Important Lesson: don't complain

A lesson I hope I've learned, which may be of value to others.

Paul wrote two epistles to the Corinthian church. One small section of the first epistle gives some warnings to the church, and, it seems, to the church of today:

1 Corinthians 10:6b Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. ⁷ Don’t be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” ⁸ Let’s not commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell. ⁹ Let’s not test Christ, as some of them tested, and perished by the serpents. ¹⁰ Don’t grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer. (World English Bible, public domain - source is here.)

OK. A list of don'ts. What's in the list? idolatry, however it occurs in the 21st Century, is no surprise. We shouldn't worship anything but God, our creator, redeemer, and guide. Sexual immorality isn't a surprise, either, although it's possible that Paul, or today's church, may overemphasize it, and not emphasize gossip, pride, greed, and other sins enough. I'm not clear as to what "testing Christ" means. As to grumbling, Paul seems to be referring to Numbers 11, wherein the Hebrews complained about the manna God was sending them. They missed the food they had in Egypt. Although God sent quail for them to eat, at this time, He was far from pleased by their complaints about the food.

Bottom line. It seems that grumbling, or complaining, is as dangerous a sin as idolatry or sexual immorality. I shouldn't have a complaining, grumbling attitude, and I should be grateful to God for His blessings, including the food I eat, even if it is not prepared well, or isn't what I'm used to. (Most likely, the Israelites on the Exodus complained about more than the food: "There isn't anything to do here," and/or "Do I have to wear this again?")

I have been around some people who were seemingly never satisfied with what they had to eat, the thermostat's temperature, or the clothes they had to wear, and were known as complainers. I don't want to be known as a complainer. 

Thanks for reading.

Women of the Bible: Hannah

Hannah prayed fervently that she would have a son, perhaps partly for selfish reasons, but she was the mother of one of the most important leaders of Israel. She made a vow to God, and she kept it. Here's what the Bible says about her:

1 Samuel 1:1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ² He had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. ³ This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to Yahweh of Armies in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to Yahweh, were there. ⁴ When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters; ⁵ but he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved Hannah, but Yahweh had shut up her womb. ⁶ Her rival provoked her severely, to irritate her, because Yahweh had shut up her womb. ⁷ So year by year, when she went up to Yahweh’s house, her rival provoked her. Therefore she wept, and didn’t eat. ⁸ Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

⁹ So Hannah rose up after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of Yahweh’s temple. ¹⁰ She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Yahweh, weeping bitterly. ¹¹ She vowed a vow, and said, “Yahweh of Armies, if you will indeed look at the affliction of your servant and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a boy, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head.”

¹² As she continued praying before Yahweh, Eli saw her mouth. ¹³ Now Hannah spoke in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. ¹⁴ Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Get rid of your wine!”

¹⁵ Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have not been drinking wine or strong drink, but I poured out my soul before Yahweh. ¹⁶ Don’t consider your servant a wicked woman; for I have been speaking out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation.”

¹⁷ Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him.”

¹⁸ She said, “Let your servant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate; and her facial expression wasn’t sad any more.

¹⁹ They rose up in the morning early and worshiped Yahweh, then returned and came to their house to Ramah. Then Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and Yahweh remembered her.

²⁰ When the time had come, Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of Yahweh.”

²¹ The man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to Yahweh the yearly sacrifice and his vow. ²² But Hannah didn’t go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before Yahweh, and stay there forever.”

²³ Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems good to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may Yahweh establish his word.”

So the woman waited and nursed her son until she weaned him. ²⁴ When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, and one ephah of meal, and a container of wine, and brought him to Yahweh’s house in Shiloh. The child was young. ²⁵ They killed the bull, and brought the child to Eli. ²⁶ She said, “Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to Yahweh. ²⁷ I prayed for this child, and Yahweh has given me my petition which I asked of him. ²⁸ Therefore I have also given him to Yahweh. As long as he lives he is given to Yahweh.” He worshiped Yahweh there.

2:1 Hannah prayed, and said:

“My heart exults in Yahweh!
    My horn is exalted in Yahweh.
My mouth is enlarged over my enemies,
    because I rejoice in your salvation.
² There is no one as holy as Yahweh,
    for there is no one besides you,
    nor is there any rock like our God.

