Women surgeons

It's a cottage industry. Seeking out victims. Women outnumber men in medical school, law school, pharmacy and veterinary medicine. 40% of U.S. physicians are women (not sure those sexist stats are going to be collected indefinitely). 80% of veterinary students are women. But it's never enough. Today I got an e-mail from OSU about the 4th annual Women in Surgery Symposium and the focus? You guessed it. Workplace inequalities, bullying and microaggressions. This constant agitation by mushrooming "education" agenda driven non-profits is so lucrative, it will never go away. Maybe you'd better interview your surgeon before submitting to the knife. Make sure she isn't angry or stressed.

What’s wrong with Nancy Pelosi?

What is this woman smoking? "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s statement Friday on the surprisingly good monthly employment jobs report: “The October jobs report offers further evidence that the Republicans’ disastrous special interest agenda is hollowing out the middle class while enriching the wealthy and well-connected.”(WSJ)

CNBC reports the following key points that Fancy Nancy has called disastrous:

• Nonfarm payrolls rose by 128,000 in October, exceeding the estimate of 75,000 from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
• There were big revisions of past numbers as well. August’s initial 168,000 payrolls addition was revised up to 219,000, while September’s jumped from 136,000 to 180,000.
• The unemployment rate ticked slightly higher to 3.6% from 3.5%, still near the lowest in 50 years.
• The pace of average hourly earnings picked up a bit, rising 0.1% to a year-over-year 3% gain.
• The unemployment rate for African Americans nudged down to a record low 5.4%

The tale of Lucky Jack

There's a German folk tale that Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) used to illustrate the failures of the church. The tale of "Lucky Jack." Perhaps you've heard of Jack; if not you'll recognize him because we're close to the ending of the tale. Our country is living out his story.

Jack finds a lump of gold. After his initial joy and satisfaction at his good fortune, he decides it's too heavy to carry, so he spends it on a horse. But really, what can a horse do? So he trades the horse for a cow so at least he has food, but she is too difficult to care for. So he trades the cow for a flock of chickens, and finally sells the chickens for a stone to sharpen his knife. But the stone is worthless so he tosses it into a lake having decided it wasn't worth anything.

Through the made up charges and offering no legal protections any American would have in a court of law, the angry Democrats are attacking the election of 2016, and plan to put their own leader, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in the White House. It's come to this. Our freedoms and protections, our Constitution and history are just a worthless stone tossed away when we could have had gold.

Feeling loved

Yesterday it was raining hard when I left the market with a plastic sack in each hand.  I saw a woman approaching from my left.

“Oh my Lamb, my Lamb” I heard her say in accented English with out stretched arms.  And she threw her arms around me and gave me a big hug. It was my neighbor whose daughter has metastatic breast cancer, knowing how I was feeling because of our son’s brain cancer.

Today a church friend brought over a lemon buttermilk pie. Just because she loves us.  She and her husband stayed to visit for awhile.  She’s a wonderful chef and cares for many in the church by bringing them comfort food or inviting them to her home for dinner—every week.  I haven’t tasted the pie yet, but I found a recipe on the internet.  https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/buttermilk-lemon-pie/

November 1 is All Saints Day.

We live in a football crazed and crazy town--Columbus, Ohio, home of the Buckeyes. I think I went to a Buckeye game in 1967. But we don't live far from the stadium-- the sounds, the tailgaters, the traffic, and of course, the games are always televised so it's even in my house, and there's usually a comment the next day along with the pastor's sermon. The "Horseshoe" holds over 100,000 screaming, adoring fans (only Michigan and Penn are larger).

That's how I picture All Saints Day. We run on to the field with our God and coach, and when we look up, there they are--all the saints who have gone before us, cheering, waving, singing, rocking the stadium. We look into the stands and see Mom and Dad, or that special Sunday School teacher, or the elderly man who came to the food pantry when we were serving, or our baby who died at birth now perfect and well, and they are so happy to see us, encourage us, and pray for us in our difficult and joyful times, both.

“Holy, Holy, Holy! all the saints adore thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
Who were and are and ever more shall be!”

https://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Holy_Holy_Holy/score/?

October 31

"Halloween" comes from "All Hallows Eve," from the Christian Feast of "All Saints." Various communities rearrange the date for "trick or treat," so also has church history scholars rearranged the date of celebration of remembering the saints who have gone before us. Some sources say 3rd century, some 8th century, and one I read today said 11th century when the Abbot of Cluny urged his monks to observe November 2 as "All Soul's Day." Still, Christians have always honored the dead and in the first and second centuries worshipped in the catacombs, where Romans buried and forgot their dead. Christians even saved small pieces of the bones of the deceased, called "relics." Christians expect a resurrection like Jesus' and they'll need their body for that.

