October 2008
Overall, The Truth Project has been interesting. The first week we looked at what is truth. They went out on the street and just randomly asked people, “What is truth?” It was amazing and yet disheartening to listen to person after person saying they had no idea, or that it was something hard to define. But the more I thought about it, the more I understood how hard it is to actually know what the truth is and what is that the world wants us to believe is the truth.
To me, the truth is something that I know is right and what should be done, whether I agree with it or not. It’s that thing deep inside us that says, “Don’t do that,” to which we don’t always listen. Something can be true even if I don’t want to accept it. Sometimes the truth makes us so uncomfortable that we want to get as far away from it as we possibly can.
With the election only a few days away now, we have to ask ourselves, “Who is really telling us the truth?”
We see commercial after commercial where candidates say, “Don’t vote for my opponent. He (or she) did this, or they voted for (or against) this, and they are promising you this (or that) and they are lying to you.” How do we know that this person isn’t lying to us about the other person?
Last week our lesson was on philosophy and ethics. Again, it was an interesting class that left me with far more questions about myself than I thought it would answer. For example, the first week, we were taught that truth is Reality. This week we were told that philosophy is the search for reality. Does that mean that in the long run, philosophy is the search for truth? When we find the truth, are we willing to accept it, or will we deny it just because it shows us that something we are doing is wrong?
The one thing that bothers me about these weekly meetings is the discussion time and listening to other people’s thoughts about different issues. This week I sat there and listened to one couple saying how they turned their television off 15 years ago, and they don’t have the internet connected to their house, and their children are being taught that they are not to be tolerant of things that the Bible teaches are wrong. WOW! I worry for those kids when they enter the real world and have to face all the things from which Mom and Dad have been sheltering them all these years. The only thing that comes to mind is crash and burn. If we don’t prepare our children for what’s in the world, we are not saving their souls. We are dooming them to become victims of that world. Have these parents ever heard the old saying, “A little prevention is worth a pound of cure?”
I let my son see everything and explain to him what is right and wrong, I don’t just say, “Read your Bible and live by all the laws and commandments, and you’ll be alright.”
Part of the lesson was on being deceived by things in the world, and once again I sat there and literally had to bite on my thumb to keep from saying something that I knew would insult a few people. One woman said, “I wish we could afford to send our grandchildren to the Christian school. I worry about them being in public school.” All I could think was how a lot of Christians are misled, and even deceived by things because word Christian is attached to the name. Just because something or someone says it is Christian, doesn’t mean it is any better than anything or anyone else.
I wondered how our pastor felt, and what he was thinking as he sat there and listened to that family’s views. They kept talking about how we need to draw a line and not cross over it, and we need not go places where we know that people don’t believe, or are living in sin. Our preacher spoke on Sunday morning about how if we don’t have friends that we can lead to Jesus and witness to, then we need to find new friends to add to our group. How can we reach out and witness to the lost if we won’t cross a line and go where they are? Isn’t that what missionaries do? Are missionaries wrong? I wonder what the Christian couple thinks about that.
All this discussion led me to think about what I believe about certain things, and I took a deep look at what I think about homosexuality. Do I think it is right? To be honest, I’d have to say, “No.” It goes against nature for a man to be with a man or a woman to be with a woman, because there is no way to reproduce and repopulate. There still needs to be a male and female for that. It goes against nature if man is the only animal that is homosexual. The big question is, “Do I think that people who are homosexual are doomed to hell when they die?” NO. Do I think any less of someone because they live that way? NO. Can I consider them my friends and love them and care about them? YES! Some of the people I hold close to my heart and consider the dearest of friends are either gay or lesbian. Do I think that if Jesus walked among us in the flesh like he did in biblical times, that he would refuse to associate with homosexuals? Again, NO. He often went to dinner and associated with people who were thought to be sinners at the bottom of the social barrel. He made no distinction between them and the ones considered to be the most moral. He never tells us to hate people because of their lifestyle. He says we can hate the lifestyle and love the person. I think that when we get to Heaven, there are going to be a lot of people who are going to be surprised and shocked at just who is there to greet them.
