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Valentine’s Day

St. Valentine’s Day: The Miracle of Love.

Posted on February 8, 2021 Leave a Comment

One of my favorite learning activities of each Biodesign Class was to consider the socio-cultural importance of the plants, animals and people associated with secular and religious holidays, including Valentine’s Day.

Valentino of Terni was a 3rd century Catholic Bishop who was beheaded by Roman soldiers under the order of Claudius II. His “crimes” included secretly marrying couples in Christian nuptial ceremonies, which were contrary to pagan Roman law. Also, he boldly and publicly cited the apostle Paul by claiming that love was God’s greatest gift to humankind. When given the choice of renouncing his faith or face execution, he opted for death. He died at the age of 42.

Although Valentine lived before microscopes were invented, they would eventually play an instrumental role in unlocking some of the biological secrets that lead to the sacred act of procreation.

In 1590, Zacharias Janssen invented the first microscope. In 1677, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, was the first to describe, “wee cavorting beasties,” which included  human spermatozoa.

Discoveries in this area led to the discovery of perhaps one of the greatest human mysteries; the union of a single sperm and ovum to produce the human zygote.

According to Lewis Thomas, M.D./ author of The Medusa and the Snail; “The mere existence of that cell should be one of the greatest astonishments of earth. People ought to be walking around all day, all through their waking hours, talking of nothing but that cell.”

Each sperm contains about 3 billion bases of genetic information, representing 750 Mbytes of digital information. The average human ejaculate contains around 180 million sperm cells. So, that’s 180 x 10^6 haploid cells x 750 Mbytes/haploid cell = 135 x10^9 Mbytes=135000 Terabytes!!!! Without this process happening, the human race would die out in one generation.

Contemplating this reminded me of Roger Sperry, M.D./neurobiologist and Nobel laureate, author of, “Science and Moral Priority,” and “Yoking Science and Religion.” We were connected by a huge synchronicity, which occurred in August 1983.  Omni Magazine published an issue that included Sperry’s discoveries of the human right-brain/ left-brain phenomena and a related article, “The Superiority of the Female Brain.”

The article focused on the cerebral hemispheres and corpus collosum, which essentially is a wall between the two sides of the brain. Stated briefly, female brains have verbal centers in both hemispheres with more connections between words, memories, and feelings. Male brains tend to only have verbal centers in the left hemisphere with fewer connections between words, memories, and feelings. This has led to the facetious reference to males as having “reptilian” brains. LOL

During the early years of the Biodesign Class, it dawned on me that the girls had an inside track on spirituality. This was confirmed many times in class, but especially following each epic field trip. When the students presented their post-trip reflections, the girls were often better at describing transcending moments involving mystery, wonder and awe. On those occasions a typical male response was; “That’s exactly how I felt, but I couldn’t find the words to express myself adequately.” They had sincerely identified and described the limitations of their own brains.

PBS aired a program focused on love and the human brain. The speaker was a psychiatrist/marriage counselor, with a record of successfully helping many dysfunctional couples avoid the devastating trip to a divorce court. He asserted that many of the problems that they encounter (including matters of intimacy) are due to their failure to understand the differences between female and male brains. He proceeded to offer some techniques that could be used to improve looking, listening and feeling that would hopefully improve communication skills and not only save, but enrich their marriage.

One example he cited was that most men understand that a box of chocolates (preferably dark) can often spark a romantic interlude.  However, he observed, most men have not made the connection that a trip to a women’s shoe boutique can also trigger a similar favorable result. He admitted that he had no scientific evidence of the connection of new shoes to female libido, but opined that mysteries were always beyond the purview of science.

While the Catholic Church has waffled over whether Valentine is a legitimate saint or not, his living spirit continues to empower millions of lovers to say, “I Love You,” right out loud.

It is a message that has found favor in the retail sector. Valentine greeting card, candy and flower sales exceed 20 billion dollars annually in the US.

Happy St. Valentine’s Day

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

 

Posted in: Reflections | Tagged: Biodesign class, Biodesign Out For A Walk, Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day from John Denver

Posted on February 13, 2017 1 Comment

old_country_roadLori Evans Pugh (Biodesign ’79) shared this rare video of a John Denver song that I had never seen before. Not surprisingly, it conjured up a cornucopia of latent images and memories.

The Gift You Are – John Denver 1991

It is not an over-reach to describe Denver as a modern-day, wandering minstrel who was an incarnation of the spirit of John Muir. Muir came down from the mountains like a bearded prophet, preaching about the healing, inspiring, and transforming powers of God’s creation.

Denver came down from the mountains, like a whirling dervish, and wrote over 300 songs celebrating his love of Nature. His overflowing exuberance for life was contagious, on TV, but especially during his hundreds of live performances. Not shy about sharing his beliefs and feelings, his songs included many poignant thoughts and precious “poems, prayers and promises.”

In a wonderful, double synchronicity; John Muir and John Denver became huge influences in the emergence and evolution of The Biodesign Class. Muir became our guide into the wilderness (and converse inner journey) and Denver encouraged us to celebrate the music of life.

Denver’s songs have “gone viral” throughout the world; crossing seven seas and reaching all seven continents. His music has been translated into over 200 languages and been shared in some of the world’s most remote areas and beyond.

Some of his songs have been played on various space stations, scientific research centers on Antarctica, Inuit villages, Mongolia, Australia’s “Out Back,” across Africa and the vast Patagonian wilderness.

