Optimisticality

Over the past couple years or so, I've started to look for ways to apply Christian scripture and thought to everyday life. In doing so, I've started to identify what I think are some really useful messages present in the Bible - to try and distill out the wisdom that speaks to me, that seems to get lost sometimes behind layers and layers of doctrine and legalism.

I think that Easter embodies quite a bit of this wisdom. I think Easter is one of the the strongest arguments for hope that we can come up with - or at least it's one of the clearest ways of expressing the idea that there's no need to give up when things get rough, even if we seem to have been stripped of every bit of our dignity or power in a situation. In the rising of Christ I see a message that the jealous and insecure actions of others - like the deeds of those who clamored for and carried out the crucifixion - ultimately do not prevail. Most of us have an innate desire to see things turn out right, to see the "good guy win." To me, Easter is a day to celebrate and embrace that sentiment.

My favorite part of the Easter story is that the empty tomb was discovered by 2 women who simply went to visit it. It seems to refer to a theme that I've noticed throughout scripture, which is that those who are focused on living in the moment and acting according to the moment tend to end up with some of the most special roles in those moments. These two women got to discover the empty tomb first not because they had asserted themselves as somehow more deserving than others, but because they had an earnest desire to visit it. From the account, they were driven by genuine concern and mourning for their friend, and not by a desire to seek out what glory they could.

I think that in day to day life it can be hard to really let go of that drive for glory and to just stay in the moment, which is kind of ironic given how draining it really is to maintain and act from the "always have to get ahead" mindset. I think the magic of Easter is that can allow people to make that leap of faith - the one that says that it's really going to be okay and that nothing is hopeless - to just settle down, stay in the moment, live life genuinely, and enjoy the benefits of doing so.

In The Dark

Found an interesting article today about potential correlations between "light pollution" (exposure to artificial light at night when we're supposed to be sleeping) and risk of cancer. Apparently the light pollution exposure affects the body's natural rhythms and production of hormones which can then exacerbate cancer risks. I'd like to see more studies before I buy into that all the way (though it sounds somewhat plausible)...but I was also intrigued by:

"The blue/green light is what is emitted from TVs , computers, clock radios and other gadgets (cell phones, Blackberry's, etc) or from what Roberts calls “light trespass,” which comes in from the outside, through your windows. 'Light from the blue region stimulates a ‘wake up’ circadian response in the body and blocks the production of melatonin in the brain.'

The same thing happens if you get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and turn the light on. Stevens recommends using a red night light instead, because red light does not suppress melatonin production. "

I'm not convinced that a few seconds of bright bathroom light is going to make all that much of a difference to the amount of sleep I get...but, I've also never liked blinding myself in the middle of the night, however briefly. So, I think they might be on to something with the whole red light thing anyhow.