eawritings

THE SUN AND ITS IMPACT

There is eager expectation regarding a solar eclipse which occurs on 21.06.2020. I discussed about this wonderful phenomenon with others where I shared my thoughts about eclipse. In this event, the moon becomes interposed between the Sun and the Earth. Hence, we will see the Sun obstructed. Those in the equatorial region would be lucky to visualize the eclipse this time as they would be on the eclipse path. Those who are far away will probably watch it on the media. Very exciting time!

Let me also mention other fascinating aspects of the Sun which literally influence the very sustenance of life on earth. Just scratching the surface really. We know that the Sun light encompasses the full spectrum of electromagnetic wave. The visible part of the light enables us to visualize things. In its absence, we can’t see anything despite open eyes.

The Sunlight is the primary natural source of vitamin D for human body. When the Ultraviolet B rays of the electromagnetic wave from the Sun touch the skin, a chemical reaction is triggered which initiates formation of Vitamin D in the body. In turn vitamin D is helpful for good bone health, fighting infection (healthy immune function), fertility and avoiding mood disorders such as depression. You may wish to read more about this here – https://bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1756-0500-5-17

In line with this, human skin colour variation evolved partly as an adaptation to differing levels of ultraviolet radiation in different geographic regions. Those who live in the tropical region have strong Sun radiation; hence, they need significant melanin layer in their skin to provide protection from the dangers of he radiation whereas those nearer to the polar region would rather need lesser melanin so as to get/make enough vitamin D. Hence, the former appear darker whilst the latter would have fairer skin. This has created current world of diversified people of colour!

OXYGEN which is the most precious gift we breathe is a result of the sun light. Plants use carbon dioxide and water along with the Sun light to produce food and Oxygen. Then we breathe in Oxygen. That means human respiratory function is dependent on the normal functioning of the Sun.

What surprises me further is that food that we consume is also an outcome of the solar radiation. We could also talk about the water cycle which is very much Sun intertwined.

The invisible part of the Sun radiation, such as infrared rays, keep the earth’s atmosphere warm and habitable.

We see the Moon at night as it reflects the radiation of the Sun. The brightness of the moon is overwhelmed by the Sun’s grandiose light during the day until it reveals itself at night. It is the lesser light receiving its energy from the greater light, the Sun. The above picture is that of full lunar eclipse, otherwise known as ‘the red moon.’

Solar panels which capture the sunlight and produce the electrical energy are becoming very popular worldwide as cheaper energy option.

Overall, the Sun is such a great natural element of the universe playing a profound role in the existence of life on the earth. Even in the Bible, the first creation was light! No doubt life on earth is reliant on it!

Coming back to the approaching solar eclipse, the advice is to avoid looking directly at the Sun with the naked eyes during the eclipse due to a possible sudden re-emergence of the Sun!

Enjoy the Sun!

Initially written in 2020 on blogspot.com

RENEWAL: Perpetual Reinvigoration

Human body is under a non-stopping cycle of activities in order to meet the demands of day-to-day life. Each tissue-type undertakes its designated duty with extreme precision to maintain the living going. Amazingly, in order for the human being to remain as living, the cells have to be ceaselessly kept ‘alive’ at the molecular level. One of the ways by which the body achieves this is by renewing the cells.

The age of the cells in the body varies depending on their functions. For example, the cells (epithelial cells) which line the gut have a life-span of approximately 5 days. The liver, which is the most important organ in terms of buffering up toxins from every food consumed, undergoes a complete replacement of its tissue approx. every 1 year (300-500 days). Every 10 years, we have a new skeleton due to bone remodelling. Similarly, in 2 weeks time, your current skin will be completely replaced by a new skin, that is, you will be someone with a renewed skin!