³ “Don’t keep talking so exceedingly proudly.
    Don’t let arrogance come out of your mouth,
    for Yahweh is a God of knowledge.
    By him actions are weighed.

⁴ “The bows of the mighty men are broken.
    Those who stumbled are armed with strength.
⁵ Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread.
    Those who were hungry are satisfied.
Yes, the barren has borne seven.
    She who has many children languishes.

⁶ “Yahweh kills and makes alive.
    He brings down to Sheol and brings up.
⁷ Yahweh makes poor and makes rich.
    He brings low, he also lifts up.
⁸ He raises up the poor out of the dust.
    He lifts up the needy from the dunghill
    to make them sit with princes
    and inherit the throne of glory.
For the pillars of the earth are Yahweh’s.
    He has set the world on them.
⁹ He will keep the feet of his holy ones,
    but the wicked will be put to silence in darkness;
    for no man will prevail by strength.
¹⁰ Those who strive with Yahweh shall be broken to pieces.
    He will thunder against them in the sky.

“Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth.
    He will give strength to his king,
    and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

¹¹ Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. The child served Yahweh before Eli the priest.

¹⁸ But Samuel ministered before Yahweh, being a child, clothed with a linen ephod. ¹⁹ Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, “May Yahweh give you offspring from this woman for the petition which was asked of Yahweh.” Then they went to their own home. ²¹ Yahweh visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. The child Samuel grew before Yahweh.

30 days of science-oriented Thanksgiving, 2019

Thanks to God for:

1) Light: I'm thankful for light. It's significance is emphasized, as it was the first thing mentioned as created, in the Genesis story. We depend on it so much, and take it for granted -- at least I do.

2) I'm thankful not only for light, but that light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, meaning that light appears in a range of colors, visible in rainbows and in other ways, and also in mixtures of these colors, such as brown, which doesn't appear in the rainbow. They say that some animals have no color vision. TVs used to be black-and-white only. I'm glad that we can see colors.

3) I’m thankful that light can be reflected. Without reflection, I couldn’t see myself in the bathroom mirror. I couldn’t back my car up safely. I couldn’t see colorful trees reflected in bodies of water. Without reflection, I couldn’t see the moon, which reflects the sun’s light. Telescopes and microscopes use reflection to help us see wonders that we couldn’t’ see without reflection.

4) I’m thankful for a special use of reflected light – reading print. The white part of a printed page (or sign, or food label, or our credit card, or whatever) reflects more light than the dark part – the words. I know that much reading today is not of this sort. I’m reading this as I type because the computer screen emits light, except where the letters are. But we still depend a lot on reading print.

5) I’m thankful for refraction. Refraction means that light is bent as it goes from one medium, like air, into another, like glass or water. Without refraction, I couldn’t see. My eye lenses refract light so that it can be focused on my retina. My glasses refract light, assisting my eye lenses, so that I can see close up. Different colors of light are refracted differently, thus making rainbows possible.

6) I’m thankful for water, the only common substance that can exists in solid, liquid and gaseous form under ordinary conditions. It’s also the only common substance that has a solid that floats on its liquid. Without these properties, the oceans would be solid ice, and we wouldn’t ever get rained on.

7) I’m thankful that water is able to dissolve many other substances. The ancient alchemists were said to be searching for some wondrous things, including the “philosopher’s stone,” that would turn things into gold, and the “universal solvent,” that would dissolve anything. As someone said a long time ago, water is the nearly universal solvent. It can combine with other substances, especially acids, to dissolve even more things. Some geological features are the result of mildly acid water dissolving rocks. Consider, in us: our blood, a solution of many substances in water, carries Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, hormones, enzymes, antibodies, red and white blood cells, food particles, Nitrogen waste, food waste, and other items, in our blood stream and body fluids, which are all mostly water.

8) I’m thankful that light is a form of energy. Much of the sun’s energy, that keeps the earth warm enough to be livable, has come to earth in the form of light. Light energy can be absorbed, and does various things, many of them important, after such absorption. One such thing is illustrated by the brick wall on the west side of our house. After a sunny afternoon, the bricks have absorbed energy, and feel warm. Light energy, turned to heat, melts snow and ice.

