What everybody know - yet does not understand about English grammer!

Why Germany's Virus Death rate is Lower

Why Germany's Coronavirus Death Rate Is Far Lower Than In Other Countries

March 25, 202012:03 PM ET

Rob Schmitz 2016 square

Rob Schmitz

Twitter

Young people gather in the Volkspark am Friedrichshain in Berlin on March 18. Germany's fatality rate so far — just 0.5% — is the world's lowest, by a long shot.

As confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Germany soared past 10,000 last week, hundreds of Berliners crowded Volkspark am Friedrichshain to play soccer and basketball and to let their kids loose on the park's many jungle gyms.

The conditions seemed ideal for the spread of a virus that has killed thousands. Indeed, as of Wednesday, Germany had the fifth-highest number of cases.

Yet Germany's fatality rate so far — just 0.5% — is the world's lowest, by a long shot.

"I believe that we are just testing much more than in other countries, and we are detecting our outbreak early," said Christian Drosten, director of the institute of virology at Berlin's Charité hospital.

As Europe has become the epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic, Italy's fatality rate hovers around 10%. France's is around 5%. Yet Germany's fatality rate from COVID-19 has remained remarkably low since cases started showing up there more than a month ago. As of March 25, there were 175 deaths and 34,055 cases.

Drosten, whose team of researchers developed the first COVID-19 test used in the public domain, said Germany's low fatality rate is because of his country's ability to test early and often. He estimates Germany has been testing around 120,000 people a week for COVID-19 during the monthlong period from late February to now, when it's reached epidemic proportions in the country, the most extensive testing regimen in the world.

And that means Germany is more likely to have a lower number of undetected cases than other countries where testing is less prevalent, which raises the question: Why is Germany testing so much?

The Coronavirus Crisis

The Coronavirus Crisis

"We have a culture here in Germany that is actually not supporting a centralized diagnostic system," said Drosten, "so Germany does not have a public health laboratory that would restrict other labs from doing the tests. So we had an open market from the beginning."

In other words, Germany's equivalent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the Robert Koch Institute — makes recommendations but does not call the shots on testing for the entire country. Germany's 16 federal states make their own decisions on coronavirus testing because each of them is responsible for their own health care systems.

When Drosten's university medical center developed what became the test recommended by the World Health Organization, they rolled these tests out to their colleagues throughout Germany in January.

"And they of course rolled this out to labs they know in the periphery and to hospital labs in the area where they are situated," Drosten said. "This created a situation where, let's say, by the beginning or middle of February, testing was already in place, broadly."

Drosten said that has meant quicker, earlier and more widespread testing for COVID-19 in Germany than in other countries.

Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's federal agency responsible for disease control and prevention, said at a news conference last week that Germany's testing infrastructure means authorities have a more accurate read of confirmed cases of the virus.

"We don't know exactly how many unknown cases there are, but we estimate that this unknown number is not very high," Wieler said. "The reason is simple. We issued recommendations in mid-January about who should be tested and who shouldn't be tested."

But some Berlin residents aren't as confident as Wieler. Nizana Nizzi Brautmann said she was worried when a teacher at her son's school tested positive for COVID-19 and a day later she and her son woke up with fevers and persistent coughing. She said she couldn't get through to Berlin's coronavirus hotline, which was continuously busy.

She finally got through to the city's emergency medical service number, "and I told her I think we need to be checked because we have some symptoms," Brautmann recalled. "The lady was just saying, 'We make no tests here. I can't help you. I would advise you to stay home and drink tea.' "

When she finally was able to speak to a doctor on the phone, the doctor told her to wait in line outside a local hospital to get tested, but she didn't have a mask for her or her son, and she didn't want to infect others in line, so she stayed home. She and her son are now in good health, but she said the episode left her wondering how prepared German society is for this pandemic.

Drosten said such experiences are probably an exception, not the rule.

"I know the diagnostics community in Germany a bit," Drosten said. "My feeling is that actually the supply of tests is still good. And of course, our epidemic is now also very much up-ramping and we will lose track here, too."

