Five Fingers of Prayer

Thanks to Corey Johnson for putting me on to this:

This is beautiful - and it is surely worth making the 5 finger prayer a part of our lives.

1. Your thumb is nearest to you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C. S. Lewis once said, a "sweet duty."

2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.

3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God's guidance.

4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest finger; as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.

5. And lastly comes our little finger; the smallest finger of all. Which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, "The least shall be the greatest among you." Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself.

By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively. Should you find it hard to get to sleep tonight, just remember the homeless family who has no bed to lie in.

Something Stupid

Big Brother is watching...

British Monarch is an Australian Fork-Lift driver - King Michael

Ah, the aweet irony of it all. Just when the Auzzies are trying to ditch Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state, we discover she's a fraud and the real King lives in Australia and drives a fork lift truck. Furthermore, I think King Michael seems to actually like his children!

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Aussie is 'heir to English crown'

Self-giving in marriage

What a good articel this is by Jennifer Morse, considering with such gentleness and sensitivity the dynamics of self-giving in marriage and how that impinges on the specific issues of couples who seem unable to conceive. Good writing. Good reading.

Jennifer Roback Morse on Marriage on National Review Online

Science thoughts

OK, so I won't bang on again like last time. But once again here is a great example of some good science having been done, and then used as a springboard for some, frankly massive, interpretations. Just one question for you: Who has the more credible approach to the interpretation of the data: Bickle or Buick?

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Oldest evidence of photosynthesis

Prayers for Peace by the Police

I normally think of the Beeb as being very anti-Christian, but just occaisionally they prove me wrong, happily! Here is nice article about a London bobby who 'acknowledeges the Lord in all his ways' (Proverbs 3.6)

BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | The new weapon in crimefighting... prayer

Science Eats Itself....Again

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | No fiery extinction for dinosaurs

So, for the past 20 years we have had to sit through pop-science programs shoved at us with tiresome regularity by the pop-science media that told us with unwavering certainty that the dinosaurs died as the result of a meteor strike which cause cataclismic climate change around the world. Dozens of editions of the National Geographic proclaimed this 'fact'. Dozens of aminated 'documentaries' from the Discovery Channel, The BBC and WGBH trumpeted the 'fact'. All with skimpy and incomplete scientific evidence that had not been thoroughly tested.

Basically, it was bad science, dressed up and called good science, and then used by an atheistic media industry to tell us all where we came from. I SO wish that thinking Cristians would see bad science for what it is - propaganda from pseudo-scientists to underpin their data driven philosphies. Good science is focussed on carefully researched and tested facts, not conjecture, and because God is the creator of all there is, good science inevitably leads to a sense of awe at the wonder of the natural order.

Did dinosaurs live? Sure. Did they die our? Sure. How? We dont know yet - not enough evidence to say for certain. Conclusions we can draw from this that inform us about ourselves? None, except that life is uncertain.

Thought for scientists: If a meteor did cause massive extinction, how come 40% of the mammalian life carried on just fine - both small and large animals - both herbivores and carnivores? If dinosaurs died out due to lack of vegetaion to eat how come there is not even a hiccup in the fossil record for plants? There is no doubt that a large meteor did strike in Chicxulub. There is much doubt that it caused the failure of the dinosaurs.

Thought for the day: If the body of people who consider themselves to be 'Science' can this so very wrong - what else is it that is currently being taught as fact that will be overturned in time? Keep a very close eye on areas of pop-science that clash with Christianity such as - the origins of man.