Creation or Evolution - 1

An Important Question

Two Challenging Statements :

1. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

2. “The universe was spontaneously created out of nothing.” Stephen Hawking

The 3 most important questions

1. Where did i come from ?

2. What am i doing here?

3. Where am i going ?

The Caterpillar Expample

After forming its chrysalis the caterpillar the process of transformation. Its warm-like body breaks down into a cellular soup and then reorganizes into the structure of a delicate butterfly.

The two-week process involves the precise coordination of countless molecular mechanisms. The genetic and biochemical underpinnings of this fantastic transformation are a poewerful reminder of the countless other amazing designs found in natural world.

The astounding metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly is a phenomenon that defies naturalistic explanations. How could such a complex process aris through mere random mutations?

The universe is always in motion. Everything in space is constantly moving.

Many prominent thinkers and scientists throughout history mistakenly believed that the univers has always existed. For instance, the famous Greek philosopfer Aristotle (384-322 BC) taught that the universe had no beginning. However, arount the turn of the 20th century, scientists began finding evidence that our universe must have had a beginning; one of them was Albert Einstein.

In 1929 the astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe was expanding and galaxis were accelerating away from us in all directions. This implies that if time were to be reversed, all matter would eventually converge at a single point in space and time.

The universe must have had a beginning !!

This was big news to those who didn’t believe what the Bible has been telling us all along.

We often here that there’s a huge rift between the Bible and science, a great controversy between CREATIONISM and empirical evidence. But this is not true.

Where there is design, there must be a DESIGNER !!

In the USA, a physicist, a biologist, and a chemist sat together and debated the question of HOW DID OUR WORLD COME INTO LIFE. All three scientists were incredulous. After about two weeks, they came to the astonishing conclusion that there must be a DESIGNER, since the microcosm and macrocosm, in all their complexity, could not have come into being by chance.

Isn’t it amazing what the universe can offer us. I wonder if there's more to come?

BECAUSE THERE’S DESIGN, THERE MUST BE A DESIGNER

The universe bears ample evidence of design. This conclusion does NOT come from faith, but from reason.

For most people, it takes too much faith to believe that everything, including all life forms, could be the result of mere chance. It’s by common sense – not by faith – that most people conclude that there is a master design plan.

From the conclusion that there is design in the universe, it logically follows that there must be a designer. Obviously, a designer greater than any human being.

Who? Generally people use the broad and universal name ‘GOD’ (Almighty Being).

PEOPLE INSTINCTIVELY KNOW THERE IS A GOD

It gives some assurance to know that most people have arrived at the conclusion that there's an Almighty Being. While majority opinion does not guarantee truth, it does lend support.

Believing in God is not only a logical thing to do; it’s also a natural thing to do. Most people, at all times and in all cultures, instinctively know there is a God. This knowledge seems to be built right into us.

Who DESIGNED God? WHAT’S HIS BEGINNING?

To our human way of thinking, everything must have a beginning. To say that God designed the universe begs the following question: Who designed him? And that begs yet another question: Is our God a creation of – and subordinate to – a greater deity or deities? We could push these questions to infinite regress.

The fact is that we don’t know the answers and we don’t have the capacity to comprehend at that level even if we were told. What's important – and what we can comprehend now – is that there is a single God directly over us and he's told us everything we need to know at this point in time. What he's told us – recorded in the Bible – is explained and referenced in this website.

Every person must decide for himself whether to follow a humanistic way of life or a theistic way of life. It’s like a fork in the road. A person who chooses the humanistic way doesn't make room for God in his life and sees the universe as a quirk of chance. A person who chooses the theistic way desires to know God and sees the universe as part of a marvelous unfolding plan that has dimensions which exceed our present ability to understand.

We’re now limited to living and thinking in only three and a half dimensions – length, width, height and (forward only) time – but actually there are many more dimensions of reality. Eventually, in heaven, we'll have the privilege and capacity to understand these more complex dimensions and get answers to all our questions.

LIMITS OF THE LINEAR THINKING PROCESS

This resource is written in the format of western analytical thought. It’s important to recognize that not everyone receives and processes information – especially spiritual information – in this way.