9) I’m thankful for Carbon. Carbon atoms can connect with as many as four other atoms. This makes complicated molecules, like protein, DNA, steroids, cellulose, and many more, possible. If, for example, Carbon could connect with only two other atoms, nothing more complicated than a long chain would be possible. We are called Carbon-based life forms for a good reason. Carbon is an abundant element, and its atoms are light, so some Carbon compounds can enter the air, and, for example, make molecules that we can smell. Coffee, anyone?

10) I’m thankful for what is arguably the most important process on earth – photosynthesis. Light energy is captured by green plants and used to turn Carbon Dioxide and water into food molecules. Food is something we eat that gives us energy (which is measured in calories). Most likely, all the food you have consumed in the past year came from photosynthesis in some green plant. Thank God!

11) I’m thankful for carbohydrates. They are made of Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen, and their names usually end in “ose,” as in glucose, fructose, cellulose, and more. Starches are complex carbohydrates. Some of us eat too much carbohydrate, and expand, as a consequence. But we need energy to live, and carbohydrates are a good source of food energy. Cellulose is taken in in the form of fiber, and we should eat fiber, too. Some carbohydrates such as sucrose, common table sugar, taste sweet. I like it, more than I should.

12) I’m thankful for my sense organs. Our tongue and nose can detect certain molecules, apparently because of their 3-dimensional shape. Sugar molecules have a distinctive shape. Sugar molecules fit into sweet-detecting sense structures in the tongue which detect that shape, and these structures send a message to the brain: “that was sweet!” Scientists have figured out how to make sugar substitutes, which have a shape that activates the same sensors, and cause the same message to go to the brain. Sugar substitutes are usually indigestible, or don’t turn into as many calories as sugar, hence you may gain less weight from eating or drinking them than from the equivalent food/drink with sugar in it.

The senses of taste detects various chemicals that touch the tongue. The sense of smell detects molecules that come to the nose through the air. I’m thankful for the smell of coffee, even though I don’t drink it, and for lots of other smell-producing materials. When I was in college, my nose was cauterized to stop frequent nosebleeds. As a result, I don’t have much sense of smell. Be thankful for yours!

13) I’m thankful for deoxyribose, a 5-Carbon sugar that is an essential part of DNA – in fact, DNA is named for it: Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid. As surely you know, your heredity is carried from generation to generation by DNA. It’s also carried from cell to cell in your body. The trillions of cells in your body all came from a single fertilized egg. Most of your cells have the same DNA, with some exceptions. Occasionally you may see someone with two different iris colors, or with strange patches of skin or hair. But these are rare. Your left side mostly mirrors your right. Be thankful for your heredity, and that it’s all the same throughout your body, except for occasional mutations.

In addition to deoxyribose, DNA contains Nitrogen bases and Phosphate. I’m thankful for them, too.

14) I’m thankful for cellulose. Cellulose is a complex carbohydrate, made of hundreds, or more, of glucose molecules strung together. Plants use it as structural material in their cell walls. Since it is structural, it has numerous uses. We get fiber in our diet mostly from plant cell walls in our food. Cotton and linen fibers contain cellulose, so most of us are clothed with this, some of the time. Paper, including cardboard, includes cellulose. Cellulose is the most common constituent of wood, which is used in structures and implements of many kinds, as well as being a fuel.

Without cellulose, there would be no trees, with all the joy, majesty, and utility that they bring. No forests, no leaves falling.

15) I’m thankful for Silicon, an element. It’s the second most abundant element in the earth’s crust, behind Oxygen. In the earth’s crust – the rocks, dirt, etc., that we can access fairly easily with a shovel or a drill – Silicon is almost always in combination with some other elements, like Oxygen or Aluminum. Quartz is mostly Silicon Dioxide. Quartz, mica, feldspar, and other materials make up granite, one of the most common types of rock on earth. Mica and feldspar also contain Silicon. Minerals containing Silicon make up about 90% of the earth’s crust.

16) As yesterday, I’m again thankful for Silicon. Here’s the Wikipedia: “The most widely used silicon device is the MOSFET (metal-oxide-silicon field-effect transistor), which has been manufactured in larger numbers than any other device in history.” In other words, the computer I’m typing this on, and all the devices that could read this, use Silicon-based transistors, in order to do their jobs.

