same time is the big question.

A simpler way, which would be very awkward, but doable, with today’s technology would be to reach and surpass the speed of light by layering. Build tubes within tubes each one going at so many miles per second. At the speed of a rocket departing earth at about 10.1 miles per second you’d need 18,416 tubes to reach the speed of light, more if you wanted to go faster. And remember each tube would only be going 10.1 miles per second faster than the one before. A person in the 18,416^th tube would only be going the speed of light relative to a person who is stationary on the outside of this contraption. You wouldn’t be able to go further back in time than the day this machine started and if you limited it to slightly less than the speed of light you’d only be able to travel into the future and not into the past.

This machine would be the equivalent to a 1940s vacuum tube computer, which took up a whole room to do what a cheap calculator can now do better. Eventually ways could be found to speed things up and shrink things down.

As for time paradoxes there are several possible ways that this can be dealt with. We never develop a time machine in the first place or at least one that can go further back in time than the date it was turned on, which solves the problem neatly. Let’s say we do develop a time machine capable of travelling back in time and a young, very attractive woman goes back in time, meets her second great grandfather a few days before his first date with her second great grandmother. He becomes enamored of it and cancels the date. Here are several ways that this might be dealt with: 1 the two never marry, a new dimension is formed and the great great granddaughter returns to her time where everything is the same as when she left it; 2 the date is postponed, but eventually go out and marry, the chronology is changed, but not the ultimate outcome; 3 the second great grandfather has second thoughts, the date is back on the day it happened, his great great granddaughter returns to her time and discovers his diary in which he mentions the incident. She hasn’t changed time. She is part of it. In the later scenario may have already have come, but we’re not aware of it as they’re not numerous and are a part of time. There is one final way that the paradox could be dealt with. We can go back in time, but we’re incapable of interacting with it.

Whether we should travel threw time is another matter. It is one that depends on the ultimate answers to the paradox question.

Here are two good books on time travel:

Breaking The Time Barrier: The Race To Build The First Time Machine, By Jenny Randles

How To Build A Time Machine: The Real Science Of Time Travel, By Brian Clegg

Forgiving

A year or two ago W5 did a piece on a, I believe, a BC man who had been wrongfully convicted of murder. Commenting on his attitude towards what happened to him he said, “I cannot forget what happened to me, but I can forgive.”

Contrast his remarks with a man who, after witnessing the execution of Timothy McVeigh, said he didn’t get the peace he was hoping for with his death. (The man had lost a loved one in the Oklahoma City bombing.)

It is only through forgiveness that we truly find peace, which is why the first man found peace and the second man didn’t. Contrary to what some people seem to think, forgiveness does not necessarily mean that the consequences of someone’s bad behavior are removed. Sometimes that may be the case. For example, I’ve occasionally put my foot in my mouth with my wife. She forgives me and I make a mental note to try not to do it again and it has no long term consequences.

On the other hand, if I were, in a fit of rage, to destroy her car or assault one of grandchildren or her daughter, she might still forgive me, but, besides probably doing jail time, our relationship would probably be over. (Fortunately, for both of us, it is HIGHLY unlikely that I would ever behave this way.)

What then is forgiveness and what does it do? Forgiveness is basically the act of letting go, of not keeping score. We do it because we don’t want others or God to keep score with us. We also do it as it brings us internal peace. Christ (I am coming from a Christian point of view.) told the parable of someone who owed a ruler a lot of money and begged the ruler to forgive his debt. The ruler did, but then the person failed to forgive the debt of someone who owed him a much smaller debt. Upon hearing this, the ruler arrested the original debtor and threw him in prison until he paid his debt in full.

The Middle East and biker gangs are two great examples of groups that are unable to forgive. One group does something another group doesn’t like and the other group retaliates. They end up retaliating against retaliating against retaliating and no peace is ever established, at least not for long.

You forgive someone or a group of people who have done some outrage against you (Maybe something got stolen something or a loved one got killed.) it allows you to let go. Revenge eats away at and consumes you. When you forgive, it doesn’t change the situation. (Whatever outrage that was done against you is still done. Maybe the person(s) get away and are never caught.) What it does do is lift the burden of hate and anger from you that eats away inside and allows you to move on.

Is it hard to forgive? You bet. Just ask the people of South Africa and Northern Island.  And I struggle with it all the time, but when you do forgive it is always worthwhile and brings you true inner peace.

Sexual Assault Is Inexcusable

“A girl is more responsible for rape than a boy...about 20% of girls are good.” Makesh Singh convicted rapist in the brutal rape and murder of a 23 year old physiotherapy student in New Delhi, India, on December 16, 2012.

Singh went on to say, “When being raped she (a woman) shouldn’t fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape.”

One of the defense lawyers, ML Sharma, said, “We have the best culture. In our culture, there is no place for a woman.”

In India a sexual assault occurs every 20 minutes.

