Respect for science, please

“No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong.”
-Albert Einstein

I am priviledged to have the opportunity to study chemistry. It’s a necessary course I need for getting into post-secondary education but instead of being a burden it is enlightening. I didn’t realize how little I understood about the scientific process of developing theories. In my narrowmindedness I thought predictions preceded theories which preceded laws. In my mind, laws were indesputable pieces of scientific knowledge that cannot be dislodged regardless of evidence that says otherwise. This was the primary reason that I disregarded evolution. It was only a theory and not yet graduated to lawhood.

How wrong I was.

Einstein sums up my more recent understanding of science. For a theory to be accepted, it must undergo a lot of scrutiny by the scientific community. A theory must be able to:
1. Explain observations in nature in unobservable ideas
2. Predict the results of future experiments accurately
3. Be simple in concept and application

Theories are not tainted by emotional involvement and resulting social immplications. Being brought up in a Christian environment, I had a notion that science was all a big conspiracy to thwart humanity away from God. It was a necessary evil that the public school system required all students to understand in hopes to drag them away from their beliefs. Possibly this was a subconscious reason why I chose not to study sciences in high school.

How wrong I was.

Science is not some made up philosophy or idea. Rather, it is a collection of knowledge based on observations of nature. It is the exploration of why our environment is the way it is. Isn’t that exciting? I hardly think science is an enemy.

All for now, more to come…

Perspectives

Do you remember when you were in school and you had questions in social and science class like: “Is the recycling of glass beneficial? Defend your position from both an economical and ecological perspective.”? I do! In fact, I’m tackling these questions today. (I’m upgrading my high school chemistry)

I’m realizing that different perspectives are like sunglasses. Some people always look through pink shades while others see everything with a yellow tint.

I like controversy. I like debates. I’m not terrific at being involved but I sure like to witness them. Then, I like to sit back and think about everything for a long time. Recently, I’ve been thinking over a couple of major issues from two perspectives: the atheist and the Christian.

The environment
Atheist
The responsibility of maintaining our environment rests solely on our shoulders. The earth’s health and life span depends on the actions of its inhabitants. Therefore, our actions have a direct impact on the environment and we need to be responsible with unintended consequences of our actions.

Christian
God holds everything in His hands and has a timeline predestined for the universe. The health and life span will be upheld until it reaches the crucial point of when God calls it all over, regardless of the actions of its inhabitants. Therefore, the inhabitants are free to do whatever they wish because it is impossible to derail the plan of God.

Human rights
Atheist
The only activist for human rights are other humans. There is no external, intervening being. Therefore, those with a voice should use their powers to lobby and intervene on behalf of others who are voiceless and suffering at the hands of their governments.

Christian
God holds all people in His hands and has a plan and purpose for each individual life. Therefore, intervention is optional but not necessary. God will defend His own.

Disclaimer: I am not pointing fingers at anyone. I am throwing out what’s been on my mind. That’s all. In theory, Christians are supposed to be more compassionate than any other sect, whether atheist or based on a different religion. In actuality, many Christian organizations have done some fabulous humanitarian aid work, I can’t really vouch for their efforts in the environmental context. In theory, atheists should be devoutly and adamantly lobbying for human rights. I’m sure there are quite a few involved in Amnesty. However, in actuality, people in general are selfish and look out for the needs of their direct relations. There is potential strong evidence for this behaviour, which I read about in Richard Dawkins’ book, “The Selfish Gene”. If you want to get your brain thinking, I highly recommend this book.

Calorie budget!

This is a catchy and fun idea for me. As I mentioned in a previous posting, I’d really love to implement this if I were ever a registered dietitian. (Which, for the record, I would totally love to pursue. Unfortunately, I’m not willing to relocate for the program.) I’m so excited to share my idea but I’m also a little nervous that it will be stolen from me! Nonetheless, if it helps you maintain a healthy diet, by all means, steal it!!

Here’s the basic idea spelled out in an elementary budget for a hypothetical child to manage her money. Thanks to my parents, I have a solid foundation in basic economics which I will now demonstrate.

Sally earns $20.00/day from working as a checkout clerk. Because she lives in poverty she has specific needs that must be met with her money and must not squander it. Neither loans nor debt is permitted in Sally’s budget. Her $20.00 could, in theory, buy a chocolate bar, a pack of cookies, a hot dog from a street vendor and then her money would be gone. She would then likely be hungry by dinner time, yes? She must therefore invest in longer lasting, better quality food for less money. Products such as dried beans, lentils, eggs, root vegetables, rice, oatmeal will do the trick. If she spends her money wisely she will not be hungry.