17) I’m thankful for sand. Many sands are mostly Silicon Dioxide. SiO2 sand is the main constituent of glass. Can you imagine life without glass? Touchscreens on smartphones and similar devices contain glass. So do many glasses that people wear. Then there are windows, and drinking glasses, and lots of other stuff. (Some sands, for example from corals, are mostly Calcium Carbonate, but most sands are Silicon Dioxide.) The Wikipedia lists a couple of dozen or so uses for sand.

18) You are breathing it right now, even though you can’t smell it or see it. What is it? Nitrogen, which I’m very thankful for. Nitrogen gas makes up about 80% of the earth’s atmosphere. Oxygen is the second most common gas in the atmosphere. Without that Nitrogen, an increase in Oxygen would mean that fires would spread more rapidly and be more devastating and dangerous.

19) I’m thankful for Nitrogen. DNA, the heredity molecule, has a Nitrogen-containing base in each unit, which means that we probably have trillions of Nitrogen bases in our bodies. The Nitrogen bases, ACGT, make up the genetic code. Nitrogen is also part of every amino acid. Amino acids make up protein, and, of course, we need protein for structure, for making up enzymes, and for other things. Life, as we know it, would be impossible without DNA, its close relative, RNA, ATP, and amino acids. Each of these contains Nitrogen.

20) I’m thankful for Nitrogen-fixing bacteria. We need Nitrogen, which is part of many of the most important molecules in living things. But, even though most of what we breathe is Nitrogen gas, we can’t use that to make amino acids or RNA. We have to get Nitrogen in what we eat. Some bacteria in the soil, often in special structures on the roots of members of the pea family, such as peas, beans, peanuts, alfalfa, clover, and many more, can take Nitrogen from the air in the soil. The plants that they are growing with can access this Nitrogen. Members of the pea family are good sources of Nitrogen, in the form of protein. We can get Nitrogen from other kinds of food, especially food high in protein, but, in most cases, such Nitrogen was first captured by bacteria in the nodules on the roots of plants.

21) I’m thankful for Hydrogen. There are more atoms of Hydrogen than of any other element in the universe. Hydrogen is part of water, which is enough to make it very important, but there’s more. Hydrogen is part of almost all of the molecules of living things, such as carbohydrates, steroids, proteins, lipids, DNA, RNA, ATP and more. It also is part of Hydrocarbons, which we use to make plastics, and burn as fuel in our automobiles. It’s easy to ignore Hydrogen. It doesn’t seem to be the central part of any of these important types of molecule. But it’s there, in all of them. Life would not be possible without it.

22) I’m thankful, again, for Hydrogen. Almost all of the energy we use depends on it. Why? Because there are processes in the sun that take Hydrogen, and fuse it together into Helium, releasing energy in the process. (Hydrogen bombs, if ever used, would engage in similar processes.) Energy released by this nuclear fusion escapes into space, some of it in the form of light, and a small part of it hits the earth, warming it, and providing energy for the food manufacturing processes of photosynthesis.

23) I’m thankful for Oxygen. Oxygen reacts easily. We can see the results in flames, and in rust (which is oxidized iron). Because this is true, living things use it to access energy from the food they make, in photosynthesis, or the food they eat. They oxidize this food, which results in the production of Carbon Dioxide and water, and the release of energy. This oxidation is slower, and much less destructive, than ordinary burning. (Most foods can be burned, giving off energy in a different way.) When we exercise, we need Oxygen, so that we can release energy stored in our bodies. That’s why we may gasp and pant after running, for example – we need Oxygen to replenish our accessible energy.

There are some organisms (you won’t find them in zoos) that get their food, and access the energy from it, in different ways.

24) I’m thankful for Oxygen. Besides the fact that we need to breathe it, Oxygen is part of the essentially all of chemicals that living things are made of. Most living things, including us, are mostly water. Water is a combination of Hydrogen and Oxygen. Besides that, DNA, RNA, ATP, starch, sugar, fats, hormones, vitamins, proteins, and more, all have Oxygen as part of their structures.

25) I’m thankful for metabolism. The rest of this post was extracted from the Wikipedia: “Metabolism … is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main purposes of metabolism are: the conversion of food to energy to run cellular processes; the conversion of food/fuel to building blocks for proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and some carbohydrates; and the elimination of nitrogenous wastes. These enzyme-catalyzed reactions allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. (The word metabolism can also refer to the sum of all chemical reactions that occur in living organisms, including digestion and the transport of substances into and between different cells, in which case the above described set of reactions within the cells is called intermediary metabolism or intermediate metabolism).”

