A couple years ago my wife and I decided to make a change in our life insurance policy carrier. My Allstate agent, Ryan Grothaus, offered better coverage and a better rate so it was an easy decision. I'm not aware of discounts for mentioning my agent in my blog, but when they introduce that discount, I've got it covered.
The paperwork was a breeze, but as is the case with most policies, my wife and I needed to go for a blood check. I made the appointment and listened with moderate interest to the instructions for the test. A few weeks past and a reminder for the test popped up on my phone. It was a busy day, which meant I needed to pick up lunch on the way to the test. Again, I listened with moderate - correction - little interest to the instructions for the blood test. I arrived early to the clinic, and while I waited outside for my wife, I methodically devoured a whopper value meal. With a handful of fries to spare, my wife walked through the doors and immediately gasped. "What are you doing?" As I started to explain the obvious, she cut me off and exclaimed, "You were supposed to fast. This is a blood test!"
Oops. Now what do I do? This was unfamiliar territory. I've certainly made the mistake of not listening before but never did it relate to life insurance blood screens. The immediate question was, do I finish the rest of the fries? The bigger question, however, was will they let me take this test over again? Before I could decide on the fries, the nurse called me in. I decided to bring the evidence with me to prove to her that she shouldn't order a triple bypass for me following the results. She chuckled and said that we would go ahead with this test, and if necessary, do another in a couple weeks (and hopefully I would listen to the instructions for that one).
A week passed and the nurse finally called with the results. My cholesterol has always been normal so I knew that any kind of spike would be the fault of the king and his tasty creation. I listened to the voicemail and was shocked to hear that my results were all normal. Wow! I knew the Whopper was yummy but never did I think it had this kind of effect. Obviously it is possible that the food hadn't made it into my blood stream yet or maybe it was the root beer I washed it down with that helped to neutralize the toxins. Is it possible that this was a magic Whopper that had special medicinal powers? Whatever the case, I was relieved to have avoided another needle.
I was sharing this story with a few friends last week and upon further reflection, I began to think of a favorite scripture in Hebrews. In chapter 10, the author states, "for our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water." Now unlike my magical whopper, this is not just helpful, but life changing. The blood of Christ has the power to cleanse us of our sins and bring peace to our guilty consciences. Because of the love and grace of God, our past - whether 10 minutes ago or 10 years ago - can truly be our past.
I had totally forgotten about this story and the mistake I made at the clinic. But I'm sure that's because I didn't have to pay for it. We've all had mistakes that we have had to pay for though. Some have been very painful. Thankfully, because of the blood of Christ, I don't have to live in shame for past mistakes. And even more, I don't have to pay for them either. All of this reminds me of an old hymn my Grandfather loved to sing - "There's Power in the Blood." There most certainly is.
Official blog of New Creation Church of Omaha
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Book Review: "Moonwalking with Einstein"
"If only I could remember his name." "It's on the tip of my tongue." "I know that I need to pick something up from the store but I can't remember what."
We've all had these moments. The times when our memories have failed us. Or is it that we have failed to properly understand and train our memories? That's the question that Joshua Foer sets out to answer in his 2011 book, "Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything." After observing and interviewing "mental athletes" - yes, you read that correctly - Foer embarks on a year long journey of discovering the secrets of memory and eventually competes for the U.S. Memory Championship.
I was interested in this book after reading about in TIME Magazine last month. I feel that I am blessed with a good memory, and I wondered if this book could help me to further improve it. I can't say that my memory is better after reading this book or that I have memorized the order of a deck of cards recently (a memory competition staple). But I can say that I have a better understanding of how to remember things that I really want to recall. Its this new understanding that will help me to remember names more effectively, create more memorable sermon points and remember novel and completely useless facts and stats. Foer uncovers some valuable insights and tools such as utilizing a "memory palace." One of my memory palaces helped me to memorize the following shopping/to do list (found in the book) in a matter of minutes: pickled garlic, cottage cheese, salmon, 6 bottles of white wine, 3 pair of socks, 3 hula hoops, snorkel, dry ice machine, email Sophia, skin toned cat suit, Paul Newman film "Somebody Up There Likes Me," elk sausages, megaphone and director's chair, harness and ropes, barometer. Now I just have to worry about forgetting that useless list.