Drosten said the growing number of cases in Germany will soon exceed testing capacities. But for the time being, he thinks the country has had a robust response to the coronavirus pandemic. He's most worried about countries in Africa that aren't well set up for this — countries that, once the crisis comes to them, will find it more difficult to flatten the curve.

NPR Berlin bureau producer Esme Nicholson contributed to this story.

coronavirus

Germany

Peace what where and when?

  Peace what, where and when?

People seek peace in life but do not know how to find it!

According to the world's mentality, peace is the absence of problems. However, God's peace is not dependent on circumstances. It is dependent only on God Himself who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8).

 A Christian can have great peace even in the midst of terrible problems because his faith is in God.
 'Thou wilt keeps him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee' (Isa. 26:3). 

Let His peace rule in your heart today. Trust Him.

The Unpardonable Sin

The Unpardonable Sin

MATTHEW 12:31, 'Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shalt be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.'

LUKE 12:10; MATTHEW 12:24-31; MARK 3:22-30

The word 'blaspheme' means 'to speak evil of; defame, or revile.' In context, Jesus is saying that blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is attributing the working of the Holy Spirit to the devil. Many people in the Bible did this, including Saul, who became the Apostle Paul. However, we see in 1 Timothy 1:13, that Paul said he received mercy concerning his blasphemy because he had done it 'ignorantly in unbelief.' Therefore, the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost that Jesus warns about must be the willful reviling of the Holy Ghost with knowledge of what is being done.

This parallels Hebrews 6:4-6, where qualifications are placed on those who can fall away from grace. This passage indicates that only a mature Christian can commit such a thing. Likewise, with blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, rash statements spoke against the Holy Spirit in ignorance or unbelief by those who don't really know what they are doing can be forgiven.

From our human perspective, no clear line can be drawn as to when someone becomes accountable for blasphemies and has committed this unpardonable sin. We can be assured that God knows the hearts of all men and that He will judge righteously concerning this. However, God's Word does show us that when anyone becomes a 'reprobate,' they lose all conviction from God (Rom. 1:28).
Therefore, anyone who is convicted and repentant over having possibly blasphemed the Holy Ghost has not yet reached the place where it is unpardonable or they wouldn't care.

 Keep your heart tender and sensitive to Him. Listen to His voice speak to you through His Word today.

The Truth most people will not read or see!

The Truth most people will not read or see!

Stop the Fear-Mongering! 12 Medical Scientists Speak Out on COVID19 Responses

**
Comments by Brian Shilhavy Editor, Health Impact News

Politicians are being courted by scientists…scientists who want to be important to get money for their institutions. Scientists who just swim along in the mainstream and want their part of it […] And what is missing right now is a rational way of looking at things.

We should be asking questions like “How did you find out this virus was dangerous?”, “How was it before?”, “Didn’t we have the same thing last year?”, “Is it even something new?”
That’s missing.

Dr Joel Kettner is professor of Community Health Sciences and Surgery at Manitoba University, former Chief Public Health Officer for Manitoba province and Medical Director of the International Centre for Infectious Diseases.
What he says:

I have never seen anything like this, anything anywhere near like this. I’m not talking about the pandemic, because I’ve seen 30 of them, one every year. It is called influenza. And other respiratory illness viruses, we don’t always know what they are. But I’ve never seen this reaction, and I’m trying to understand why.
[…]
I worry about the message to the public, about the fear of coming into contact with people, being in the same space as people, shaking their hands, having meetings with people. I worry about many, many consequences related to that.
[…]
In Hubei, in the province of Hubei, where there has been the most cases and deaths by far, the actual number of cases reported is 1 per 1000 people and the actual rate of deaths reported is 1 per 20,000. So maybe that would help to put things into perspective.

Dr John Ioannidis Professor of Medicine, of Health Research and Policy and of Biomedical Data Science, at Stanford University School of Medicine and a Professor of Statistics at Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences. He is director of the Stanford Prevention Research Center, and co-director of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS).

