Past Imperfect-2

Past Imperfect-2

Considering our middle state we do not begin our lives on a clean slate; instead we are carrying a world of genetic information along. Where it began or where it shall all end we cannot say. Human condition sets limits to our knowledge. For a Christian only God is endowed with Power and Wisdom in absolute sense.
With cosmic impacts shaping events on the earth we might say man is caught in the middle not realizing some parts of our globe are helped while some are destroyed. Atlantis is a case in point. So how do we settle on to anything? In our solar system we have planets orbiting around the sun. Meanwhile the sun the Milky Way has its own orbit. With so many objects moving about we require a rest frame to study motion of celestial objects relative to us. This is a frame of reference. It is thus we affix God as Absolute, ‘I changeth not.’ Our moral values and history keeps shifting so what we see now is a new normal and truth is transactional. We may say a lie is permissible but it is set in context of God. Thus we have God and his Word as the frame of reference.
From many passages in the Bible we are shown how God shall set up his kingdom. It signifies the end times.
The Book of Daniel narrates that King Nebuchadnezzar in a dream saw an image of world kingdoms. Head of the image was of fine gold, the breast and arms were of silver and so on. The quality of these governments progressively is shown inferior. The feet made up of iron and clay. Naturally the world powers are, by very design set up on a weak foundation. A stone is dropped out of nowhere smashing the image and nothing of it was to be seen. Instead the stone became a mountain filling the earth. Of this let us only take up the stone, which is dropped out of nowhere. A meteor striking like any cosmic impact is otherworldly, is it not? This dream interpreted by Daniel is a clue to the manner God shall set up his kingdom.
In the Bible we have several references of such impacts directly affecting historical events. In the Book of the Judges we have almost an identical event. On the eve of a war with the Midianites one soldier is narrating his dream to another and Gideon is overhearing as arranged by God. One barley cake comes out of nowhere and tumbles into the enemy camp smashing them. As intended Gideon is ready to fight. Gideon became a hero as a result. This leads us to what happened to one of his sons Abimelech, the son from a maid. He had to kill his brethren, 70 of them before he could reach this position. Because of his treachery and wickedness his end came in a most dramatic manner. He came before a tower and he was there to punish those who held out. One woman dropped a millstone on him. He died. (Jud.9)
This event is identical with the millstone thrown by an angel to punish Babylon, which is a label for any great harbour city. It could be New York, Shanghai, Singapore or Dubai. The point is the manner it is done. “And a mighty angel took up a great millstone and cast it into the sea..(Rev.18:21)” triggering the end of the city. This is how we make sense of the word of God. Narrative passages from beginning to the end are consistent in spirit. Man without God is heading for disaster while man who follows peace shall be secure in the kingdom of God as and when set up.
It is news while some would say it is fake news. Man is at liberty to choose what he will but one day all the lies shall be called out.
Benny

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Compensation in Nature-the Brain

One of the most distinctive physical features of the human brain is the fact that the cortex is divided into two hemispheres. The main connection between the two halves is a thick bundle of fibers called the corpus callosum. This is no quiet lane, it’s a major freeway constituting around 200 million neural tracts.

In an increasingly rare procedure, the callosum is sliced as a radical treatment for epilepsy. People who receive this treatment are referred to colloquially as split-brain patients and lab tests reveal profound effects on their mental functioning. In many ways, it’s as if the surgery leaves their mind divided in two.

A new report presents the case of an elderly gentleman, referred to as H.W., who aged 88 presented at a clinic complaining of recent intermittent problems controlling his left hand and some mild memory difficulties. Preliminary tests found him to be high functioning. But when the researchers – a team led by Natalie Brescian – scanned H.W.’s brain, they made a surprising discovery. He had no corpus callosum. The main channel between his two brain hemispheres was completely missing.

The medical name for H.W.’s rare condition is agenesis of the corpus callosum, meaning that he was born with this structure missing. Despite of this he’d led a normal, independent life – first in the military and later as a flower delivery man. Until recently, he appeared to have suffered no significant psychological or neurological effects of his unusual brain. The problems with his left hand, H.W. said, were new.

Brescian and her colleagues conducted comprehensive neuropsych tests on H.W. and on most he excelled or performed normally. He did display memory problems and also some difficulties with fine motor control, especially when using both hands at once, and drawing. These issues, especially of motor control, are likely related to his congenital [from birth] condition, but they may also result from age-related neurological changes. The main message, though, is H.W.’s remarkable high-functioning, and his apparently unaffected life.

How can such a profound brain abnormality have so little functional consequence? The corpus callosum is not the only connection between the hemispheres, but it is by far the most important. “This case study underscores the plasticity of the developing brain,” the researchers said. Their theory is that the “congenital absence of the corpus callosum stimulates early cerebral organization and the development of new or stronger stronger connections compensating for the losses.

Nature must surely play a part in repairing damages considering there are great many accidents owing to circumstances of the very planet we live in. Earliest cosmic impact that wrenched the earth a fiery ball from the Sun gives it a slight tilt. Seasons owe to it. Even here some parts are away from the Sun to be called inhospitable.

Take the case of the tundra biome It is called cold desert where the harshness of desert and coldness of Arctic region are upon any life form that must survive there. How do they still? (To be Continued)

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