26) I’m thankful for enzymes. Enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions, such as the ones in metabolism (see yesterday’s post). In effect, they make these chemical reactions possible. Without enzymes, they wouldn’t take place at all, or they would be so slow that they wouldn’t do us any good. Enzymes help convert food to useful energy, help convert food molecules to the more complex molecules necessary for life, such as proteins, hormones, DNA and RNA. They help eliminate nitrogenous wastes. They are necessary in the formation of new cells, as when an embryo grows, or an older person replaces dead cells, such as skin cells.

27) I’m thankful for the parts of my body that produce digestive enzymes. The salivary glands produce enzymes that digest starch, breaking it down to sugar. (Chew on a cracker for a few minutes. It will probably begin to taste sweet.) There are enzymes in the stomach that help break down food molecules. These enzymes require an acid environment, in order to work. The pancreas and the liver produce enzymes that help digest food molecules. If food wasn’t digested, it wouldn’t do us any good. We would get just as much good from eating sand as from eating turkey.

28) I’m thankful for Sulfur. It’s one of the more prevalent elements in my body, after Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Calcium, and maybe Potassium. Amino acids make up proteins. Proteins can be enzymes, or part of our structure (hair is mostly protein) or perform other functions, such as fighting infection. Two of the amino acids that make up proteins, cysteine and methionine, contain Sulfur. Cysteines bonded together help to give hair, and other body parts, their structure. If hair is burnt, there’s a bad smell, which is mostly due to Sulfur.

Sulfur is a necessary part of sulfuric acid, which is used in making fertilizer, and used in some kinds of batteries. Sulfur is used as a fungicide and pesticide. Some of the most important antibiotics contain Sulfur. Sulfur is necessary for life on this planet.

29) I’m thankful for Sodium. Sodium is part of common table salt, Sodium Chloride. We need Sodium in order to live. However, too much Sodium can lead to high blood pressure, and, if it’s really too much, even to death. Salt is used as a preservative. Sodium is used to manufacture chlorophyll, which is used in photosynthesis, the basic food-making process that we all depend on. Sodium is necessary for the functioning of the nervous system. As you read this, Sodium is migrating across the membranes of your nerve cells, making perception of what you are reading, and thought about it, possible. Yellow colors in fireworks are due to Sodium.

30) I’m thankful for Phosphorus. Phosphorus is an essential part of DNA and RNA, the molecules that carry our genetic code, and help to express it. It’s also part of ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) which is used in the processes that release energy from food. Our cell membranes contain Phosphorus. It’s no wonder that almost all fertilizers contain Phosphorus.

Many matches contain Phosphorus.

I could have been thankful for Potassium, Calcium, Chlorine, Iron, and other elements of the periodic table, but will stop here. Thanks for reading.

Thanking God for some classroom experiences as a science professor

It's always a good idea to reflect on what God has done for us. This post, taken from a previous post, December 11, 2006, is such reflection. I was a college science teacher for over 40 years.

The best experiences I had in the classroom all involved (duh!) students. As a biologist, these were often on field trips, where we saw things that the textbooks (or I) could only describe. Sometimes they were in the lab, when something actually worked as they were supposed to(!). Once, an African-American student with sickle-cell anemia saw her own red blood cells sickle under the microscope (I got to see this, too) for the first, and, I suppose, the only time. (Red blood cells are normally circular. The cells of someone with sickle cell anemia assume an elongated shape when they become deprived of Oxygen.) I am sorry to say that this young lady didn't live long after this experience. She died from the complications of this terrible disease.

Often the most memorable experiences are one-time things, and happen when something goes wrong, or at least not according to plan. I will relate two of mine. Once, a few students and I were injecting a rabbit. The rabbit died, for some reason. (Today, I would have insisted on more protection for rabbits, although they might still die of unknown causes, as this one did.) One of the students suggested that we dissect the rabbit, so we did. We had never seen the insides of a just-dead rabbit before, and seeing this was amazing. A rabbit's intestines include an (for a rabbit) enormous caecum, quite different from human anatomy.

Another such experience was when a student came in late for a bioethics class. I knew what had happened, because she had called and told me -- the class and I had been praying. Her father had just gotten a liver transplant. I had her sit on the table in front of the class and talk about it, and the rest of us asked her questions. Organ transplantation, of course, has some important ethical implications.