Some musicologists have suggested that the song, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, which he tri-authored with Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert may have exceeded the status of the hymn, “Amazing Grace,” as the song that the most people in the world have  listened to. For a multitude of stunningly mysterious reasons, the melody and lyrics have combined to transcend race, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, economic and political barriers.

Denver did not align himself with a formalized religion, however, his songs often evoked a universal appeal of faith hope and love of man and Nature. Like Muir, he saw the mountains as metaphors for reaching higher and striving to lead purer, simpler lives. It seems to me that, whether he knew it or not, by reflecting his musical interpretation of Nature, he was encouraging people to approach the possibility that they were created by an amazingly mysterious power, even if they were unable to describe it. This would surely qualify people as extraordinary gifts to those around them.

Valentine’s Day is a day for lovers to proclaim their love for those whom they love. I think Denver’s song, “The Gift You Are”, is a perfect Valentine gift and I encourage you to share with your family and friends.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Posted in: Reflections | Tagged: Biodesign Out For A Walk, country roads, John Denver, John Muir vision, love, Nature, nature inspiration, The Gift You Are, Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day—Joy and Sorrow

Posted on February 12, 2015 Leave a Comment

Screen shot 2014-02-13 at 9.43.46 PM“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. – ”Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

On February 14th, whether people choose to celebrate; a third century martyr as their patron saint of lovers, or for secular reasons, it doesn’t change Valentine’s message; “love one another as you love yourself.” This seems rather straightforward, however, “the devil may truly be in the details.” Frequently, our inability to love ourselves in a healthy way hampers us from loving and being loved by others in a healthy way.

John Denver may have sung a self-fulfilling prophecy: “It’s by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done, to be so in love with you and all alone…” He wrote dozens (?) of love songs, achieved world fame and fortune, but sadly, ended up divorced from the one true love of his life that he immortalized in “Annie’s Song.” Not surprisingly, “Annie’s Song” is not Annie (Martell) Denver’s favorite; she actually preferred, “Perhaps Love” which John recorded with Placido Domingo. The song is filled with hope, dreams and passion, but with the melancholic caveat “perhaps.”

Eric Fromm wrote the classic, “The Art of Loving,” in which he described physical, mental and spiritual love, including the importance of loving God. In a huge irony, he ended the book by suggesting that the failure to learn how to love will be the downfall of Western Civilization. His marriage ended in a bitter divorce.

I frequently referred to Scott Peck’s, “The Road Less Traveled,” which included poignant examples of people striving for full humanness through physical, mental and spiritual growth. It was on the New York Times “top-ten” list for over 10 years and has sold over 10 million copies. He suggested that the greatest cause of human suffering in the US is the inability of people to “delay gratification.” In yet another sad irony, in his book, In Search of Stones, he admits that extramarital affairs led to his divorce and estrangement from two of his children.

Of the current 193 world nations, among those of over 100 million people, the US ranks #1 in per capita income and yet the marriage success rate is currently a paltry 50%.  The rampant abuse of legal and illegal drugs (including alcohol) bears witness to masses of people not living in a state of loving harmony with themselves and others.

We had been married 15 years when Christie mentioned that she thought it would be a good idea for us to attend a “Marriage Encounter” weekend. I was “very busy” and thought our marriage was “just fine.” However, I agreed to read the pamphlet, which made matters worse. The weekend would not be held at a beautiful rustic retreat center, but at a Howard Johnson’s Hotel, along a freeway at Dublin, Ca.

However, after arriving at HoJo’s, it soon became clear that the beauty of the weekend was not scenery, but in the extraordinary mystery of marriage. The theme was Christian; however there were no clerics and the focus was on marriage and not evangelism. Basically, 12 couples, with dynamic marriages, agreed to spend a weekend sharing the secrets for their success. Some of the couples had been married 10 years, some 20-30 and one couple had been married 40 years. All of them radiated joy and love and many acted like newlyweds. Each couple presented a 20-minute talk, after which we were allowed to return to our room and discuss the points they made. There were no right or wrong answers, only creative ideas. We were encouraged to verbalize how each idea made us feel. One of the great lessons I learned was that “feelings are not right or wrong.” I was surprised and embarrassed to discover that I had wasted 15 years trying to make Christie feel like I felt. This process is usually easier for females and it took me a while to achieve something that came more naturally to Christie.

Each couple was unique and offered many constructive ideas. They did not discuss intimate aspects of their marriage, but one couple blushed as they shared that by focusing on the mental and spiritual needs of their partner, the intimate moments became more passionate and frequent. They admitted that, as “practicing Catholics,” this was a highly intriguing discovery. The thought of spirit-filled couples having dynamic sex lives had never occurred to me. I am smiling as I write this because I recently saw a nationally known psychiatrist (PBS) mention that the sex department in the female brain is located next to the new-shoe, flower and chocolate departments. One of the men described marriage as the original Hegelian Dialectic. He noted that females know and do things that males cannot know or do and visa-versa. And, it is only after total commitment that they are able to achieve levels of physical, mental and spiritual awareness that could not be achieved separately.

However, Billy Graham once quipped, “Show me a marriage without arguments and I will show you a marriage where one spouse is not necessary.” Our marriage was not without disagreements, however, the communication skills we gained were highly valuable.

Marriage Encounter proved to be an “ICU” experience designed to make good marriages better. We attended 35 years ago and in 4 months (God willing) we will reach 50 years of marriage. Needless to say, June 20 will be a once-in-a-life-time Valentine celebration.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Lowell H. Young, Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk
www.facebook.com/biodesignoutforawalk
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Posted in: Reflections | Tagged: marriage, Valentine's Day

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