By Bobbie Lahren Grob
The Compass, August 2022
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A poem by Nora L Taylor
The Compass, August 2022
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by Kathy Stauffer
The Compass, August 2022
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Kathy is a lyrical Iowa poet, author of Thou Shalt Not, Do Not Be Deceived and Summoned, Christian suspense fiction.
By Joe Nunes
The Compass, August 2022
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In the 1960s, San Diego was growing up—developing from a Navy town to a noteworthy West Coast metropolis. And it seems almost nothing puts a city on the map more than having major sports franchises. In 1961, the American Football League Los Angeles Chargers relocated to San Diego. The National Basketball Association expanded in 1967 to include the San Diego Rockets. Two years later, the San Diego Padres became a major league baseball team in the National League. Finally, in 1970, the Chargers joined the National Football league in a merger between the NFL and AFL. In the span of a single decade, San Diego had gone from having no footprint on the national sports scene to having franchises in the top league of all three major sports!
But acquiring major league franchises was only part of the growth that needed to happen. The Chargers played their home games in Balboa Stadium on the fringes of the downtown area. It had insufficient seating, almost no parking, and was completely ill-suited to be home to a professional sports franchise. The Padres were a minor league team playing in a little bandbox of a stadium called Westgate Park on the western end of a new commercial development called Mission Valley. With no suitable major league venue, the city recognized they would need to invest in infrastructure to complete the transformation and take its place among the great cities on the Pacific coast.
Between Westgate Park at the west end of Mission Valley and the San Diego de Alcala Mission, (the very first United States mission established by Father Junipero Serra) much further to the east lay a tract of open land that would prove to be a perfect place to build a new stadium. The plans called for a modern stadium capable of hosting both football and baseball games and to be reconfigured from one sport to the other in a few hours. There were three tiers in a horseshoe shape and one of the best features would be a modern scoreboard at the open end of the stadium that would not only give the spectators the score and statistics they wanted but would allow for printed messages to be displayed throughout the game.
I lived up the hill from Westgate Park in an area called Linda Vista, up on the mesa high above the bay, the ocean, and Mission Valley. During the summer, my friends and I would often ride our bikes down the hill and spend most of the day exploring the wonders of San Diego. So it was that on one August day in 1967, we decided to check the progress of the new stadium where, in just a few days, they would hold their very first sporting event—a Chargers football game!
We took our bikes down the hill and past Westgate Park. We headed east along Friars Road, past the shopping complex anchored by Montgomery Ward. As we continued to the east, the valley spread out below us on our right and we could see the stadium gleaming in the distance. As we approached the stadium, we turned onto the long ramp, dropping us down into the parking lot, which completely circled the edifice that rose up in the center of it.
We circled the stadium and admired the beauty of it. It seemed there was no one in the world there except us and this magnificent edifice. Instead of just admiring it from the outside, the half dozen of us decided we wanted to take a look inside; to see the field for ourselves. We found a place near one of the gates that presented an opportunity to climb over the fence and enter the sporting venue. We walked through the dark passageways until we got to the seating area and were suddenly bathed in sunlight so bright that we had to squint to see the field.
I suggested we take advantage of the fact that we were all alone in the stadium and fully enjoy the experience. One of us always had some kind of ball with us and that day, someone had a football in the basket of his bicycle. So, we headed down all the stairs, until we reached the field and stepped out onto the grass. Smiling and laughing at each other, we impulsively ran to the middle of the field and began tossing the ball around. For a few moments, we took turns being John Hadl, Lance Alworth (Bambi), or Gary Garrison (the Ghost).
After a short time, one of us happened to glance up at the scoreboard and saw a message that read: “All right, boys, get out the same way you came in.” We looked at each other, none of us uttering a word before we sprinted back to the bleachers! We scrambled up the stairs, back to the pavilion and through the tunnel. As we approached the gate where we had climbed in, there was a security guard waiting for us. Our concern must have been strewn across our faces, but he simply smiled at us and opened the gate, so we didn’t have to climb over the wall again.
As we left, he grinned and told us that the only crew in the stadium that day were those who were working on the scoreboard ahead of the opening event coming up. He said they had been struggling to put messages on the scoreboard and that the very first intelligible message ever to appear on that scoreboard was the one telling us to get off the field.