Until next week, dear ones, love and hugs, Leeza
Hello Sweet Readers,
This week’s topic is a very controversial one, and one for which I’m sure I will receive comments, both good and bad. I am willing to take that chance in order to inform you about something for which I have very strong feelings – abortion.
I know I am going to get the argument, “It’s a woman’s right to do with her own body as she chooses.” Yes that’s true, but we are not talking about that decision. I don’t agree with using abortion as a form of birth control. Some women are careless and think, “Oh well, if I get pregnant, I’ll just have an abortion.” Some have been known to have an abortion in retaliation for a fight they’ve had with their father, or when a romance or marriage isn’t “saved” by the pregnancy. What an awful reason to destroy a potentially beautiful life.
For the most part, abortions are performed early, before the baby really has had time to develop properly, and couldn’t survive outside its mother’s body. There is also a procedure called the partial-birth or late-term abortion. It is also referred to as an IDX or an IDE (intact dilation extraction or intact dilation evacuation). To me it’s pretty much murder.
To quote Wikipedia: “Under the Intact D&X method, the largest part of the fetus (the head) is reduced in diameter to allow vaginal passage. According to the American Medical Association , this procedure has four main elements. First, the cervix is dialated. Second, the fetus is positioned for a footlong breech. Third, the fetus is partially pulled out, starting with the feet, as far as the neck. Fourth, the brain and material inside the skull is evacuated, so that a dead but otherwise intact fetus can be delivered via the vagina.
Usually, preliminary procedures are performed over a period of two to three days, to gradually dilate the cervix using laminaria tents (sticks of seaweed which absorb fluid and swell). Sometimes drugs such as synthetic pitocin are used to induce labor. Once the cervix is sufficiently dilated, the doctor uses an ultrasound and forceps to grasp the fetus’leg. The fetus is turned to a breech position, if necessary, and the doctor pulls one or both legs out of the birth canal, causing what is referred to by some people as the ‘partial birth’ of the fetus. The doctor subsequently extracts the rest of the fetus, usually without the aid of forceps, leaving only the head still inside the birth canal. An incision is made at the base of the skull, scissors are inserted into the incision and opened to widen the opening, and then a suction catheter is inserted into the opening. The brain is suctioned out, which causes the skull to collapse and allows the fetus to pass more easily through the birth canal. The placenta is removed and the uterine wall is vaccuum asperated using a cannula. A cannula is a tube used to extract fluids.”
How can anyone justify this type of abortion? There is a ban on this type of abortion in most states, but that doesn’t stop people from doing it. Most are not professional health care providers, and some are not even doctors. Case in point, a man in Kansas named, George Tiller, appears to be the king of the partial birth abortion, and his procedure is not limited to reasons of a mother’s safety or health issues or abnormality in the baby.
One tragic case was of an infant named Sarah Brown. In 1993, a pregnant teenager and her parents traveled 900 miles to Tiller’s office in Kansas to receive an elective late-term abortion. Tiller began the abortion by injecting a poisonous solution through the pregnant teenager’s uterus and into the upper left side of the unborn baby’s face. He then instructed the teenager to return the next day for the completion of the abortion.
To everyone’s dismay, the baby did not die during the intervening hours. After the teenager began to complain of serious abdominal pains, her parents rushed her to a local hospital where the baby was eventually born—alive. The delivery room staff felt that life-support would be futile, so they wrapped the baby in a bassinet without attendance. The teenager and her parents quickly left the scene.
