With every breath we take our blood delivers life preserving oxygen to around 37.2 trillion cells in the human body.
Haemoglobin molecules inside red blood cells pick up and carry the oxygen our lungs extract from the air. The blood also carries the carbon dioxide that is emitted from our cells back to the lungs to be expelled by our lungs.
Approximately 25 trillion red blood cells circulate in our bloodstream. Each single red blood cell is packed with ~270 million haemoglobin molecules. To reach some cells, our red blood cells squeeze through narrow capillaries in single file.
As amazing as these facts are, they are also a huge oversimplification of the entire process of maintaining the cells in our body that make up our flesh & bones, organs and brain. Plus, all of that can't begin to explain consciousness and awareness.
Our life is in the blood. To "spill blood" is to take life. It is no wonder that ritual sacrifice involved the blood. Every breath we take our blood performs a miracle that only God could design.
Masheev Ha’ruach u’moreed Hagashem -- The One Who Causes the Wind to Blow and the Rain Descend
At a time when energy supplies are increasingly strained, the droughts we are experiencing in Europe, the USA and elsewhere are particularly troublesome. If there is not relief from drought, we are going to see greater challenges in 2023.
This recent article in Newsweek highlights the seriousness of droughts the world is experiencing.
In addition to the loss of hydropower, there are water supply battles between the needs of different interests such as agriculture versus households and different geographies (states, countries, etc.) that depend on the same river.
Right after Rosh Hoshana and Yom Kippur is the Jewish Holiday of Sukkot which Jews just celebrated in October. Those are immediately followed by a less well-known holiday called Shemini Atzeret ("Eighth Day of Assembly") when we rejoice in/with the Torah (Simchas Torah). This celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. Shemini Atzeret also marks the start of the rainy season in Israel. There is a lot going on in the Jewish month of Tishrei!
Before Israel became the world's leader in desalination and invented drip irrigation, agricultural life and life itself depended heavily on the weather. Even the tiny bit of dew falling in the morning was crucial to a successful harvest.
Israel's prayer for rain, the tefilat geshem, refers to events involving water in the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and the Twelve Tribes. Here it is:
Our God and God of our ancestors:
Remember Abraham who flowed to You like water.
You blessed him like a tree planted by streams of water.
You rescued him from fire and water.
He passed Your test by planting good deeds by every source of water.
For Abraham’s sake, do not keep back water.
Remember Isaac, whose birth was foretold when Abraham offered the angels a little water.
You asked his father to spill his blood like water.
In modern times there is an enormous disconnect between mankind and God. People still follow traditions to some extent, but we have fallen away from worshipping or the belief that our lives and things like the weather are in God's hands.
If you believe in God, do you think God is more interested in traditions or worship? Is it more important that we hallow God and praise him or that we celebrate our personal identity?
The concept of God being in control of anything seems removed from modernity. The idea of praying for rain is perceived as primitive. The world is making God irrelevant.
What if there is a God? What are his ways? If there is a God then he is the God of our ancestors; therefore we know his ways!
"For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. “I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed."
Looking for answers? So was the late Leonard Cohen (z"l), the song writer famous for "Hallelujah." From the makes of his last song, "You Want It Darker," Cohen was off in search of answers. Unfortunately, if L.C. finds them he won't be able to share them with us.
Great rabbis are always searching too. The famous Rabbi Lord Sacks (z"l), who was the United Kingdom's "Chief Rabbi," has a message for us all. If you aren't familiar with the song by the late Leonard Cohen, "You Want It Darker," I encourage you to listen to it first so you know what Rabbi and I am talking about.
Rabbi Sacks interprets Leonard Cohen's FINAL song -- "You Want It Darker." Rabbi arrives at a hopeful conclusion, but in doing so Rabbi dismisses Cohen's references to Yeshua as any implication of Cohen's beliefs. But they jump off the page in this verse from the first stanza:
"Vilified, crucified
In the human frame"
Cohen's allusions to Yeshua are amplified in the second stanza.
"There's a lover in the story
But the story's still the same
There's a lullaby for suffering
And a paradox to blame
But it's written in the scriptures
And it's not some idol claim"
For my Christian friends, I understand that it is hard for you to understand how Jews such as Rabbi Sacks are unwilling to accept John 3.16 being foretold in the bible story of the binding of Isaac in Genesis. Rabbi Sacks's take on L.C.'s song is a sharp illustration of the "blindness" Jews have for Yeshua which Christian's speak of.
Rabbi Sacks makes the assumption that L.C. didn't accept Yeshua and retained his Jewish identity. Maybe so. I truly can't tell what Leonard Cohen believed. But I think it is hard not to recognize that Leonard is acknowledging the role Jews played that in this verse:
"We kill the flame." Cohen speaks first person as a Jew.