I was almost 14 years old that summer (my birthday is in September). As I got older, I often attended Padre baseball games at the stadium. Every time I looked at the scoreboard, I was reminded of those glorious few minutes tossing a football in the middle of that sea of grass and of the small bit piece of unknown history that became part of my life.
by Laurel Cochrane
The Compass, August 2022
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After spending two days traveling on Greyhound buses from Spokane to Myrtle Creek, Oregon, nine-year-old Laurel and her kid brother Irving were dropped off before dawn on the side of the highway that ran through the small town.
They huddled close as they shivered in the freezing morning air. It was 1944 and their father was a Seabee in the Pacific. Their mother, who had divorced their father, sent them to spend the summer with their paternal grandparents—whom they had never before laid eyes on.
The sun finally began to peek over the eastern horizon, bringing a little light and the hope of warmth. They expected their grandparents would soon arrive to retrieve them, but no one came. They waited… and waited… a long time, alone, frightened, having no idea what to do.
Finally, a man with a horse and flat wagon came by—the milkman on his morning deliveries. He pulled up beside them and asked what they were doing. “Waiting for our grandparents,” they answered. He inquired after their grandparents’ names. No answer—they didn’t know their grandparents’ names.
“Well, what’s your name?” he asked.
“Johnson,” they replied.
He knew a few Johnsons; he told them. They lived in the housing project west of the city.
“Hop up on the flat wagon,” he motioned with a kind smile. “I’m headed there myself. Once we get there, you can go door to door looking for your grandparents.”
With seemingly no other options, they hopped up on the flat wagon, accepting his offer.
Arriving at the housing project, they climbed down from the flat wagon and waved their “thanks” and “goodbyes” to the milkman.
The project had long rows of attached living quarters with a front door for each unit on one side of the row and the back door on the other side of the row. They worked their way from one end of the project to the other, knocking on doors and searching until they got to nearly the last row.
In the middle of that row, they saw a home with a light on inside and they heard rousing violin music playing a jig or a reel or some other jaunty tune. They heard someone inside stamping their foot in time with the music. It was a happy sound to the ears of the two lost children. They knocked on the door.
When it opened, a plump, happy-faced woman greeted them. Behind her was a huge, tall man leaning his chair way back, a violin at his chin and his logger-booted foot stamping in time with the music. A hot, black, pot-bellied stove warmed the small house and the wonderful smell of breakfast wafted from the wood-burning kitchen stove.
“I still remember the warmth from the room covering us like a blanket as we stood on the stoop, the smell of bacon cooking, the sounds of the loud music, my grandfather’s foot rhythmically thumping the floor, and the shocked look on my grandmother’s face when she saw us! The front of my grandfather’s chair hit the floor with a bang and then arms circled around us as we were drawn into the room. They could see that we were scared and shivering from the cold morning air. Amid much clucking and long-forgotten comments, we were tucked into a big bed and covered with blankets as we thawed out.
“This was my first encounter with my paternal grandparents and remains my most vivid memory of them. I grew to love them so much in the months we spent with them. They provided me with a love for family that has stayed with me over all the years and decades since that day.”
—Laurel Cochrane
The Compass, August 2022
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Has one of your ancestors left a legacy? Tell us about it at littlecabpress@gmail.com
By Brenna Saurey
The Compass, August 2022
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Hello! My name is Brenna Saurey and I breed corn snakes! Since I was a little girl, I have always loved animals. Growing up in North Carolina and Georgia I loved the wildlife found in my backyard and in the woods behind my house. We learned quickly which snakes we could catch and hold and which we had to be cautious around because they were venomous. Non-venomous corn snakes were always a colorful addition to our backyard which backed up to the woods. Even then, I was fascinated with their beauty, speed, and climbing abilities.
We eventually moved to Arizona, and I discovered that this state didn’t have native corn snakes. And though there were many different reptiles and animals to discover and love in Arizona, I’ve always remembered the fondness I had for corn snakes!
Throughout my life, I have owned many species of snakes: sand boas, ball pythons, red tail boas, western ground snakes, and a king snake, and I still dream of having a red-sided garter snake! It wasn’t until I had children that we finally got a corn snake. When my oldest son was 12 years old, he asked for a corn snake, and we got him one. I instantly fell in love with this curious snake! We named him Cruzer. He was a pewter morph, and he was friendly, smart, and always inquisitive about what we were doing as we passed his enclosure. Cruzer is a great ambassador for his breed.
