The Three Syllables that Induce Fear

“Well Lori, I am glad you are back in Houston now. The first case of Ebola in the US is in Dallas.”

“Hey Dad, guess where I’m going this weekend!” And I traveled to Dallas with no worries to celebrate my friend’s birthday.

But after hearing that a Mr. Duncan in Dallas had Ebola, I worried. My first thought was how terrible. I hope that person is not going to die alone and unattended. I thought of all the horrible pictures on the internet of people bleeding out their eyes. What a horrible way to die.

I was not scared that I was going to catch Ebola from Mr. Duncan, for my chances were practically zero. But I could not deny that it was scary to think about having to die from it. So then I wondered why. Why does dying from Ebola bring about so much fear? Am I afraid of the pain? Am I afraid of dying? Yes. But we as human are all afraid of pain and death, and that healthy fear keeps us alive. (I am afraid to die so I will stay in my lane and not crash into the car beside me.) (I am afraid of pain so I will not touch that hot iron skillet without a potholder.) But once I have contracted Ebola pain and death are eminent and fearing them will not help me, not feel pain, or not die.

As a Christian, I realize that if I have Ebola I do not need to fear suffering or death, as Christ has sanctified one and conquered the other. When I remember my faith the fear that comes with Ebola should flee.

What is the root fear then that Ebola evokes within us? It is a fear that comes with not being able to control the virus, (Those plastic suits and face masks are not really invincible…the nurses taking care of Mr. Duncan were still infected), and the uncertainty of catching it if an epidemic breaks out in the states. It is a fear of not having control over your life.

Ebola has made me realize that I fear surrendering my entire life to God.

Literally

Life is short.

it's only four letters.

3+4=7 Coincidence?

There are four cardinal directions. North , South, East and West
There are four Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice

The first set shows man how to get places on this earth, and where things are relative to each other.
The second set is handy when living in society, they are like a key or guide to relating well with others in a community.

There are three directions in space: x,y and z
There are three Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity

The first set orients one where they are in space and time and motion
The second set orients the self to an ordered perception of themselves within time space and history.

The cardinal directions helps us live well with each other in the flesh and material world
The "tri-oriental" directions help us live well with ourselves, created in the image and likeness of God.

Perhaps this is why 7 is considered a "lucky" or "good" or  "perfect" or "religious" number
7 = 3+4 

Could 7 be a sum of how man is to live in a way that fares well for his society and soul. 


For fun: but not random

North: Prudence
because Prudence or Wisdom is that which we generally tend to ask from above.

Temperance: South 
because temperance has to do with our daily lives down on earth and involves our basic material needs and goods. (food,reproduction,provision)

Fortitude: East 
Just as the rising sun may grant us new hope, so does Fortitude help us stand bright in the darkest situations and move forward.

Justice: West 
Justice is an active force. Just as the sun sets and emits red light, so are we willing to shed blood and give our all to the last dying day in the name of Justice.

Primary Things

Colors. I like colors.

Colors are like numbers to me.

I wonder how many colors there are. 

There are only so many different wavelengths of light 

that we can identify as distinct colors. 

That is because our eyes can only receive a certain range of  wavelengths 

in which our brain translates to images and color.

But does that mean that the other wave lengths of light do not have colors?

We have Ultra Violet light, which we can't see and yet call a color.   

What if it is that all light has a color but we just can't see it? 

What if there are more than three primary colors?

What if we gave each prime number a primary color?

Then each number would have a specific color, or amount of color, (4 would be the same color as 16 but 16 would be bolder or more dense, or have a greater area even though the prime roots would be the color 2)

And what would the purpose of doing this be? Well, each number then (although each has it's special prime factors) would be characterized into something that one could experience. If numbers could be expressed as a color with certain properties, one can compare it to other numbers, not abstractly by its mathematical properties, but by its sensible properties. Color, texture, viscosity, density, ect. are all properties of the the material world that cause us, not only to sense but respond to and react to. 

And who would care to experience numbers? That is not the point. How is it that the human mind works? How is it that we can understand abstract ideas?

God created of himself. He is tangible and can be experienced and known, not only in abstract concepts but also in a tangible reality. God became Man so that Man could be restored and become like God. 

It is hard to interact with a number or have any feelings, or relationship with it, but its easier to know a painting, or enjoy a soft blanket, or confidently wear a favorite styled outfit. We as humans can easily identify with art. But just think, all that color, style, texture, shapes, are abstract concepts which can be easily known. 

God is omnipotent. An idea "sublime" "abstract," but we experience Him in all of created things as everything is of Him. One just can't escape his Love. Let yourself be embraced.

Following God's Quill

I was helping one of the girls I nanny with a summery of different Saints lives. 

