Sweet Apples, Dental Disasters and our Bridegroom

As part of my quest to understand God’s love and grace more I’ve been reading Song of Solomon, or as it is also known, the Song of Songs. I also want to really grasp that I am not a slave, but God’s beloved bride.

Imagine you are lost in a forest. You are getting hot, tired and hungry. You forgot to bring food with you and you ran out of water a while ago. Then you come to a little clearing and there in the middle of the forest is an apple tree. It is loaded with big beautiful apples. What would you do? Well if you really are hot, tired and hungry and are a normal person, without tooth trouble, you would pick one of those big juicy apples and sit down and enjoy it. If you are like me and your dentist told you a long time ago not to bite into a whole apple, you might have to get out your handy pocket knife and cut it up first. I don’t actually carry a pocket knife, in case you are wondering, but these are spiritual apples under a figurative apple tree. So eat up.

In chapter 3 verse 2 of SOS that is just what the bride did. She says Her lover, that is our Savior, is like that apple tree. The other trees of the forest had nothing to offer her. But, “In his shade I took great delight and sat down, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.”

I want to be like her and remember in the heat of the day to sit down and enjoy some moments with Jesus.

Speaking of tooth trouble, last evening at the start of dinner I started having a lot of pain in one of my teeth! I felt nearly sick and broke out in a sweat. I somehow managed to stay vertical and eat something but I had to chew very slowly and only on the other side of my mouth. Getting to sleep later was also challenging.

I was able to eat breakfast without any problem this morning so that was encouraging. But it was soft food and there’s been a dull ache in my jaw and surrounding area most of the morning. So I didn’t procrastinate as I usually do and went ahead and called my dentist this morning. I’m glad I did because they said he will be out of the office for two weeks after today.

I have little hope that the news will be good. This tooth has already had two “root canals” (technically all teeth have root canals but I am using the term in the popular sense to refer to the treatment where they go in and clean out and refill the root canals.) So like John said it should not be able to hurt. Of course, there is a nerve beneath it that runs along the jaw line and that can hurt. It did last night! And, not to sound negative, but the tooth itself can still fall apart. I’ve had a lot of experience with that unfortunately. My teeth seem to be under the impression that life was supposed to end at 50.

A day later:

I saw the dentist yesterday. He thinks there is infection between the roots. He suggested that we try ozone therapy. He said that helps in this sort of case about 50% of the time. If it doesn’t help the only other option is to pull the tooth. So even though I am a little skeptical, I am willing to give it a try. He gave me the first injection yesterday. The next two will need to wait until after he returns in about two weeks.

I am feeling more peaceful than usual over this new dental dilemma. Maybe I am just numb and in denial. Or maybe I have grown a little. After so many, many, many dental disasters over the last several years maybe I am learning that it will not really ruin my life to have another one. I guess all my efforts to overcome pessimism may be paying off. This won’t last forever and it won’t ruin everything. And unless you count years of tooth clenching and grinding, and as a child not good enough dental hygiene, it isn’t my fault, or the fault of one of my previous dentists. It just is part of life in a fallen world. This isn’t heaven yet. Jesus said in this life we would have tribulations (and yes I do include dental disasters in that!)

Maybe I should stop calling them dental disasters after all that is a pessimistic way of talking about them and I am supposed to be overcoming pessimism. But it is also alliterative and sounds more interesting than just saying tooth problems. And to be honest I do want a little sympathy. I have had an almost unbelievably bad run of dental problems for way too long. This was not in the script! I wasn’t supposed to have any more tooth trouble! I could get really worked up about it (maybe I sound like I already am!) but I guess God has a different script than I do.

Getting back to the beginning and the sitting under the apple tree thing… I am wondering how can I find that sweet fruit in this situation? In an attempt to apply that idea, yesterday as I waited to see the dentist, I read the third chapter of John’s Gospel for my next ladies’ small group meeting.

I had various thoughts that I noted down. Nothing really blindingly stupendous. But then apples are like that, simple, sweet and nourishing but not flashy. But it was sweet to just ponder scripture while I waited, it beat worrying! Or even reading a magazine which is what I usually do in those circumstances-- not that there’s anything wrong with that.

