Epigenetics

One of the biggest debates in science class was held over the subject: Which is more important - nature or nurture?  I remember this discussion occurring from junior high and through all my further education.  This reminds me of the parallel theological debate: Which is the controlling factor - man's will or God's will?

If I read the Scriptures correctly, the theological argument is answered by a "both/and" kind of rationale.  God has an overarching will that drives history but man has an input into the details.  God has chosen to restrain and uphold at the same time.  If you stray into the the camp of "it's all about free will" then you appear to limit God's sovereignty.  If you stray into the "it's all predetermined" camp, you stray into fatalism.  So many of the Biblical arguments seem to hold opposing views in tension and with our limits of time in our assessment, other than looking backward, we can't always reconcile the two camps.  Stephen King in his novel 11/22/63, takes a stab at "what if" history was altered.  Many other science fiction authors have used this as a jumping off point. 

A newer field of science is emerging, epigenetics.  This field is examining the effects of environment - especially nutrition - on the expression of various genes.  The hypothesis is that if a person has a gene for a particular characteristic, the degree to which that characteristic becomes displayed is dependent on the environmental factors that person is exposed to.  This can explain differences in identical twins, who are born with identical DNA structures.  Environmental factors can include both social and physical factors. 

What does that mean to you and I on an everyday basis?  It means that the choices others make and the choices we make influence our outcomes.  We can repress or express a negative gene or express or repress a positive gene.  A person may have an inherited gene for music aptitude - but if no lessons are provided at the opportune time, no musical instruments are introduced, no encouragement or positive movement is noticed, that musical gene may never be expressed.  On the converse, if a person inherits a gene for diabetes, careful attention to diet, exercise, etc. beginning in infancy and beyond, may delay or prevent the expression of that gene.  We have long known that autoimmune diseases have genetic, environmental and trigger components.  What is new here is an understanding that there is an actually chemical pathway in the body that facilitates the process.  This may help us make better choices for ourselves and our children to avoid or ameliorate health conditions that we previously thought were only treatable, but not preventable. 

Why is this important?  As our society evolves and decides that having a healthy society is important enough to take money from the producer and spread it around to non-producers - there will be an increasing drive to control costs.  That means controlling the choices that people make that may lead to expression of negative genes, or failure to express positive genes.  That can mean controls on what food products are sold in the marketplace, the education that is provided publicly, what activities we are allowed to engage in.  Freedoms will be more limited as we try to reduce costs by preventing negative outcomes to epigenetically controlled diseases. 

The key question is:  how do we help folks take responsibility without enabling?  When folks don't experience personally the consequences of poor behavior, do they make good choices willingly?  Your freedom ends at my nose. 

I think freedom must be earned.  We are born as helpless babies, dependent on our parents.  The choice of what and how to feed, whether to provide the security, truth and relationship all babies need is up to our parents.  As we gain independence, the choice becomes ours.  The motivation comes from what we learn from our parents and the world that we observe.  This is what makes parenting the most important job in the world - the parent is shaping not only their own world but the world of all those that contact the parent or child. 

What do you see in your world that might be considered an example of epigenetics at work?

Class of 67 45th Reunion - Getting ready

  This will be the third reunion I've attended since leaving High School.  This time I will be spending time with my best friend from that time, Susan, with whom I've stayed in contact for all these years.  We have kept up with letters and a few visits and phone calls and now Facebook.  Boy, how our lives have diverged!  And as much as we talked about the pendulums of life in high school, we have definitely experienced them.  I will enjoy reminiscing and catching up as much as going to the reunion events and just a general chance to be carefree and away from normal responsibilities. 

  I've volunteered to play keyboards for a little while at the party.  I'm not great, but it will be fun, I think.  Hopefully I don't make a fool of myself!  I'm afraid the majority of folks coming are the cool folks from back then.  Which I was definitely not.  If there were groups such as jocks and nerds, I would definitely fit in the nerd crowd.  But really not even that crowd.  I didn't fit in a crowd at all!  I wrote poems and stories and belonged to honors' societies and spoke Spanish and Latin (thanks Mr. Davis and Mr. Alfonso) and studied science and typing just in case.  The typing was the most useful thing I took!  I had two left feet, which didn't matter because dancing was prohibited in the church I attended.  I was a "good girl" back then so I followed the rules.  Too bad it didn't stick.  I got rebellious in college and after and started breaking the rules.  I also learned (sort of) how to dance.  Unfortunately, I still have two left feet!