One of the chapters was about St. Joan

I asked her, "What are some important things from the story that you remember?" One of her responses was

"She made the prince a king!"

Latter it dawned on me that that was really significant to God for this one person at that time to become King. So much so that a young girl was given visions and voices from God to lead not only  victories on the battle field, but also social victories. She put the political structure back in order. She put a king back on France's thrown.  

It was really important for some reason for these victories to happen. France as we know and joke has lost many battles, and many wars, but for some reason, it was important for France to win victories in the hundreds year war such as in the battle of Orleans. What did one small victory matter in the long scheme of things? Well, it mattered to those individuals fighting and it mattered to God, for he sent Joan, a village girl, to lead the army.

St. Joan of Arc's story made me realize that God does care about our political situations, our military battles, as well as individual souls. 

Perhaps the French Dauphin Charles did not think it really mattered if he was king or not. Well apparently it mattered a great deal, just as much as it matters a great deal to God that we overcome the sins (cowardice, sloth, pride...ect)  that are holding us back from His will. 

Your story is important to God for some reason. Don't be afraid to live it out and make a lasting difference. The author of History knows what he is writing, Don't be afraid to follow his quill. We do make a lasting difference, and who we are and what we do does matter. 

The virtue the girl saw in the story of St. Joan was Obedience.

Random?

Have  you ever taken a look at the world around you and found similarities? The sky is blue and its my favorite color, and my car is even blue. I have ten fingers and there are ten different numbers that are used to make up all the different numbers in the world. What happens if we reflect on such things we take for granted?

 If we put a number to everything we can make with our hands.......will we ever run out of things to make? Are there not an infinite number of items we humans will produce with our hands as humans advance through history, from a child's homemade paper snowflake to the engineer's and scientist's first moon colonization materials?  And all of those materials are created with the help of our ten digits.

Ok, that thought about numbers and our ten digits is a bit silly, but is it not true? 

As far as the blue similarities, how often do we stop and appreciate the blue sky? It is beautiful, and it is meant for us to enjoy, just like if we have a chance to choose the color of our car, we choose a color we will enjoy, either because it is our favorite color, or it is a color that satisfies our rationally. "Grey, so it will not look as dirty." White, so it will not be so hot." We not only create a home that is to our liking by choosing things at times that we appreciate,  but our natural  home on earth is here for us to enjoy. Snow is to play in; Ice, to give us days off and forcing us to be with each other; waves to splash in and surf. Beauty lets us know we belong. Perhaps that is why a man will marry a beautiful women. He belongs with her. 

Jesus and Newton

Jesus said many things. One thing He said is  "Unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3)

You may argue over what the kingdom of heaven is and weather you care to enter, but I find it more interesting that Jesus connects, or makes room for a connection between turning and children.

One of the fun things my sister and I did when we were young and playing together was spin while listening to the Alleluia song from Handles Messiah.  We had a long empty wooden dining room where we could just spin and spin and spin. I don't think this is what Jesus meant when he said "turn and become like children", but spinning sure was fun.

In my, college English class on Dante, I learned that the word "repent" means to turn around. Children then, I suppose, are constantly repenting. Children have to be constantly re-directed. Much of  this redirecting involves turning around. "Peter, come back, get away from the road!" "No.,..John, turn around your bedroom is this way." "Stop, come back, and finish wiping the table." In all of these scenario's the child has to stop what they are doing and then change their direction of motion. We also know that older children are not very easily physically turned around, but that a change of mind, a turn of mind, will move the child or teen to obey or behave more responsibly.

A child is most easily turned. Why? Well, the number one reason is physical. A child can be physically picked up and turned around facing the right way. Children overall seem to be very sensitive in mind, they are learning so much every day, and are even sensitive in soul, they tend to respond appropriately to right and wrong actions

Have you ever seen a child, laugh while eating a stolen cookie right in front of your face?  The child knows he did something wrong and acts in a way according to that disobedience: pridefully. When you send them to their room afterwards, will they not most readily cry either in anger or remorse? Have you ever had a two year old, grab some non-appropriate object and then run away to hide with it? Do they not most readily feel ashamed such that they suddenly run and hide? Though it might take a while for a child to understand that others feel pain, they are most ready to cry out if they get hurt (in most cases). Children also seem have a great sense of justice. This is often seen when they are learning to share. But are they not also able to simply distribute Mercy? When I gave a four year old girl a new coloring book, her three year old brother calls out repeatedly, "I want that! I want that! I want that!" Oops, on my part. (I showed him one of his own coloring books that he already had, colored with him and he was happy) His sister though after taking a turn coloring in the new one, offered him a turn. She even gave me a precious sticker in thanksgiving for the gift.