One thing I got a little kick out of was in verse 29 when John the Baptist was talking to his disciples about Jesus, he said “He who has the bride is the bridegroom.” At first thought it isn’t obvious that he needed to use that metaphor. He probably could have used some other imagery to explain to his disciples why it was ok that Jesus was gaining in popularity. But of course, there are no accidents in scripture. He used that metaphor because that is what Jesus is: our Bridegroom. And we are His bride! It was a neat little coincidence to get that little confirmation and tie-in to the Song of Songs even while waiting in the dentist’s office and reading in the Gospel of John.

Let there be...light!

The left window is the new one.

We got a new window installed in our master bedroom a couple of weeks ago. Really new. Not just a replacement. They cut a hole in the bricks and then in the inside dry wall and inserted a window. Before that there was only one north facing window in that room. It was like perpetual twilight. In fact, most of our house felt like twilight, all day.

It’s always bugged me. I like lots of light. I thought about putting in a skylight. But I like to see out. Also, John wants us to go solar someday and since that side of the roof is the best place for putting solar panels. I thought, why not add a window instead? I’ve seen houses in another part of town that have two windows in some bedrooms. Corner rooms, particularly, like this one is, usually have two windows—one on each wall. But our home’s builder (Fox and Jacobs) is known for cutting corners and only doing the minimum. I suspect one way they did that was to only install the minimum number of windows required in each bedroom. I suppose too when this house was built windows let in a lot of heat. But we have low-e glass in all our windows now so that cuts down on that problem.

I read recently in an article by Linda Geddes on BBC.com that if a person gets plenty of light during the day that they sleep better at night. Also they are less susceptible to blue light, like the kind coming from computer screens, in the evenings.

I’ve known for some time that getting too much light, especially blue light, close to bedtime can disrupt my sleep. So I’ve tried to limit my screen time and overall light exposure in the evening. I also installed an app called F.lux on my old computer that reduced the blue light coming from its screen at night. I was delighted to discover that my new computer came with its own “night light” feature. All I needed to do was to enable it in settings. It seems to work like F.lux. The screen goes a slight yellow tinge after sunset. Other colors on the screen look a little different too. But the benefits for sleep and health outweigh the disadvantages. In my opinion computer makers would do everyone a favor if they made it the default and people who didn’t want it could disable it. I suspect most people don’t know about that issue so never know to look for it. I knew about the issue but only accidentally discovered it was a feature I could enable on my new computer.

A few years ago when I first learned about blue light issues at bedtime I installed a free app called Twilight on my cell phone . I don’t think it works as well as F.lux or the night light setting on my computer. Instead of actually removing the blue light it just sort of covers it with another color. We also bought blue blocker glasses that go over our prescription glasses. We used them for a while but mostly don’t now. I don't know why we stopped. They really did seem to help at first. I tried mine again last night but it doesn’t fit very well on my new glasses that I got last month.

Anyway, when I read Geddes’s article that said more light during the day can improve sleep at night I thought it was worth a try to see if I could increase my light exposure during the day and see what happened. Although I usually seem to sleep fairly well, if not as long as I would like. I know that fibromyalgia, which I have, is said to cause non-refreshing, non-restorative sleep. So, any chance that I could make my sleep more restorative is worth exploring.

So, I started turning on more lights in the house during the day. I don’t know if it has improved my sleep but I noticed an immediate increase in my energy level. That is a huge blessing! One of the worst problems from fibromyalgia is fatigue. Any increase in energy is a major help!

There seems to be a few terms used to measure and indicate the light level in a room. One is called lux (lx). Lux is the metric term. The non-metric equivalent is foot-candles. I prefer lux since that is how I first learned about it—it’s also shorter!

Recommendations for lux levels vary based on the type of room and functions to be performed in them. I found a chart by a lighting company in Australia that gives recommendations for homes. For most general purpose areas they recommend 100-200 lx, for task lighting 300-400 lx. Their recommendation for hallways was 50-100 lx.*

Lighting recommendations for businesses are much higher.

