2/17-Lent week 1 – Things we take for granted: Life as we know it could not exist unless so many conditions on our planet are so perfectly balanced, which makes planet Earth a unique paradise for life. Sure there are other stars with planets similar to the size of Earth, but those planets are probably not habitable for many reasons. Our sun is an extremely stable star, any fluctuations would either cook Earth or freeze it. Earth is the perfect distance from the sun, any closer would cook it, any further would freeze it. Earth’s 24 hour rate of rotation is perfect, making the heating of the days and cooling of the nights just right, any slower would overly cook it during the day and overly freeze it during the night. Earth’s axis tilt of 23 degrees is just right for tolerable seasonal changes as it revolves around the sun. Any other degree of axis tilt would cook it during the summers and freeze it during the winters, and our moon’s gravity keeps that 23 degree tilt from varying. The odds of all these factors coming together so perfectly suggest that the existence of human life is more than just a coincidence, it is most unlikely, yet here we are. Miraculous.  More to follow next week…

 

2/24-Lent week 2 – More things we take for granted: I am not giving up water for Lent. Water is essential for all life on Earth. Two thirds of Earth is covered by salt water which humans cannot consume, but human life requires fresh water that is drinkable and not poisonous. Luckily, fresh water is constantly being replenished by snow melts and rain, forming rivers and lakes, and is also displayed to us in several other ways like snow, sleet, hail, mist, fog, and steam, yet it is all basically the same stuff. Earth’s water has 3 states, ice, vapor, and liquid, and is only liquid between specific temperature ranges, how lucky for us. We can wash with it, cook with it, swim in it, do hydraulics with it, so many other things we take for granted. When it becomes too hot it vaporizes, too cold and it turns to ice which curiously floats rather than sinks. Water vapor forms clouds that are “luckily” suspended high enough above ground to allow us to see for distances. Water also helps us control the mysterious phenomenon of fire, which is dangerous, but fire allows humans to have warmth, without fire we could not exist, so we are extremely fortunate to be able to control fire’s boundaries, another thing we take for granted. The odds of all these factors coming together so perfectly suggest that the existence of human life is more than just a coincidence, it is most unlikely, yet here we are. Miraculous.  More to follow next week…

 

3/3-Lent week 3 – More things we take for granted: What is it that sets us apart from other animals? The human brain has a variety of intelligence levels that allow us the ability to invent, to innovate, to communicate, to laugh, to sing, and to love and have compassion and find ways to improve life in ways that other animals cannot, like the ability to study, reason, and judge differences between good and evil. It also controls our senses of smell, touch, emotions, taste, hearing, and eyesight that can appreciate the beauty of nature, the 4 seasons, the arts, distinguishing colors and adjusting our eyes to brightness or darkness. Our intelligence makes it possible to have a sense of humor, to analyze and make complex calculations, to be able to memorize things, to train other types of animals like dogs, horses, dolphins, and other creatures, this is amazing. We take for granted that hand-eye coordination allows us to catch or hit a fast moving object without much forethought, and that motor muscle memory allows us the ability to learn, to play a musical instrument, or operate a keyboard without much forethought. If we are to use our brains clearly, we should understand that those who handle situations with hate are usually wrong, and those who handle them in the spirit of respect, love and understanding are usually correct. More to follow next week…

 

3/10-Lent week 4 - More things we take for granted:  We all have similar facial features like eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and hair, yet all of us look different enough to be uniquely recognized. Our skin is flexible enough to stretch or shrink, and heal itself when punctured, were it not for that, we would bleed out and not survive the slightest wound. We have various different blood types, which allow life saving transfusions, but only if the blood types are compatible. We all have different amounts of physical dexterity which allows us to play music, sports, dance, sing, and many other things. We have hearts & lungs that function automatically and continuously without any forethought, we take for granted that we may be a single heartbeat or breath away from death. We have several other internal organs, each of which serves a different and unique purpose to keep us alive, and we take them all for granted until one of them fails, only then do we appreciate how valuable they are. We have immune systems that protect us against diseases & bites from bugs & animals, including the constant war between harmful bacteria that could kill us and beneficial bacteria that defends us and fights off viruses and other illnesses to us alive. Taking probiotics can strengthen your immune system. Give thanks for all these things we take for granted. More to follow next week…