What I draw from the song is that Leonard Cohen struggled to the end of his life with how a God "who so loved the world" could have allowed the Holocaust. A lot of Jews struggle with that. Jews in every century since the "sin of the spies" have struggled! We have the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av to remind us.
The lyrics of "You Want It Darker" read to me like a man handing down a indictment against God.
"They're lining up to prisoners
And the guards are taking aim
I struggle with some demons
They were middle class and tame
I didn't know I had permission
To murder and to maim
You want it darker"
One thing that is clear to me is that when Leonard, the "Kohen" wrote You Want It Darker" he was ready to face the Creator. When he says Hineni, Cohen is saying "Here I am," take me -- L.C. was ready to meet the LORD. Cohen has had it with the darkness in the world. And, as Cohen says repeatedly "We kill the flame."
Cohen repeats the opening stanzas to end the song. This is a strong literally statement. Notice the difference in the first verse of this stanza from the beginning of the song. Cohen wants to go. And he did.
"If you are the dealer, let me out of the game
If you are the healer, I'm broken and lame
If thine is the glory, mine must be the shame
You want it darker"
Then Leonard Cohen z"l closes with both a figurative and literal expression:
"Hineni, hineni
Hineni, hineni
I'm ready, my Lord"
Leonard was looking for answers from the other side. I have to wonder if he found them. Rest in peace L.C.! Your name and songs are for a blessing.
Epilogue:
Another song by Leonard Cohen is more direct. Suzanne. Another Jewish song write and poet, Bob Dylan, got it write when he said "Gotta Serve Somebody."
Our body is assembled from the elements listed on the Periodic table. Some elements are much more common than others. The human body is approximately 99% comprised of just six elements: Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, calcium, and phosphorus.
The elements that make up our body are used to make the colors in fireworks in the sky. The vivid colors and bright hues that result from these chemical elements that are also essential for life.
Calcium is the most plentiful mineral in the human body and is needed to make orange fireworks. It’s crucial for a range of bodily functions including bone and teeth maintenance, muscle contraction, hormone secretion, blood clotting and heartbeat regulation.
Potassium, which helps create purple fireworks, also plays a role in managing heart rhythm. In addition, it balances water and mineral content in the body, helps to build muscle, and controls blood pressure.
Copper, found in bright blue fireworks, is the sidekick that some proteins need to do their jobs. For example, the protein that makes the body’s energy-carrying ATP molecules requires copper to function. Copper is also necessary to form collagen, the most abundant protein in humans and the main component of connective tissue.
Iron, used to make gold fireworks, is vital to immune function, energy production and oxygen transport in the body. Hemoglobin, the protein that gives blood its red color, needs iron to carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.
Lithium helps produce red fireworks and is thought to affect the release of the chemical messenger serotonin. Lithium has been used for decades to treat mood disorders
Phosphorus is the second most common element found in our body after calcium. The mineral Phosphorus is contained in each cell in our body. Most phosphorus is in the bones and teeth, and some is in our genes.
The heat generated by friction when a match is struck causes a minute amount of red phosphorus to be converted to white phosphorus, which ignites spontaneously in air.
The word phosphorus is derived from the Greek word 'phosphoros', meaning bringer of light.
Our body needs phosphorus to make energy. Phosphorus is needed for the growth, maintenance, and repair of all tissues and cells, and for the production of the genetic building blocks, DNA and RNA.
Without Phosphorus, our light goes out! Then it is DUST TO DUST.
Prologue: Last night, Nov. 2nd was my birthday. I had tumultuous dreams. When my mind is racing I find writing helps me refocus. The post below is the produce of last night's thoughts. First I wrote in my private journal during the early morning before getting out of bed. Then I got sad news about a friend and colleague who passed away in the night. So I decided to put it on my blog and clean it up.
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DUST TO DUST:
Our bodies contain the elements of stars. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1.1. The Hebrew for earth (ground) is pronounced adam-ah.
Our body is assembled from the elements listed on the Periodic table. Some elements are much more common than others. The human body is approximately 99% comprised of just six elements: Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, calcium, and phosphorus. Another five elements make up about 0.85% of the remaining mass: sulfur, potassium, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium. All of these 11 elements are essential elements. The remaining 0.15% of the human body is comprised of trace elements.
"You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”" Psalm 90.3
WE ARE MORE THAN DUST . . .
There is a thread that runs through our life and connects us to our past and our future. This runs backward and forward in time much further than we can even know. Its called our genealogy and it is based on genetics. We share DNA with our ancestors from the beginning to the end of time -- From the birth of mankind to the death of mankind.