Not long after, my son asked if we might get a female to breed with Cruzer. I began to research what breeding these incredible creatures would entail. I found many snake breeders who are experts in the field of Colubrids snakes. Two of these fellow breeders became my mentors and are also now my friends.
When I felt we were ready to try this new adventure, we bought a beautiful albino (amelanistic) female and named her Katniss, the “Snake on Fire.” We bred them and anxiously watched the incubator for over 2 months for the babies to hatch. We were thrilled one day to peek in and discover the pipping of little noses. We were expecting all classic, wild type morphs, but we were shocked! Some of the babies were pewter, a color which has to be specifically bred! It turned out that Katniss had hidden, non-visual genetics which matched Cruzer’s pewter color. The unexpected pewter babies excited my interest in corn snake genetics, and I began to study them. As a science teacher, and a mom of very curious kids, we were delighted to learn all about corn snake genetics.
Soon my other 2 kids also wanted corn snakes, and we happily obliged. Elsa, a snow morph, and Primrose, a diffused morph, joined the family. As we discovered more and more stunning colors, I, of course, had to get a couple of corn snakes of my own. Murphy, a strawberry ghost morph, and Bunny, a neon champagne morph, soon had homes with us.
By now I had made many herpetologists (herper) friends who bred Colubrids, such as corn snakes, rat snakes, and king snakes. I enjoyed learning all I could about corn snakes. They had quickly become my very favorite of the snake breeds. Soon I realized I wanted to breed and educate others about these wonderful creatures, as well as local snakes indigenous to Arizona.
I went to work to create my corn snake breeding business and the first thing it needed was a name! Growing up back east, I always loved exploring the creeks surrounding our homes in the woods of North Carolina and Georgia. With those memories in mind and now being a desert dweller, the name Desert Creek Corn Snakes was formed. Working with and breeding corn snakes had become my passion. I commissioned a friend to create my logo, and I was on my way!
Many of my corn snakes have come from across the U.S. and other countries, such as Colorado, Texas, California, Virginia, and even Norway! In September we’ll have new arrivals from Slovakia, and I’ll be proud to be able to offer mimosa morph corn snakes in the future! One of just a few breeders in the U.S. to have them!
One of my greatest joys is now being able to offer educational experiences about snakes to others. I have gone to schools, preschools, cub scouts, boy scouts, youth groups, and birthday parties to share my corn snakes. I discuss why it’s ok to like or not like snakes depending on your preference and comfort level. I help kids understand that everyone has fears and we respect people when they say no, such as to petting a snake. We discuss local wildlife and teach that we do not approach or touch any snake we find outdoors. If you find a rattlesnake in your yard, call the fire department or The Arizona Herpetological Society to safely relocate them. In schools, my presentation includes their habitats, and where these snakes are native to the U.S. At the end of each presentation, I bring out several corn snakes from hatchlings (brand new babies), and yearlings, to adults for the groups to pet. As of this writing, I have always had a student or child brave their fear to pet one of my corn snakes!
The Universal Model by Russ Barlow
The Compass, August 2022
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The clear azure sky of the cool early morning held the promise of a warm spring day at Red Rock State Park west of Las Vegas. It was early in the year in 2004 and I had been pursuing a degree in business while running my window and door company, but had become enthralled with the sciences and couldn’t get enough of this newfound passion. Besides astronomy, biology, and chemistry, I had convinced an archeology professor to allow me to enroll in a 400-level course concurrently with a geology class despite not having met the requisite preparatory conditions. These two courses would prove extraordinarily fortuitous in the coming months, but today I would enjoy a field trip to an old sandstone quarry that had been weathering away amid great red monoliths with curious white banding interbedding the red sandstone, not in linear laminations that followed the apparent layering of the sand, but in wavy, randomness, like splashing waves. We investigated many aspects of the surrounding rocks, then gathered to hear the professor expound further. Instead, she asked our group a question, “How did this red and white sandstone form?” We had all been wondering this, but no one spoke in anticipation of her answer. “No one knows!”
It wasn’t a surprising answer. I had learned there are many unanswered mysteries, but her response triggered an extraordinary cascade of thought as I leaned with my bare hands on this sandstone phenomenon. In a moment of serendipity, I somehow knew I would know how this formed, and with that thought, I suddenly had a new hobby—collecting and studying sand!
