Greetings Norma,
Good hearing from you also, and I agree about having E. Coli taking on more profound dimensions and hitting closer to home when one has suffered the loss of a loved one from E. Coli. I don't know if we can blame the govt. though, because as much regulatory gusto as the govt. tries to levy, they still can't babysit all the workers who work in the meat processing industry that may not practice good hygeine, or restaurant workers who don't practice good hygeine and handwashing. Howard Hughes got a bit of an obsession going with handwashing, and actually was obsessive compulsive with cleanliness. This type of awareness is obviously not mentally healthy, and we have to remember that we don't live in a sterile environment and we are surrounded by all kinds of things that look like monsters at the microspopic level.
I'm a ghost town enthusiast and if one needs some perspective about losing children to disease, ghost town's are a good place to find faith and humility. I recently visited a ghost town where a woman had lost 13 children -- one right after the other, -- and she consistently wrote her epitaphs of praise and faith and willingness and acceptance in returning her "angel children" back to their maker.
It broke my heart to see all those little graves and the little mother that kept believing in the "big picture." I actually need to take some lessons from her, because the Lord would have heard me do some cussing and probably would need to wash my mouth out with soap.
Scientists are presently keeping a close watch on a new influenza virus found in Hong Kong which is similar to the strains that killed more than 22 million people this century. The potential for this virus causing a pandemic is unknown, but health organizations around the world are alerted and are monitoring because there is always the potential for a global epidemic. Interestingly, these new strains are beleived to originate in pigs or birds and then crosses over to humans who have no immunity for it.
As a note of interest, and something that has fascinated me, -- (and ties into the pig/bird thing) American Indian folklore and Shamanism reads of elaborate practices in healing and avoidance of disease, and interestingly, some of these practices achieved the same end as what Western Science with sophisticated microscopes and technology has achieved. For example, taboos and myths that were practiced --actually were practiced for good scientific reasons when modern interpretation has been applied. The indians had elaborate rituals concerning water and the dangers inherant in water, and their myths served the same end as our modern science. It is more that fascinating to note that some of the "folklore" and warnings that come from our ancients mimic modern science "in a round about way."
Pleasant day all,
Cindy |