The tools and insights were valuable, but it was the journey that Foer embarked on that made this book a fun read. Foer found an English mental athlete who took him under his wing and trained him. Along the way, Foer met with some very interesting people such as the original Rain Main, Kim Peek. He also tracked down a few individuals with the rarest forms of amnesia to attempt to capture the reasons why we forget. Furthermore, he had himself tested for his memory capabilities and shared the mysteries of "chicken sexing" (not as bad as it sounds). These and other fine details helped to make a captivating story.
The great story and the valuable memory tools both served as a reminder that our brain is a magnificent creation. Even in this information age, most of us have only scratched the surface of what it can do. The fact that there is a man in England who has memorized and can recite the first 22,514 digits of pi is proof of that. The origin of our awesome brain, however, is where I disagree with the author. On more than one occasion he refers to the evolutionary process in how our brain has developed. But almost in the same breath, Foer concedes that science has yet to uncover all the secrets of how our memories function. This, of course, is problematic since it is impossible to prove that evolution is responsible for the current state and function of the brain if we cannot even explain everything about the brain itself. Obviously I am approaching this text from a faith perspective, but I still think the scientific and literary community would be well served if they began to embrace the beauty and mystery of God's creative genius.
Despite this hiccup, Joshua Foer's quest to answer the question, "is it possible that we have the capacity to remember everything" is wonderfully interesting and its a book that I would recommend. After reading this book, you will not only discover how Foer faired at the 2005 U.S. Memory Championship, but you will also be challenged and encouraged to test the seemingly unlimited power of your own amazing mind and memory.
We've all had these moments. The times when our memories have failed us. Or is it that we have failed to properly understand and train our memories? That's the question that Joshua Foer sets out to answer in his 2011 book, "Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything." After observing and interviewing "mental athletes" - yes, you read that correctly - Foer embarks on a year long journey of discovering the secrets of memory and eventually competes for the U.S. Memory Championship.
I was interested in this book after reading about in TIME Magazine last month. I feel that I am blessed with a good memory, and I wondered if this book could help me to further improve it. I can't say that my memory is better after reading this book or that I have memorized the order of a deck of cards recently (a memory competition staple). But I can say that I have a better understanding of how to remember things that I really want to recall. Its this new understanding that will help me to remember names more effectively, create more memorable sermon points and remember novel and completely useless facts and stats. Foer uncovers some valuable insights and tools such as utilizing a "memory palace." One of my memory palaces helped me to memorize the following shopping/to do list (found in the book) in a matter of minutes: pickled garlic, cottage cheese, salmon, 6 bottles of white wine, 3 pair of socks, 3 hula hoops, snorkel, dry ice machine, email Sophia, skin toned cat suit, Paul Newman film "Somebody Up There Likes Me," elk sausages, megaphone and director's chair, harness and ropes, barometer. Now I just have to worry about forgetting that useless list.
The tools and insights were valuable, but it was the journey that Foer embarked on that made this book a fun read. Foer found an English mental athlete who took him under his wing and trained him. Along the way, Foer met with some very interesting people such as the original Rain Main, Kim Peek. He also tracked down a few individuals with the rarest forms of amnesia to attempt to capture the reasons why we forget. Furthermore, he had himself tested for his memory capabilities and shared the mysteries of "chicken sexing" (not as bad as it sounds). These and other fine details helped to make a captivating story.
The great story and the valuable memory tools both served as a reminder that our brain is a magnificent creation. Even in this information age, most of us have only scratched the surface of what it can do. The fact that there is a man in England who has memorized and can recite the first 22,514 digits of pi is proof of that. The origin of our awesome brain, however, is where I disagree with the author. On more than one occasion he refers to the evolutionary process in how our brain has developed. But almost in the same breath, Foer concedes that science has yet to uncover all the secrets of how our memories function. This, of course, is problematic since it is impossible to prove that evolution is responsible for the current state and function of the brain if we cannot even explain everything about the brain itself. Obviously I am approaching this text from a faith perspective, but I still think the scientific and literary community would be well served if they began to embrace the beauty and mystery of God's creative genius.
Despite this hiccup, Joshua Foer's quest to answer the question, "is it possible that we have the capacity to remember everything" is wonderfully interesting and its a book that I would recommend. After reading this book, you will not only discover how Foer faired at the 2005 U.S. Memory Championship, but you will also be challenged and encouraged to test the seemingly unlimited power of your own amazing mind and memory.
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