In the late fall of that year, an old friend called to catch up and get an address to send a Christmas card and we talked about where life had taken us. He experienced a significant career adjustment in 2000 and had begun groundbreaking research in Earth sciences at the exact same time I had begun the path to my own degree in business. I was astonished and my world was flipped on its head as I listened to my friend talk about the experiments and research he and his boss had been working on—they had created sandstone! They had grown quartz crystals and had reproduced the natural environment required for sandstone formation—including an answer for how the banding formed. Our conversation didn’t end until the wee hours of the next day, and I insisted on an opportunity to meet the scientist who had made sandstone in a garage lab!
In Tucson, Arizona, in February of the following year, I met up with my old friend Rod Meldrum and got to meet research scientist Dean Sessions. Dean had experienced his own remarkable journey when, some years prior, he had stopped at a rock shop and acquired some ancient stone arrowhead points that seemed to resonate with him as he thought of the ancient people who once used these tools. In time, he sold his successful real estate appraisal business and all his rental homes to fund a massive research project and to write his findings in a manuscript that would eventually become the Universal Model.
Dean, Rod, and I hit the road on a momentous expedition to Mt St Helens in Washington State. I devoured this new scientific model, and within a couple of years, I had become the full-time developmental editor for the Universal Model project. With Dean’s extraordinary discoveries and with my tens of thousands of hours of editing, we printed and released the long-awaited 1st volume of the Universal Model on April 6th, 2017, to an eager audience. Volume 2 was released a little over two years later along with companion workbooks and novels produced by Russ & Heidi Barlow’s TruthSeekers Foundation organization.
The Universal Model (UM) is about Questions
Conceived as a work designed to answer questions, the Universal Model begins by focusing the reader on the importance of framing good questions and the proper attitude one needs to have when seeking true answers. Learning some of the principles and keys outlined in the first few pages of the UM is helpful. One good example is the Question Principle. This principle states, “Answers come from questions.” That seems easy enough, but many people don’t ask questions—and it’s in asking questions and seeking truth that we can find the greatest secrets of the Universe!
The UM divides questions into two basic groups—one group of questions provides knowledge, and the other provides wisdom, (pp. 11–12, UM Vol. 1). This is important because the questions themselves have very different purposes, and they must be pursued in the right order if we want to be efficient in learning. We also need to identify the correct questioning “attitude” we want to adopt on our journey. The UM identifies four generalized questioning attitudes:
1- Skeptical: The skeptic approaches with doubt, expecting erroneous answers.
2- Partial or asking with bias: This person assumes they already have the answer and they need to prove it to themselves or the group.
3- Critical: This person has the automatic attitude of “you’re wrong,” and they are only interested in criticizing the work put forth by others.
4- Objective: The person who approaches study and research objectively is willing to concede if wrong and can adapt and adjust when new things are learned. Most importantly, an objective approach will literally improve the question-answer-question-answer period all of us should experience during our lifetimes.
Asking the right questions in the right order and with the right attitude sets the stage for understanding and comprehension.
In addition to the types of questions, there are three unique “Laws of Learning” introduced in the UM:
Defining and Testing Truth in the UM
Having established our foundation of asking what we deem are the “right” questions, the next significant point covered in the UM is that we need to pay special attention to the words we use, and we need to be sure that we “mean what we say!” Such is the case with Truth. In many dictionaries today, the definition of Truth is merely a thesaurus of similar concepts, but that’s not always been the case. The first dictionary published by Noah Webster in 1828 sites Truth as, “Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be.” Facts, reality, and things unchangeable, that’s what Truth is, and Truth stands the “test of time” Put another way, “Time is the test of Truth.” Although our understanding of the world may change through the discovery of Truth, Truth itself does not change. If we place a lot of emphasis on definitions, separation of questions, knowledge, wisdom, and so forth, it is because these are the most important parts of a solid foundation. The first 20 pages of the UM give an in-depth discussion about Truth and the Learning Process.
Magma—The Foundation of Modern Science
In the next installment of this series, we’ll talk about Chapter 3 in the UM, The Dark Age of modern science. However, I promised that we would get into the science, so for the rest of this article, we will discuss the modern scientific theory of a magma Earth. In nearly every introductory course in geology or earth science, and in every classroom and setting across the world, the cutaway image of the Earth with a bright red/yellow, molten magma interior represents what the inside of our Earth looks like. Nobody questions that because the magma Earth theory has been around so long and because we all “know” that’s what it is, right?