I have also had experiences where a student asked me a question that changed my way of thinking. One of my students asked me about human cloning, back in the middle 1970's. I hadn't thought much about it before, but decided that I should. Partly because of his question, the U. S. taxpayer supported my attendance at a six week conference on bioethics in 1979 at Indiana University. I was the only person in the group of a dozen or so who was trained as a biologist, and the only one from an evangelical Christian college/university. All of this resulted in a change in direction. I developed a new class at my school, and published a paper (the article is not available on-line, so far as I know -- the link is to a listing) on the subject.

Sometimes a student made a comment that changed my thinking. One once said "the Bible is inerrant, but our interpretation of it isn't." How right he was, and is.

I am glad to say that, sometimes, I could see students learn. Sometimes I could see that they had, when I graded their tests, quizzes, and papers.

Some of the greatest experiences came outside of class, when students came to talk to me about something unrelated to their class work, or I got to interact with, or observe them, in other settings.

I confess -- I married a student. (She came to college after being in the workplace for three years, so I didn't rob the cradle. We have now been married over a half century.)

Thank God for all of this, and so much more! Thanks for reading.

How God recently helped me, involving our computers

A few days ago, we were visiting some of our family. Part of the visit was to see one of our grandsons, who plays water polo with his high school team. We were glad to have seen that, more than once. We had never that game before.

I'm not as spry as I once was, and am not always as balanced (physically!) as I should be, I guess. A couple of years ago, I managed to fall while walking along a wide concrete walk around a harbor. During last Thanksgiving season, I walked over to a neighbor's in the dark, and forgot that he had put some loose bricks at the end of a wall. I stepped on one or two of them as I went around the wall's end, and fell, landing on his concrete driveway. While at one of the water polo games, I stepped on some miscellaneous stuff, a couple of meters from the pool, and down I went. I thank God that I took no injury in any of these accidents -- not a bruise, not sore a bit. That's one praise.

During the last fall, I lost my grip on my Android tablet, and it fell into the swimming pool. The referee stopped the game while one of the players dove down and got it. But the tablet would not come on. As far as I can tell, it's dead for good. It served me well. I had used it for various kinds of reading, including devotional reading, and for other purposes.

We like Coldstone ice cream. There is a store near where the games were being played, and we went there. Ice cream stores, and other small fast food franchises, in California, usually don't have restrooms. I discovered that I needed one. I was directed to a public restroom, but it was padlocked. There is a Target store near the ice cream store, and I decided that was my best bet for a restroom. While at this Target, it occurred to me that I might purchase a new tablet there, which is another praise. (Otherwise, I would have had to find another store, or go on-line to order one, and not gotten one for a day or so.) So I went back to the electronics section. I asked the clerk how much storage a tablet, for sale, had, and she pointed out something that I had forgotten, namely that this new tablet had a spot for a memory card. I suddenly recalled that my damaged tablet had had a memory card in it. I bought the tablet, and, as soon as I could, placed the memory chip from the damaged device into the new one. It worked! I didn't have to copy files from our computer to the new tablet! That's another praise. If she hadn't reminded me of that, it would have taken hours to copy the files I wanted on the tablet from our computer.

We got home, a couple of days later. A few hours after we did, our laptop computer would not access the internet. We got it with a protection plan, so I took the laptop to the store where I got it in the first place. I first copied all of our data files -- photos, spreadsheets, etc., to an external hard drive, in case the laptop was no longer usable. After less than 24 hours, I was able to pick up the computer. The repair person said that something had gone wrong with a Windows 10 update, which is plausible, and that I could not have fixed this without special software. He accessed the internet, using our computer, from the store, to show that the problem was fixed. But when I got home, I discovered that our graphics programs, and Microsoft Office, were no longer accessible. I could get on the internet, which is another praise, but I couldn't get along without a spreadsheet, a word processor, nor that graphics program, and, of course, I had already paid for them. I got in contact with the store's on-line repair people, through chatting (I couldn't have done that without internet access), and having her take control of the machine, from wherever she was. In a couple of hours or so, Office, and the graphics suite, were again usable. There was no charge for the repairs, other than the original purchase of the protection plan. Those are also both cause for praise. I'm now using this laptop to write this, and expect to post it on the internet, as this blog post, in a little bit. I thank God for his goodness!

