FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022 FRIDAY THOUGHTS

 FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022 FRIDAY THOUGHTS

On Friday I write about spiritual things.  I am a fragile and finite human writing about an infinite and all-powerful God.  (Like an ant describing New York City).

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Main Verse:

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” Psalm 139:14

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I believe that a divine force created the world and created me.  I can’t understand that force - it is infinite and all-knowing, and I am so very finite and just plain dumb -so some things I have to just accept.

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Let’s think of the body this morning.

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Nourishment, digestion, and elimination.

First a little off-topic - gravity.  Gravity keeps me from flying off into space.  Yes, engineers have found ways to work with gravity to keep airplanes flying - but as a human, my feet are generally on the ground.

So gravity and my body.  Towards the top of my body is a mouth (and eyes and nose).  I can smell my food, I can see my food, and I can shovel my food into my mouth!!  Swallowing is normal and is added by (yes) gravity.  My food sinks into my stomach. When your stomach receives food, it contracts and produces acids and enzymes that break down food. From what I understand, the stomach really does a job on my food.  (I’m glad my taste buds are in my mouth and not in my stomach for I fear it might not be quite as tasty in that dark realm!!!)

“The stomach has 3 main functions: temporary storage for food, which passes from the esophagus to the stomach where it is held for 2 hours or longer, mixing and breakdown of food by contraction and relaxation of the muscle layers in the stomach; and finally the digestion of food.”

(Maybe TMI - too much information):

[Stomach] “Gastric juice is made up of digestive enzymes, hydrochloric acid, and other substances that are important for absorbing nutrients – about 3 to 4 liters of gastric juice are produced per day. The hydrochloric acid in the gastric juice breaks down the food and the digestive enzymes split up the proteins. The acidic gastric juice also kills bacteria. The mucus covers the stomach wall with a protective coating. Together with the bicarbonate, this ensures that the stomach wall itself is not damaged by the hydrochloric acid.” 

Let’s see, a liter is about a quart (we Americans are so defined by our loyalty to the English system of measurement) and four quarts is a gallon.  So about a gallon of gastric juices are made by the stomach in a day.  

And out of that, the body gets nutrients that go to all the cells of the body - through another magnificent system - the circulatory system that moves blood all around the body - and the body carries those nutrients to my big toe (and cells in my ear, and all over).  

It continues to the small intestine:

“The small intestine helps to further digest food coming from the stomach. It absorbs nutrients (vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, proteins) and water from food so they can be used by the body. “

And that passes it on to the large intestine:

“Waste products from the digestive process include undigested parts of food, fluid, and older cells from the lining of your GI tract. The large intestine absorbs water and changes the waste from a liquid into a stool.”

And, remember gravity has a part in all of this - (with muscles) moving everything from top to bottom!!!.

And then the colon

The colon removes water and some nutrients and electrolytes from partially digested food. And, whatever is left is eliminated from the body.  (Hmm - by gravity and muscles again).  

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What if humans walked on their hands - then the mouth would be at the bottom and food would move upward (against gravity) (not necessarily a pretty sight!!!).

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More Excerpts from Psalm 139;

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!

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(Aside, I write in the Judeo-Christian tradition.  But other cultures and belief systems have similar views - the body is pretty neat).

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OKAY - so what

So, my body is “ fearfully and wonderfully made”.  So, what do I do with it? Oh, I stuff it full of calories and sugar and needless carbohydrates.  I add fat to my body.  I don’t take care of it.  In the United States, overweight and obesity abound.  Maybe we aren’t taking care of that “fearfully and wonderfully made” body!!!

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And, maybe worse, I let hatred thoughts and ideas take over.  

A friend forwarded a message about Republicans and Democrats a while back suggesting there are Two Americas - a good and loving group and a mean, hateful, greedy group.  I suggest there are 329.5 million Americas - not all good and not all mean.  Not all Republicans (or all Democrats) are good, and not all Democrats (or all Republicans) are bad.  Are you letting the hate from the media interfere with the brain that is “fearfully and wonderfully” made?

Just like with food - garbage in becomes garbage out; garbage rhetoric in becomes garbage out - LOVE IN should become LOVE OUT!!!

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I suggest prayer!!  I Timothy 2:1-2:

“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. “

“Lord give wisdom to those in authority - the president, congress, judges, policymakers, policy enforcers, governors, mayors and ALL that are in authority - bosses, police people, and ALL PEOPLE”.  Let LOVE WIN.  Amen”

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LOVE DOES WIN

Karen White

Friday, March 25, 2022