In case you haven’t gotten it yet, here’s the conversion factor: 1 calorie = 1 cent

If you are striving to maintain a 2,000 calorie/day budget, use each calorie wisely and don’t squander a bunch on silly things like fancy coffees with syrups because they won’t last you. Your calorie budget should not allow you to go into debt. When those calories are spent, they’re gone. Too bad if you spent them all on french fries. I guess you might do better tomorrow!

In case you’re interested, I have another blog that is basically a foody blog. Recently I have been logging every single food that I consume in a day in a photo type food journal. It’s called Stirfried Pickles. Someday I hope to get hubby to mash these two blogs together into a giant mammoth.

Kimberly and 2012

We’ve just returned from what has to be the most exhausting holiday I’ve ever experienced. So much for relaxation!

We actually paid money to:
a) hurtle ourselves down a mountain with a board strapped to both feet
b) have our dog returned to us in utter exhaustion

If you haven’t guessed it by now, we went on a ski/snowboard trip. It was fun! Really, it was! When we arrived we had zero knowledge of how to get ourselves from the top of the mountain on a board other than to sit on it. On our last day we had slightly more knowledge of how to throw ourselves fearlessly (or more accurately, terrorized) from the highest altitude down to the lowest. The difference in altitude is rather surprising. The one time I made it down the mountain in 7 minutes my ears actually popped.

2012
I am not into resolutions, rather into lifestyle changes. Healthy eating has been a gradual change over the years and we’ve really begun to take it seriously at the end of 2011 and hopefully this is a permanent lifestyle change. I’ll totally miss my nachos and cheese. I’ll continue to crave fancy chocolates and the french fries will continue to lure me at the food courts! However, my working out becomes so much harder when I eat poorly. Not that we ever did eat awfully but we were getting into the habit of dessert every day in England. Whoops. That explains why my pants didn’t fit.

What it’s NOT:
a) restrictive, there are no foods that we do not eat. Rather, we have a ‘choose rarely’ category in which the glorious foods live and we have a ‘choose often’ category for those greens, reds, yellows from the produce section live.
b) natural, organic, trendy, yoga, pilates, and whatever else is cool today! I’m not really convinced by the ‘organic’ produce. I will continue to wash my apples and tomatoes with soap and water… Our diets are clean, not organic/natural. A common misconception I hear today is, ‘Oh, it’s organic, therefore also healthy!’ What a way to get fat off of free range, organic pork sausages… and be completely dumbfounded as to why weight gain happened. It’s called a sensible diet of diverse, healthy choices.

My idea for eating sensibly will follow shortly in another blog post. Someday if I ever have the priviledge of doing rehab for overweight individuals, I would love to implement this idea. Watch for it!

Christianity today?

These thoughts have been brewing in my brain for about 5 years. They started around the same time as I began to read through the entire Bible, page by page, chapter by chapter. Before I launch into my rant, here is an informal disclaimer:

One.

While I have read through the entire Bible three times, my understanding of its original text is nonexistent. I am not familiar with Hebrew or Greek. If the text I have chosen to look at cannot be well translated from the original, then some meaning will be lost. I am purely examining the Scriptures translated into a dynamic English translation.

Two.

The people I have had contact with to form these opinions form a very small sample. As a result, these opinions are not based on global Christianity, but on Westernized Christianity, which I think some will already agree, is a little messed up. I would like to see Christianity in practice around the world as that would increase my perspective. And that is never a bad thing.

Three.

I am making generalizations about a body of people. I am not targeting my judgements on specific persons. Rather, my intentions are to share what has been eating at me. I understand that with all generalizations there are exceptions. I have met some beautiful Christians who are living out their convictions as best as is humanly possible.

Here we go.

From the reading I have done of the Bible, being a Christian is no easy task. Nowhere does it say that a Christian’s life is cushy and easy. From my understanding, it warns Christians that they will suffer for the sake of the name of Jesus. Alongside that, it also does encourage Christians that they will not suffer alone. This does not mean that Christians can claim all suffering as some sort of martyrdom because all living organisms suffer. This is an inseparable consequence of being alive.

Let’s take a look at Scripture for a minute. In fact, let’s look at the gospels. Christians tend to use Jesus’ words and life as a model to follow. Why? To answer that we need to answer this: What is the meaning of “Christian”? According to Wikipedia, the word is derived from the Greek, meaning “follower of Christ”.