Most people, particularly in other parts of the world, do not think and report in a linear thought pattern (logically and systematically from A to Z, using the shortest route and fewest words). An analytical approach is efficient for conveying information to the mind but leaves much to be desired for communicating emotion to the heart.

Most people, even in the United States, think and report instead in a circular thought pattern (hovering around key ideas, expressing and re-expressing them in different ways for emphasis and retention). Most spiritual expression – including the Bible – is in circular rather than linear style.

However, this site is written in linear style because it’s the way most managerial and professional people have been trained to think.

The reader should be careful not to allow the style to filter emotion from the content. For example, it should be more than just a dispassionate observation that God designed a universe! The very thought of such wisdom and power should send shivers through us. It should arouse an intense curiosity about what God had in mind for us in this design!

Dealing With LONELINESS - 2

Many people think that loneliness is not a problem these days. But if you look at the statistics, things look a little different.

See First Blog 1:

Dealing with LONELINESS - 1

Where Does Loneliness Come From?

Loneliness does not necessarily arise when good social relationships become fewer or even absent. Some people are also satisfied with few contacts.

Loneliness develops when we are involuntarily alone or have the feeling that existing social relationships and contacts are not enough. At the same time, lonely people are often ashamed of their situation, which can drive them even further into withdrawal and resignation.

Loneliness occurs in every age group: children, teenagers, young adults, middle-aged people and older people. These people lack companions, sympathy and friendship.

Factors that can trigger loneliness

Single-person households

The increasing number of single-person households increases involuntary loneliness. Especially if people feel lonely, being alone seems to be associated with an increased likelihood of mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is not entirely clear whether being alone promotes mental illness or whether people with mental illness consciously seek the anonymity of big cities and a single household.

Aging of society

Because of our good medical care, people are getting older and older. At the same time, birth and marriage rates are falling. Older people are often not necessarily integrated into the family because, for example, relatives live in other cities or place little value on close family contacts.

In addition, poverty or health problems make it difficult for people living alone to participate in public life, especially in old age.

Overall, experts therefore assume that the proportion of lonely people will increase, at least in large cities.

Changed communication behavior

Communication is changing through social media. Although some people communicate actively with virtual contacts, their direct contact with real people is often lost.

Conversely, some people also find new contacts via the Internet that can develop into romantic relationships, friendships or professional partnerships in the real world.

Only Children

If the parents are heavily involved in work or are single parents and offers from kindergartens, schools or clubs cannot compensate for the parental absence, some only children become lonely. Changing kindergarten or school can also make children lonely if they have difficulty making friends.

Unemployment or moving to retirement (pension)

If work is canceled, colleagues and a structured daily routine are suddenly missing. At the same time, those affected have to restrict themselves financially, which is why they withdraw even more. In the long term, this can lead to loneliness.

Diseases

Chronic illnesses, cancer, depression, psychotic disorders and dementia in particular can leave those affected feeling isolated.

Critical phases of life

Difficult times such as puberty, separation from a partner, loss of close relatives, old age, change of residence or job can increase loneliness.

Bad experiences

In some cases, loneliness is also a form of self-protection because people have had bad experiences with society. Anyone who is bullied, is on the boss's hit list (bossing) or has other experiences of exclusion can potentially become lonely.

Extraordinary circumstances

The Corona crisis is an exceptional situation and currently requires limited contacts. In addition to private contacts, this also prevents professional care for risk groups: outpatient clinics are partially closed, psychotherapeutic consultation hours are canceled or are only possible via video, self-help groups do not meet. This can cause or increase loneliness in vulnerable populations.

We are all different. Some laugh a lot, others less. Some are often sad, while others go through life happily.

How Can Loneliness Make You Sick?

Do people get sick from loneliness or can you even die from loneliness? The fact is - chronically lonely people have a higher risk of:

• chronic stress

• Cardiovascular diseases

• Sleep disorders

• dementia

• Depression

• Anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders

• Suicidal thoughts

As a result, the likelihood of premature death ultimately increases. In part, this may also be due to the fact that lonely people pay less attention to themselves and therefore lead a life that is more detrimental to their health. So they eat worse - lonely children become increasingly obese due to substitute food. Lonely people also smoke more often.

As health data shows, lonely people also see a doctor more often and are more likely to receive inpatient treatment - including for psychosomatic illnesses such as back pain.

