Lift Up Your Hearts!

Florida has been experiencing unseasonably warm weather recently, though here it is not as welcome as the 60 - 70 degree temperatures in the Northeast has been seeing. I'm not ready for shorts and temperatures in the 80's yet, and neither are our plants, which must have been dreaming of an early summer this week.

What a change this morning! Suddenly the air pouring through my open office window has a welcome chill, driving off the computer-generated warmth. Time to switch back to long pants, maybe even break out some soup and our Christmas hot chocolate. Alas that the cooler weather that brings blessing to us brings hardship to more northern climes!

I'm not unmindful that the new temperatures that are wonderfully cool to us are the same ones that were wonderfully warm to our loved ones just yesterday.

Lime Daley is the name of Jon Daley's Internet hosting and embedded hardware and software systems company. It is also the name Porter gave to a great drink Jon and Heather invented. For the curious, here is the recipe for a Lime Daley:

ice to taste
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 drops Boyajian lime oil
1 twelve-ounce bottle Blenheim “Old #3” (red cap) ginger ale

Put ice in a tall glass. Add lime juice and lime oil. Slowly pour in Blenheim. Stir well. Be prepared for the strongest kick a non-alcoholic drink can have. (To remember the proportions, think “3, 2, 1, blastoff!” It’s appropriate.)

(I predict LimeDaley.com will be a powerful business.)

Everywhere you turn these days you'll find an opportunity to make donations to help the victims of the recent Indian Ocean tsunami. My favorite is World Vision International, a well-established organization that has been doing good work in developing countries longer than I've been alive. Some of the reasons I like World Vision are succinctly explained in a statement I quote below from their tsunami donation website. Before you click on the World Vision link, however, there is one thing I'd like to clarify.

If you are looking for general information about World Vision, or to donate to something other than tsunami relief, you will not currently find it at www.worldvision.org, which is usually their main website. Clicking there now sends you automically to the World Vision page at Kintera. My guess is that this is for a very good reason: that World Vision's normal website was so swamped with donations after the tsunami that they had to seek outside help. That's good news, indeed!

However, there are other distressed people and places in the world, and you can still reach out to them (as well as to tsunami victims) through World Vision's Ways to Give gateway. This takes you to a general donation page, from which you can choose further elaboration of the "child sponsorship," "basic needs," "emergency aid," and "gift catalog" categories. In a way, the whole website is a gift catalog. I'll admit, this is somewhat of a gimmick, but I love it! I want my charitable donations to be more personal and have less of the feel of a business transaction, and being able to chose to give a goat, or a well, or Bibles, or medical supplies, etc. does that for me.

Some reasons I like World Vision International, taken from their answer to the question, "Why Donate to World Vision?":

• World Vision has long experience in Asia. The organization has worked in the region for more than 40 years, responding to emergencies as well as conducting long-term, sustainable programs that lift families out of poverty. World Vision works in nearly all of the countries most affected by the tsunami.


• World Vision is effective on the ground. More than 3,700 World Vision staff—many of them nationals—live and work in the Asian countries devastated by the tsunami. They were assisting victims within hours of the disaster. These workers speak the local language and understand customs. Their relationships with leaders and communities are based on mutual trust.


• World Vision is accountable. World Vision carefully monitors and reviews programs and costs, uses donations and grants for their intended purposes, and looks for ways to leverage funds. World Vision strives to keep its overhead rate low. Last year, 87 percent of the total revenue directly benefited children and families in need.


• World Vision is motivated by faith. Motivated by faith in Jesus Christ, World Vision workers serve the poor as a demonstration of God's unconditional love for all people.


• World Vision does not discriminate. World Vision serves the world's poor regardless of a person's religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. Staff understand and respect the cultures in which they work.

And one more reason: Should the donations at any time exceed World Vision's ability to use them wisely in the tsunami-stricken areas, I have confidence that they will be re-allocated to help where the need is greatest.

Don't you just love it when things you like to eat turn out to be good for you? Turmeric is a spice commonly found in Indian curries and other Asian dishes, as well as good old American French's mustard. Curcumin, the component responsible for turmeric's yellow color, apparently provides numerous health benefits. Most recently, a study at UCLA has shown that curcumin may be efffective in treating and preventing Alzheimer's disease. In those tests, curcumin succeeded in preventing the formation and growth in the brain of the amyloid plaques that are the hallmark of the disease.

Since amyloid plaques are also present in the brains of people afflicted with the human form of mad cow disease and other spongiform encephalopathies, this finding may be of even wider importance.