He is also the editor-in-chief of the European Journal of Clinical Investigation. He was chairman at the Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Ioannina School of Medicine as well as adjunct professor at Tufts University School of Medicine.

As a physician, scientist and author he has made contributions to evidence-based medicine, epidemiology, data science and clinical research. In addition, he pioneered the field of meta-research. He has shown that much of the published research does not meet good scientific standards of evidence.
What he says:

Patients who have been tested for SARS-CoV-2 are disproportionately those with severe symptoms and bad outcomes. As most health systems have limited testing capacity, selection bias may even worsen in the near future.
The one situation where an entire, closed population was tested was the Diamond Princess cruise ship and its quarantine passengers. The case fatality rate there was 1.0%, but this was a largely elderly population, in which the death rate from Covid-19 is much higher.
[…]
Could the Covid-19 case fatality rate be that low? No, some say, pointing to the high rate in elderly people. However, even some so-called mild or common-cold-type coronaviruses that have been known for decades can have case fatality rates as high as 8% when they infect elderly people in nursing homes.
[…]
If we had not known about a new virus out there, and had not checked individuals with PCR tests, the number of total deaths due to “influenza-like illness” would not seem unusual this year. At most, we might have casually noted that flu this season seems to be a bit worse than average.
– “A fiasco in the making? As the coronavirus pandemic takes hold, we are making decisions without reliable data”, Stat News, 17th March 2020

Dr Yoram Lass is an Israeli physician, politician and former Director-General of the Health Ministry. He also worked as Associate Dean of the Tel Aviv University Medical School and during the 1980s presented the science-based television show Tatzpit.
What he says:

Italy is known for its enormous morbidity in respiratory problems, more than three times any other European country. In the US about 40,000 people die in a regular flu season and so far 40-50 people have died of the coronavirus, most of them in a nursing home in Kirkland, Washington.
[…]
In every country, more people die from regular flu compared with those who die from the coronavirus.
[…]
…there is a very good example that we all forget: the swine flu in 2009. That was a virus that reached the world from Mexico and until today there is no vaccination against it. But what? At that time there was no Facebook or there maybe was but it was still in its infancy. The coronavirus, in contrast, is a virus with public relations.
Whoever thinks that governments end viruses is wrong.
– Interview in Globes, March 22nd 2020

Dr Pietro Vernazza is a Swiss physician specialising Infectious Diseases at the Cantonal Hospital St. Gallen and Professor of Health Policy.
What he says:

We have reliable figures from Italy and a work by epidemiologists, which has been published in the renowned science journal ‹Science›, which examined the spread in China. This makes it clear that around 85 percent of all infections have occurred without anyone noticing the infection. 90 percent of the deceased patients are verifiably over 70 years old, 50 percent over 80 years.
[…]
In Italy, one in ten people diagnosed die, according to the findings of the Science publication, that is statistically one of every 1,000 people infected. Each individual case is tragic, but often – similar to the flu season – it affects people who are at the end of their lives.
[…]
If we close the schools, we will prevent the children from quickly becoming immune.
[…]
We should better integrate the scientific facts into the political decisions.
– Interview in St. Galler Tagblatt, 22nd March 2020

Frank Ulrich Montgomery is German radiologist, former President of the German Medical Association and Deputy Chairman of the World Medical Association.
What he says:

I’m not a fan of lockdown. Anyone who imposes something like this must also say when and how to pick it up again. Since we have to assume that the virus will be with us for a long time, I wonder when we will return to normal? You can’t keep schools and daycare centers closed until the end of the year. Because it will take at least that long until we have a vaccine. Italy has imposed a lockdown and has the opposite effect. They quickly reached their capacity limits, but did not slow down the virus spread within the lockdown.
– Interview in General Anzeiger, 18th March 2020

Prof. Hendrik Streeck is a German HIV researcher, epidemiologist and clinical trialist. He is professor of virology, and the director of the Institute of Virology and HIV Research, at Bonn University.
What he says:

The new pathogen is not that dangerous, it is even less dangerous than Sars-1. The special thing is that Sars-CoV-2 replicates in the upper throat area and is therefore much more infectious because the virus jumps from throat to throat, so to speak. But that is also an advantage: Because Sars-1 replicates in the deep lungs, it is not so infectious, but it definitely gets on the lungs, which makes it more dangerous.
[…]
You also have to take into account that the Sars-CoV-2 deaths in Germany were exclusively old people. In Heinsberg, for example, a 78-year-old man with previous illnesses died of heart failure, and that without Sars-2 lung involvement. Since he was infected, he naturally appears in the Covid 19 statistics. But the question is whether he would not have died anyway, even without Sars-2.
– Interview in Frankfurter Allgemeine, 16th March 2020

Dr Yanis Roussel et. al. – A team of researchers from the Institut Hospitalo-universitaire Méditerranée Infection, Marseille and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille, conducting a peer-reviewed study on Coronavirus mortality for the government of France under the ‘Investments for the Future’ programme.
What they say:

The problem of SARS-CoV-2 is probably overestimated, as 2.6 million people die of respiratory infections each year compared with less than 4000 deaths for SARS-CoV-2 at the time of writing.
[…]
This study compared the mortality rate of SARS-CoV-2 in OECD countries (1.3%) with the mortality rate of common coronaviruses identified in AP-HM patients (0.8%) from 1 January 2013 to 2 March 2020. Chi-squared test was performed, and the P-value was 0.11 (not significant).
[…]
…it should be noted that systematic studies of other coronaviruses (but not yet for SARS-CoV-2) have found that the percentage of asymptomatic carriers is equal to or even higher than the percentage of symptomatic patients. The same data for SARS-CoV-2 may soon be available, which will further reduce the relative risk associated with this specific pathology.
– “SARS-CoV-2: fear versus data”, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, 19th March 2020

Dr. David Katz is an American physician and founding director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center
What he says:

I am deeply concerned that the social, economic and public health consequences of this near-total meltdown of normal life — schools and businesses closed, gatherings banned — will be long-lasting and calamitous, possibly graver than the direct toll of the virus itself. The stock market will bounce back in time, but many businesses never will. The unemployment, impoverishment and despair likely to result will be public health scourges of the first order.
– “Is Our Fight Against Coronavirus Worse Than the Disease?”, New York Times 20th March 2020

Michael T. Osterholm is regents professor and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
What he says:

Consider the effect of shutting down offices, schools, transportation systems, restaurants, hotels, stores, theaters, concert halls, sporting events and other venues indefinitely and leaving all of their workers unemployed and on the public dole. The likely result would be not just a depression but a complete economic breakdown, with countless permanently lost jobs, long before a vaccine is ready or natural immunity takes hold.
[…]
[T]he best alternative will probably entail letting those at low risk for serious disease continue to work, keep business and manufacturing operating, and “run” society, while at the same time advising higher-risk individuals to protect themselves through physical distancing and ramping up our health-care capacity as aggressively as possible. With this battle plan, we could gradually build up immunity without destroying the financial structure on which our lives are based.
– “Facing covid-19 reality: A national lockdown is no cure”, Washington Post 21st March 2020

Dr Peter Goetzsche is Professor of Clinical Research Design and Analysis at the University of Copenhagen and founder of the Cochrane Medical Collaboration. He has written several books on corruption in the field of medicine and the power of big pharmaceutical companies.
What he says:

Our main problem is that no one will ever get in trouble for measures that are too draconian. They will only get in trouble if they do too little. So, our politicians and those working with public health do much more than they should do.

No such draconian measures were applied during the 2009 influenza pandemic, and they obviously cannot be applied every winter, which is all year round, as it is always winter somewhere. We cannot close down the whole world permanently.

Should it turn out that the epidemic wanes before long, there will be a queue of people wanting to take credit for this. And we can be damned sure draconian measures will be applied again next time. But remember the joke about tigers. “Why do you blow the horn?” “To keep the tigers away.” “But there are no tigers here.” “There you see!”
– “Corona: an epidemic of mass panic”, blog post on Deadly Medicines 21st March 2020

If you can find any other examples of noteworthy experts deviating from the mainstream narrative, please post them (at the Off-Guardian website). As always, this list would have been impossible to build without Swiss Propaganda Research. Follow their work and share widely. An indispensable resource.
Source.