In our Lutheran church the names of all the members who died since last November 1 are read aloud during the service, and then the names of deceased which the members have submitted. This Sunday the names of our grandparents, parents, siblings and children will be read from the pulpit while we take communion. It's a beautiful reenactment of the Christian hope. A great crowd of witnesses.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus . . ." Hebrews 12:1

Fairfax County, Virginia, now on the sanctuary crime list

Three of the top 10 sanctuary cities with the highest crime are represented in Washington by the leading proponents of protecting illegal immigrants, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, according to a new report.

The communities on the IRLI list are:
1. San Francisco.
2. New York.
3. Minneapolis.
4. Philadelphia.
5. Seattle.
6. Chicago.
7. TIE: Montgomery County, Maryland, and Fairfax County, Virginia.
8. Prince George’s County, Maryland.
9. Boston.
10. Santa Clara County, California.

That's a shame. Although it's been about 20 years since we visited relatives in Fairfax County, it use to be a lovely community.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/list-top-10-highest-crime-sanctuary-cities?

Peter Buttigieg, Democrat

Dr. Michael Hurd asks:

"Are you ready for a President who wants to outlaw all statues and references to Thomas Jefferson?”

"Are you ready for a President who wants to raise taxes to 70-90 percent?” 

“Are you ready for a President to nationalize medical care and most of private industry?”

"Are you ready for a President who will outlaw fossil fuels in a decade?"

"Are you ready for a President who wants to repeal the Second Amendment or, failing that, seize your weapons anyway?”

It's not his homosexuality, it's his beliefs. Mayor Pete Buttigieg. If you voted because of race in 2008, don't be drawn into another poor reason to select a president. Know what you're getting. Obama offered you the vague, Hope and Change and total transformation. Buttigieg offers loss of our history, confiscatory taxes, more climate change nonsense, and the loss of freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

Don't be woke, be awake.

Charlie Gaskill, 67

Last night we attended Charlie Gaskill's funeral at our Lytham Road campus of UALC. The sanctuary seats 750, and there were people standing in the narthex for the 90 minute service. Cars covered the neighborhood, and the parking lots were full. Charlie was a much loved and respected man who had battled chronic lymphocytic leukemia since 2006. What struck me was the many stories and metaphors about sports. In fact, the day Charlie got his diagnosis, we were told, he'd been on a 3 mile run. At 6'8" he played basketball at Capital University 1969-73, a Lutheran college in Bexley (Columbus). At one point, former team members were asked to come forward while a Catholic deacon who had been on the team was eulogizing him . We were sitting so far back and under the balcony I could hardly see, but it looked like about 15 men in their mid to late 60s went forward. There were many stories by his children, friends and the pastor about his thoroughness, kindness and athleticism. All 3 of his children had been active in sports, and Charlie and Susie cheered on and cared about the teammates of their kids too. They literally never missed a game from elementary through college sports. There were many young adults in the pews and some had flown in or driven long distances to be there to cheer Charlie on for the next big event.

Charlie's disease had visibly attacked his body, yet even after a very tough bout in the hospital, there he was at worship on Sunday, or offering his time, talents and worship to God's service. And so the verses he chose to be read were especially meaningful, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, "We do not lose heart though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are renewed day by day. . ."

https://www.schoedinger.com/obituaries/Charles-Gaskill-2/#!/Obituary

A hymn that’s good for all day

O God, creation's secret force,
Yourself unmoved, all motion's source
Who from the morn till evening ray
Through all its changes guide the day.

Grant us, when this short life is past,
The glorious evening that shall last;
That, by a holy death attained,
Eternal glory may be gained.

To God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit, Three in One,
May every tongue and nation raise
An endless song of thankful praise.

This hymn is by St. Ambrose, 4th century bishop, one of the most prolific of Latin hymn writers. It's said (Early Christian Hymns, Daniel Joseph Donahoe, 1908) he was the first to introduce the custom of singing hymns in the church. One source I have presents this as a morning song, another mid-day, and one as an evening song. Seems to work for all. And the translations vary. This one has a more modern English.

Ahab and Jezebel. Who’s the better comparison?