It becomes problematic when loneliness is accompanied by immobility, helplessness and social isolation, especially for children, the elderly and disabled people. Life-threatening lack of care can then arise.

When Should You See A Doctor?

Many people are ashamed because they feel lonely and therefore do not seek help. This shouldn't be! If you cannot find a way out of loneliness yourself, you should bring yourself to see a doctor for your own good. This is especially true if they are also depressed or anxious.

Tip: During the Corona crisis, many clinics, psychiatric outpatient clinics and psychotherapeutic practices offer telephone and video consultations or online interventions as an alternative to a direct conversation.

What Is The Doctor Doing?

The doctor can first use questionnaires to test and record the extent of your loneliness. There is the UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles Loneliness Scale) or also called LONE (Questionnaire for Social Relationships, German version) and the KSE (Cologne Scale for Measuring Loneliness). You fill out such questionnaires yourself and thus help the doctor assess your social relationships.

The doctor will then work with you to find out what support you need. For example, it can be enough to structure your day better - for example with medically supervised programs such as the "iFightDepression program", with which you can manage yourself online and free of charge.

However, your doctor may also recommend psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy. In doing so, you learn to correct your perception of your personality and other people and can thus escape the negative spiral of loneliness. The therapist can also gently introduce you to social contacts, which is known as milieu therapy. Together with your therapist or other professional companions, you can practice and reflect on social contacts, for example by attending events together.

If loneliness is associated with mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder, the doctor can also prescribe appropriate medication (e.g. antidepressants).

Prevent Loneliness

To avoid becoming lonely in the first place, it is worth taking care of your own social network throughout your life - even beyond your family. Because marriages don't necessarily last forever. Older life partners in particular can die before you, and children often find their interest in life in other places.

Stable and trusting social relationships,

combined with a genuine prayerful relationship with our Creator God,

are the best protection for our mental and physical health.

Dealing with LONELINESS - 1

Many people think that loneliness is not a problem these days. But if you look at the statistics, things look a little different.

What Is Loneliness Really?

Loneliness is a depressing feeling and difficult to bear. Especially during the Corona crisis, where many people had to go into self-isolation, feelings of loneliness could spread, often combined with deep melancholy and sadness. But lonely people don't only exist during pandemics.

Read more on the topic:

• Where does loneliness come from?

• How can it make you physically ill?

• What can you do about loneliness?

The path out of loneliness begins with each individual. If you think: “I feel lonely,” then first try to look at your situation objectively. Being alone doesn't mean being lonely. Being alone can also help you relax, find peace, and reduce stress. Start taking interest in yourself again.

Ask yourself,

• what books have I wanted to read for a long time,

• which films interest me and are useful,

• what music is really good for me,

• what food do I like?

• which sport would be good for me

• which landscapes do I actually like best?

• which people are good for me?

Quick Overview: Loneliness

• What helps against loneliness? e.g. self-care, structuring everyday life, meaningful employment, gradual contact with others, if necessary psychological help, medication

• What each individual can do for lonely people: reach out to lonely people; especially give time and attention to older, frail or immobile people in their environment. Most will find it great and sweet if it is a mature help.

• Symptoms: including feeling of being excluded and isolated, self-neglect, depression, hopelessness, boredom, inner emptiness, self-pity, longing, despair, deep self-worth.

• Where does loneliness come from? Usually due to a combination of several factors, e.g. certain character traits, poor quality social connections, bad experiences, social circumstances, critical phases in life, low self-esteem.

• Can loneliness make you sick? Chronic loneliness increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, sleep disorders, dementia, depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders, and suicidal thoughts.

• When to see a doctor? At the latest when loneliness becomes chronic and is linked to depression, anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Children and young people can also suffer from loneliness. It's a shame that no one takes time for them and lets them experience that they are valuable creatures.

What Helps Against Loneliness?

The following steps can also be used in combination:

• Make yourself happy, fulfill a wish.

• Find a hobby that you enjoy or revive a hobby that you have neglected.

• Take care of yourself and listen to your internal and external needs.