In reality, the physical body of a middle-aged person, for instance, is approximately only 10 years of age. Nonetheless, the individuals feel and behave their birth age i.e. the length of time since birth, which is older than their physical body. Researchers have endeavoured closely to identify the cause for such decoupling between the person’s age and the age of their physical body. Some of the evidence posits that the cells of the cortex (a part of the brain involved with memory, perception and consciousness) remain stable or exhibit minimal variation throughout the life of the individual. This infers that the individuals retain previous information and make a reference to this in temporal (time) dimension thereby gaining the sense of their age.

Man’s fall in the Garden of Eden entailed changes in the areas of perception and consciousness (Gen 3), which are abilities sustained by relatively inert cells in the brain as explained above. Then, the argument could be that the build up of the past experience as registered by the cortical tissue modifies and shapes somebody’s thoughts. This, further, brings about the repetition of action leading to a behaviour perceived to be stable and safe by the individual. It is more than likely that soon a rigid pattern of actions develops limiting the likelihood of embarking on an adventure which restricts the possibility of freshness in experience.

Hence, the most pertinent point is to continually remain in renewal. That is why it is written in the Bible, Romans 12:2: ‘…be transformed by the renewing of your mind…’ Continually rinsing the mind with the Word and holding fast to all which is pure, noble and excellent purges (a friend likes this word – I am sure they know who they are) the old mind transforming it to the standards of the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16: ‘…But we have the mind of Christ.’ There are multiple presentations and publications relating renewal with the life of the Eagle which reminds us also the dire price of the process. Even so, to enjoy the advantages of the present, renewal is imperative.

Yet, physical body does not persist in its vitality and appearance during an individuals’ life span either. One of the hypotheses that explain the reason behind the decline on the rate of cellular renewal leading to regression of physical body is the accumulation of mutations (errors) in the DNA (both cellular and mitochondrial). It is inevitable, consequently, for tissues of the body to lose their elasticity and rate of turnover. However, senescence is not necessarily lack of renewal; rather it is a lack of efficient and adequate renewal. That means, renewal continues until the end. Without renewal there is no life. Likewise, renewal of thoughts in accordance with the good news of the Word keeps a Man truely alive.

Therefore, perhaps the opportunity to renew the mind will have just began when we meet somebody again and remember that they possess a renewed physical body which reminds us that they are not the same as we met them last time. They are renewed. The unyielding process and power of renewal is at work in an individuals’ life – even when it is not noticeable – enabling survival.

‘Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no-one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.’ Isaiah 40:28-31.

Illuminated

The original article was initially published on blogspot.com in 2011.

IMPORTANCE OF VITAMIN D

Vitamin is a chemical substance that human body requires continually in small amounts as it does not synthesize a vitamin. There are various types of vitamins, Vitamin D being one of them.

Vitamin D is fat-soluble vitamin which plays hormone-like role in the body. What is unique about vitamin D is that our skin can produce vitamin D from cholesterol molecules under ideal circumstances (please see the article on Light). Thus, in an environment where skin gets sufficient sunlight exposure, indigenous vitamin D production would suffice. However, the major problem arises when such circumstances are compromised by factors such as migration from high solar radiation area to a lesser, of darker skin background, continual body coverage, being housebound and other medical conditions.

Currently available scientific data indicates that vitamin D plays a role in muscle and bone development as well as immune system. Its deficiency is reported to be linked to depression, autism, type 1 diabetes, Syndrome X, muscle and bone pain, Rickets and fits.

Therefore, reducing the risk of vitamin D deficiency among at-risk patients is a paramount task. Body vitamin D stores can be enhanced by consuming vitamin D rich foods such as milk, fish, egg, mushroom etc and also by optimising sun exposure. Additionally, it is highly advisable to be vigilant about the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency and seek help promptly by contacting a GP.

The study we conducted into assessing the awareness of vitamin D deficiency among at-risk people in the North West of the UK revealed that –

28% of them (n = 61) had never heard about vitamin D
Older patients (p = 0.003) were less likely to have heard about vitamin D
54% of participants were unaware of the commonest symptoms of vitamin D deficiency
34% did not expose their skin other than their face in the last one year
11% did not include vitamin D rich foods in their diet

Hence, I encourage you to promote awareness about vitamin D among family and friends especially elderly members of the society so as to avoid the dire consequences of newly rising incidence of childhood as well as adult vitamin D deficiency.