DNA is possibly the most amazing thing in the universe. If you unraveled the DNA strand in a single cell it is nearly two (2) meters long. Conversely, that 2 meter strand fits into 0.09 micrometer of space within a cell! ONE micrometer is one-millionth of a meter, so .09 is 1/25,400th of an inch. If we unraveled the entire DNA in a human, it would stretch 10 billion miles. That is equivalent to a trip to Pluto AND back!
The structure of DNA is comprised of pairs of nitrogen-containing bases or nucleotides. These nitrogen-containing bases are cytosine, adenine, guanine, and thymine. The 3 million combinations of these pairs form the human genome that make us "humans."
DNA is found in all living things. 40-50% of our DNA is identical with a cabbage. We share 50% of our DNA with bananas. 99.9% of the DNA in all humans is identical. It is the tiny difference that allows us to be individuals.
8% of human DNA today is made up of ancient viruses that used to make us ill. Our body's DNA builds our immune system with the memory of how to kill those ancient viruses. The DNA in every human cell gets damaged over 100 times a day! But our body's DNA provides our bodies with systems to repair us. Our body exists because DNA can replicate and duplicate. Without DNA the 37 trillion cells that are constantly dying wouldn't be replaced. Radiation destroys our DNA, thus we did as our cells die! Get the picture?
DNA doesn't return to dust as quickly as one might think. Researchers calculated that DNA has a half-life of 521 years. Which means that even if a bone was frozen at an ideal preservation temperature of −5 ºC, the oldest animal that could be cloned is roughly 1.5 million years. (Not long enough to replicate a dinosaur.)
DUST AND DNA ARE NOT ENOUGH . . .
Even with our DNA and dust, we still need the breath to animate our life. "Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2.7"
Our birthday marks the day that the breath of life comes into our body and our yahrzeit marks the day we expel it and give up the ghost, as some say. Then, "... for dust you are and to dust you will return." Genesis 3.19.
COUNTING OUR DAYS . . .
In biblical prophecy interpretation there is the principle of a year-for-a-day, in which the word day in prophecy is considered to be symbolic of a year of actual time. In Numbers 14:34 the bible tells us The Israelites will wander for 40 years in the wilderness, one year for every day spent by the spies in Canaan.
Psalm 90.12 says "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
"Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures;" 90.10.
On a birthday cake each year is marked with one candle. After we light birthday candles, we blow them out. We don't know the number candles we are given and when our breath will leave us. That is the year we won't be on the earth to blow out any more candles.
It is Jewish and Christian tradition for the living to light a single memorial candle to mark the entire life of a loved one. Jews call that a yartziet candle.
But when we light a yizkor/yahrzeit candle, unlike birthday candles, we don't blow it out. We let it burn. The breath, Hey (חַיִּים Ḥayyīm) the Spirit, doesn't die.
Epilogue: Steven Wasser (z"l), your name will be for a blessing. We missed you the moment you passed away. I shall forever share Nov 2nd with you. Rest in peace Steven.
My grandfather Phillip died on my 2nd birthday, November 2, 1961. So my birthday marks his yartziet.
Nov 2nd also happens to be "All Souls Day," a Catholic holiday for "remembering the dead." Tradition has it to light a candle. We can do that for Phillip and my birthday.
Tradition for All Souls Day and a birthday has it to write a memorial in some way. Check. For every year since he died, Phillip's yartziet has been remembered in my Temple's calendar. And I'm sure to get one birthday card.
Tradition also calls for a meal in rememberance. It so happens we have birthday dinner plans with our daughter Sarah and her family. 😉
As it turns out, the customs for a yartziet seem to mirror those for a birthday. How about that?
The coincidences don't stop there for me.
My grandfather's name Philip (Greek spelling) means "horse-loving." I love horses. So much so that my wife and children surprised me with a horse for my Jubilee (50th) birthday. That's him and me in the photo.
King Philip of Macedon was the father of Alexander the Great, who was friend of the Jews. We named our son Alexander, who is great. Alex was born on Yom Kippur when Jews read the Book of Jonah.
All Souls Day falls just after Halloween. The word "Halloween" comes from All Hallows' Eve, which is the evening before 'All Saints' (or All Hallows') Day. It initiates the season of Allhallowtide, which lasts three days and concludes with All Souls' Day.
On Halloween this year, my family was at my daughter Sarah's house. While the family was all playing, I spent a good portion of the evening laying on the floor with her dog "Angel" who was dying.
Angel lived 18 years, "double chai." In Judaism double chai signifies 'Life.' The family described Angel as the devil because she killed so many animals including neighbor's chickens and cats. Angel, the devil, was always getting in trouble. This summer she went down into a storm sewer and we had to call for help to rescue her.
So Angel, the devil, who lived double chai, died on All Hallows eve. And tonight I will light birthday candles with my Catholic wife, Mary Theresa, as we celebrate my birthday and I remember my grandfather Phillip, Angel and my horse.
