I pray for everyone who believes in Jesus Christ as God our Savior to have a wonderful celebration of His birth. And for those who don't believe, I pray even harder that you come to realize He is the way, the truth, the light for your life.
Just a little technical note, I discovered my books here on PDF files can be viewed better on my phone and nook than on my laptop (where they can be seen but are quite large). The EPUB was not supported on my phone and didn't come out well on the laptop but looked good on my nook (sigh--technology). I am glad they can still be read reasonably well at least on some devices although I realize they suffer from the shortcomings of an amateur.
Books can be accessed on their pages which can be reached on the top line and on the right column. I had a mobile design selected for a while but it didn't work well with my blog so I switched back to web version. I hope you can read it well enough if you want on a phone. If you have any suggestions I'd be happy to hear them. I hope any of you who are interested in reading one or more of my books and booklets will find the version best suited for you.
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
Monday, November 12, 2018
Updates Needed and Slowly Coming
Yesterday I clicked one of the links of my books on this blog to its PDF file and was surprised to find that online it was very large on the screen and couldn't be reduced to a more convenient size. I then clicked the other book links and found the same thing. I should have checked them sooner but I don't get much traffic here and was occupied with other things in my life. I know how fast things change in the tech world so I'm sorry for not checking them more often. I am not sure what this problem might be but am going to look into it. I hope the files are better to read when downloaded. I'd be happy to take advice anyone might have.
I intend to do some further updating as winter rolls in. I have been working on my first book which I have not had on this blog. It was written long ago and has not been on a single file. I don't even remember why I had kept the 5 parts separate, but it probably had to do with file size on the vintage word processing program I used. It is a pleasure to get the parts together in one file on my Microsoft Office Word 2016.
Though my self-published books here are not perfect, I still want to put them out as free books that might entertain and, I hope, elicit some food for thought. If anyone sees mistakes, I'd be happy to take comments on any regular posts and correct them. I intend to update all files of my books on Word 2016 and convert them to PDF. I don't know what I will do about the EPUB format at this time. I found Adobe still provides an EPUB reader, so for the time-being I will leave the file formats I already have on here.
I also must update the posts since many links are now outdated. I am starting at the chronological beginning of March, 2008. I look forward to having that done soon.
I also must update the posts since many links are now outdated. I am starting at the chronological beginning of March, 2008. I look forward to having that done soon.
I hope to comment a little on Catholic Answers Forum, so if you have looked me up, thanks for reading and I hope you will bear with me as I try to get my blog in better shape.
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Praise God for Creating DNA
Way back in January 2013, I did a post about the make-up of a part of the cell which produces energy, a set of proteins called ATP Synthase. The post is HERE, and it includes a little video about ATP Synthase which processes protons through a membrane due to an electrical gradient set up by yet other sets of proteins. I want to re-post a picture of this sequence from KEGG database called "oxidative phosphorylation" because it is amazing (sorry if my reproduction is a little fuzzy-- a direct link for this image data is HERE). Please note that all the different-colored parts are different proteins that have different genes:
However, I did not add everything I could have to that post to make the picture complete. I showed the amino acid sequence of one of the sub-unit proteins, but I'd like to take the composition of a Beta sub-unit one step further to show the human gene sequence. This is the darker blue piece of the protein set on the right of the above picture:
Each letter in the image above stands for a molecule called a nucleotide. These in turn are a code for producing the sequence of amino acids needed to make the protein subunit. In this case there are 1590 of the DNA nucleotides. These molecules, made of atoms, exist in the ladder-like DNA helix structure which sends a code through the cell to make proteins. There are 4 letters in the chart above --c, t, g and a. Below is a picture of them (the fifth, Uracil, is in RNA, a whole other story). The N stands for nitrogen, H for hydrogen, O for oxygen, and C, carbon, is understood in the corners of the "rings" that don't have letters). The R is where they attach to the rest of the DNA molecule:
Though perhaps every amino acid (coded by the DNA nucleotides) does not have to be exactly where it is in this Beta subunit, as in all proteins, many do. The protein has to have a structure that will hold together in a certain shape, and some amino acids do better on the outside of the protein and some on the inside. Then this Beta piece along with another type of protein provide the conformations that allow the chemical change of one molecule into another (ADP to ATP). The ATP is what gives energy to our metabolism and in fact is needed to produce more DNA and proteins. The machine-like quality of the ATP Synthase is due to several specific amino acids that can accomplish this task when the ATP Synthase complex turns on an axis. There is another way to produce ATP which I won't go into: substrate-level phosphorylation. This requires its own complex sets of proteins and you can always Google the name if you are interested in learning more.