For those of you interested in the report of the study, more information is available online where our study is published on the BMC Research Notes and can be accessed on http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/5/17/abstract. Alternatively, it can be accessed from the Google, PubMed or Medline: title – ‘Awareness of vitamin D deficiency among at-risk patients.’

Illuminated

The original article was published on blogspot.com in 2011.

LIGHT

‘…that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness to his wonderful light.’ 1 Peter 2:9

Imagine living without light, what happens when living in darkness? The thought of falling into an abyss or being eaten by a beast would keep us in a continual state of startle and anxiety. Probably we might become more dependent on our other modalities such as smell and touch sensations. Nonetheless, enormous amount of uncertainty and danger would be fraught with this situation.

In Genesis 1:14, God created two great lights (referring to the Sun and Moon) to govern day and night. However, In Genesis 1:3, God had already created light. Lights created in verse 14 were to separate the day from the night and to sign seasons whereas the light created in verse 3 was to conquer the darkness. This indicates that Light preceded the light the sources of which are stars, for example.

In order to grasp some understanding of this light, let us examine the characteristics of light. Visible light is a result of thermal energy of the Sun which ensues glowing of the Sun matter. Similarly in artificial lights such as incandescent bulbs, filaments of a given resistance flame up emitting light. Hence, the origin of light has a strong connotation as seeing is the result of a continual sacrifice of unrelenting source.

On the other hand, light is a basic necessity for the continuation of life on the earth. Nearly every living creation is directly or indirectly dependent on the Sun light as a source of their energy. For instance, the green plants need the Sun light to make their own food by the process of photosynthesis (2n CO₂ + 2n H₂O + Sun light → 2(CH₂O)_n + 2n O₂). In turn, other organisms including humans consume the plants which serve as energy reservoir. Additionally, the fuel/petroleum utilised across the world to run various industries arises from the fossil which is a result of distant photosynthesis. Hence, this implicates the existence of energy and life within light.

Furthermore, the role of the Sun light extends to have direct impact on human physiology where it facilitates the production of Vitamin D, an important pro-enzyme. This is achieved by a reaction between the ultraviolet rays and 7-dehydrocholestrol in the skin layer resulting in the production of Cholecalciferol (vitamin D3). It is noteworthy to mention that Ultraviolet rays are not visible to human eyes as humans can only see a visible spectrum of the electromagnetic radiation (light) which ranges from about 380 nm to about 740 nm of wavelength. The rest of the rays including ultraviolet rays, infrared rays, gamma rays, radio waves, microwaves and x-rays fall out of this range and, thus are invisible to us, nevertheless, we perceive and experience the impact of these.

This takes us to think that when it is apparently ‘dark’ for human eyes, it does not necessarily mean that there is no light around. For instance, some animals are nocturnal as they have fully functional night vision which is a result of their eye anatomy including the presence of tapetum lucidum. When it is night, still there is light but undetectable to human eyes. Hence, night is not darkness as darkness refers to a state of lack of light.

According to the Bible, prior to the creation of this universe in its entirety, there was darkness in the depth of the earth. That means darkness existed before the light in this universe. It is also written that ‘…the people walking in darkness have seen a great light…on those living in the shadow of death, a light has dawned.’ Thus, darkness can be correlated with a state of emptiness, lack of creativity and absence of hope.

However, at the beginning of creation process, light permeated the darkness following the word of God: ‘let there be light’. Subsequently, there is a separation between darkness and light; the former succumbing to the latter. God started the creation process by surrounding himself with the presence of ‘light’. All things – Cosmos: Matter, the Sun, Living and Non Living – were made through the ‘light’ signifying the presence of surpassing energy and life within the ‘light’.

