The whole is made of multiple clusters made of multiple flowers, each of which is individually fertilized producing its own seed. Each flower is composed of m/f parts distributed across scope of the umbel. And while all are joined to stalk, the stalk hides underneath the flower.
The strength & centrality of the stalk is hidden b/c its purpose is to feed, support, & supply the flowers with what they need to produce life. All are joined to it, all depend on it, but the flowers don't exist to support the stalk.
Additionally, while different parts play distinct, important roles, all parts are working toward the same end: the health & well-being of the plant so it can go thru various life stages to produce seed for hundreds of more plants yet to come.
B/c while we focus on the flowers, the flowers are fed by roots & leaves, supported by stalk & petioles. And these flowers are only eye-catching so they can attract pollinators for necessary work of reproduction. The seed & future life is end goal.
People love the natural world for different reasons. For me, it's the genius of design & how everything relates to everything else.
Queen Anne's Lace is beautiful in its own right, but giving attention to the details of its form & structure opens up so many other things.
*biomimetic design*
Goodness, give me a break autocorrect.
(FYI, in first tweet, should be biomimetic design, not biometric. Apparently, the next problem we need nature to help us solve is autocorrect...)
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PSA: In my experience, the kind of people who show up at your church & gush all over you & tell you how faithful you are & how their previous church didn't love God/the Bible/truth/etc.... are not the kind of people you should listen to.
For starters, there are always 2 sides to every story & it's far too easy to make ourselves the righteous hero. I know. I've done it myself. But beyond this, new folks have NO idea if you're a faithful pastor or not. That can only be tested over time.
So take this for what it's worth: There's a ton of movement btwn churches right now. When new folks show up at your church, remember that they likely left another church. That's going to be much more complicated than their last church was "bad" & yours is "good."
Any good, equitable takes on right to reject advice of medical establishment irt vaccine but also rely on medical establishment for treatment when sick?
I get that folks have right to not vaccinate. Totally. I want to understand why this isn't opting in & out of system at will
So looking for pieces/arguments that address this Q w/ fairness & clarity:
How can we reconcile the right to make decisions contrary to field experts but also access their expertise for help when we need it?
It's larger than medical field but current debate provides example. It also touches on expectations of care providers to always provide care.
But seriously, there's something going on here. It's relates to fracturing communities, break up of families, redistribution of generational assests, & desire for rootedness.
But a lot of things stand in the way of commonly held property, including established habits that prioritize nuclear family. In this sense, suburban mindset isn't simply about house/lot size--it's about freedom of choice & independence w/in smallest social grouping possible.
Obvs, this is a joke. Today, I'm blessed to be able to do a lot of good ministry work & be fairly compensated for it. But it wasn't always like that
Speaking from perspective of pastor's wife, I believe 1st FT salary was $22,000, use of parsonage (above church fellowship hall), no benefits. This included both my husband & my involvement (children, music ministry, etc) & some manual labor (his maintaining coal-fired boiler).
Six months ago, #TurningofDays entered the world. It feels like both yesterday & a lifetime ago & reminds me of how strangely we experience time.
In modern life, we tend tithis is fine & good. Until your forward progress is stalled. Until you’re in the same place you were 1 year… 2 years… 10 years ago…
In these liminal moments when we find ourselves unexpectedly paused it can feel like we’ve missed something. & that we’ve failed somehow. Weren’t we supposed to b further along Weren’t we supposed to have accomplished more? Weren’t we supposed to have life figured out by now?
One observation & then I'm done for day:
Over the last few years conservatives in multiple denoms have pushed against Side B Xians (vowed celibate Xians who experience same-sex attraction) for using the linguistic marker of "gay" & sometimes even "same-sex attracted."
As best I can tell, some conservatives think these terms necessarily imply a person is claiming & embracing same-sex desire or same-sex sexual expression. Still, others object to the terms on the grounds of "testimony"--seeing them as a Q of indentification or affiliation.
Setting aside theological Qs for a minute, we need to think about linguistics. Because ISTM that both of these concerns fail to understand the broader cultural language.