Magma is defined in Chapter 5 of the Universal Model as “only a theoretical molten rock material generated deep within the Earth and the outer core or mantle” (UM p. 70). Of course, there is melted rock that comes out of volcanos, and before it comes out, that melted rock is ‘inside’ the Earth. What do we call that? Lava! If it is outside, flowing on the surface, or blasting into the air, it is “Extrusive Lava.” If it is the melted rock inside the volcano or just under the surface, that’s “Intrusive Lava.” No one has ever seen magma, yet it is taught as though it was an absolute solid fact. Scientists did not always think the Earth was hot and molten in its center. That is a relatively new idea—a theory with an age of only a couple hundred years.
During the late 18th century, James Hutton lived in Scotland and had taken up an interest in the rocks and landforms around his home. Hutton disliked experimentation and was skeptical of any experimental methods. He also rejected the Bible and its story about Creation and the Flood. He saw the world through a different lens—one that did not allow for the catastrophism described in the Bible, and one that saw the present frequency of wind and water erosion as the same far into the past. Hutton’s “Uniformity” principle postulated that “The present is the key to the past” and that everything we see in the natural world today, from mountains to sand dunes, can be explained in these simple terms. He also imagined that the “granite rocks had formed from a hot molten material that solidified deep in the Earth” (UM pp. 71–72). Although Hutton published his theories in 1778, he didn’t get much traction and his ideas languished.
Almost 50 years later, the debate over the origin of the heat driving the volcanoes was still raging when British geologist, Charles Lyell would pick up Hutton’s ideas which, in his opinion, were the best descriptions of the Earth’s origin he had read. He was articulate and well-read, so when he published his book, Principles of Geology in 1830, it was an immediate success and the idea of a hot, molten interior Earth of incalculable age became the sum and substance of the modern scientific establishment. On this newfound theory came a host of ancillary ideas and assumptions, such as the idea of slow continental uplift and subduction. That theory describes the rising and sinking of whole continents so that oceans can temporarily cover large swaths of land to allow for the marine fossils we find there. It also gave rise to the theory that all rocks are igneous rocks and have an origin in a molten mass. With the notion of magma came the theories about how the Hawaiian Islands formed, the theory that Yellowstone will one day blow, releasing billions of tons of ‘magma’ and that melting glaciers will inundate low-lying islands.
One of the most important theories of modern science that depends on the magma pseudotheory (a pseudotheory is described in the UM as a false theory taught as fact) is evolution. One year after the publication of Lyell’s Principles of Geology, Captain Fitzroy of the HMS Beagle purchased a copy of the book as a gift for the young naturalist who would join him on a voyage to the Galapagos Islands. Charles Darwin was that young man, and he would record that the great age of the Earth described in Lyell’s book provided the time he needed to build his case for evolution.
The Universal Model responds to the question about the origin of the heat driving volcanoes with the Lava Friction Model. The Earth experiences thousands of earthquakes every day. These are the result of the constant motion of the Earth and Moon as they orbit the Sun. The Gravitational-Friction law, (p. 86, UM), describes how the gravitational pull of celestial bodies, such as the Moon on the Earth, creates friction as the Earth’s crust is deformed. Many of us have seen the ocean’s tides, but the land has tides too—about six to eight inches twice daily. Like the ocean’s tides, Earthtide is caused by the Moon. The movement of the Earth’s surface creates enormous frictional heat. In some areas, like the plate boundaries along the Pacific Ring of Fire, enough heat builds up to melt rock. A review of worldwide earthquakes and volcanoes reveals an interesting pattern—both have concentrated occurrences in the same place. In fact, earthquakes almost always precede or accompany volcanic eruptions, and in some cases occur as earthquake “swarms.” When that happens, thousands of earthquakes occur over a very short time, generating tremendous heat.
Another important aspect of volcanoes seldom addressed in the modern science molten Earth model is the amount of water involved in volcanic activity. Most volcanoes would be more correctly termed hydrovolcanoes. We’ll talk more about hydrovolcanoes in the next article. Until then, consider this possibility: that water is the most important substance related to rock formation, mountain building, and almost every other aspect of the Earth’s existence, including its Creation!
If you want to learn more about this subject, you can get a copy of the UM here: truthseekersfoundation.com/um and be sure to use the discount code “Compass” for special pricing. Subscribe to our newsletter for updates and articles about everything we are doing!