I downloaded a free app from Google play store called “Light Meter.” Then I measured the lux levels at our house.

First, I went outside. At 9:47 a.m. in the sun next to our mail box the lux level was 17,000. Under a shade tree in our front yard it was 1083 lx.

Then I went inside. The two hallways are the darkest areas. Without electric lights on they ranged from 1 to 4 lx, depending on which hallway it was, position in the hall and time of day. With the electric light turned on the lux only went up to 7. That is much less than the recommended 50-100 lx for hallways. Official charts say twilight is 10.8 lx. So the hallways are darker than twilight, even with the lights on! I think it’s time for some brighter lights there!

In my home office recliner at 10:00 a.m. the lux with the window open and no artificial lights on was 7. It went up to 160 lx when I turned on all the lights. One recommendation I found for home offices was 100-400 lx for general work and 300-400 lx for task.

In the middle of our living room with all the curtains open and no artificial lights the lux was 16. With all the lights on and the curtains open it goes up to 215 lux in John’s recliner and 162 lux in mine. The difference is probably because the spot light that is pointed at my chair is burnt out. When I turn off the spotlights but leave on the *normal* overhead lights the lux drops all the way down to 35! That is a significant difference. I didn’t realize how useful those spotlights could be even during the day. I will be adding replacing that bulb onto my to-do list (or should I say onto John’s to-do list 😉)

The brightest room in our house is the kitchen. It has a large window above the sink and a sliding glass door next to it. Even with that though at 1:30 in the afternoon with all the kitchen lights on and the windows open the lux reading was only 130. That was next to the window. The task areas are much lower. Even with the lights on they range from 35-75 lx--much lower than the recommended 300-400 lx. I can hardly imagine so much brightness! Maybe that’s why I’m so *burnt out* on cooking lately. I just need more light in my kitchen. Ha!

In the master bedroom before the new window was installed I measured the lux in the spot where the new window was going. It was 9 lx. That was with the other window open on a clear sunny day at 3:00 in the afternoon. That is less than twilight! When I turned on all the lights it only went up to 37 lx.

Later--Now with the new window the same spot is much brighter. Even now as I write this paragraph at 9:30 a.m. when the sun is still on the other side of the house, depending on which direction I point my phone the lux reading ranges from 260 if pointed at the window, 40 if pointed straight up next to the window. That is without any other lights on but both windows open. When I turn on the lights it went up to 46 when pointed up and down to 205 pointed at the window--what? It must be some clouds passing by. Yesterday I checked it in the afternoon when the sun was shining in almost directly and it was much higher but I didn’t think to write it down! Anyway, I am very glad to have this new window. My bedroom is much brighter and more pleasant.

We may add a light blocking Roman blind for the night time like we have on the other window. But the new window is small and our neighbor on that side doesn’t have such a persistent security light. I also wear an eye shade over my eyes so the increased light at night hasn’t been much of a problem.

The view from the new window-- baby redbud tree on left.

View from the new window --the big tree on the right filters the late afternoon sun nicely. The gravel rectangle is where our motor home usually parks. It is away getting worked on at the moment.

Other links on lux:
* https://www.noao.edu/education/QLTkit/ACTIVITY_Documents/Safety/LightLevels_outdoor+indoor.pdf

https://www.thegreenage.co.uk/lux-much-light-need/

On Sequels and a sequel to yesterday's post

This morning I heard that a sequel to the popular 80’s movie, Top Gun, is in the works. 

Why on earth does Top Gun need a sequel I wondered? Then Jane Austen came to the rescue as so often happens with one of her pithy quotes, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that any popular movie of large profits must be in want of a sequel.” I know that’s paraphrasing a little! But you get the idea. 

Sequels are rarely as good as the original. It seems sad to ruin a good movie with a sequel. 