Overall, you have a chicken and egg problem: DNA is needed to code for the proteins that make ATP which is needed to make DNA. Though many want to believe that life came through natural physical laws, we have to consider at least two events: first, beginning of life; second, continuation and change of life forms (evolution). At the beginning we have to understand that the chemistry that would affect the atoms of the atmosphere is under the Law of Mass Action (Wikipedia entry HERE), where atoms and molecules move randomly but collectively act in a certain way. Even quantum physics becomes random at the Newtonian level. Though some want to dream of finding physical laws that would put DNA together "naturally," in my opinion they are literally dreaming. They accuse Creationists of not being able to acknowledge that God could create through physical laws, but what about them acknowledging that He could create directly?
In the Bible, the Apostle Paul says that God made Creation in a way that it is obvious for us to see His eternal power and divine nature (cf. Romans 1:20 NABRE). I agree with Paul.
However, I did not add everything I could have to that post to make the picture complete. I showed the amino acid sequence of one of the sub-unit proteins, but I'd like to take the composition of a Beta sub-unit one step further to show the human gene sequence. This is the darker blue piece of the protein set on the right of the above picture:
Each letter in the image above stands for a molecule called a nucleotide. These in turn are a code for producing the sequence of amino acids needed to make the protein subunit. In this case there are 1590 of the DNA nucleotides. These molecules, made of atoms, exist in the ladder-like DNA helix structure which sends a code through the cell to make proteins. There are 4 letters in the chart above --c, t, g and a. Below is a picture of them (the fifth, Uracil, is in RNA, a whole other story). The N stands for nitrogen, H for hydrogen, O for oxygen, and C, carbon, is understood in the corners of the "rings" that don't have letters). The R is where they attach to the rest of the DNA molecule:
Though perhaps every amino acid (coded by the DNA nucleotides) does not have to be exactly where it is in this Beta subunit, as in all proteins, many do. The protein has to have a structure that will hold together in a certain shape, and some amino acids do better on the outside of the protein and some on the inside. Then this Beta piece along with another type of protein provide the conformations that allow the chemical change of one molecule into another (ADP to ATP). The ATP is what gives energy to our metabolism and in fact is needed to produce more DNA and proteins. The machine-like quality of the ATP Synthase is due to several specific amino acids that can accomplish this task when the ATP Synthase complex turns on an axis. There is another way to produce ATP which I won't go into: substrate-level phosphorylation. This requires its own complex sets of proteins and you can always Google the name if you are interested in learning more.
Overall, you have a chicken and egg problem: DNA is needed to code for the proteins that make ATP which is needed to make DNA. Though many want to believe that life came through natural physical laws, we have to consider at least two events: first, beginning of life; second, continuation and change of life forms (evolution). At the beginning we have to understand that the chemistry that would affect the atoms of the atmosphere is under the Law of Mass Action (Wikipedia entry HERE), where atoms and molecules move randomly but collectively act in a certain way. Even quantum physics becomes random at the Newtonian level. Though some want to dream of finding physical laws that would put DNA together "naturally," in my opinion they are literally dreaming. They accuse Creationists of not being able to acknowledge that God could create through physical laws, but what about them acknowledging that He could create directly?
In the Bible, the Apostle Paul says that God made Creation in a way that it is obvious for us to see His eternal power and divine nature (cf. Romans 1:20 NABRE). I agree with Paul.
Monday, September 10, 2018
Praise God for His Creation
I went to the Farmer's Market yesterday. Our town has a great FM, and this time of year it is full of produce, but also showing signs of the impending autumn. There are gourds and Chrysanthemums, and also one of my favorite flowers, Gladiolas (they are late in Michigan). I have a picture of one here, admittedly from the Internet under free images of flowers. One of the reasons I am writing this is to praise God for His creation, something I don't think we do enough. Perhaps it is "understood" that if we look at flowers and believe in the Lord, that we admire His handiwork. But I'd like to hear more of "Praise God through Jesus Christ for His Creation."That is why I have the idea to make a thread at the Catholic website Catholic Answers Forums (CAF) that says that or something similar. But before I do that I have to get some things done, like getting my nook charged up for the first time and, as I understand it, sign in to places I've registered already such as Google. I've been putting it off but I'll be going back to my mother soon for her to have more surgery and I'd like to have my new nook there so I can read the books I have on it (I guess the ones that are on the previous one are carried over to the new one). There are other things going on too, such as trying to finish editing and re-writing my first book, Mission: Faithful, so I can put it here on my blog.