Hmmm...perhaps we'll have curry for dinner...or maybe something Thai....

Yee-Ha! I just pushed Florida past Wisconsin to take over the #33 spot in the Geography Olympics. Pennsylvania (#31) here we come!

When I started keeping track, Florida was down at #45, so I feel that I (and many others) have made good progress. Currently Nebraska is #1 (Andy must be helping out.)

This is a great game for learning geography, though it does require patience (many games) and/or iniative (studying a world map between games), because the program itself doesn't tell you the true location of the country you guessed wrong. I know I've learned much, although I'm still shaky on the countries of the former Soviet Union, and the Pacific island nations.

Thanks, Jon, for introducing us to the Geography Olympics!

Many churches have early evening "family services" on Christmas Eve, so that young children don't have to stay up for "Midnight Mass." That's a mistake, I think. Children who stay up past midnight are less likely to awaken before the dawn on Christmas Day.

Not that I minded the soft, "Merry Christmas, Aunt Linda," even at 6:30 a.m. The whole family congregated in the family room, where we opened our stockings. This was followed by the joyful ending of Jotham's Journey, with all five candles of the Advent wreath alight. Some have faulted the book for mixing a fictional tale with Bible truths, but—as with all good historical fiction—this story returns the shining wonder to events tarnished by distance and sanctimonious repetition.

After breakfast we exchanged gifts by the Christmas tree. Of course the boys eagerly sought out the gifts with their names on them, but it was encouraging to see them still more eager for others to open the gifts (many handmade) from them.

In the quiet of the afternoon, between games and books and Lego creations, we listened to a new CD, the American Boy Choir's Carol. Their rendition of Donald Fraser's This Christmastide (Jessye's Carol) transported me to a time in my life where I had caught a glimpse of heaven amid the sin-stained realities of this world. It was an experience of music, worship, and church body life that I now know was a rare and brief gift. The experience is gone, but the gift remains.

'Tis the final day of Advent, and family is gathered around. Tonight we hear the penultimate story from Jotham's Journey, which we have been reading each night while the Advent candles are lit. Soon we will travel to church, bracketing our worship with fondue: cheese before and chocolate after. A white Christmas is unlikely, for the snow has been washed away by yesterday's rain. Perhaps we will have some Mannheim Steamroller Christmas music instead, which is almost as good.

The Season of Waiting is almost over. It is hard to observe Advent in our culture, where "Christmas" begins in October and ends about noon on December 25, just as the Christmas Season is beginning. But our small attempts have succeeded in shutting out some of the clamor, and drawing our eyes to greater wonders.

Billy, age five, is greatly excited. He hung his stocking from the mantel, and moved the large airplane cockpit control panel toy from in front of the fireplace, so that Santa will find no obstruction tonight. Then he solemnly declared to his cousin, "It wouldn't matter if Santa doesn't come, because the important thing about Christmas is Jesus' birth."

News reports are trumpeting findings which, if true, show that our society has fallen even lower than I had thought. A study of almost 1000 Texan women found that they ranked watching television high on the list of activities that give pleasure, while taking care of children was low—almost as low as doing housework.

Although the researchers claim that the results probably apply more broadly, I believe that the population they studied greatly affected the results: all of the women had jobs outside the home. Thus their childrearing activities had to be fit into their "spare time," not a situation conducive to choosing the effort of working with children over a mindless collapse in front of the TV.

I'm grateful that I know many people for whom making a home and raising a family are among the highest pleasures of life. They are the hope of the world and the strength of the future.

We have a friend who just delivered her third child after two previous Caesarean sections that followed non-progressive labors. According to a recent report in the New York Times, that blessing would not have been possible with many doctors and hospitals. For a number of reasons, many hospitals are refusing to allow patients to attempt VBAC's (vaginal births after Caesarean).

The largest factor in the restriction is undoubtedly fear of lawsuits. Another is an observed increase in the number of cases of ruptured uterus in recent years. What the otherwise excellent article does not mention is changes in obstetrical practice that may have contributed to the rise in uterine ruptures, such as interference with the natural process of labor (e.g. unnecessary anesthesia and augmentation of labor), and use of single intead of double rows of sutures when closing the Caesarean incision.

Women are not giving up without a fight. They give birth at home, or wait until the last minute (or later) to head for the hospital, or even labor in the hospital parking lot to avoid being forced into a c-section. Dr. Cherouny, of the University of Vermont, tells hospitals, "You must be ready. Even if you don't want to do VBAC's, you will. The patients will make you."