Hillary Clinton at the Cummings memorial on Friday compared our president and FLOTUS to Jezebel and Ahab, another power couple of the ancient Jewish scriptures. They've been used in the past to describe Bill and Hillary Clinton--perhaps she was aware of that book.

"Throughout his 2017 best-seller “The Paradigm: The Ancient Blueprint That Holds the Mystery of Our Times,” Jonathan Cahn explains how ancient paradigms have predicted political outcomes like Donald Trump’s presidential victory and Hillary Clinton’s defeat years before they happened.

Clinton said, "Like the prophet, our Elijah [Cummings] could call down fire from heaven, but he also prayed and worked for healing." "He weathered storms and earthquakes but never lost his faith. Like that Old Testament prophet, he stood against corrupt leadership of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel."

In "The Paradigm," Cahn made several parallels to both Hillary and Bill Clinton in relation to Queen Jezebel and King Ahab.

Queen Jezebel was raised under the worship of the goddess Ashtoreth and thus was an advocate of female power. She also championed Baal Worship involving the offering of children. Hillary Clinton has been considered a lifelong advocate of feminism for quite some time and was voted the chief advocate of abortion by Planned Parenthood – a lifelong issue for her.

Queen Jezebel worked with her husband Ahab to overturn traditional conservative values. King Ahab reigned in government and on the public stage for a period spanning 22 years. Hillary Clinton has been working with her husband Bill to overturn traditional conservative values for years. Bill Clinton also presided in government and on the public stage for 22 years from 1979 to 2001.

Finally, the reign of Ahab and Jezebel was marked by personal scandals. Specifically, the fall of Ahab was linked to the tribe of Levi. Similarly, the reign of Bill and Hillary Clinton was also marked by the Whitewater controversy and the Lewinsky scandal. The fall of Bill Clinton was linked to the Lewinsky – translated to ‘Levi’ in Hebrew – scandal."

No, I'm no O.T. scholar. This showed up in my e-mail from Cahn's PR company. I just thought it interesting that Bill and Hillary are a much closer match for Ahab and Jezebel as a power couple, than Donald and Melania.

Believing children’s fantasies

When I was a child I was horse crazy. Not only did I pretend my blue bike was a horse named "Red" (my best friend JoElla's bike/horse was named "Rusty" and oh the adventures we had), but at school recess I imagined I was a horse--could outrun all the boys in my class, too. My mother gave me wallpaper rolls so I could draw horses--all the time. At home I would gallop around the house on all fours, neighing and jumping around (imagine coming home from a 10 hour day on the fuel truck to that--poor daddy).

Fortunately, no teacher or doctor or parent took me seriously and knew I'd outgrow my fantasies. How did our society get snarled into these children's delusions and come to believe boys should be on girls' track teams using their bathrooms and pronouns? That it's OK to give children hormone blockers or destroy their body parts with surgery or chemicals. Why particularly are social workers, psychiatrists and surgeons falling for this tragedy called transgenderism? There are children born without kidneys, fingers, toes, arms, even brains. We don't say that is normal and everyone now has to play "let's pretend."

We know money is involved--that's always the first place to look. When same sex marriage was passed so easily, the agenda groups were left with bagsful of money and large staffs with no soliciting method. So an affliction of less than 1% became a cause and T was added to their acronym, although they really have nothing in common with homosexuals.

But there has to be more than just money. You can't even blame the Soviets, Maoists, or Che. Communists were always quite repressive about sex. It has to be the demand in our society to discount everything about a creator God who has a plan for us. Of course, Christians bought into it early on. Churches have caved to the contracept movement since the 1930s violating the first command to be fruitful and multiply. Then the demand for abortion in the 1970s became a mantra, a hymn for feminists, a "right" to destroy our future and our own children. And now we have a birthrate below replacement. The country can't survive and feed the hungry government programs without importing more workers, workers who will be willing to have babies, at least for one more generation.

Crazy how it all links together.

A mother's prayer

Hannah:

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted my request. Now I in turn, give him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord." (1 Samuel 1:27)

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson thinks the President is a racist

So Supt. Eddie Johnson thinks President Trump is a racist and he won't attend the meeting of the Chiefs of Police in Chicago because Trump will address them.

• Racism as in record low unemployment for blacks?
• Racism as in renewed attention on unequal prison terms for black men and the First Step Act ?
• Racism as in commuting the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson?
• Racism as in bringing misbehaving black college athletes safely home?
• Racism as in trying to protect the jobs of low income blacks from illegal workers?
• Racism as in wanting safer streets and neighborhoods in Chicago?
• Racism as in wanting to reduce genocidal abortion rate for black women which is 4x that of white women?