Russ Barlow
Director, TruthSeekers Foundation
The Compass, August 2022
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As a young girl, I watched my mother use herbs to heal everything from sore throats to cancer. I assisted her as she made poultices for ulcers, to help heal broken bones and sprained joints and many other ailments. A master herbalist and a woman knowledgeable in pioneer ways, my mother tried to instill in me the importance of knowing how to heal naturally, listening, and watching the rhythm of the body. Unfortunately, for a time, I left my mother’s ways behind, thinking herbs were old-fashioned and too slow. I would be a “modern” mother and did the “good mother” thing—I took my children to the doctor for regular checkups and diligently followed the protocols recommended by the pediatrician. It wasn’t long before my children came down with illnesses that the doctors couldn’t answer. My children seemed to always be sick, and with the doctors’ inability to help me, I was desperate. I turned back to my roots—remembering my mother’s naturopathic ways. I began learning about and administering herbs to my family, and—a few children later—became a certified family herbalist and began studying under an essential oil master. I blended my mother’s foundational teachings with my new knowledge of herbs, essential oils, and nutrition to bring health and healing to my own family and to my friends. These things are now a regular part of our family’s everyday life. My mom was right, and I have used herbs and oils and other amazing natural remedies to help with a variety of health problems for the past 25 years with incredible success.
About 15 years ago, my husband got involved with a revolutionary new science project that shed light and knowledge on many subjects. Initially focused on the science behind the worldwide Flood—Noah’s Flood—the Universal Model explained that one of the threads connecting nearly everything was microbes. These tiny, invisible-except-under-a-microscope, living entities affected the color of the rocks, the origin of oil, and countless other aspects of the natural world, including our own internal microbiome. As I set out to understand more about how microbes influence us, I learned that the human microbiome consists of tens of trillions of bacteria of many different types. These reside in colonies from our mouths, throat, stomach, intestines, and rectums. This bacterium, or the lack thereof, is the cause of most of our society’s health problems, including obesity, physical and mental ailments, allergies, and almost everything else. The food most people eat today alters or destroys the natural gut bacteria, leaving us susceptible to all sorts of diseases and autoimmune disorders. Simply changing what we eat to include natural foods, like fruits and vegetables, and avoiding processed foods can reduce inflammation, strengthen our immune systems, and provide much-needed natural energy.
The first step is knowledge. For example, the FDA, (Food and Drug Administration), CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and WHO (World Health Organization) claim that red 40 (coloring), Palm oil, soy, monosodium glutamate and High fructose corn syrup, and other preservatives are safe in small quantities [1]. However, there is mounting evidence that these substances are responsible for serious adverse effects on our health and our children’s health. As consumption of unnatural substances such as these increases, so does anxiety, depression, and behavioral problems in our children. In fact, those rates are increasing as much as 24% in recent months [2]. Thankfully, the CDC and WHO websites at least mention diet as part of the routine for dealing with these issues, but the focus of the medical community is still largely centered on medication as the solution. If you or your children are suffering from anxiety or depression, prayerfully seek the appropriate counsel, but also look at ways of improving your diet. Even simple steps, like eliminating artificial food colorings or sugar, can have a remarkable effect.
I had an adolescent son who began eating “Takis” almost every day at high school. These were a type of corn chip chemically flavored to produce a spicy-sweet explosion of taste. It wasn’t long before he experienced serious stomach pain and then open sores appeared on his bottom. I didn’t know he had been eating these snacks when I began trying to ease his discomfort. Nothing seemed to work, and I became alarmed by the appearance of the sores on his bum. I still knew nothing about his “Takis” diet [3]. Because nothing natural was working, I took him to a specialist who diagnosed him with Crohn’s Disease, an incurable autoimmune disease. He was offered only two choices: take immune depressants for the rest of his life or commit to a lifetime diet of Ensure, an artificial nutritional supplement. Because he didn’t have any immunizations (our family had stopped years earlier), he chose to start the Ensure diet. After reading the ingredients, I knew there would be no healing, and I immediately realized the Doctors weren’t attempting to heal Crohn’s because they can’t—they were simply trying to help him live with Crohn’s for the rest of his life! This was a microbiome problem, and the discomfort my son suffered helped him to be willing to learn. We began our journey together, scouring Doctor Christopher’s School of Natural Healing book for remedies dealing with the stomach and the immune system. We came up with 18 herbs that would benefit the gut and the immune system and began the process of resetting his microbiome. He drank this herbal tea daily. Slowly, we introduced vegetables and fruits, until he was eventually back on track, living a normal life with no evidence of Crohn’s. Now he only needs to drink the tea occasionally if he feels any discomfort.