Because the risks to both mother and child are elevated after a c-section, no matter whether the subsequent birth is by VBAC or repeat Caesarean, it is critical that freedom of choice be preserved. Mothers, fathers, doctors, midwives, and hospitals must work together to make intelligent, informed decisions that are right for each individual family.

To view the entire article, you must register with the New York Times, but it is free and worth the effort.

Here is part of the story at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer where you don't need to register.

And here is a good overview of the risk factors associated with VBAC's.

A study in London showed that chocolate is a more effective cough medicine than those terrible-tasting syrups, and has fewer side effects. Patients in the study were given theobromine in amounts equivalent to two cups of cocoa, or codeine, or a placebo. Codeine, traditionally used to suppress persistent coughs, was only slightly more effective than the placebo, but the theobromine excelled. The next questions: Is more better? Is less just as effective? Since milk chocolate contains less theobromine than dark chocolate, do I need to eat more M&M's than chocolate chips for the same result? <Ahem>, <ahem>, excuse me while I go nip this cough in the bud....

Worried about putting on extra pounds with upcoming holiday feasting? Remember what your mom always told you, and be sure to get enough sleep! A study by Columbia University researchers shows a strong inverse correlation between the amount of sleep people receive and their tendency toward obesity. Compared with those who slept seven to nine hours per night, people who slept less than four hours a night were 73% more likely to be obese; those who got five hours of sleep were 50% more likely, and those who averaged six hours were 23% more likely.

Sleep—the new weight loss program!

One year ago today we were basking in the sun of an unusually warm November day, and in the healing joy of the birth of a beautiful, healthy baby boy. This has truly been a Year of Thanksgiving.

A technique for protecting premature infants, developed in Colombia because of a shortage of incubators, is proving so effective that Colombian doctors are urging more affluent nations to adopt it as well. Called "kangaroo mother care," the therapy begins when the child no longer needs special medical support, and ends when he is able to regulate his own temperature, typically at the time he would normally have been born.

Wearing nothing but a cap, a diaper, and a supportive sling, the baby is snuggled against his mother's (or father's) naked chest, 24 hours a day. The constant skin-to-skin contact keeps the baby warm, promotes breastfeeding, and improves communication between mother and child. Research indicates that the technique is as safe and effective as incubator care. In addition, it reduces the severity of infections and strengthens the parent–child bond.

"It's at least as good as taking care of babies in incubators," says lead author Juan Gabriel Ruiz-Pelaez, a pediatrician at Javeriana University in Bogota. "And we are convinced it has distinct advantages—especially regarding the emotional aspects of the relationship between mother and infant."

Ruiz-Pelaez says medical personnel may be resistant to the technique because "instead of having a baby carefully scrutinised with alarms and monitors, you go back to something that looks very simple and unreliable—a human body."

"Western" medicine and medical practicioners have contributed incalculably to the health of developing nations, often at great sacrifice. Without demeaning those efforts and successes in any way, it's nonetheless essential that we have the humility to recognize that our solutions aren't always the best, and develop the grace to accept non-technological, non-pharmaceutical therapies from third-world countries, midwives, grandparents, "old wives," and other sources of creative wisdom.

Especially a solution as elegant and as beautiful as this.

Microsoft is challenging Google with its new search engine, now in beta form. I'll admit to a prejudice against Microsoft because it is so big and monopolistic (though Google isn't exactly small), but I decided to check it out. "Msnbot" keeps sniffing around my sites, and I wanted to see what it had found. Lo and behold, "Lift Up Your Hearts" returns this blog in the #2 spot, and "Linda Wightman" finds the Sursum Corda Home page at #1. The descriptions seem to be more useful than Google's. I was really impressed when I typed in "Warren Langdon" and found his book reviews from the Sursum Corda site, although I later discovered that I can also find them through Google; I just hadn't tried before.

There are many ways to serve one's country besides military service, but today we honor those who have given the extraordinary service of laying their lives, health, and future on the line for us, especially those who gave "the last full measure of devotion."
In particular we remember today:



Harry Gilbert Faulk, son of Olaf Frederick and Hilma Reuterberg Faulk, wounded in action near Chatêau-Thierry, France, July 25, 1918. Died of his wounds later that day.


Hezekiah Scovil Porter, son of Wallace and Florence Wells Porter, killed in action near Chatêau-Thierry, France, July 22, 1918.

They were from Old Saybrook and Higganum, Connecticut, and served in the 101st Machine Gun Battalion of the 26th Division during World War I.

And for all of our current servicemen and women, I offer the following prayer from the Book of Common Prayer (U.S. Episcopal Church, 1979 version)

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.