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Is Cleanliness Next to Godliness? Your Home and You
I never hear about cleanliness and godliness, but I do think the two are connected. Several times in my life, my house has figured prominently in my dreams. When I escaped my abusive first husband, I dreamt of a large house swept clean. Constructed with beautiful woods throughout, the bones of the home were strong, but the rooms stood empty. I understood this to mean that I was embarking on a new life. The time to fill my rooms with new memories (or furniture) had come. I remember reading an article about how your bedroom represents your marital relationship. If it is a neglected room, disorganized and cluttered, then the…
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The Religion of Appeasement: God as Idol
Generally, when we seek to appease someone, we turn them into an idol. One of the misconceptions we have about idols is the assumption that we love our idols. And we love some of them, I’m sure. The love of money is a common one. But the other common denominator in idolatry is fear. Proverbs says Appease an angry man and you will do it again. How common is it for us to get caught up in a cycle of appeasement? I think it starts in childhood in many families. If the child transgresses (a not uncommon occurrence) and parents get angry, that child quickly learns how to turn the…
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Epigenetics, Inherited Trauma, and You: The Ghost of Generational Memory
The study of epigenetics and generational memory, at least as far as its relationship to trauma, is fairly new. Without going into a poor scientific explanation of what epigenetics is, I will merely quote Dr. Jackie Hackett from the University of Cambridge. He says point blank that “…research demonstrates [that] genes … retain some memory of their past experiences.” This quote is from a book entitled, It Didn’t Start With You, by Mark Wolynn. In this book, he encapsulates quite articulately the most recent research on inherited trauma and epigenetics. The most basic explanation is that trauma does not affect the DNA sequencing itself, but the actual function of the…
Healing Through Art & Words
