For “Scripture Sunday”:
Image credit: The angel wing condition seen on a Muscovy duck. Cengland0/Wikimedia Commons; CC BY 3.0
“It seems harmless enough, feeding bread to the ducks in your local park; we enjoy it, the ducks get some food, and everyone’s happy. In fact, in England and Wales alone, they feed six million loaves of bread to ducks every year – but this is definitely doing them more harm than good. Most bread is essentially junk food to them, although white is the worst, and can cause a range of problems, including a debilitating disease called “angel wing.”
White bread has essentially no nutritional value – it’s packed full of calories and has little else to offer. Continuously feeding it to birds causes them to rely on us for a food source rather than their natural diet. It’s the equivalent of only feeding your children unhealthy foods; they’ll eventually get addicted to it, and will find it very difficult eating, or wanting to eat, anything else. So, at the very least, feeding ducks bread is giving them a readily-accessible unhealthy diet, leaving them ultimately malnourished.
At the far end of the spectrum, there’s “angel wing.” This is a disturbing condition that causes the bird’s wings to point out laterally, rather than resting against the body, rendering them in many cases unable to fly. It’s an incurable condition brought about as a result of a high-calorie diet, one extremely high in protein and carbohydrates, and low in vitamins D, E and manganese – the exact diet a bird would get if they primarily ate white bread. Without being able to fly, these birds soon die.
The effect of lobbing bread into the canals and ponds across the land goes far beyond the detrimental effects on the health of water fowl: It pollutes waterways, causing poisonous algal blooms, promoting the growth of suffocating molds, and attracts infection-riddled vermin to the area.
“Of course, bread's not the only thing that causes the problem,” says Richard Bennett, an environmental manager at the Canal and River Trust, as reported by the Guardian. “It wouldn't matter if you fed ducks in a clear, nutrient-free environment like an upland stream, but people are more likely to do it in towns and cities.”
Remember: Just because something’s been done for a long time, it doesn’t make it right. That includes feeding bread to ducks.” From: https://blog.education.nationalgeographic.org/2017/03/27/stop-feeding-ducks-bread/amp/ BLOG.EDUCATION.NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.ORG
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Christian Holidays: Which? Does God Care?
“Some holidays are national celebrations, and others have religious roots. Are all Christian holidays the same? Are some really made holy by God?
For many people, a holiday is just a welcome day off from work to be with friends and family. But some days seem to be more significant than others, depending on culture, religion and family values. The Bible actually identifies some days as holy days commanded by God to be observed. Could it really make that much difference which Christian holidays we observe?
There are two basic kinds of holidays, national or religious. In the United States, good examples of the two types would be the Fourth of July and Christmas. The French celebrate Bastille Day and the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. No doubt there are many holidays and holy days around the world of which most of us are completely unaware.
Does it make any difference which days we keep?
National or religious holidays?
We celebrate our national holidays because of historic national events (such as America’s Independence Day, Memorial Day or Labor Day). This is simply a matter of observing the day because some national events are significant, and many businesses often close down that day. You have a day at home to relax or take the family on a picnic or go visit relatives.
But what about religious holidays?
Canada and the United States both observe a national Thanksgiving Day. Many Britons take part in a yearly thanksgiving harvest festival. Such celebrations have religious overtones, in that we take time to give thanks to our Creator for His blessings. Jews observe Purim and Hanukkah as both national and religious holidays.”
Continued at: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/plan-of-salvation/holy-days-vs-holidays/christian-holidays/
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Update.
This update was just written, then it suddenly disappeared, so I will try to do it again. Wow, never had that happen before!
This week, Zack, my neighbor who helps me, and I had to spend a whole morning raking up the massive amount of pine needles and cones which had fallen in the tiny back yard of the mini-house. There is a very big, prolific pine tree there, and every time it rains, it covers the ground.
Two days were taken up with other people’s appointments, Zack’s medical exam, and Lauri taking her TX driving test, which she passed. Then Zack and I worked on shelves for the kitchen, and bedroom, in the mini-house. The shelf under the kitchen sink had to be cut out for the plumbing, and the ones for the bedroom had to be sanded ready for stain and varnish.
Another day was with a different electrician getting the parts for the new outside electrical box. He started to work on it today, but with the rain and other things, it had to be postponed.
As there was plenty of Shepherd’s Pie left over and frozen from last Sabbath, I didn’t take anything for the church potluck. I did take some frozen chicken wings to the pastor’s wife to do with whatever she wanted. Anyway, I was going on to the Olive Garden in Conroe to meet some senior ladies. They seemed like very sweet ladies, but I don’t really have the time nor inclination to sit and chat about hairdoes, fashion, and other ladylike things.
The Bible readings were Deut. 7:12-11:25, Isa. 4:14-51:3, Heb. 11:8-13 and Rom. 8:31-39. and the Teaching was about Keeping the Laws of Moses. About not to keep the customs of the pagans, but to keep the laws that were given to Moses, The Ten Cammandments, best you can.
No telling when the new outside breaker box will be finished as it is going to rain for the next few days.
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