Tell me, Superintendent Johnson, what exactly has the President done to offend your race sensitivities?

Tell me all the great things President Obama and President Clinton did for blacks, other than boosting your pride?

It's Christmas catalog time

This week we've been getting Christmas catalogs. They quickly go in the trash, but I did browse the Hallmark catalog. On p. 24 there was something Christian. Must have slipped past the censors. Our 21st century culture is not unlike the one into which God took on flesh and became one of us to suffer and die for us.

It almost makes me look back with nostalgia to the 60s when Christians worried about the military-industrial complex instead of the minions of Moloch pumping children full of hormones, abusing them with surgery, and selling aborted baby parts to pharmaceutical labs.

Might be a good time for Jesus to return--just saying.

2006

What to expect after brain surgery—from a blog by someone who had it

Here’s what to expect after brain surgery (according to this writer at an advice blog):

1. It takes a long time to recover. I know that probably sounds obvious, but this point took a long time to sink in. I got really impatient with myself. I kept wondering, after just a week, when I’d start to feel like myself again. At two weeks, I started to panic. In the end, it took months – months! – before I felt normal. It’s been more than a year now, and guess what? Things still aren’t exactly where they should be. And that’s okay. Healing takes time. Be patient with yourself.
   –
2. You will be stoned out of your gourd. I was loopy from the medicine, and slept for days. DAYS. I could barely stay conscious for more than  a few hours, but I kept fighting it, which was dumb. Just sleep it off. You’ve earned your rest.
   –
3. You will have the attention span of a goldfish (because of the aforementioned medicine). TV shows will be really difficult to follow, and reading books or email will be absolutely impossible. Even the plots of movies you’ve already seen will be absurdly confusing. Have you tried watching Adventure Time? The episodes are only 11 minutes long, and they don’t really make sense anyway, so you might want to check them out.
   –
4. It might hurt. A lot. This should probably fall right into the “obvious” pile, but I did not anticipate this. The thing is, getting your head drilled actually causes pain. People will tell you that the brain doesn’t have any nerve endings, but your scalp and your skin do. Now is not the time to wait it out or to be tough. Because you could end up with a headache that lasts for – I kid you not – days. Take your damn painkillers. You can be macho at a more appropriate time, like at the grocery store or your child’s birthday party. (Also, if you start feeling really badly, or if cerebral fluid starts leaking out your nose or ears, call your doctor IMMEDIATELY).
   –
5. Nerves take a long time to regrow. When your surgeon cut into your skull, they also cut into a lot of tissue and nerve. Over the next few months, as these grow and heal, they’re going to be crazy sensitive. Every time I shivered, it felt like it reverberated straight across my skull and down into my brain. I’ve found that the best way to calm things down was to gently press a hand onto my head. Just a bit of pressure helped soothe my nerve endings. Also, consider wearing hats to ward away chills.
   –
6. Your senses might reset. Rand told me about this, and it still amazes me: whenever the brain is touched or traumatized, your senses are affected. In my case, I noticed that my already strong sense of smell (this nose ain’t for show, buddy) was now basically super-human. I could smell things that hadn’t happened yet. I also became acutely aware of the sound of my own voice, which sounded strange and foreign to me. Sometimes it still does. Things normalize after a few months, and I’ve got to admit: this is one of the cooler after-effects of brain surgery.
   –
7. You ain’t gonna poop for like, a week. The lower intestine is the last thing to wake up after major surgery. So take all those stool softeners the docs are giving you, okay?
   –
8. Steroids can you turn into a hormonal, rage-filled beast. The good news: they stop your brain from swelling, so you don’t die. The bad news: they transform you into the Hulk. But with acne. And a huge desire to eat everything in your fridge. Here’s a tip: try eating lots of lean protein and veggies, and accept that you might gain some weight, anyway. Be responsible, but don’t try to limit your caloric intake or diet (I can’t remember why – but I think it actually has a negative effect on muscle mass). Remember: it’s not permanent. You’re feeling weird because of the medicine, not because you’ve become Phinneas Gage or something.
   –
9. Scar tissue is a bitch. Check with your doctor on this one, but after you’ve healed completely, consider massaging the site of your incision to help break up the scar tissue that forms around it (I think that you, like me, will have a hole in your skull as opposed to a metal plate. So, please, be gentle). A little bit of scar tissue protects your skull, but if you have a lot (like I have) you might feel an uncomfortable pulling across your scalp. Do be careful: even now, a year later, I get headaches if massage my suture spot too much.
   –
10. Your head is going to look like a medieval dungeon. There’s the matted blood in your hair, and the weird jelly they put on your head, and the metal staples holding it all together and … ugh. Oh, and you’ll have weird scabs on your scalp, as well as some bruising. As gnarly as all that sounds, it is, apparently, normal.
    –
11. Obviously, this goes without saying, but you shouldn’t pick at anything.
    –
12. Your throat is gonna hurt like hell from the breathing tube.
    –
13. You are going to wake up crazy thirsty from the anesthesia, and no one is going to give you water, because they are concerned you are going to throw it up. So instead, you get to much on ice chips in an attempt to quench your crazy thirst. And then you will probably throw up anyway.
    –
14. Do you speak more than one language? I’m pretty sure you speak French. Anyway, you might get confused as to which language you are speaking, and to whom. I did that – kept talking to Rand in Italian, and getting mad when he said, “Baby, I can’t understand you.”
    –
15. Get someone to do your laundry. It’s amazing how quickly you will go through every single pair of pjs you have when you are wearing them non-stop. Ditto for pillowcases, which you will need to change nightly. And towels. You will basically amass a military barracks’ worth of soiled clothing and linens, but you will be too out of it to remember how to work your washing machine. Ask someone for help.
    –
16. Actually, for that matter, get someone to take care of you. Swallow your pride, and rely on other people. You will be in a daze. Making yourself food, getting dressed, washing your hair, are all going to be impossible without help. I was 31 when I had brain surgery. I can’t remember ever needing my mother more.
    –
17. People in your life are going to react to this in different ways. The crazy thing is, you won’t be able to predict who’s going to do what. Some of them are going to be amazing. They will come to the hospital and visit you and send you chocolate-covered fruit and call you to see how you are doing. They will stop by your house with food and presents and if they are grossed out by your head, they won’t show it. And some folks … well, some of them will drop off the face of the planet. They’ll say or do weird and insensitive things. They’ll dismiss what you’ve been through. It may hurt your feelings, it may be infuriating, it might just confuse the hell out of you. Whatever the case, try to go easy on them, okay? Some people are just bad in a crisis. Besides, you’ve got bigger things to worry about.
    -
18. Friends are going to look to you for cues on how to act. If you don’t want to talk about it, they won’t ask. If you are really open, they’ll be receptive to what you have to say. Decide how you want to deal with this thing, and you’ll find that everyone else will likely fall into step.
    -
19. The entire experience will be weird and surreal. My surgery was more than a year ago, and I still haven’t completely wrapped my head (heh) around what happened. Things seem to fall into two categories: “before my brain surgery” and “after.” That’s just how it is. It’s a weird thing.
    