 

3/17-Lent week 5 - More things we take for granted:  Hunger and thirst. Nature provides us with a food chain of animal and plant life on land, in the waters, and in the air. Some things that we eat or drink can either kill us or nourish us. Every animal has a special skill to hunt for prey, look how the spider is able to spin a web from its own bodily fluids in order to make a web to trap insects. Birds while flying can spot their prey on the ground. They can also build nests for their young in places where other animals cannot reach. Large cats and dogs can run faster than their prey. Bears can catch fish from running rivers. Insect colonies such as ants and bees can work together for their common needs. Some creatures have defense mechanisms like skunks, porcupines, octopi, etc. which protect them from predators. Humans have no such natural defenses, but humans do have the intellect to develop weapons that can overcome attacks from all other animals, and also develop tools that enable us to harvest animals and plants for food. We take for granted that our town’s restaurants and food stores are well stocked with all sorts of food and drink. Multiply how much more food is needed by how many other towns that are in our county, our state, other states in our country, other countries, cruise ships, etc.  We take for granted that food seems to be in abundance, but very scarce for those less fortunate. Give thanks for the former and help the latter. More to follow next week…

 

3/24-Lent week 6 - More things we take for granted:  Some things that we breathe can either kill us or nourish us. Our atmosphere has a specific mix of water vapor and gasses that allow us to breathe, like just the right mix of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and other components to support life as we know it. A different mix would not be suitable for humans to breathe. This mix would be different if Earth were a little larger or smaller because that would change the amount of gravity, allowing certain lighter gases to either escape upwards out of the atmosphere while certain other heavier gasses would hug the ground and not be breathable. Weather patterns and winds would also be more extreme. Besides being breathable, our atmosphere must have an ozone layer to protect life from the sun’s destructive ultraviolet rays, x-rays, and gamma rays. If the ozone layer goes away, humans go away too, and yet this ozone layer allows photosynthesis, unlike our sister planet Venus which has an atmosphere that would be poisonous to human life. Even if our closest planets had our same atmosphere, Venus is too close to the sun and therefore too hot, and Mars is too far from the sun and therefore too cold. Could there be a planet in another solar system that has all the same characteristics as our Earth? Unlikely, but maybe, considering the vastness of the universe, does it go on forever? if it is limited, what is outside the limits of the universe?  Nothingness? If so, does that have size limits?  Could there be multiple universes? Too much to ponder.  More to follow next week…

 

Lent week 7 - More things we take for granted:  Comets, asteroids, and larger meteors could collide with our Earth at any time and end our existence. Lucky for our solar system that larger planets like Jupiter and Saturn have enough gravitational pull to suck up comets and meteors which might otherwise be bombarding the Earth, although some of these do get through and hit the Earth as evidenced by Meteor Crater in Arizona. Scientists believe the dinosaurs were rendered extinct by impact of a comet or asteroid before humans existed.  If this impact had never occurred, I am not sure humans could have co-existed with dinosaurs. Another such impact could also render humans extinct just as it happened with the dinosaurs. This could happen right now without warning, or even if there were some warning, we would be powerless to prevent it. Conclusion - All that I have posted for the last 7 weeks is too much to attribute to a whole lot of coincidences, instead all these things are due to God’s design and divine providence. I hope we could all understand that and give thanks for each and every one of these things that we take for granted. Respect Holy Week and the wonder of Easter.

 

Although the Lenten season is over, one additional thought:  Rather than think we all live in one world, consider this: Your world is not the same as your neighbor’s world, so the number (#) of worlds is times (x) the # of neighbors on your block, x# of blocks on your street, x# of streets in your town, x# of towns in your county, x# of counties in your state, x# of states in your country, x# of countries on this planet, x# of different types of non human creatures, all of which have their own different worlds, and this is only one planet. Maybe life exists only on this planet, maybe not, if there is life elsewhere, consider the x# of planets in our galaxy, x# of galaxies in our known universe, x# of unknown galaxies or universes. This is all too much to comprehend, and none of it would make any sense unless there is an afterlife, which puts everything in perspective. In other words, we all have a choice to either ignore all this, or to make your own preparations by seeking the Truth on how to get to this afterlife. I hope each of us makes the right choice.