The above quotes come from an article in The Guardian on “India’s Daughter: ‘I Made A Film On Gang Rape In India. Men’s Brutal Attitudes Truly Shocked Me’” http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/01/indias-daughter-documentary-rape-delhi-women-indian-men-attitudes

Least we be complacent in Canada and pat ourselves on the back for not being like India, here are some statistics:

1 out of 4 North American women will be sexually assaulted in their life time.

60% of all sexual assault victims are under 17

15% of boys under 16 have been sexually assaulted

80% of all sexual assaults occur at home

Only 6 out of every 100 incidents of sexual assault are reported to police

Finally 57% of all sexual assaults happen to aboriginal women.

These statistics come from Sexual Assault Statistics In Canada http://www.sexassault.ca/statistics.htm

As a caring Christian man I’m appalled at these statistics. In this day and age there is simply no way that sexual assault should be happening as much as it is and that it should go unreported. It has been said that sexual assault is not a crime of sex, but rather a crime of hate. I agree. It shows utter disrespect and contempt towards the person being assaulted and there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for this. All of us need to speak out about it and show our support for the victims of sexual assault. They need to know that the rest of us care and that they are not to blame for what has happened to them.

Planning A Heart Attack?

Are you planning on having a heart attack? If so you want to be sure to eat a high fat diet one day to two weeks before, especially if you’re a mouse. A study in the American Journal Of Physiology – Heart And Circulatory Physiology (http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/629817/?sc=sptr&xy=5006781) found that mice who did this experienced 50 per cent less damage from a heart attack then mice who didn’t. (Poor mice.) Presumably this works for humans, although personally I wouldn’t try this, but then again that’s just me.

I can just see in the future something like an executive mouse or an executive human telling their secretary to, “Pencil me in for a heart attack on the 3^rd at 3:18 PM. Be sure to have the paramedics there on time. Oh and remind me to eat a high fat diet, consisting of 60 per cent of calories from animal fat, for a day to up to two weeks before the attack.”

Once again we have proof that truth is stranger than fiction, much stranger.

Eye Opening Heart

Recently I went through a door that I had hoped I’d never go through, the door of heart disease. An echocardiogram last October showed weakness in my heart. Angioplasty was done and one of my coronary arteries was found to be 35-49% blocked. A drug-eluting stent was put in. It hit home and I realized I had to make some serious changes, especially to my diet.

I confess I was one of those unhealthy eaters you hear about. I had TV dinners for a lot of meals, including breakfast. I did drink lots of water and fruit juice, but ate no fruit on a daily basis. Fish I’d try to eat once a week. And I loved potato chips and related snacks .

Things have now changed. While I am still not eating fresh, frozen or canned vegetables on regular basis (These changes are coming.), I am now having fresh or canned fruit once or twice a day. I’m eating fish, primarily salmon, once a day and raisins daily. I’ve gone back to having cold oatmeal for breakfast and have cut back on my sugar. Salt, due to my blood pressure being on the low side (It always has been that way.), I don’t have to be as concerned about.

Exercise is something that I’ve always enjoyed, but I am now making sure I do it daily, and I am trying to get my weight down. So far so good in that my weight is starting to slowly come down.

However there have been a couple of things that have shocked me in my experience. The first is the health care system’s almost entire focus on drugs to cure heart disease. It really hit home when I suggested to my cardiologist that instead of taking the anti-cholesterol drug I first try to get my cholesterol levels down to where they need to be by diet. I was immediately told that I’m not trying to prevent heart disease I have it. It seems to me all the more reason that diet should at least be considered as part of treating heart disease.

 Diet, exercise, weight loss and sleep habits all seem to be dirty words for our health care system. Heck even the Heart & Stroke Foundation recognizes the importance of these things to preventing and treating heart disease.

 The second thing that shocked me is how very wasteful healthcare is, at least in Ontario where I live, in terms of resources and thus of money. For example to stop the bleeding in my wrist after the angiogram and stent a large plastic block was used. When the bleeding had stopped, much to my amazement, the block was just thrown out. I appreciate needles and bandages being one use, however, there has to be another way to prevent the spread of disease other than a one use item.

Here’s another example of waste. I live in the Niagara Peninsula. We have a new hospital, which is energy efficient. Unfortunately no one apparently thought to make it water efficient as well as they use antiquated toilets. These toilets have enough water in them that you could literally wash yourself in them. There is absolutely no need for this waste. I replaced my antiquated toilets with dual low flush toilets 8 years ago and they have since paid for themselves.

Finally here is some heart food for thought. Eat a heart healthy diet. Here’s a list of the 25 Top Heart Healthy Foods from WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/25-top-heart-healthy-foods If, like me you’re on a blood thinner, and that includes aspirin, avoid foods rich in vitamin K, as they thicken the blood.

Do heart healthy exercises. Here is a good article on this from WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/exercise-healthy-heart You might wish to consult your doctor first or some other health professional before going ahead.

Finally think for yourself. Read as much as you can about heart disease the medications you’re on and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Remember, while your cardiologist may be the expert on heart and stroke issues you are the expert on you.