Friday, November 28, 2008

Embrace discipline

I woke this morning with a new commitment to embrace God’s discipline. I have to admit that having this cold on top of my battle against cancer had irritated me. “Don’t I have enough to deal with?” My cold, a ttypical respiratory infection that reoccurs, has left me very tired each day. I rest a log and take frequent naps. Today the cold has descended to my chest which usually means it is in its last stages. Hopefully that is true. But it is very important that I embrace whatever God is teaching me. Every situation is an opportunity to be refined in character which also means that my delight in Him will deepen. The end result, “Real life, Real joy.” For my Southwood family, that theme should sound familiar. I hope to return to that theme in Paul’s letter to the Pilippians on December 14. I copied the following passages in my journal as a reminder of today’s lesson:

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:3-5)
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. (2Co 4:7-10)
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (2Co 12:9)

You may also want to check out my Pastor Blog where I have posted a note on “Discipleship in an Instant Society”

A new medical lesson was learned and experienced today. It is not quite as bad as the infamous “Green Drink,” but still is a little challenging. Eat the peelings of tangerines along with the inside, include the seeds. Here is the note from Dr D’s book, Anticancer: A New Way of Life (page 127): “Oranges, tangerines, lemons, and grapefruit contain anti inflammatory flavonoids. They also stimulate the detoxification of carcinogenics by the liver. It has even been shown that flavonoids in the skin of tangerines – tangeritin and nobiletin – penetrate brain cancer cells, facilitate their death by apoptosis [1], and lower their potential for invading neighboring tissues. Be sure to choose organic tangerines if you use the skin.” [2] [3]

I will warn you tangerine skins are bitter, but that is a minor issue in the case of fending off the regrowth of brain cancer. Especially since my type of brain cancer is reported to “come roaring back.” Go get ‘em flavonoids!

Footnotes
1 - Apoptosis: A form of cell death in which a programmed sequence of events leads to the elimination of cells without releasing harmful substances into the surrounding area. Apoptosis plays a crucial role in developing and maintaining health by eliminating old cells, unnecessary cells, and unhealthy cells. The human body replaces perhaps a million cells a second. Too little or too much apoptosis plays a role in a great many diseases. When programmed cell death does not work right, cells that should be eliminated may hang around and become immortal. For example, in cancer and leukemia. When apoptosis works overly well, it kills too many cells and inflicts grave tissue damage. This is the case in strokes and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer, Huntington and Parkinson diseases. Apoptosis is also called programmed cell death or cell suicide. Strictly speaking, the term apoptosis refers only to the structural changes cells go through, and programmed cell death refers to the complete underlying process, but the terms are often used interchangeably. [MedicineNet.com]

2 - Taraphdar, A. K., M. Roy, and R. K. Bhattacharya, "Natural Products as Inducers of Apoptosis: Implication for Cancer Therapy and Prevention," Current Science 80 (2001): 1387-96. [full-text pdf copy]

3 - Rooprai, H. K., A. Kandanearatchi, S. L. Maidment, et al., "Evaluation of the Ef fects of Swainsonine, Captopril, Tangeretin and Nobiletin on the Biological Be haviour of Brain Tumour Cells in Vitro," Neuropathology & Applied Neurobiology 27, no. 1 (2001): 29-39. [Journal issue citation] [Abstract]

Let me know your thoughts.

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