Do animals have souls?
This video seems to point to their having souls.
Jake DeMarco, 38, was stunned when footage from his home security camera showed what appeared to be a ghostly white dog running around with his pooch, Ryder.
DeMarco says his yard is fully secured by a locked, tall fence which would make it impossible for another dog to get inside.
Seconds after watching the video, DeMarco sprinted outside but the white dog had disappeared.
H/t PawMyGosh
~E
Today is Thanksgiving, a day that was founded as an explicitly Christian holiday to thank God for the many blessings He’s bestowed on America.
Have you noticed that what God counsels us to do is good for us?
Take gratitude as an example.
Being thankful benefits us in at least seven scientifically-proven ways:
(1) Gratitude is good for our physical health: Grateful people experience fewer aches and pains and they report feeling healthier than other people, according to a 2012 study published in Personality and Individual Differences. Grateful people are also more likely to take care of their health — they exercise more often and are more likely to get regular check-ups.
(2) Gratitude is good for our psychological health: Gratitude reduces a multitude of toxic emotions, ranging from envy and resentment to frustration and regret. Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., a leading gratitude researcher, found that gratitude increases happiness and reduces depression.
(3) Gratitude reduces stress and makes us more resilient: For years, research has shown gratitude not only reduces stress, but it may also play a major role in overcoming trauma by making us more resilient:
(4) Grateful people sleep better: Writing in a gratitude journal improves sleep, according to a 2011 study published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being. Jotting down a few grateful sentiments before bed helps you sleep better and longer.
(5) Gratitude opens the door to friendship: Showing appreciation to other people can help you win new friends, according to a 2014 study published in Emotion. The study found that thanking a new acquaintance makes them more likely to seek an ongoing relationship.
(6) Gratitude improves self-esteem:
(7) Gratitude is good for society by enhancing empathy and reducing aggression: Grateful people are more likely to behave in a pro-social manner according to a 2012 study by the University of Kentucky. Study participants who ranked higher on gratitude scales were sensitive and empathic toward other people; less vengeful; and less likely to retaliate against others, even when given negative feedback.
And now, we know how and why being thankful is good for us, from neuroscience.
Glenn Fox writes for Greater Good Magazine that “New research is exploring the brain regions linked to gratitude—and it helps explain gratitude’s many benefits”:
Gratitude is celebrated throughout philosophy and religion; recent scientific studies suggest it carries significant benefits for our mental and physical health. But very little is known about what actually happens in our brain and body when we experience it….
Since I’m a neuroscientist…I thought that understanding what happens in the brain when we feel gratitude could tell us more about the mind-body connection—namely, how feeling positive emotion can improve bodily functions….
[O]ur [research] results revealed that when participants reported those grateful feelings, their brains showed activity in a set of regions located in the medial pre-frontal cortex, an area in the frontal lobes of the brain where the two hemispheres meet. This area of the brain is associated with understanding other people’s perspectives, empathy, and feelings of relief. This is also an area of the brain that is massively connected to the systems in the body and brain that regulate emotion and support the process of stress relief.…
The regions associated with gratitude are part of the neural networks that light up when we socialize and experience pleasure. These regions are also heavily connected to the parts of the brain that control basic emotion regulation, such as heart rate and arousal levels, and are associated with stress relief and thus pain reduction.…
In other words, our data suggest that because gratitude relies on the brain networks associated with social bonding and stress relief, this may explain in part how grateful feelings lead to health benefits over time. Feeling grateful and recognizing help from others creates a more relaxed body state and allows the subsequent benefits of lowered stress to wash over us. (We recently published a scientific paper elaborating on these ideas.)
Perhaps even more encouraging, researcher Prathik Kini and colleagues at Indiana University performed a subsequent study examining how practicing gratitude can alter brain function in depressed individuals. They found evidence that gratitude may induce structural changes in the very same parts of the brain that we found active in our experiment. Such a result, in complement to our own, tells a story of how the mental practice of gratitude may even be able to change and re-wire the brain. (For more on Kini’s research, read this Greater Good article by his co-authors Joel Wong and Joshua Brown.)
To conclude, neuroscience shows that being thankful is good us by regulating heart rate, lowering stress, reducing pain, and combat depression by altering brain function.
God is good!
In all circumstances, give thanks,
for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
~E
Thanksgiving is one of the most beloved holidays in America.
But in the hands of “progressives,” public schools and the Hate America Media (HAM), Thanksgiving has long become yet another occasion for white guilt.
But did you know that unlike other secular holidays like Labor Day or the Fourth of July, the Thanksgiving that you think is a secular holiday is actually a national holiday that is explicitly religious in nature?
As shown in the quotes below, Thanksgiving was instituted as a day to thank God for the many blessings He had bestowed on America.