20. For a very brief window of time, everything in your life is going to make sense. The petty things that bug you will fall away, and you’ll just be really grateful to be alive. Enjoy that feeling for as long as you can.-
http://www.everywhereist.com/20-things-you-can-expect-after-brain-surgery/

Splat! I fell at the library

The death rate from falls among the elderly is increasing, and no one seems to know why. In 2007, the rate of death due to falls was 47 per 100,000. This rate increased to 61.6 per 100,000 in the year 2016. Is it better records, or the baby boomers still taking risks?

I fell today. It wasn't far, and I wasn't hurt, but I sure felt foolish and I don't think anyone saw me. I was at the library which always has a nice display of used books for sale. They are arranged low on 3 shelf book trucks. So I sort of squatted down to get a better look and I tipped over! I kid you not. Splat. I was on the floor. So I sort of rearranged my legs to look like kids do sitting on the floor to browse the books. Of course, then I had to get up from that position! It was a struggle, but I did it. For just $2.00 I got 2 nice books I didn't need.

Update from my 84 year old Lakeside neighbor, Dorothy?

Oh boy, DO I IDENTIFY!!!

Back a few weeks, I fell out of bed trying to get to bathroom, hit my head on nightstand (black eye resulted), happened at 3:30 a.m. SO NO ONE AROUND to SEE. Bleeding profusely from leg wound that scraped metal part on walker which was close to bed (required 9 stitches).  YES, I drove myself to ER, no one ahead of me, got right in - I wasn't about to call 911 & have WHOLE neighborhood awake & asking questions the next day, NO WAY. WAS FUN going thru ALL RED LIGHTS, at 3:30 a.m. NOT MANY OTHERS OUT & NO Police cars IN SIGHT .