  I have learned to appreciate all sorts of things I didn't do in high school.  I've taken oil painting lessons and even sold a painting.  I've dabbled in all sorts of crafty things, helped build a log house, experimented with cooking and baking, gardening, sewing and other "feminine" arts.  I've traveled to Europe with a baby on my back and an Italian phrase book to find my way around.  I've learned to camp and snowski and ride a jetski.  I'm enjoying learning at this older age to hop on the back of a motorcycle and ride with my hubby.  One by one, I'm checking off the bucket list. 

  There are some things I won't ever do in this life and I'll save them for heaven.  I can't say what those are - because, you never know!

Things I Won't Be Able to Do in Heaven

 I am a thinking person.  So is everyone who has a mind and capacity - just some of us don't give that part of our being priority, preferring to go by instinct or feeling.  My opinion is, being able to choose your behavior, carefully considering your options by observing others and their consequences, learning from the mistakes of others rather than having to make them all yourself, is part of what makes us "image-bearers" of God, part of what makes us human and not programmed robots or animals at mercy of their drives. 
  But I am also a feeling person - able to be touched emotionally, not walled off from internal consequences of what I do to myself or others do to me.  That also is a part of being an "image-bearer."  As such, I totally "get" the quest for emotional communion in relationship.  In marriage, sexuality expressed is the ultimate getting-into-each-other's-skin form of that communion.  Sometimes that means hand-holding while watching a movie, a kiss, a hug -- and sometimes more. 
  In my relationship with God, I draw close to Him by reading the Word, by prayer, by worship and by service in church and out.  I experience Him as I study science and math, read a poem or a book, ride a motorcycle, ski down a hill, float in a lake, mow my lawn, weed my garden, or just gaze at the flowers and mountains or falling leaves or snow.
  But there really is something more to this God-relationship that can be quite addictive - and that is the experience of God reaching down and touching with an epiphany moment.  A moment when beauty overwhelms you and you FEEL God is near.  It can be so magnificent that it can drive someone to a monastery or a mountain, it can take over your life so that all you do is try to re-create that moment again and again.  I think this tremendous desire is what makes people try to manufacture "worship experiences" so that it can be felt again and again.  People take drugs to try to manufacture that feeling of being overwhelmed by the OTHER. 
  Yesterday, I experienced such a moment - as I have many other times.  I went to a see a dear patient, one I've taken care of many times, to help her with her baby and just to say hello.  As I was leaving the room, I was overtaken by the sense of God being near and I left the room in joyful tears.  I realized how blessed I am to be able to do something for someone else that is what THEY need, not what I need.  I realized, once again, the wonder of being given my life and its rocky pathway to prepare me.  What a privilege to be able to "fill up in sufferings what was lacking in Christ's" so that I may be a part of His ministry!  And to go where Christ could not go in space and time and represent Him.  I know I have been far from a perfect vessel for His light, full of cracks and flaws, barely bringing any water at all to the thirsty!
  And as I left my work after a full day, the thought hit me - I won't ever do this again once I leave this earth!  I will not be able to give money to my church, wipe a fevered brow, help a baby or mom, mow a lawn, clean a toilet, witness to a lost person, comfort a grieving person, suffer through an illness, etc.  Of course - there won't be a need for those things - that's the point of heaven.  And I'm sure I won't miss all the pain and suffering.  But those painful experiences will be the things I reminisce about with others around Heaven's campfires.  These things connect me with other human beings who go through them also.  Can I help them find and experience the "joy though suffering" presence of Christ in their lives?  Can I help them rise above circumstances, stop the escape mentality and find peace?  I think that can only happen as I am willing to be open and real about my own circumstance and as I listen and follow where God leads, even if the path seems difficult, dark and even strange!

The Bucket List

 Well, I'm checking off the items on the bucket list.  I've kinda made a "bucket trip" list.  These are places I want to visit before I'm too old to enjoy or appreciate them - and where I hope to go with my hubby.  I have an idea - just gotta figure out how to do it.  My next adventure starts in a couple of weeks.  Hubby and I are taking a little trip to the East Coast and up.  We are planning to hit up several historical places, including Washington, New York, Boston and Niagara Falls.  On the way, I thought I might blog about our adventures and take some pictures and add as we go.  Gotta figure out how to do that.  Perhaps I should set up a separate blog for that.  We'll see.  It would certainly be easier to link to a blog rather than write on both fb and separately.  We;ll see.