George Washington prays at Valley Forge, winter of 1777-1778 (painting by Arnold Friberg)
In 1789, in his first year in office, President George Washington called for a day of Thanksgiving because —
“it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.”
In 1815, President James Madison issued a proclamation for “a day of thanksgiving and of devout acknowledgments to Almighty God for His great goodness.” After Madison, however, Thanksgiving reverted to a regional celebration in New England for 48 years.
In a proclamation in the midst of the Civil War on October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official national holiday. Here is the full text of his proclamation:
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.
Body and Soul takes this occasion to thank our readers for their loyalty in spite of all the malicious efforts to silence us, the latest, a hack.
As the owner of Body and Soul , I also want to take this occasion to thank our writers DCG and Grif, who give so selflessly of their labor, time and talent, without a single penny in remuneration.
But most of all, I thank the magnificent and magnanimous Triune Godhead for the many blessings He’s given America, in spite of our many sins and failings, sheer perversities and ever-rising evil. 2021 has been a trying year — of a president with dementia, rising inflation, and the persistent efforts of government to tyrannize us on the COVID-19 “pandemic” and vaccination. Despite all that, we must take heart as there are still so many good things in America. Keep the faith!
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all you lands;
serve the Lord, with gladness;
come before Him with joyful song.
Know that the Lord, is God,
He made us, we belong to Him,
we are His people, the flock He shepherds.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name;
good indeed is the Lord,
His mercy endures forever,
His faithfulness lasts through every generation.
On this Thanksgiving Day, what do you thank the Creator for?
God bless you, and may God bless America,
~E
Eight months ago last February, I put Fellowship of the Minds (FOTM) in hibernation and moved us to a politically “safer” blog, Body and Soul, which would provide a home for our community of like minds until a time when we can return to FOTM.
Innocuous though Body and Soul is, our enemies still managed to hunt us down.
On Monday, Nov. 21, I tried to log into Body and Soul as the administrator, but was told my password was wrong. So I created a new password and was able to log in.
Then, I found out the reason when I received this email from Body and Soul‘s server, GoDaddy:
On November 17, we identified suspicious activity in our WordPress hosting environment and immediately began an investigation with the help of a third-party IT forensics firm and have contacted law enforcement. Our investigation is ongoing, but we have determined that, on or about September 6, 2021, an unauthorized third party gained access to certain authentication information for administrative services, specifically, the customer number and email address associated with your account; your WordPress Admin login set at inception; and your sFTP and database usernames and passwords. What this means is the unauthorized party could have obtained the ability to access your Managed WordPress service and make changes to it, including to alter your website and the content stored on it. The exposure of your email address may also present a heightened risk of phishing attacks.
We are taking several steps to protect you and your data. First, we have blocked the unauthorized third party from our systems. Second, we have reset your WordPress Admin login credentials, sFTP password and your database password. Your website is still up and running, but you won’t be able to edit content until you set new passwords.
Like their master the Devil, our political enemies are relentless.
What sad times we live in…..
~E
Quite the brave little girl!
DCG
He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
It was foretold.
As the visions during the night continued, I saw
one like a Son of man coming,
on the clouds of heaven;
when he reached the Ancient One
and was presented before him,
the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;
all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed.
Our Lord Jesus Christ confirmed it.
Pilate said to Jesus,
“Are you the King of the Jews?”
Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own
or have others told you about me?”
Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I?
Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me.
What have you done?”
Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.
If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting
to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”
So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?”
Jesus answered, “You say I am a king.
For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.“
And we are told He will come again.
Jesus Christ is the faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,
who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father,
to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
Behold, he is coming amid the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him.
All the peoples of the earth will lament him.
Yes. Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, ” says the Lord God,
“the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.”
Tell the King of the Universe that you love Him with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole mind, and with all your strength!
And may the joy and peace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you,
~E
Posted in Christianity
Tagged Christ the King, Colossians 1, Daniel 7, John 18, Revelation 1:5-8
Have you ever been “ghosted”?
“Ghosting“ is when you go “poof” and literally disappear out of someone’s life without a word or explanation, cutting off all contact by no longer accepting or responding to phone calls, email, instant messages, etc.
To say that the recipient of the ghosting is bewildered is an understatement.
A new study by a team of four psychologists, led by Peter K. Jonason of the University of Padua, Italy, found that people with “Dark Triad” personality traits, especially narcissistic men, find ghosting more acceptable and engage in ghosting others.
The “Dark Triad” refers to psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism.
Their study, “Leaving without a word: Ghosting and the Dark Triad traits” is published in the journal Acta Psychologica, Volume 220, October 2021.