The point being, we as adults have lost our sensitivity of person. We have become stuck. If somebody tries to pick us up against our will we can hit them victoriously because we are strong and heavy. We are stuck in our OCD ways and will not let our mind's be opened to new ideas because it makes us uncomfortable to do something different. We run away from feeling bad when we cause hurt, (how dare we do something wrong or mess up) and then celebrate our bad as good, and shut out all such guilty feeling, angry feeling, or any real feeling at all.

Do we feel shame or remorse? Are we open to learning or seeing a better way, or to appreciating another color (besides our favorite),? Are we willing to get out of our chair and help our roommate or spouse in doing the dishes when asked, or when we see a need for help? Or do we try to stop feeling, stop learning, and stop moving?

Be not afraid to turn, to become sensitive to the world around you. For when you turn, repent, accelerate, there is so much power under your control to do as you wish! And if you can stomach it, try spinning sometime to  music. Not only is turning powerful, its also just for fun!

Perhaps Jesus words could be understood as "Unless you accelerate and have fun, you will...(wait for it,)...... not have fun!"

Newtons second Law works perfectly here.
F=(mass)(acceleration)
Fun=(You-body-mind-soul)(moving/turning)

Feeling the Fact of what it means to be a Person

Colors. When I was six there were two important questions I would ask a new friend when I was in Kindergarten: 'How old are you?' and 'What is your favorite color?'. I remember always being surprised at them being about the same age and that it was the most amazing and coolest thing if we both had the same favorite color. It was like, we are friends because we have the same favorite color. We both liked the same color and so we could be friends. It was like we had everything in common because we had a favorite color in common.

Now, when we as adults or even young adults make new friends, or meet new people we don't really find it necessary to ask the other person their favorite color or their age. We don't find such things appropriate, or it really just never occurs to us. What is it about being age six, that it is such a high priority to share the same favorite color with a friend?

Perhaps when adults meet other adults, they are more focused on: Who are you?, what do you do?, Why should I know you? and admittedly, How can I make you like me?

When a child meets another child, perhaps the question of asking "What is your favorite color?" is most natural to a child because color is something so wonderful to many of them. It is something that they see and perhaps is one of the first things that they naturally form an opinion over. There are so many colors, all six or eight of them in the crayon box, and they feel their best when they see things of that particular color. Having things that is their favorite color makes them feel.

It made me feel beautiful to have a purple dress. It made me feel happy to have a purple crayon bank because it was purple. It made me feel special to have a Lisa-Frank bright pink and rainbow-colored merry-go-round horse folder in Kindergarten. Those rainbow colors, that color pink, and purple, made me feel beautiful, special, happy and excited to be alive.

Those colors that I liked, made me feel the reality of who I am. They moved me, and I experienced, I felt the truth. I felt that I was beautiful and special, that I am most me when happy and excited to be alive.

Perhaps although subconsciously, young children ask each other their favorite colors so they can know what makes the other person themselves. Perhaps they are asking and wondering, what makes you you? Liking a specific color does not define you by what you do, or where you live or work, or believe, but by what you like to see and what brings you joy. It reveals a truth about who you are because you exist and can see. (I wonder if blind people have favorite sounds or smells in which  they identify themselves with?) Liking a certain color reveals a certain order, a world view such that when the child finds another who likes to see things the same way they do, they feel safe, and familiar and connected.

As adults, we ask questions to place the other person in a context of the world we know: Where do you live? Where do you work? What do you do? What do you like to do? All of which we do probably quite quickly, either simply by the context of the meeting, (Job related, family related, church related..ect) or by asking and listening.

This is all fine and good but there is perhaps something missing in many adult introductions that we have lost from our childhood. Another person is not just where they lived, what they have done, or how they relate to you in a job environment to accomplish a task, or how they relate to you in the family, what they believe or how they act. There is more I think. When one meets a new person, there stands someone that is more than what we initially see and know of them.

When meeting a new person, do we ever ask, or wonder quietly inside ourselves,"What is your favorite color?"

Newtons Second Law and Feelings

The first part of Newtons second Law: Acceleration is produced when a force acts upon a mass.

What does that mean? What is Acceleration, and why do we care that it is produced? Well, in order for you to get out of bed in the morning (as discussed previously), a force must be strong enough to overcome your inertia. The result? You move, and therefore have accelerated.

Acceleration is defined as a change in Velocity. It is a change in speed or direction. You change your rate when, for example, you peacefully stand at the sink doing dishes and then suddenly rush to the stove to turn down the flame on the rice . You slow down (hopefully) when you realize you are about to run into a wall. You also accelerate when ever you turn around, or walk in a circle.