Another thing is that I would like at CAF to take the Creation part down to the molecular level, to show how the Lord has used His mighty creativity to get the biological world working in the first place. We will see how it all goes.
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Turning Point?
I've been thinking about my blog quite a bit lately, but am trying to discern where I'm going like has often happened in my life. I am working on updating my first book, Mission: Faithful, a Christian adventure / mystery so I can add it to my blog. I have kept my husband's blog available, one on local history. He is now deceased, but I keep his name, and picture, on our shared blogs.
I've had a very strong desire to write through my life, but am not feeling that direction right now. I like to pray, and I read Catholic Answers Forums (CAF) quite a bit and still keep up just a little on Evolution News, an ID website, though I'm more a Creationist concerning biology (open-minded about age of Earth). Even though I desired to write in the past, I still went through quite a bit of emotional turmoil over it, so maybe that's just what is happening again.
So, thanks for reading my thoughts in digital form. It will take some time to discern where I'm going. In any case, I am thankful I have had the opportunity to write about the Lord.
I've had a very strong desire to write through my life, but am not feeling that direction right now. I like to pray, and I read Catholic Answers Forums (CAF) quite a bit and still keep up just a little on Evolution News, an ID website, though I'm more a Creationist concerning biology (open-minded about age of Earth). Even though I desired to write in the past, I still went through quite a bit of emotional turmoil over it, so maybe that's just what is happening again.
So, thanks for reading my thoughts in digital form. It will take some time to discern where I'm going. In any case, I am thankful I have had the opportunity to write about the Lord.
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Year Marker
Tomorrow will mark one year since my husband, Tom, died of advanced Parkinson's disease. We did not have cemetery plots at the time, so I had to go quickly to our Church's cemetery office to purchase two. I was surprised to find that there were some available close to his family, in an older part of the cemetery. They had a large family gravestone, but the plots directly around it were all taken. Still, there were 3 right next to them, so I decided on two of these rather than in the new area. Whenever Tom and I went to the cemetery we went there, so I figured the location would be familiar for me to visit. I will go tomorrow and spend a little time. I will wait to put flowers until is is warmer. There are three urns there and I put flowers in close to Memorial Day.
I thought writing this post would help me get through today and tomorrow. I am OK, but it just weighs heavy, as anyone knows who goes through grief. That is, anyone who is old enough to survive a loved one. I admired many things about my departed husband who was very kind and patient. But another is that his love brought to me a new appreciation of Christ's love. I had strayed away from the Christianity I was brought up with, going from atheist to agnostic. But in all that time I was trying to find meaning through externals such as personal appearance and accomplishments. With Tom I felt loved and accepted as I truly was, much more than when I was young and felt the competition of getting into a good school and then through those dark days of disbelief. And when he brought me to his Catholic church, that feeling of acceptance was reinforced. I believe God drew me near to Him then, perhaps directly but also through these people.
It is nice to have a blog at times such as now to express myself in ways it would be hard face to face with someone. My comfort is in the same God and people who love me and in believing I will be together with Jesus and Tom "in person" someday.
I thought writing this post would help me get through today and tomorrow. I am OK, but it just weighs heavy, as anyone knows who goes through grief. That is, anyone who is old enough to survive a loved one. I admired many things about my departed husband who was very kind and patient. But another is that his love brought to me a new appreciation of Christ's love. I had strayed away from the Christianity I was brought up with, going from atheist to agnostic. But in all that time I was trying to find meaning through externals such as personal appearance and accomplishments. With Tom I felt loved and accepted as I truly was, much more than when I was young and felt the competition of getting into a good school and then through those dark days of disbelief. And when he brought me to his Catholic church, that feeling of acceptance was reinforced. I believe God drew me near to Him then, perhaps directly but also through these people.
It is nice to have a blog at times such as now to express myself in ways it would be hard face to face with someone. My comfort is in the same God and people who love me and in believing I will be together with Jesus and Tom "in person" someday.
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