Here’s a summary of some points of Jesus’ life according to the gospel of Matthew. My thoughts are in italics.

• Born in a stable with barn animals. (Matt. 1)
  Indicates great humility. How many of us would have our children born in a barn?
• Has some shady characters in his genealogy, including his virgin mother. (Matt. 1)
• His cousin, also revered, eats grasshoppers dipped in honey and wears camel hair for clothing. (Matt. 3)
  Here is a man preparing the way for Jesus and letting people know about what’s coming next. He doesn’t eat out at restaurants, he eats bugs. He doesn’t wear Gap, he wears camel hair.
• His first followers left their careers to follow him. (Matt. 4)
  Think about this for a second. How many Christians are there just quitting their jobs with no plan of getting another one and just walking around and telling other people what they believe in? How do you pay your rent? How do you buy your groceries? The idea is that God supplies. I’m not really seeing this in practice.
• He says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matt. 6)
  I find this really interesting. The average person in the 21st century doesn’t have a barn, but we do have RRSPs, savings accounts and here’s the clincher: mortgages.
• He says, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them…. (Matt. 6)
  Again, this links in nicely with what I said earlier about leaving your career with no plan of getting another one. Some may argue at this point that not everybody could possibly live their lives like this because then there wouldn’t be anyone supplying the funds necessary to pull this off. However, note that the Bible doesn’t give exceptions to commands.
• He says, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Matt. 8
  Jesus literally meant, drop everything you have to follow me. Family, money, home, job…
• He sends out his 12 followers with this, “Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.”
  Again, they are commanded to leave all money and personal property behind.
• He says while predicting his death, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matt. 16)
  Yes, it will be hard, Jesus says.
• He says to a rich young man interested in following him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matt. 19)
  Hammered home again. Christians are not to hoard wealth but to give it away.
• What is the greatest commandment? Jesus says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt. 22)
  Our lifestyles are extremely individualistic in this city. Having talked with friends who moved in from other places I have discovered that this city shuts down after dark and everyone drives into their double car garage, shuts the door, and closes the curtains. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be limited to non-Christians.
• Jesus warns his followers, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold…”
• Matt. 25:31-46. Not going to write the whole bit out. Look it up for yourself if you’re interested.
  This is hammering home the point that Christians are required to give and give and give everything they have to the poor as if they were giving to Jesus. There are severe consequences for those who do not give. Look it up to find out what they are.
• He died a death worthy of a wicked criminal.

There is no place in this worldview to have a large home with a double car garage, to drive a nice BMW, to eat out at restaurants, to wear a different top every day of the month, to own luxuries like pets, to have RRSPs, savings accounts or mortgages. Here’s a sobering question for Christians: How would your life change if you were not a Christian today? Think about it. This is a high calling with a narrow road.

Origin of Evil

7 of September 2011

If God is perfection and love how could He create a being, Lucifer, great evil and hatred?

AND

If God is all powerful why did Lucifer, with the full knowledge of failure, rebel?

Questions…

24 August 2011

How much of what we believe is what we want to believe and we believe it because our minds absorb only on what fits into our philosophies?

As a child I was told that God made the world. My parents and Sunday School teacher wouldn’t lie to me, of course it was true. Being home schooled, my mom had the ability to skim over bits of science that didn’t flow smoothly alongside Scripture. The “e” word was avoided for the most part and when brought up was treated with contempt. I could assume that all I needed to know for the beginning of the universe was spelled out for me in the first few chapters of the Bible. Last year I took a Biology course which lead me to completely different conclusions regarding the birth of our existence. Critical thinking became a vital skill for learning and gaining knowledge. I began to read the Bible critically from the beginning, asking questions and seeking answers. I discovered a lot of material that I had skimmed over because I already believed what I wanted to believe and that fit into my already formulated philosophy that God created the world.

Serious questions that arose were:

Why do Christians fear philosophies (the “e” word) contrary to the gospel?
If God can create a universe in 7 days, have a man swallowed by a giant fish, be thrown up three days later and live, become man and be conceived in a virgin, and be raised from death after three days we do not need to fear! Is He not mighty enough to stand up against weak worldly concepts?

What was the initial “light” and “darkness” created on day 1?
The sun and moon were created on day 4. Genesis 1

From the work of day 2, I get a vivid image of a sandwich of water, sky, water. Why is there no water above the sky? Where is it?
Some say the water above the sky was the source of the flood. As we are moving outward, the surface area is much larger, meaning there was a lot of water. If the flood truly did cover the entirety of the globe, where is all that water now?