Here’s the Abstract:
Researchers have extensively explored the early and middle stages of romantic and sexual relationships for those high on the Dark Triad traits (i.e., psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism) but they have generally missed the termination stage of relationships. In this study we examined (N = 341) the role these traits play in one termination strategy, ghosting. Ghosting is when a person discontinues a relationship through silence; it is considered an indirect form of relationship termination. We found that (1) those who reported ghosting someone in the past (vs. those who did not) found ghosting to be acceptable and were more Machiavellian and psychopathic, (2) ghosting was most acceptable in the short-term (vs. long-term) context especially for those who had previously ghosted someone, and (3) those high in the Dark Triad traits rated ghosting more acceptable to terminate short-term relationships, but not long-term ones. We also found that the correlations between acceptability and ghosting short-term partners and the Dark Triad traits was localized to narcissistic men with a similar-yet-weak effect for psychopathy. Results are discussed in relation to how ghosting may be primarily committed by people who are interested in casual sex where investment is low and may be part of the fast life history strategies linked to the Dark Triad traits.
The article concludes:
While more work is warranted, we can conclude that ghosting is considered acceptable by people, men in particular, high in the Dark Triad traits when attempting to extract themselves from low investment relationships. This may, therefore, reveal that some cases of ghosting, and the related “trauma” associated with it, might simply be a matter of differences in partner’s perspectives on the relationship. If one party believes the relationship is serious (someone likely to be lower on the Dark Triad traits) and the other person does not (someone likely to be higher on the Dark Triad traits), the latter person may not feel obligated to grant the former person the courtesy of a direct, compassionate break-up which may undermine the happiness of the former person.
You can read the full text of the report here.
Given that those who “ghost” others are narcissistic, calculating (Machiavellian) psychopaths, I say it’s actually a good thing if you get “ghosted”!
By the way, Meghan Markle, wife of low-IQ Prince Harry (he thinks there’s a tropical island called Chunga Changa, and that there are penguins in the North Pole even though he’d been to Antarctica), is notorious for “ghosting” people. Among those whom Markle had ghosted are UK journalist Piers Morgan and her father, who paid for her private school and college.
~E
Posted in Evil
Tagged dark triad, ghosting, Meghan Markle, narcissism, Peter K. Jonason, Piers Morgan, Prince Harry, psychopathy
Our government is hellbent on getting us vaccinated, despite the facts that:
In the United States at least, in contrast to frighteningly-totalitarian ostensibly-democratic countries like Australia, freedom-loving Americans are resisting the vaccine mandate by refusing the vaccine even under threat of losing their jobs, suing businesses and state/federal governments, and the governors of some red states refusing to comply with the CDC and the federal government.
So the federal government, in the guise of the National Science Foundation, is now resorting to DECEPTION to get us vaccinated by funding a group of unscrupulous scientists with $1.6 million of taxpayers dollars to genetically modify fruits and vegetables to contain hidden mRNA vaccines!
The diabolical research is a collaboration of scientists from U.C. Riverside (UCR), U.C. San Diego and Carnegie Mellon University. Leading the research is Juan Pablo Giraldo, an associate professor in UCR’s Department of Botany and Plant Sciences.
A Sept. 16, 2021 press release, “Grow and eat your own vaccines,” from U.C. Riverside crows:
The future of vaccines may look more like eating a salad than getting a shot in the arm. UC Riverside scientists are studying whether they can turn edible plants like lettuce into mRNA vaccine factories….
One of the challenges with this new technology is that it must be kept cold to maintain stability during transport and storage. If this new project is successful, plant-based mRNA vaccines — which can be eaten — could overcome this challenge with the ability to be stored at room temperature.
The key to making this work are chloroplasts — small organs in plant cells that convert sunlight into energy (sugar and other molecules) the plant uses to grow. Past research by Giraldo’s laboratory shows that using nanotechnology, the chloroplasts can be manipulated to “express” genes that aren’t naturally part of the plant by sending foreign genetic material into plant cells inside a protective casing.
The new NSF-funded research will use the same nanotechnology, developed by UC San Diego scientist Nicole Steinmetz, to deliver vaccines into the chloroplasts.
The press release quotes lead scientist Giraldo:
“Ideally, a single plant would produce enough mRNA to vaccinate a single person. We are testing this approach with spinach and lettuce and have long-term goals of people growing it in their own gardens. Farmers could also eventually grow entire fields of it. I’m very excited about all of this research. I think it could have a huge impact on peoples’ lives.”
H/t Greenworxx
~E
Posted in COVID-19 vaccine, Evil, Health
Tagged chloroplasts, Juan Pablo Giraldo, Nicole Steinmetz, NSF, vaccines in fruits and vegetables
Harvard cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker has a new book, Rationality, in which he makes the case that our gut instincts are often, if not always, wrong.
He used, as an example, what he calls a “simple logic” question:
A smartphone and case, combined, cost £110. The phone costs £100 more than the case. How much is the case?
What is your answer?
Scroll down for the correct answer.
If you answered £10, like most people you are wrong.
The correct answer is £5.
Here’s how I figured it out:
~E
