From ancient byways to modern highways, glimpses of faith are everywhere...

Sunday, May 25, 2025

Mitochondrial Eve

Eve in Paradise
(1305 Armenian Icon)
It’s interesting to note that science has become so much more believable than religion.

Case in point: Eve.  When the Bible speaks of all humans descending from one woman named Eve, many respond with cynicism.  Yet when scientists speak of all humans descending from one woman “who lived 200,000 years ago in Botswana,” many respond with assent.

These scientific findings stem from mitochondrial research, which is why this “Mother of all Folks” came to be known as “Mitochondrial Eve.”   At least the name stuck, even if the belief didn’t… 

Resources

https://en.as.com/latest_news/scientists-discover-that-all-humans-come-from-the-same-mother-who-lived-200000-years-ago-in-botswana-n/

Sunday, May 18, 2025

Salt of the Interview

Salty Stone at Dead Sea
(Photo by xta11)
During biblical times, salt was a treasured item.  When Jesus called his followers “salt of the earth,” he was highlighting two essential qualities: flavoring and preservation.  The disciples were expected to enhance society in the way that salt enhances meals and were expected to preserve morality in the way that salt preserves food.

These days, business leaders have been utilizing salt to separate the sheep from the goats.  During lunch interviews, potential hires may be sneakily subjected to a “salt test.”  They are closely watched to see whether they salt their food before tasting it.  If they dare to commit such an offense, their chances of joining the company are immediately reduced to zero.  Why?  It is believed that those who hastily salt their food before analyzing the need for this may do the same with weighty on-the-job decisions.

Although minor choices sometimes do foreshadow major problems, a hasty hiring decision based upon one such narrow point seems already tainted.

Resources

https://www.ladbible.com/community/boss-salt-pepper-job-interview-trick-906471-20240509

https://www.gotquestions.org/salt-and-light.html#:~:text=Jesus%20used%20the%20concepts%20of%20salt%20and,role%20of%20His%20followers%20in%20the%20world.&text=In%20the%20same%20way%20that%20salt%20enhances,the%20flavor%20of%20life%20in%20this%20world. 

Sunday, May 11, 2025

RFK Jr.: Compliance to Belief

RFK Jr. in 2000
(Photo by John Mathew Smith) 

Let’s face it: The outcome of compliance very much depends upon who’s complying with what, and why. 

When RFK Jr. sought to align his everyday choices with higher-ground morality, formerly addictive trends transformed into uplifting ones.  Inspired by Carl Jung’s book Synchronicity, RFK Jr. began to carefully revise the daily decisions that were subtly feeding his heroin habit.  One such change: Rather than dwelling upon depressing thoughts while lying around in bed each morning, he instead chose to quickly switch gears upon awakening. 

At first it was a matter of repeatedly “acting as if,” but after a while his better-angel choices gathered a momentum of their own.  This momentum began to include synchronicities, which Jung defined as “chance occurrences from a statistical point of view, but meaningful in that they may seem to validate paranormal ideas…”

"Acting as if" type compliance with wholesome options can therefore morph into a series of virtuous habits, which can eventually lead to faithful belief. 

Resources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJB1Ym2APbk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity_(book)

 

 

 

Sunday, May 4, 2025

In the Garden

Church of the Holy Sepulchre
(Photo by Gerd Eichmann)

Many can recall Mary Magdelene’s encounter with “the gardener” standing outside Jesus’ tomb.  A recent archaeological discovery lends credence to this well-known story.

An Independent headline reads, “Discovery of ancient garden beneath Jesus’ burial site backs up Biblical account.”  This discovery includes “2,000 year-old olive trees and grapevines… under the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.”

John 19:41 clearly states, “Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb...”  Scholars have associated this garden with the original Garden of Eden, likening it to the rebirth of Creation.

Pastor Brian Zahnd explains that Jesus is a “gardener cultivating resurrection life in all who will come to him…  Gardeners have their hands in the humus.  (We are humans from the humus.)”

Resources

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/ancient-garden-jesus-burial-site-bible-b2727975.html

https://brianzahnd.com/2018/03/mistaken-as-the-gardener/