There is one tradition for Old Souls Day that we can't do for my birthday yet. That is to visit my grave.
They say "coincidence" isn't a kosher word.
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Epilogue: This night I had tumultuous dreams. Before Day break I wrote another related blog post. DUST TO DUST.
Revelation is in the stars. The universe IS incredibly mathematical and there are patterns everywhere. Micro-novas follow patterns too and occur about every 12K years. What evidence is there of this on earth? There is plenty if you do just go looking for it.
The impact of space weather is a greater concern and warrants greater focus in these times because the Earth's magnetic field, which shields us, is weakening much more rapidly than scientists anticipated. What was expected to take place over hundreds or thousands of years is now happening in DECADES.
The result is that we are more vulnerable to "space weather." At the same time the galactic sheet is effecting the Sun and increasing the potential for more significant space weather.
"[Electron fallout] from the Earth's radiation belt plays an important role in mesospheric ozone loss as a connection between space weather and the climate system." Quote Source
The Earth's magnetic field is crucial for protecting us from Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun’s corona that come our way, as well as background solar wind and other interplanetary space weather.
An explosive CME release produces a solar flare and the accompanying acceleration of plasma away from the Sun travels outward from at mind bending speeds. If a release is pointed in Earth's direction, the energy can reach our planet in as little as 15-18 hours. Visual rays can hit earth in as little as 8 minutes. That's the warning we get!
Between the much weaker magnetic field around Earth to protect us AND our enormous dependence on electronics, civilization is extremely vulnerable to this electromagnetic energy. We have a uniquely modern situation which would present a modern disaster!
The odds are very high of a larger solar flare, like the one which hit earth in 1859, known as "The Carrington Event" and another one that nearly hit us in 2012. There have other recent close calls. An actual strike is practically inevitably. NASA and many scientists agree on this.
There is another and FAR more significant solar event called a "micro-nova" which we are also due for. This is far more cataclysmic than regular occurring CME's. A micro-nova would undoubtedly provide the magnetic forces to flip Earth's poles, again. Do a little "googling" and you will find that there is more recent scientific thought of this subject than you may want to know because it is potentially terrifying.
In addition to our magnetic field weakening, or perhaps for related reasons, in recent years scientists noticed the unusual accelerated shift in the location of Earth's magnetic North Pole. It is said to be "galloping across the Northern Hemisphere." The South Pole is doing likewise.
The World Magnetic Model (WMM) is the mathematical system that lays the foundations for navigation, from cell phones and ships to commercial airlines. Scientists from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) were forced to release an early update to the WMM when it was found that the movement of the north magnetic pole was accelerating. The possibility of a full magnetic pole reversal is in the geological record, but has not occurred during the human epoch. If this happens we are looking at events on earth like what you see in sci-fi movies such as "The Day After Tomorrow," "2012" and "Don't Look Up."
There is all sorts of talk about UFO's and asteroids, but the government APPEARS to be overtly NOT calling public attention to FAR MORE PREVALENT risks of Geomagnetic events. WHY?
Now for the crazy talk part . . .
Is it possible that leaders in government, the Pentagon, the CIA don't want to cause fear or even panic? Is it possible they have had much greater awareness and concerns for decades, ever since the space exploration and lunar mission that President Kennedy launched? Is it possible that they have been making secret preparations for certain people and Pentagon personnel to survive underground to ride out an anticipated pole reversal and/or micro-nova? Would they tell us if that has been their plan since NORAD was built into Pikes Peak during the Kennedy Administration? That is also where the new Space Force is located.
If there is increasing evidence of the risks of solar and geomagnetic activity in the coming years, it will be hard for our government and climate scientists to blame global warming on just man-made causes! People will demand better answers!!
MARK MY WORDS, WE ARE ALL GOING TO BE HEARING THE TERM "SPACE WEATHER" A LOT MORE IN THE COMING YEARS!
Could it be that Man has given "Mankind" too much credit for global warming? The woke FB censors routinely do so every time they stamp their "climate science" alerts on social media posts.
There is a strong case for "Space Weather" being a cause of climate change. Man-made climate change may be a theory built on a foundation that will soon crumble. Then what?
Our Star, the Sun, may soon point in a huge way to what the major cause of warming truly is. And when it does we may discover why COOLING could be a much more deadly challenge we face in our lifetime. Then we may wake up to the fact that the Book of Revelation has been is written in the Heavens since before the Word was written on parchment.
"Before the world began, there was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through him." John 1.1
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Epilogue: I am reminded of a blog article I posted a year ago entitled: "End of Times is Trending"
The LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah." Jeremiah 3.11
At least Israel repented, albeit to idols.
Americans need to read and listen to the Book of Jeremiah. With eyes that see and ears that hear!
“Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them." Jeremiah 10:1-2