Even without medical care, the baby remained alive. After many hours passed, the delivery room staff decided to give her treatment. Miraculously, she managed to survive through the entire ordeal. Sarah, as her adoptive parents later named her, lived until the age of 5, when she succumbed to the developmental harm done to her body during the abortion. The KCl solution that had been injected into the side of her face had left her permanently blind and brain damaged. Prior to the abortion, Sarah was a perfectly normal baby. The relevant medical records indicate that she had no disabilities or deformities. If Tiller hadn’t attempted to poison her, she would be a healthy 9 year old girl with her entire life ahead of her. Instead, she is in a grave. (see http://www.abortiontv.com/Methods/GeorgeTiller.htm )
I’m sure this is not the procedure and outcome of every IDX or late-term abortion, but it is a possibility. What if more of these procedures happen and we don’t even know about them? How many babies who are adopted with serious medical problems are results of this type of procedure? We will never know because since it is illegal in most states, those who would dare to perform it are not going to admit there was an occurrence.
The decisions we make in November could change the future of our great nation, I think we need to look seriously at our candidates for every public office from the least meaningful to the highest and see where they stand on this issue. Do we really want someone in office making crucial decisions for us who would advocate the murder of a child?
Until next week, dear ones, love and many hugs, Leeza
What exactly is a breast? We know what they look like but what are they really? The breast is made up mainly of lobules (milk-producing glands in women), ducts (tiny tubes that carry the milk from the lobules to the nipple), and stroma (fatty tissue and connective tissue surrounding the ducts and lobules, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels). Until puberty (usually around age 13 to 14), young boys and girls have a small amount of breast tissue consisting of a few ducts located under the nipple and areola (area around the nipple). At puberty, a girl’s ovaries make female hormones, causing breast ducts to grow, lobules to form at the ends of ducts, and the amount of stroma to increase. In males, hormones made by the testicles restrict further growth of breast tissue. Men’s breast tissue contains ducts, but only a few if any lobules. Like all cells of the body, a man’s breast duct cells can undergo cancerous changes. But breast cancer is less common in men because their breast duct cells are less developed than those of women and because their breast cells are not constantly exposed to the growth-promoting effects of female hormones. [Definition quoted from the American Cancer Society]Here is a link that explains what kinds of cancer are connected with breast cancer. I want to turn my focus on detection and prevention. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1X_What_is_male_breast_cancer_28.asp?sitearea=CRI
According to the American Cancer Society, in the year 2008, about 1,990 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in men in the U.S. and of those, 450 will die. Men are less likely to get breast cancer than women, but when they do get it, their prognosis and so is the survival rate are equal to that of women.
Early detection in women as well as men is the key. Breast self-examination is one way to detect a lump or trouble spot before it gets a chance to get too big. There are several methods of detection, but one that might be easy for you to remember is called the 7 P’s.
Tomorrow we celebrate Halloween, a night when we dress ourselves and our children in costumes and go to parties, visit neighbors and friends, and they give the children candies and treats. Is it an evil holiday created by devil worshipers and something that we should teach our children is evil and in which Christians should not participate? If we are informed and not tainted by someone’s ideas that they pass off as fact, we will understand the true meaning of Halloween.
There are actually two holidays that are celebrated on October 31st: The pagan celebration of Samhain (pronounced either SOW-ain, sow like cow or Sar-wain depending on what language is used). The Druids and ancient Celts practiced Samhain, and Halloween was a celebration created by Pope Gregory IV to counteract that pagan holiday. In 835 Pope Gregory IV decided to move the practice of All Saints’ Day to November 1. This was possibly done to correspond with the Celtic practice of Samhain. The Mass that was said on this day was called Allhallowmas (“the mass of all the holy ones”). The evening before All Saints’ Day became known as All Hallow e’en (“the evening of all the holy ones”).
