Organic Chemistry

So, most of the time I have something I should be doing, like now.  But I don’t really want to read 3 chapters of my finance textbook so I’m blogging instead.  I’m taking Organic Chemistry this year, which is fine.  It’s kind of hard (so I hear) but its implications are very far reaching.  For instance on my first day I learned that sucralose (the primary ingredient in Splenda) is simply chlorinated sucrose.  All they did was remove 3 O-H groups and plop on three chlorines and poof your body can’t do anything with it and it passes right through, therefore a zero calorie sweetener.  Pretty sweet right*!?  I also learned that chocolate is basically theobromine.  So theoretically they could do something similar to that as they did with sucrose and you’d have a zero calorie chocolate.  Today in lab we extracted caffeine from tea.  Ok, enough food examples.  Basically though organic chemistry is everywhere, it is the chemistry of life, and as a biologist I think that’s pretty cool.

I guess I should talk about the initial reason of this post.  I have tinker-toys! For nerds…  I have an organic chemistry model kit that basically allows me to build structures so I can see them in 3D and understand what’s drawn on the paper.  Yesterday I made benzene, cyclohexane, and butane, because I was confused as to what I was actually supposed to construct.

Here's what some structures look like

Here's what my face looks like when I'm thinking about it

And of course I have to wear my chemistry goggles when dealing with these highly dangerous compounds, I left out the lab coat as I figured my Science Club for Girls shirt confirmed with great authority just how much of a dork I am.

*I take full responsibility for that very stupid joke.

LET GOd Work

Religion is not something I pretend to understand in the least; it is not concrete, it is not straightforward; there are questions with no answers, there are claims with no proof.  In a post-modern world searching for evidence and hard facts, belief can be a very difficult notion to maintain.

As I progress, new ideas, thoughts, and beliefs are thrown at me.  As an immerging individual I must decipher not only what these mean definitively, but also what these mean for me.  This is not easy, for anyone.

So I’ll start with where I come from.

I grew up in the United Methodist Church, specifically Christ First United Methodist Church of Wasilla.  Throughout my time there I grew to trust God in everything I do and love others as Jesus loved us.  My mission is to live where the cross becomes a prism through which I see and interact with the world, the cross that Jesus was crucified on, the cross that Jesus tells us to “take up” and “follow me.”  I left and moved to Boston, with a firm foundation of faith, deeply rooted in my beliefs; questioning and searching still, reaching out and exploring new ideas and issues, but always with a solid rock to fall back on. 

The mission of the United Methodist Church (“to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”) is derived from the Gospel of Matthew: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” – Matthew 29:19-20

I take that the ultimate purpose then of the United Methodist Church is the transformation of the world.  Transformation how?

Let Go.

God has a plan.

I cannot transform the world.  I cannot transform my friends.  I cannot transform myself.  God does that. 

I’d like to tag on the rest of Matthew 29:20 “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  Jesus is here, among us.  We can’t transform the world alone.  God, the creator, is working through us to make that transformation happen.

To some extent I find religious debates obscene.  That we should even try to determine the “true way” in a world of inextricable paths, and that we should try to force our self-appointed “true way” on others?  The idea is mindboggling.  But it is important to have the discussion.  Not for arguments sake, not even to find the answers, but because it challenges, revises, and affirms our own beliefs.  The search for Truth is paramount.  It is the search that defines religion; Christianity is not a destination.

I believe that religion is of the heart and each heart is different, each heart feels, understands, and loves in a different way. 

“There are different people who need different ways of approach to cultivate and promote these basic values of compassion, tolerance, and commitment.” – Dalai Lama

Pulling beliefs from multiple Christian and faith backgrounds forms the “religion” I feel acting on my life today.  I was raised in the United Methodist Church, I attended a Nondenominational Evangelical youth group, and I am now part of a Lutheran Episcopal student group.  I have best friends who are Mormon, Lutheran, Catholic, Jewish, and Baha’i who have all shaped how I view God, and my faith is richer because of this.  I do not have it all figured out.  As I grow and learn my faith will change and that’s ok.  The journey to God is dynamic.

“The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God.” – Romans 14:22

Fruit of the Spirit

Sometimes (all the time) this is a good thing to remember.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.  There is no law against such things.  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.”                        GALATIANS 5:22-23