Ask the Experts

So I know that I have a lot of Med, Nursing, Biology, Health, Kinesiology, etc. students who read this blog, and I have a question for you:

What effect does sugar and/or chocolate have on mood? I have the vaguest layman’s idea of it, but I’m curious about the technical, chemical process, and/or studies that have been done, and/or controversies about it . Please still weigh in, even if someone’s said it before. I want to hear all of your opinions and learning!

And don’t tell me to Google it (you tech-savvy bunch!). I want to hear what you have to say

Wanna dance?

This is how I spent my reading week. More or less

Faithfulness

I had a conversation several nights ago about something that has come up many times in the past. Divorce is a tricky issue. I’m not writing about that specifically, but it has led me on to another series of thoughts.

In Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus says,

It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.”

I find it interesting that Jesus doesn’t go on to specify what marital unfaithfulness is. But I think the definition of marital unfaithfulness has probably changed so much across culture and time. Back then, physical faithfulness would have been strictly maintained. Now, marrieds give away hugs, touches, dances, even occasionally kisses, but can still be considered maritally faithful. I think in our society today, there is a greater feeling of betrayal when it comes to emotional unfaithfulness.

But I think marital faithfulness is all-encompassing: physical, emotional, mental, verbal. Every way — every way — in which a couple interacts requires faithfulness to the other and faithfulness to the vows that were taken (i.e., to love, honour and protect). Is a woman being faithful, for example, when she belittles her husband in front of others or vice versa? There’s a difference between belittlement and teasing, make no mistake. Teasing is gently done and done in such a way so that husband and wife are (and know they are) on the same side and is quickly amended and repented of when either side feels wounded. Belittling, on the other hand, is when one party presents the other as insignificant, silly, ridiculous, foolish, detestable, et cetera, either directly to that person, or in front of others, with or without the presence of the person in question.

It is worth feeling convicted about this. Marriage is the single most powerful relationship a person can experience, outside of their relationship with God. You are never more vulnerable with another person than you are in the context of that relationship. Pretending for a moment that the audience I am addressing all believe as I do, in a marriage relationship, that person is the only one who will ever see you completely naked, physically and emotionally. Stripped of your masks, flaws and insecurities laid bare, you are trusting that the other person will embrace you and build you up, that they will encourage and love and be enthusiastic for you and the things you love and will be your trusted companion in working on those things you wish could be better about yourself. This requires truth and honesty from both partners, and more, faithfulness.

What I am trying to suggest is that marital unfaithfulness is not just the big, “I cheated” things. It is also the little digs at each other, chipping away at respect, jumping too easily to offense, carrying a joke too far, etc. Part of the vow of marriage is to protect. While it is protection of each other from the ways of the world, it is more than that. Your spouse or significant other wears armour when facing the world. They do not wear armour when facing you. Do you take advantage of their vulnerability in that circumstance? Or do you protect them? Are you being faithful to the partner you chose in the little things as well as the big?