At first, changing the diet my family was eating to a healthy, fresh-food-based regimen with an emphasis on plants was not easy, especially in our fast-paced world. However, I learned that it can be much simpler than we think. God is so good to us. He has given us an abundance of plants and vegetables to keep life interesting while working on being strong and healthy. There are over 20,000 species of edible plants in the world, yet fewer than 20 species provide 90% of our food today. There are hundreds of lesser-known plants from all around the world that are both delicious and nutritious. With such an abundance of plants, why do we continue to eat fake food? Why ingest petroleum-based products and preservatives, or mind-altering food like MSG? The first step comes back to knowledge—and we can get some of that by simply reading the labels on the food we buy. Look at the hydrogenated oils that your family is consuming. Learn what type and how much sugar are you eating. Is it High Fructose Corn Syrup, a highly processed sweetener that metabolizes in the liver to form sucrose? The body can use a little of this for energy, but a greater amount of it is stored in the liver. Too much increases liver stress and can make the liver fatty and less able to filter other substances. HFCS can also contribute to a host of other health issues. We’ll talk more about the steps to create a healthy plan in future articles. In the meantime, begin by making a list of the preservatives and the sugars you and your family are consuming.
Essential Oil Highlight:
This issue’s essential oil highlight is Frankincense. This is an ancient oil with a long tradition in the Middle East, Africa, and India. For thousands of years, Frankincense has provided the essence of rich perfumes, but it is a powerful medicinal as well. Derived from the resin of Boswellia trees, the oil is generally a product of steam distillation of the hardened gum resin. One of the most amazing anti-inflammatory substances, Frankincense oil, can be rubbed on the head for headaches or exhaustion, it can be used in the mouth for toothaches, and it is good for joint pain and swelling. It can help with asthma and can heal scars and help them disappear. Many people have used this oil to fend off encroaching cancer and have experienced success in dealing with certain cancers such as skin cancer. I especially appreciate its calming effects on the nervous system. You can use Frankincense daily, and if you chose to do so, I think it will change your life! It sure did mine. When you search for your own oil, be sure to get pure oil from a reputable dealer. And if you chose to use Frankincense orally, always be sure to use oils certified for ingestion.
Herb Highlight
Sometimes herbs are passed over as being mere weeds, and their real value is completely missed. Many times, these overlooked plants ought to be found in our salads, on our plates as healthy greens, or garnishing our food as flowers baked into breads! This featured herb goes even further because you can chop up its roots and make a hot, coffee-like drink or steep it in tea. What is this amazing herb? The dandelion! This ubiquitous spring and summer flower can be eaten from flower to root, with each part playing a specific symbiotic harmony with our own microbiome. These plants are highly nutritious and loaded with vitamin A, C, K, E, folate, and a small amount of vitamin B. They are a strong antioxidant, and they fight inflammation. The dandelion can help clean and strengthen the liver, contributes to healthy digestion, has anti-cancer properties, and helps lower blood pressure. Next time you see a dandelion, don’t grab the weed killer. Instead, eat it! If you do decide to go harvest your own wild dandelions, be sure to gather where the dandelions have not been sprayed with chemicals and avoid gathering those growing close to the road. Use the leaves (best gathered when they are not too large) in salads, as greens on a sandwich, or in an omelet. The flowers can be plucked off (before going to seed) and added to your bread. The root can be dried, roasted, and ground into a powder for use as a hot drink. All these parts can also be used for tinctures, and for other medicinal purposes. There are so many uses for this plant, it’s no wonder they grow so plentifully!
I invite you to add Frankincense into your daily life and dandelions to your dinner table as a step toward a healthier lifestyle. And start reading labels when you buy your food!
Most of all, Live Well and Live Happy!
1 https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/color-additives-questions-and-answers-consumers
2 https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2022/03/24/research-update-childrens-anxiety-and-depression-on-the-rise/
The Compass, August 2022
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Dealing with negative emotions like sadness, anxiety, worry, or frustration isn’t much different from dealing with a headache… at least it isn’t if we do it right! What do we do when we feel a headache coming on? We first acknowledge that we feel some pain or discomfort, and immediately go to work on trying to cut its length and strength, and to figure out what’s causing it, and then we follow a few simple steps to decrease its intensity.