Remakes are also a nuisance. Occasionally they are cute. But what I really can’t stand is how they often up-date the morals while they are at it. The worst one lately that I know of was the remake of Beauty and the Beast. It’s like they are re-writing history. They want to replace the old with the new. They want us all to forget, and especially children not to see, morals and behavior that are different from what we are being brain washed to accept now. If we are reminded of the past then we might have a choice and choose to reject the current junk.

Speaking of sequels… I wanted to update my last post on the song, “We Fall Down.” I looked it up this morning and discovered some information I want to share. It was written by Chris Tomlin in 1997. He was inspired by hearing Louie Giglio teach on Revelation chapter 4. The song is about the 24 elders who are around the throne who fall down and lay their crowns at Jesus’ feet. I looked up the passage in Revelation and it is the 4 living creatures who say “holy, holy, holy”. So it isn’t about us at all. I wonder why he didn’t write it as “they fall down, they lay their crowns…” I would happily sing that. 

I also want to clarify that I have nothing against dancing during worship, or the other things I mentioned. They are all in the Bible and are perfectly legitimate forms of worship. I just don’t like songs that have us parroting words about things we are supposedly doing while we sing that we are very likely not really doing while we sing. 

Speaking of songs about dancing, one of my favorite choruses is the one about how we will one day dance on the golden streets of heaven with those who are from every tribe and nation worshiping around the throne. It’s true and a glorious hope that I look forward to!

We what? No we don't

We sang one of my least favorite worship choruses this Sunday. I first learned it at my previous church where it was a favorite of one of the worship leaders. It only occasionally comes up in our current church, for which I am thankful.

I don’t like songs with words about physical actions that hardly anyone ever does. I don’t recall ever seeing, for instance, a worship leader actually kneel during a song they are leading about kneeling. (Maybe I always have my eyes closed at the wrong times and just miss it.) I don’t judge anyone in the congregation who doesn’t do the motions. After all we aren’t the ones who selected the songs. The worship leaders are. So why do they so often select songs that encourage certain physical movements that they know they can’t or won’t do and most of the congregation also won’t do for whatever reason. I’m not talking about easy ones like standing, clapping, singing or lifting our hands, though even those can be overdone. I’m referring to songs about kneeling, dancing, jumping, or worst of all: falling.

Yes, that is the song we sang this Sunday. It says "we fall down" and "lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus." It doesn’t say we will fall down one day in heaven, it says we are right then falling down and casting our crowns. For one thing we don’t have our crowns yet so that part isn’t possible until we get to heaven. As for falling, maybe in heaven we will be able do that without injuring ourselves, but for now, unless the Spirit really moves someone, it wouldn’t be safe to just literally fall face down like that. There is also limited space since most of us have chairs or pews in front of us. Thankfully, I have never seen anyone attempt to literally follow the motions on that one, unless you count slowly bending over at the waist or gently getting on their knees. I think I have seen one or two people do that some time or other.

It particularly bothers me because the second half of the song says “we cry holy, holy, holy.” God is Holy and we need to believe it and worship him for it. But if we are in the habit of singing words we don’t mean in the first part of the song then it seems to send a mixed message to our brains. There is a dissonance. If we don’t mean the first half of the song then how can we fully grasp and mean the second half?

It also sends the wrong message to children or new people. If they get the message that we don’t really mean what we sing, mightn’t they start to think it isn’t really true or doesn’t really matter?

We are supposed to be worshiping in spirit and in truth. How can we really be doing that in this case? We are singing words we don’t mean so it isn’t “in truth” and our spirits can’t truly be entering into it.
Matthew 5:37 says we should let our “yes be yes” and our “no be no.” We are supposed to say what we mean and mean what we say.

I suggested once to a musical friend, not at my current church, that the words of that chorus should be changed to say “we will fall down, we’ll lay our crowns…” I don’t think she thought that would fly. Sometimes it seems like very musical types can start to care more about the melody and musical “quality” of a song than they do about the message. (not that friend of course, in case she reads this!)

For myself when we sing that song I just don’t sing the first part of it. Maybe instead I could change the words myself and sing my version extra loudly. My voice isn’t very loud, though, so it wouldn’t make much difference but every little bit helps right?