Log House

I live in a log house. It's origins lie back, long before the Roman civilization. Log cabins were constructed by people living in cold climates, near forests. Their size originally was limited to the length of available straight trees. They were considered primitive structures for basic shelter. When better materials and tools became available, folks built fancier houses and the cabins were relegated to animal shelters, storage and slave homes.

My log house was built twelve years ago with the help of Tim Kahn and friends. It is MUCH different than early log cabins with many modern features and conveniences. Although it requires maintenance, surveillance and repairs as any other structure, it is much more secure than those early cabins.

I choose to live in this log house. It wasn't what I set out to do - a childhood dream.. I never heard of or saw a modern log home until I married my husband Ron and traveled to Colorado and ski country. My knowledge was based on Lincoln logs and books. But when we decided to build a home of our own and move out to the country, our investigations, looking at home plans and talk with friends who were builders, led us to choose a log home. We have been building since 1999 and are still not finished!

Living in a log home as given me a different perspective on life. I've learned that beauty has so much structure and work underpinning that beauty. The work takes so much more than anyone who hasn't done it can imagine. I've mostly learned this from watching my husband as he has labored over every single inch of this house, from the ground up.

You see, the gifts and talents I have are overshadowed by a certain lack of patience. I can grasp concepts from a book, do something from a picture and get the general gist of things fairly quickly. I have a good memory for details. I have musical training in the piano and have mastered its basic use (although I'm definitely not an artist). Once I have grasped a concept or a truth, I want to see it implemented, immediately. If not sooner. House building has been an on-going lesson in patience. And it has not been an easy one.

There are so many interruptions along the path. And sometimes areas you thought were completed, need repair. Sometimes the plans you prepared turn out to not be what you need and you have to change them. Time has a way of moving on and changing your perspective. While we've been building this house, I've grown old - I'm of retirement age now. Almost all of my children have married. All of completed their education and all have moved out. One of my best friends died and I am still in mourning. My parents-in-law died and I sat with my mother-in-law as she passed from this world to the next. I've had friends move away and friends go through death, divorce and disappointment. I may lose one or both of my parents before I move from this house. I've tried to advance in my career and then decided family was more important. I've welcomed several grandchildren into the family, seen one of kids follow in my career path, stuck with my church through high and low waters, and most importantly, grown closer to God and more secure in my faith.

Log cabins have a way of bringing you to reality. They keep you in touch with the natural world - after all, your walls are just slightly altered trees! They are vulnerable to bugs, birds, weather and fire. When I start getting a little picky and perfectionist, I can look up and see a new spider moving in or a ladybug convention deciding to set up shop in my bathroom! And if a new scratch appears on the wood floor, I have to say, "hey, don't get so uptight - it's a log house!!"

In the same vein, I have to remind myself that my body is also a log house. This is not my dream home, my final destination. This house doesn't even really belong to me! It's rental property, loaned to me by God. I didn't decide to be born, the parents and location and culture of my birth - they were given to me. As rental property, I don't need to worry about the major repairs. I am responsible to treat this property with respect and use it honorably, as a stage for living. The Bible tells me that God doesn't dwell in temples made by human hands but chooses to dwell in temples of flesh. We who have acknowledged that we have been bought and paid for by the death and resurrection of God's only Son, are to live our lives in joy, gratitude and worship. We await our final redemption and resurrection and are to carry the message to those who are still enslaved to Satan. We are to be light on the hill, salt to the food, seekers of the lost, givers to the needy, comforters to the mourners, instructors to the ignorant. We are Christ's voice and hands and feet.

May I be reminded continually as I go through this new year to live out this mission. And when I see those who have walked away from Christ to pursue the rental property owned by another taskmaster, may I continually say, "God will judge" and "There but for the grace of God, go I" and keep moving into the light HE has shed in my soul.

Happy New Year!

Moving

Dreamed last nite I was moving. I guess this is a forecasting dream since my life is changing, moving from "in charge" to adviser for my entire family. It's hard to go to that status, a little, but it comes with realizing I am not in charge anyhow, so might as well take the adviser role! I loved mother's day yesterday - so fortunate that my kids all called or gave me a card and my oldest son did something special for me! It's more than I deserve.

My space

I know I have a few readers on myspace, but am thinking of changing to here. Maybe someone will read - maybe not. I'm just tired of all the spam there. My first job to leave myspace is to save everything I've written there - cause once you delete your account, you're gone! It's been my journal for the past year or so and all the record i have at this time Gonna try to save it to my computer in a word document and see how that goes. Not sure how this works, but we'll see.