Many stars are older than our sun. This is measured in light years. How is this possible as they were created on day 4?
Genesis 1:14-19

All for now!

Second hand child

Autumn 2004

Having just earned my very first real pay check, I was ecstatic. Eagerly, I deposited it into my bank account. I had my own money. My very own. Of course 10% went to church, another portion was set aside for my piano lessons, yet another portion was designated for my darling dog and the remainder was mine. All mine. This feeling of financial independence was extremely liberating. I say it was only a feeling as my parents were neither charging me for rent nor for board.

Life was great!

A significant moment in my life was when I walked into Wal-Mart, armed with a shiny, plastic debit card, and bought my first pair of brand new shoes. Wow. They were beautiful. If you were to ask me now I would say they were hideous. These shoes were special because they were the first item I bought from my very own resources earned from my very own hard work at the warehouse up the road.

I grew up as a second hand child. No, I wasn’t purchased at the second hand store, but everything on my back was. I wasn’t deprived, no. I had violin and piano lessons, my own horse, and my own dog. I just couldn’t get over the fact that my clothes were all second hand. The smell of the second hand store lingers in the clothes, even after going through the wash several times. Walking into the second hand shops was like entering into a little bit of paradise for me. It sounds crazy but I loved it. So many clothes! My shopping trolly would be heavy ladden with the mounds of tops, skirts, dresses, pants, and shoes to try on. Still, I was unhappy because new was a novelty I seldom experienced.

To this day I struggle with clothes shopping. I both enter and leave the mall empty handed. The price tags loom higher than my willingness to tarnish my shiny cards and hard earned cash.

I am and forever will be a second hand child.

…while each of you is busy with his own house

January 17, 2010

Admittedly, when I see Scripture added to an article, I usually bypass it and continue to read the “interesting” stuff. I have a feeling that I may not be alone in this, so I encourage you to bear with me as I share a bit that is really quite integral to the rest of this post.

Background: God’s people have returned to Jerusalem following their captivity in Babylon. King Darius has allowed some of the people to return to their city to rebuild the temple. God confronts them with a prophet named Haggai. You can read the entire story in the Bible in the book of Haggai.

” You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. There fore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands.”

Perhaps this was written to the Isrealites of long ago but God’s Word has relevance today. For me. Having visited many churches while searching for one to call home after we moved to Calgary, I have noticed something that seemed to be present with nearly every church we visited. There is a lot of money. Cars in the parking lots, jewelry decorating people, homes of church goers are evidence… I am not saying that these are bad, however, let us not pour more attentions on our own “houses”, treasures, or selfish lives than we do for God and thereby also for others. As Jesus said in the Gospels, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25: 40)

I am struggling to be a living sacrifice day to day and this challenges me even more. I hope it does so for you, too.

Christmas Burdens

There is an issue that lies close to my heart that burdens my spirits each Christmas. Each time the season of sleigh bells and the smell of pine trees comes around this issue resurfaces. One year maybe it will affect my Christmas and, therefore, affect all those around me. This is why I shy away from revealing this issue. Rather I allow it to gnaw away within me.

Why is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ associated with glutony, getting stuff, huddling together as close family and friends?

Is this not the very opposite of what our precious Saviour intended it to be?

• Dear readers, my heart longs to abolish the big Christmas feast and fast rather for those who have nothing.

• Dear readers, my heart longs to be giving the gifts of feeding the homeless, giving financial aid to those poor children with bloated bellies, pulling young girls out of sex slavery, and getting these gifts given in my name.

• Dear readers, my heart longs to open the doors to those who nobody else wants to have in their homes disturbing their family Christmas.

This is serious stuff. This is what keeps me lying awake at night pondering.

How could I practically implement these? How could I say to my friends and family, “No, I’m fasting. I’m not having Christmas dinner.”? How could I tell those expecting a nice box tied up with a pretty bow with a sweater nicely folded inside that I purchased their gift out of the World Vision catalouge and actually they won’t be getting anything from me? How could I open the doors to others who need it by putting the rest of my family in discomfort? Is that loving?

If this, too, is a burden upon your heart I would be encouraged to hear that. Someday perhaps we can put Christmas back into a season of making our Father smile rather than turn away in shame.

What does Jesus say on the topic?

“Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

-Luke 14:12-14

(The rest of the chapter is relevent to this, too)