I needed to back up our files, anyway.

Thanks for reading!

The Most Important Spiritual Disciplines

Spiritual Disciplines are “habits, practices, and experiences that are designed to develop, grow, and strengthen” a believer's spiritual life. They are things that Christians can, and are, expected to do, for their own benefit, as opposed to Spiritual Gifts, which are meant for the uplifting of a group of believers. Although they are for the individual, doing these will make us more like Christ, and lead us to benefit others in many ways. Two Bible passages which are direct commands to engage in self-initiated exercise toward spiritual growth are 1 Timothy 4:7b (Exercise yourself toward godliness ...) and Philippians 2:12b (work out your own salvation with fear and trembling...).

There is no widely agreed-upon list of Spiritual  Disciplines. The chart below uses four sources which do give lists, and compares them. My own list is derived from these, and is below.

Spiritual Disciplines chart (I attempted to line up the same items across the chart, but Blogger and/or your browser may not line them up properly. Sorry.)

Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline Fasting Meditation Prayer Service Simplicity Solitude Study Submission

Dallas Willard, the Spirit of the Disciplines Celebration§ Chastity* Confession§ Fasting* Fellowship§ Frugality* Prayer§ Sacrifice* Secrecy* Service§ Silence* Solitude* Study § Submission§ Worship §

Brett & Kate McKay “What are Spiritual Disciplines?” Celebration Chastity Confession Contemplation Evangelism Fasting Fellowship Gratitude Journaling Meditation Prayer Self-Examination Silence Simplicity Solitude Stewardship Study Submission/Obedience

Adele Ahlberg, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook Confession Compassion Detachment Discernment Fasting Intercession Lord’s Supper Prayer (at fixed time(s)) Service Stewardship Study Witness Worship

*Willard calls these “Disciplines of Abstinence” and §these “Disciplines of Engagement.”

These Disciplines are mentioned in all four sources: Fasting, Prayer, and Study.

These are mentioned in three of these sources: Confession, Service, Solitude, Submission. It would seem, then, that at least these seven Disciplines are important, even essential, for the proper Christian life.
I’m guessing that “Solitude” includes Meditation, and would add that Discipline to the “most important” list. Individual Worship can be combined with Meditation and Solitude. Celebration is one form of Worship. 

There are other things that a Christian normally should do, including Celebration, Evangelism/Witnessing and group Worship, which includes the Lord’s Supper, but these don’t strike me as Disciplines. Neither does Discernment.

Journaling can be part of Study and Meditation. Contemplation and Self-Examination are part of Meditation. Celibacy, Detachment and Secrecy are aspects of Solitude. Stewardship is an aspect of Service. Stewardship often leads to Frugality and Simplicity.

Gratitude may not be a Discipline, in the minds of all. Perhaps they see it as part of Meditation. Celebration is  part of Gratitude, too. However, it seems to me, based on the Bible’s emphasis on it, that Gratitude is so important, and should be engaged in almost continuously, that I’m going to add it to my list of the most important Disciplines.

Adoration – praising God for who and what He is – as opposed to Gratitude, thanking God for specific things He has done, is not on any of the lists, but, again, it strikes me as so important that it is included in the list below. There are important Biblical prayers that include Adoration, such as Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the Temple (“Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you …”), the prayer of the Disciples in Acts 4 (“O Lord, you are God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea …”) part of Christ’s High Priestly prayer in John (“17:5 Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed….”), Psalm 8:1 (“Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, who has set your glory above the heavens!”), Psalm 104 (1 Bless Yahweh, my soul. Yahweh, my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty.”). Other passages with adoration are Hebrews 1 (3a “His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power …”), the song of the angels at the birth of Christ (Luke 2:14a “Glory to God in the highest …”) and John’s description of the Holy City (Revelation 21:22 “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. 21:23 The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.”)

None of the sources list “Bible Reading” as a Discipline. Bible Reading is not necessarily the same thing as Bible Study, however, and I would add that to the list of most important Disciplines, which is meant to include all of those mentioned in the table above, in some way:

Adoration, Bible Reading, Bible Study, Confession, Fasting, Gratitude, Meditation, Prayer, Service, Solitude, Submission.

Thanks for reading! Practice the Spiritual Disciplines.