HEALTH AND WELLNESS

      “My father was an alcoholic, and I followed in his footsteps. At 12 years of age, I was already drinking. By the time I married, I was getting drunk every day. I became violent; often the police came to my family aid, my health deteriorated. Alcohol caused a gastric hemorrhage, which I barely survived. I then developed cirrhosis and anemia. I joined self-help groups in an attempt to quit, but to no avail. Felt as if I were caught in a spiderweb and could not break free”.-Victor     Again and again stories such as this one are told by people ensnared by alcohol. Like Victor, they feel trapped with no way out. Can alcohol-induced problems be overcome or even avoided? If so, how? 1.        RECOGNIZING THE PROBLEM; the best way to reduce the total of alcohol-related problems in a society is to focus on curtailing the drinking of moderate rather than heavy drinkers. Does your drinking exceed the limits recommended by health authorities? Do you drink in situations requiring

      The special emphasis of Luke is the humanity of Jesus. Like the other gospel writers he represents Jesus as the son of God, but rather features Jesus sympathy for the weak, the suffering and the outcast.      It is commonly thought that, while each of the gospels was intended ultimately for all mankind, Matthew had in immediate view the Jews mark the Romans, and Luke the Greeks.      Jewish civilization had been built around their scriptures. Therefore Matthew appeals to their scriptures.     Roman civilization gloried in the idea of government, power. Therefore Mark calls particular attention to the miracles of Jesus as exhibiting his superhuman power.     Greek civilization represented culture, philosophy, wisdom, reason, beauty, education. Therefore, to appeal to the thoughtful, cultured, philosophic Greek mind, Luke, in a complete, orderly and classical story, which has been called “the most beautiful book ever written”, depicts the glorious beauty and perfect

                                                [1] BRITAIN’S RELIGIOUS CONVERSIONS             Britons are swapping religions at a faster rate than ever, with about 1,000 converting every week, reports The Sunday Telegraph. Anglicans are becoming Roman Catholics, and vice versa, Jews are becoming Buddhists, Muslims are becoming Anglicans and Roman Catholics Jews.” Islam, Buddhism, New Age Movements, and paganism are gaining the most converts. Dr. Ahmed Andrews of England’s Derby University, himself a convert, says: “There are between 5,000 and 10,000 white Muslim converts in this country, and most of the ones I know are former Catholics.” Jews make up 10 to 30 percent of converts to Buddhism. Anglican conversions to Catholicism peaked after the Church of England decided to ordain women. According to Rabbi Jonathan Romain, “people feel a spiritual vacuum so they look outside their own religious backgrounds.”                                                 [2] LIFE-STYLE AND

Scientists and economists recently collaborated in a study of five natural habitats converted for human use and commercial profit. A tropical forest in Malaysia was razed for intensive logging , a tropical forest in Cameroun was converted to oil palm and rubber plantations, a mangrove swamp in Thailand was turned over to shrimp farming, a freshwater marsh in Canada was drained for agriculture, and a coral reef in the Philippines was dynamited for fishing.          The researchers came up with some surprising results. Had those five natural habitats been left in their wild state, their long-term economic value to the community would have been from 14 to 75 percent more than after conversion. In fact, an ecosystem loses, on average, half its value as a result of human interference, and each year, environmental conversion costs $250 billion . By contrast, preserving natural systems would cost $45 billion . The researchers say that goods and services –in the form of food, water,a