On Thanksgiving and suffering

I was on my way to reading something else in 2 Corinthians, but stopped at Paul's "thanksgiving" which follows his greeting, "grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." We hear that greeting so often, we sometimes don't even notice it. Christian pastors often begin their sermons with that.

I was writing in my gratitude journal; the words grace and gratitude are derived from the Latin gratis/gratus/gratia which means thankful. Eucharist derives from the Greek εὐχαριστία (eucharistia), meaning "thanksgiving," and root for "charity" is right in the middle.

Interestingly, in Paul's "thanksgiving" which I often skip to get on to the juicy stuff of resolving conflicts, and raising money, he uses the Jewish blessing "God of all encouragement" (consolation, paraklesis) ten times! And when does he encourage us? In every affliction. He mentions suffering or affliction seven times in this word of thanksgiving.

"Our hope for you is firm, for we know that as you share in the sufferings, you also share in the encouragement."

Although I never got to the verses I had planned to read, today I'm thankful for God's encouragement in a time of suffering.

https://www.wordsense.eu/grace/

I shared the above thought about thanksgiving and gratitude on my Facebook page, which allows others to respond immediately, not like a blog which has to be approved first.  A young Lutheran pastor from Texas, Phil Daniels, who a few years ago was a seminary student serving at our church, responded.  I don’t know when I friended him on FB, or how he happened to notice my little essay.

Philip Daniels: That is very insightful. I have noticed, as I have been working on sermons, how often I overlook those introductions in order to go onto the more meaty stuff ... and I'm a pastor! That has been something God has been teaching me both in my personal study and public proclamation: don't overlook those introductions. And I do love the word "Paraklesis" which has overtones of the word often used to describe the Holy Spirit. In the Septuagint we see Isaiah most famously use it in Isaiah 40:1: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. The Hebrew in that sense is "Nacham." As far as I can understand, the word is tied to both breath and resuscitation. In Arabic, the word means "to breath pantingly." While, this misses the mark, it does give us a little insight as words of comfort are often felt like gasps of living breath to those worn out by fatigue in the world. Yet the earliest parts of the Bible seem to use it in the comforting after a death (i.e. Genesis 24:67b, "So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.")

Nacham therefore is best understood as a revivification after the loss of someone or some ideal dear. And, oddly, one wonders if one has to experience this death in order to have this new breath breathed into one.

This is probably overanalyzing Paul in this context. On the other hand, I am also sure Paul would not be averse to such thinking. These are people who can offer comfort because a new breath has been put inside them. A Comforter has been called beside them. They can now breathe new life into the lives of those around them since they have been "comforted" indeed we could say they have experienced "nacham." If we forget that we have been revived, that we too have looked upon the cross and the body placed in the tomb; we can also declare that Someone has revived us and bids us to GO! and share the good news that we have.

In any case, keep reading and don't be afraid of the New Life found each New Day in the easy glanced-over parts of this Book of Life.

Catering to the confused

Air Canada announced that it no longer will use the phrase “ladies and gentlemen” on board its flights, as part of a “commitment to respect sexual identity, diversity, and inclusion.”

What's the fun in that? What are the guys going to transition to if airlines (tech firms, big pharma, academe, etc.) wipe out all the differences? How will they join the women’s track competition if there are no women?  It might be PC, but it's not respect.

Downton Abbey—a look back

Downton Abbey was a delight as a TV series, and I hope to see the movie. But have you ever wondered why the Grantham family were living in an abbey? Definition of an Abbey: a monastery under the supervision of an abbot or a convent under the supervision of an abbess. I don't claim to know anything about the British aristocracy or what the titles Countess, Earl, or Lady mean, but I do know they aren't priests, nuns or abbots. Our status symbols in the U.S. are all about money and celebrity, not titles--Jeff Bezos for instance is the richest man the world--and that means more power than a title handed down from his father. Even the wealthiest and most admired dynasties in the U.S. disappear in a flash when the money is gone, or the government takes it away. Movie stars who have a different admired status become wrinkled and don't get the good roles.

So why did Anglican British royalty and lesser folk live in buildings built by Roman Catholics? It goes back to the English Reformation and is one of the nastiest and unloving chapters in Christian history. King Henry VIII stole the wealth of the monasteries, had the owners killed off, chased off or imprisoned, and gave the lands and buildings to his supporters. The church had traditionally taken care of the poor and sick (as Jesus told them to do)--they were turned out also, and we had the seeds of the terrible poverty, wealth and abuses of the industrial revolution.