• Don't neglect your personal hygiene, eat healthy and exercise regularly in the fresh air. (see NEWSTART lifestyle)

• Treat yourself with kindness and compassion. Start liking yourself. You are worth more than you think. Our FATHER invested the life of Jesus for you!

Caring for an animal can be very fulfilling. But only get a pet if you really want to care for it long-term.

This allows you to gain a bit of joie de vivre in your everyday life without having to rely on intensive contact from outside.

If YOU Would Like To Help Someone:

It is important that we respect each other. If someone complains about loneliness, we have to take it seriously. This could be a warning sign of the onset of Depression. Then we should be there for this person and take time for them.

Call your older or single relatives, acquaintances or neighbors, slip a note under the door, send a postcard, talk to them over the garden fence at the necessary distance or give a serenade in front of the window.

Tip! If direct contact is possible, we should visit our older, lonely relatives and acquaintances and give them some of our attention. Visits are a great help in enabling older, immobile people to have quality relationships and thus protect them from loneliness.

Symptoms Of Loneliness

The definition of loneliness is the feeling of exclusion, lack of belonging and emotional isolation. Typical feelings of loneliness are sadness, depression, helplessness, hopelessness, boredom, inner emptiness, self-pity, longing and despair.

Subjective feeling

Loneliness is an experience for every person, but is experienced and perceived differently depending on the life situation and individual character. That's why loneliness is a subjective phenomenon and cannot be equated with actually being alone or social isolation: There are many people who are often alone but don't feel lonely!

Conversely, people with many social contacts in family, work, school or social institutions can also feel lonely.

Social contacts are usually sorely missed

Those affected experience and evaluate their inner separation from others and the quality of their social relationships as negative. They perceive their subjective lack of social contacts as painful, because this usually has to do with a lack of recognition, confirmation, appreciation and affection from others. Those affected want to be noticed; however, they have difficulty establishing a mutual relationship. They usually find it difficult to overcome their loneliness on their own.

Common characteristics of lonely people

The following characteristics are often evident in lonely people:

• You see yourself very differently than other people would describe you,

• are very self-critical,

• pay more attention to failures than successes,

• justify yourself defensively,

• are afraid of rejection,

• devalue their counterpart,

• adapt excessively,

• quickly withdraw into themselves,

• are introverted or have less well-developed social skills,

• often have pessimistic, irrational and action-paralyzing thought patterns or basic attitudes,

• have unresolved self-esteem issues.

However, these characteristics do not necessarily lead to loneliness!

Conversely, people with completely different character traits are often lonely. This can happen if they lack such networks or if they have had drastic negative experiences in dealing with other people.

High-quality social connections and support networks can support these people. Shared hobbies like hiking and traveling strengthen your inner self-esteem.

Chronic loneliness

Loneliness varies in severity: the spectrum ranges from people who are only lonely in a certain phase of life to those who are hopelessly lonely and resigned. In this case we speak of chronic loneliness.

See more on blog:

Dealing with LONELINESS - 2

Pay Attention To Your Frontal Lobe!

The frontal lobe is the director of our brain. Knowing him well is highly beneficial!!

Dear Reader.

I hope you were able to read the previous article on this topic. There is the story of Phineas Gage, which significantly changed humanity. Here is the Link.

Our lifestyle and therefore also our relationships have a significant influence on our frontal lobe.

This topic is very close to my heart.

A well-functioning frontal lobe enables a wonderful quality of life.

A neglected one continually creates unnecessary problems.

A Feature For Research

Phineas Gage's accident in 1848 received more attention than almost any other accident. His experience was particularly important for neuroscientific research. The fateful iron rod and skull are still preserved in the Harvard Medical School Museum to this day.

Thanks to this event, we now have a large amount of information about the brain, particularly about the frontal lobe.

Function Of The Frontal Lobe

The frontal lobe, also known as the frontal lobe, corresponds to the largest part of the brain and is one of four lobes of the cerebrum. This frontal area, the prefrontal cortex, is considered the seat of our personality. There we can coordinate and control thoughts and feelings. These mechanisms are also called executive functions.

The fundamentals of the frontal lobe are largely developed in children. That's why a well-functioning family is a great blessing for the environment.

Example:

A 6-year-old child cannot yet organize his or her daily routine completely independently. A 14-year-old teenager can do this much better.