In John 1, it says that the Light was the Word and the Word was God. Hence, the first thing that God did at the beginning of creation was devoting himself to the creation in the invisible spectrum, the effect of which we only experience and perceive by faith. And another miracle God has done is revealing himself through Jesus in the visible spectrum which we could see with our physical eyes.

Christmas is when the invisible Light was manifested as visible Light and made the invisible Light clearer as seen by faith – God’s perpetual act of love.

Happy Christmas!

The original article was published on blogspot.com in 2011.

PRECIOUS GIFT: TIME

Time is a fundamental component of living. Day-to-day people operate in a rush whilst reaching out for their dreams as in the process they run out of time. Moreover, personal progressions and advancements of technology entail incorporation of notions and postulations which make reference to time. For example, physical quantities which are part and parcel of our daily lives such as speed, energy and power cannot be quantified without measuring time.

Nevertheless, measuring time itself is not a straightforward process. There have been a number of theories before conforming to currently accepted definition of time measurement (operational time) where seconds make a minute and then an hour.

In the Bible, it appears that time began at the beginning of the creation when God created light and darkness and events began to unfold one after another. It is not revealed about the existence of time before creation, nonetheless, it does not appear to be the phenomenon of eternity where everything seems to happen at ‘once’.

Probably, the most conventional definition of time could be that time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them. We cannot touch time yet we are limited in it. For example we only have 24 hours in a day where we need to achieve our daily objectives. Having said that though, there remains a question that if time is a product of human limitation in addition to being a limiting factor towards humans.

The human brain processes information in a limited speed. For instance, a study conducted at the University of Arizona revealed that events which happened in real time are processed about 6-8 times faster when the brain is in its fastest processing state (when a person is asleep).¹This means in its most efficient state, the brain performs in a limted speed. In scriptures Jesus said to his disciples that he had much more to tell them, much more knowledge than they could bear at that time (John 16:15) reinforcing the fact that it takes time for the brain (mind) to process, consolidate and utilise the teaching Jesus imparted. Hence, this implies that the human brain despite having the capability to process information quicker than the rate at which the events unfold in real world, it cannot process all-day-events at once. Thus, it can be argued that the limited capacity of the brain to process information leads to a rise of the concept of ‘time’.

On the other hand, when exploring further the influence of time on human race, time is one of the defining phenomena affecting humans in our universe. Human beings are determined by geography and time in their physical existence as physicists endeavour to explain in their Space-Time concept where one object in the universe can be expressed with coordinates of space and time. This fact is also mentioned in Acts 17:26 – ‘…He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live…’

In another part of the Bible, it is mentioned that the man’s days are counted indicating that humans experience only measured time. This implies that human beings are defined in time, dwelling in a subset of time. Therefore, time is not only the consequence of physical body limitations but also it restricts human beings within its brackets.

Everything that is done in this universe appears to be fixed within time – there is a time to be born, to die, to scatter, to gather and etc. There is time for everything under heaven. Hence, the most relevant and precious resource we have is time and we experience all that life has for us within it.

This further prompts us to ask a pertinent question – ‘’When is ‘time’?’’ To answer this question, I like to think about an ‘Hourglass’. In this glass, sand flows from an upper to a lower compartment and it reminds me that the past is behind us, it is a history. The future is not yet within reach. ‘Now’ (today) is a gift, as known as the present. Now is the full richness of resources and everything we have. Now is when the opportunities are and every action we undertake within time (now) has impact on our future. Nevertheless, it is dropping past us. Hence, now is when we are required to make the best use of time as it is written that we need to ‘redeem the time’.

Since time is the most precious and scarce resource humans have, the best gift that can be given could be time. Even God’s best gift was time that he became a human being and entered into time.

Reference:

1. http://www.physorg.com/news114358469.html

JESUS’ CONCEPTION

This is one of the most widely debated issues amongst scientific communities and those practising faith. According to the Bible, Jesus was born from Mary, who was pledged to be married to Joseph. When the angel spoke the news to Mary about her giving birth to Jesus, she quickly inquired how that can be possible given that she is a virgin. However, the angel answered to Mary saying that ‘the power of the Most High will overshadow you…nothing is impossible with God.’ Luke 1:26-37 (NIV). Hence, the Bible teaches us that Jesus’ conception was a result of divine intervention.