The word, Halloween, is actually Christian, and not pagan. It is derived from All Saints Day. Samhain means summer’s end, and was a festival to celebrate the harvest and the end of the year, in the ancient Celt’s calendar. November 1st was the first day of the Celtic New Year. The year was divided into Samhain (winter), Imbolc (spring), Beltane (summer), and Lughnasadh (autumn). Samhain was celebrated by the lighting of bonfires (bone fires) in the town square and the casting of slaughtered cattle into the fires. Each family in the village would then extinguish their hearth fires as a symbol of the ending of the old year, and then would light their fire again from the community bonfire. Renewing both their fire and the year and bound the village together as a community. These ancient people also believed that on Samhain, the veil between the real world and the spirit world was very thin and that the spirits of the dead could come across and walk in the real world for one night. Many years later, Hollywood would create horror movies about the ghosts, spirits, monsters, and the walking dead. Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi played some of these great scary characters. Vampires and Dracula were created by a book written by Bram Stoker that was loosely based on the life of Vlad Dracul.
Once it became a tradition for adults to dress up and wear costumes, it became very commercial to sell the idea of wearing costumes for Halloween. Soon afterward, children began wearing them, and in the 1930’s the Boy Scouts created the idea of “trick or treating” to counter the idea of Mischief Night. Mischief Night was something brought from the old world where adolescents would go around and tip outhouses, soap windows, unhinge gates, and do other petty vandalism. The Boy Scouts believed that if these juveniles were given a treat by the homeowner, perhaps they would not participate in harming the person’s property. Children would go from house to house to collect these treats, and if they weren’t given one, they might perform a little trick by doing something naughty.
Should we bob for apples at our fall festival parties? After all, that is an old traditional pagan ritual of divination. During the celebration of Samhain, a lot of divinations were practiced to foretell about marriages, weather and even the length of life. Participants would dunk for apples, and the first to bite an apple was the first to be married in the new year. This sounds a lot like the catching of a tossed wedding bouquet. They would also peel the apple and the length of the intact peel was an indicator of the length of one’s life. It seems amazing how we want to call the holiday evil or wicked, and of the devil, but we are willing to bob for apples at a party.
Some people may have been handed a tract called, The Trick,” that tells the supposed evils of Halloween and claims to give the truth. In fact, these tracts are mostly lies and scare tactics. They were published by a millionaire named, Jack Click, and are often referred to as Click Tracts. He also published a full-length comic book entitled, Spellbound? In it he claims that Druids would go from castle to castle demanding a virgin princess to rape and sacrifice to their god of the dead, Samhain. In ancient Celtic history there is no such god listed. If the owner of the castle agreed, then a pumpkin with a face carved in it would be left on the doorstep, illuminated from within by a candle made of human body fat. If no virgin was provided, the Druids would call demons to come and murder the inhabitants.
Once again, we discover amazing falsehood, since jack-o-lanterns are a purely American tradition and pumpkins, which are native only to America, were not introduced to Europe until after the new world was discovered. People have been making jack-o-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed, Stingy Jack. According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.
Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved out turnip and has been roaming the earth with it ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as, Jack of the Lantern, and eventually, Jack O’Lantern.
In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o’lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a squash native to America, make perfect jack o’lanterns.
It appears that Christians have taken what began as a pagan holiday, which then morphed to a Catholic holiday. Over the years it has combined with several other traditions and practices from different celebrations and folklore to create what we now celebrate as Halloween. It is only as innocent or as evil as one chooses to make it. One can focus on the bad or evil aspects of its origins and tell children to be afraid of it and not to dare participate, or one can leave it just as pure as it began and let them celebrate with parties, costumes, candy, and innocent childlike fun. The first link in my references section has much more about Halloween and is very enlightening and interesting to read. You might like to check it out. Have a happy and safe Halloween!
Until Next Week, Dear Ones, Love & Many Hugs! Leeza
References:(1) http://www.new-life.net/halowen1.html
(2) http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0011/0011_01.asp
(3) http://www.samhain.com/samhain.shtml
(4) http://www.vladtheimpaler.com/vlad_the_impaler_bio_001.htm
(5) http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/halloween/pumpkin.html