• Setting goals,

• plan strategic action,

• Anticipating obstacles and

• prioritizing,

these are a few control features worth mentioning.

Practice early if you want to become a mountaineer!!

With increasing age, working memory also develops, which is reflected in the ability to solve tasks independently and remember rules. Many childhood overreactions indicate that children generally have difficulty controlling strong emotions. This is because the prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that takes the most time to develop. This development process takes up to 25 years.

FIRST THINK, THEN STEERING,

is a quality feature of the frontal lobe,

also known as impulse control.

You never stop learning

Even as adults, we sometimes react impatiently in traffic and gesticulate wildly and nervously when someone steals our right of way. Even if the prefrontal cortex is mature, that does not mean that we can carry out all control functions at all times and unconditionally.

There are factors such as stress, tiredness or excessive demands, as well as needs such as hunger and thirst, which can then have a 'negative' influence on the frontal lobe.

Research says that fundamentally neither women nor men are better suited to multitasking. She thinks that our brain is specialized for concentrating on important aspects.

Frontal lobes and social media

You often switch from one program on your cell phone to another and don't even notice how time passes. In doing so, we picked up information that we weren't even looking for. Especially with social media, we are challenged to be the agent for the selection of information or stimuli and not a victim of the media system.

Young people are particularly at risk in this area, as their frontal lobe is not fully mature until adulthood.

NEWSTART Plus

For me, NEWSTART PLUS is the best and most holistic health system I have ever heard of. There are some blogs here that you can benefit from and become friends with. We now know that our lifestyle, especially food, has a strong influence on our brain functions. Certain products such as cheese, alcohol, drugs have a negative impact on our brain, while exercise and drinking water have a positive impact on our brain.

Thank you for your attention and I wish you a pleasant, positive time.
P.S. Thoughts also from the LEBEN & GESUNDHEIT magazine (www.lug-mag.ch / Jan-Feb24)

How Should We Deal With Negativity?

My dear Terri had to go to the hospital. As you can see, even then a grandchild visit can be worth its weight in gold!

Is negativity part of life?

Difficulties are defined very individually. We don't feel the same way about the same challenges. Not all people overcome difficulties as well as others. Some fall apart because of terrible things. Others survive largely unscathed.

RESILIENCE means the strength and wisdom that can help in such situations. Psychological resilience enables us to endure and overcome difficult situations. We need this so that we can develop this strength. However, excessive negative experiences can also have a negative impact on mental and physical health.

How resilient someone actually is depends on various factors:

• The ability to adapt flexibly

• The ability to think analytically to find out what actually happened and how best to respond to it.

Simply ruminating and sticking to the negative doesn't help.

A car accident caused by someone using my car can be a bigger challenge!!

Accept Difficulties

Negativity is part of life. Changes and setbacks are unavoidable. They are part of our lives. The better we learn to accept this, the better we get through it.

This will then help promote personal development and maturation. A positive attitude is helpful. Instead of constantly dwelling on the past and the negative, it is much better to concentrate on the positive of the present and future. Mature people see stressful situations as a challenge and at the same time are convinced that they will find a sensible solution. They don't cower but face the difficulties and tackle them.

Self-Esteem Is Crucial

Those who have good self-esteem are more resilient. He can accept himself better and also accept the good and bad sides. It is also important to be able to perceive your own feelings and to feel and regulate them.

Having good relationships with other people is also beneficial. Living conditions, quality of life and financial security also play a role.

Relationships with animals also have a positive effect. It doesn't have to be an Irish bull who wants to defend his ladies.

Strengthen Resilience

Another word for resilience is resilience. This can be improved in a targeted manner, which is good news for us humans because it allows us to move from the negative to the positive.

For example, it helps if you learn to treat yourself kindly and learn to speak positively to yourself. Investing in good relationships also produces good results. Thinking about what you actually like to do or want to do leads to actually doing it.

Becoming aware of what makes you happy or what you are or can be grateful for helps to normalize positive thoughts and thus strengthens resilience. Even very small everyday things are suitable for this.

I wish you good experiences!

The family in particular is a wonderful field of experience where we can recharge our batteries every day. Supporting each other, thinking and acting for each other, practicing a positive attitude and not giving up, all of this increases the family's quality of life.