What we do not say is, “I’m scared of headaches! I hate headaches! I don’t want to feel this, so I’m going to act like nothing is wrong, and then I won’t have to deal with it!” That would be completely counterproductive. The headache would likely grow in intensity, disrupt our day, and take us further from feeling good again.
Just like a headache tells us something is not quite right in our body; our negative emotions are doing the same thing. When we are experiencing negative emotions, the thoughts and feelings are clues from our body that something is amiss. We wouldn’t ignore a headache telling us we need more water or that the music is too loud, and we also should not ignore the clues from our body telling us that something emotional needs to be addressed. The problem is that all of us have been taught how to deal with a headache, and none of us have been taught how to deal with our feelings! Just like with the headache, we can follow a few simple steps to help process our big emotions and start to feel better.
One of the easiest ways to do this is an exercise called, “Name it to Tame it.” Just like we name a headache so we can start trying to tame it, we name our emotions in order to tame them as well!
Research shows that putting a name or label on what we are feeling literally and immediately starts to calm the activity in the brain in real and tangible ways. This is best understood by a quick view into the brain. In the prefrontal cortex (the front of the of brain) the right side is where we process and store big emotions, imagery and the physical sensations that accompany them. The left side of the brain is where we process language, reasoning, rational thought, and sequencing.
When we are feeling big emotions, the right side of the brain is in over-drive, and because our brain has a limited amount of power to use at any given time, the intricate functions of the left side are not prioritized. The higher-level thinking skills of using words and rational thinking are momentarily laid dormant as our big emotions and the sensations that accompany them are using the majority of our brain’s energy. What this means for us is that these emotions and sensations will feel bigger and scarier because we are not using logic to make sense of them.
When we feel these big emotions start to overtake us, the first thing to do is to name the exact emotion we are feeling. As soon as we start to put words to our emotion, we recruit the left side of the brain, and some of the power that is being used on the right side must be diverted. This will immediately start to calm the big emotion because we just don’t have as much brain energy to feed it! Next, we want to continue to divert energy from the right side to the left, and we do this by naming the accompanying sensations in our body.
These first two steps might sound something like this. “Okay, I’m feeling a lot of anxiety right now! I know I am feeling anxiety because my heart is racing, my face is flushed, my hands are clammy, and there is a lump in my throat making it hard to swallow.”
After the first two steps, we want to continue to use our left brain as much as possible, thus starving the right side of much of the energy it was previously using. We can do this by using basic reasoning and sequencing. After we have named our emotion and its accompanying sensations, we then put words to the “why,” and then put the “why” in chronological order.
These next steps might sound like, “I am feeling anxiety because today was pretty awful. I am feeling stressed because I had so many things to do, and the day didn’t go as planned. First, I had to take the kids to school, but I got a flat tire. I had to get the tire fixed before going to work, which made me late. I missed an important meeting and then I had a lot of work to do to catch up. I knew I would have to take some work home, but I also remembered my daughter had a volleyball game. I went to the volleyball game and now it’s 11pm and I’m still working.”
As we follow the first four steps, we have now used the left side of our brain to name the emotion, name the sensations in our body, name why we might be feeling them, and then list the reasons in order.
The last step in this simple process is to do an easy breathing technique to calm the upset in our body. We can breathe in for the count of four, hold for the count of four, exhale for the count of four, and hold for another count of four. Doing this several times will slow down the heart, which should also help with all the other physical symptoms.
At this point, we should find that we are feeling much less emotional! This is because our brain is now using both the left and right sides to process what is happening, and the brain energy is more equally divided. As we move on from this situation, the memory will also be stored more equally in the two sides of the brain, so that if this feeling and memory were to come up again, it should be with less intensity. When that happens, we follow the 5 easy steps again, and every time we do, the intensity of the emotion should be diminished until we find that we can think of the memory or experience, without any of the accompanying big negative emotions and sensations.
The beauty of this technique is that it can be used by people of any age. In younger children, we can help them follow the steps out loud as we ask questions to get them to use the left side of the brain to find the answers. As adults, we can do all 5 steps internally in a few short minutes, and no one around will be any the wiser. The next time you find yourself feeling overwhelmed with big emotions, try these steps to Name it to Tame it!
Step 1. Name the emotion
Step 2. Name the physical sensations
Step 3. Name the “Why” of your feelings.
Step 4. Put the “Why” in chronological order
Step 5. Use the simple breathing technique
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