Biologically, in human beings, in order for a baby to be born, initially there must be fertilisation of an egg with a sperm (sexual reproduction) leading to formation of a zygote which further develops to embryo then foetus. That is, there should be a contribution of genetic material from two parents each donating haploid i.e. half genetic material forming a cell which is diploid i.e. with full genetic material. Haploid individuals are non viable.

In Jesus’ case; however, the above phenomenon appears to have been violated as Mary was virgin and did not have any sperm donation which led to Jesus’ conception. Moreover, it is impossible for Jesus to be haploid individual as this is incompatible with life. Thus, is it the case that the other half of genetic material came from the Spirit of God? If so, does God have a genome? Or is it possible for a female parent to have a child without a male involvement? Or is it a miraculous act of God where a full human being is created out of Mary’s unfertilised egg?

When reviewing scientific publications, it is clearly documented that there are animal species which reproduce without the involvement of male partners. A process called Parthenogenesis refers to a form of asexual reproduction in females where embryos develop without fertilisation by a male. In humans, parthenogenesis has been utilised to create human stem cells from unfertilised eggs of females. It is thought that this might open a window of opportunity in treatment of degenerative diseases. However, there is no scientific literature reporting the length of viability of human embryo created by parthenogenesis. On the other hand, a study performed in mammals developed by artificially induced parthenogenesis revealed short survival of approximately 30 days. Besides this, another interesting thing about parthenogenesis is that the offsprings produced by parthenogenesis in species that use the XY sex-determination system would always have two X chromosomes, hence, are always female. This completely rules out the process of parthenogenesis as a possibility in the creation of Jesus since Jesus is a male (Son).

This could lead us to another school of thought that Jesus had a genetic contribution from the Holy Spirit. If this is the case, it will raise the question about Jesus’ genotypical and phenotypical make up. In the Bible, it is written that Jesus was pure Human (Man) and pure God. And it is also written, in another part of the Bible, that God is Spirit. Therefore, it can be deducted that Jesus had a Human and Spiritual genome combined together making him a unique creation.

On the other hand, in Genesis 2:7 it is written that God formed the Man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the Man became a living being. This verse implies that the Man was formed initially, nonetheless, it became a living being after God’s breath touched him. The Man was a dust without the breath of God. This clearly denotes that the lack of livelihood in our physical body. It is only when the Spirit of God touches our physical body that we begin to live.

Therefore, Man’s creation process appears to correlate with that of Jesus’. The Man being the first Adam and Jesus being the second Adam; both being mentioned as the Son of God in scriptures. What is common in both cases of creation is that there is no mating process (sexual intercourse) involved unlike the rest of human population. Likewise, based on Hebrew 11:12 – ‘…from this man, as good as dead, came descendents as numerous as the stars…,’ Abraham can also be added to this list as God brought life into him when he was as good as dead.

Thus, it is the Spirit of God which gives life whether two partners mate for procreation or not. This means that the Spirit of God can really create a human being without a man and woman sleeping together. Jesus is an example of this. And also, even in biologically understood form of copulation, it is the Spirit of God who quickens the ‘dead’ egg and sperm into a living being; not fertilisation. In conclusion, not only Jesus’ conception but everybody’s life (conception) is also a continual miraculous work of mighty God.

Illuminated

The above article was originally Published on blogspot.com in 2011.

08/06/2026

I recently watched a video where the world’s elite scientists (John Lennox, James Tour and Stephen and Meyer) discuss about the origin of life at the Hoover Institute. They say until now no one knows where life comes from or how it started. Astonishing! Finally, they eventually appear to agree more with the Bible description of the origin of life rather than evolutionist’s view (the theory of evolution). You may wish to watch the video on the YOUTUBE. Below is the link –