Ok. So why is acceleration so cool? Why is moving so special, aside from it is a good thing to do, just as getting out of bed is a good thing to do?

Think about it. How do you experience being in a position? You sit and look around you, and you know you are not moving. How do you experience velocity? You might say, "I experience velocity when traveling in an airplane. All right, but how did you know you were changing position? "I looked out the window, and saw that the plan was flying over the river." "Ok, but how do you know you were experiencing velocity when you were sleeping on the airplane? You were just siting in the airplane seat, not changing your position, not moving. "You mean I can't experience velocity unless I sense it, meaning that I see that I move?"

Yes, that is what I am trying to say. It is hard to experience a change your position unless you actually see, or sense somehow that you have moved.

"But I know that when I am riding in a car with my eyes shut I am moving, changing position. I can feel it!" I know when my mom has stopped at a stop sign or has slammed on the breaks, or has sped up to pass the slow person in front of her, and when she has turned the corner. I can feel it."

Yes! That's it, the key word! The key that brings the laws of complicated mathematical physics and that of ordinary life together! And that key opens a door, a door to a world where something mathematically known becomes integrated with the physical materials of your very life.
You feel acceleration in your flesh and bones.

Flying, Newton's First Law Continued

In the last post I showed an example of Newton's first Law such that "An object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force", and introduced Docility as that which yields to those forces and overcomes our inertia.

What about the other part, "An object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force" ?

This part of Newtons Law is demonstrated by people who have flown through the windshield of their car. 

Lets say you are moving North at 60 miles an hour down the highway and there is a stalled car in front of him. What outside forces will change your direction or rate? 

The first that comes to mind is the force of Reason which will take in sensory data and move the mind to make a decision to either change lanes (direction), or slow down (rate).  

Lets say that Reason has decided that it is too dangerous to change lanes and has decided to make you slow the car down and you put on the breaks. 

Lets also say that you did not see that fact that the car was stalled until it was too late to stop the car or change lanes, and you hit the car at 20 miles an hour. 

But there are other forces that could stop you from moving at 20 miles an hour: your seat belt and let say the airbag as well. 

In the end, you have stopped moving, and although you are bruised, and maybe hit your head on the windshield, you are alive and will be able to recover. 

Practical outside forces which change the direction and rate of ourselves are good if we let them impact us. The seatbelt (we consent to buckle ourselves) The airbag, (we consent to buying a car with one, or turn it on), our Sensing and Reason(because we are alive, we generally consent to try to stay alive), are all forces we implement to preserve to and extend our life. 

So what can we conclude? Life does not have to be a battle against Inertia(resistance to change) with Docility, being passive to outside forces. And something alive will tend to stay alive. 

We know there are sudden obstacles in life which threaten to reverse our being but equipped with active forces such as Awareness, (being more sensitive, or focused, processing and making reasonable decisions) and Forethought( Seat belt, airbag,) an active force, we can avoid having to stop, or slow down, or die. 

So what if the driver was driving 60 miles an hour in an old convertible or jeep or something with no windshield, with no airbag, did not wear his seat belt and did not see the stalled car at all? He would have gone flying through the air at 60 miles an hour.

We know that he would eventually fall and most likely die. But let us think for a moment, What obstacles, and restraints do we try to put in front of God, to "slow down, or stop" his will? Just think, if completely docile to the force of God's Love, we could fly too! 

Docility and Newton's First Law

An object in motion (or at rest) tends to stay in motion (or at rest) unless acted upon by an outside force.- Newtons First Law

Inertia is the resistance of an object to change direction, or rate of motion, or position(ie velocity).

There are four different forces in the universe: The Strong Force The Electromagnetic Force,  The Weak force, and of course Gravity.  Gravity is the weakest of these forces.

Newtons first law is best illustrated by man in bed  under the covers on a cold winter morning. A man at rest tends to stay at rest. But a man at rest in bed will change his position if acted upon by out side forces: full bladder, empty stomach, child pushing him off the bed, discomfort from the alarm going off, set Obligations or reasons, such as Job, school or taking care of children, or a mysterious force called desire to live well. 

Newtons first law reveals that there is such a thing as inertia and takes into account why it is so hard to change one's position in life, from getting out of bed, getting off the couch to finding a new job, and changing bad habits.
But why is it then  so hard to change our circumstances, our position, our direction?
Are we docile to the forces in our lives that urge us to get out of bed, get back up when we fall and find a better way of life? Or will we forever resist due to our Inertia, of fear, anxiety, and sloth?

 It doesn't have to be a battle. Docility is perhaps like the mathematical oil of the Universe's structure; it makes things run smoothly.