Published on March 26, 2020

God's ability

 God's ability
Relatively few people really doubt God's ability, but rather, it is our doubt of His willingness to use His ability on our behalf that causes most people to do without.
 Jesus assures us that God's love, and His willingness to demonstrate that love, is far greater than we can ever experience in any human relationship. Not only does He want our love, but he wants you to let Him love you today.

What do you seek dear friend? 

Most people seem to have only self-centered desires - rather than the main purpose of The Lord God,s desires for loving your neighbors before self!
You can change your priorities and value to follow the Agape Love of God in your life! 

Seek today to follow the dictates of the Kingdom of God and the directions from the Gospel of Christ, so that your way will be open to you thru peace and many Blessing!  

He is faithful and can do all!

Quand Meme means ??

Easy English to French meanings!
What is Quand Meme mean in English anyway?

Translations of quand même =
" English for Still or any derivative of (so - so) or (like this or like that)!"

adverb  -  Most Frequency used top downward:  =====
still                   encore, toujours, quand même, tout de même anyway de toute façon, quand même, en tout cas, d'ailleurs, par n'importe quelle façon, n'importe comment
nevertheless cependant, toutefois, pourtant, quand même, malgré tout
nonetheless cependant, toutefois, pourtant, quand même, malgré tout
yet encore, toujours, alors, déjà, même, quand même
notwithstanding malgré tout, quand même, tout de même
** Plus more uses like:
anyhow de toute façon, quand même, n'importe comment
though cependant, pourtant, quand même
even if même si, quand bien même, quand même, alors même
even though alors même que, quand même, malgré ses efforts
regardless quand même

Faith must always be part of any divine intervention

Whose Faith Was It?

Luke 7:13-14, 'And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said unto her, Weep not, And he came and touched the bier: and they that bear him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.'

LUKE 7:11-17

This example of the widow's son being raised from the dead is often used to demonstrate that Jesus produced many miracles without any faith from those receiving the miracle, but by His faith alone. However, the prayer in Mark 6:5-6 shows that Jesus could not (nor would not) do many mighty works in His home town because of the people's unbelief. Many scriptures reveal that faith must be present to receive from God (Mk. 11:23-24; Jas. 1:5-7).

So, whose faith was present in this instance? First, the mother of the boy responded to Jesus in faith. For this woman to allow Jesus to interrupt the funeral procession and tell her to stop weeping has to be viewed as a positive response. These people were no different from mourners at funerals today. If she had rebelled at Jesus' intrusion, the crowd would have sided with her because of pity, but none of these reactions are recorded. Jesus was in command.

Second, it cannot be proven that a dead person has no choice in what happens. We may take it for granted, but the scriptures don't state that. A person doesn't cease to exist at death; he simply leaves his body. The person is still very much alive. Many people who have been raised from the dead have mentioned that they had a choice in whether or not to enter their bodies again. Although this principle cannot be verified by scripture, it cannot be ruled out by scripture either.

In any case, to be consistent with the rest of scripture, some degree of faith had to be present in either the person receiving the miracle, or an intercessor (in this case, the mother). Reach out in faith to receive your miracle today.

** Take notice that Faith must always be part of any divine intervention!

A spicial message on Faith and Love in action

a post by Kim Echols Obermeyer

Copied: ❤

The reports are that the truckers are getting supplies to the stores. People are stocking the shelves all night and letting old people shop first. Carnival Cruise line told Trump “We can match those big Navy Hospital ships with some fully staffed cruise ships,” GM said to hold our cars and watch this; we can make those ventilators where we were making cars starting next week. Women and children are making homemade masks and handing out snacks to truckers. 

Restaurants and schools said We’ve got kitchens and staff; we can feed kids.” Churches are holding on-line services and taking care of their members and community. NBA basketball players said, “Hold our basketballs while we write checks to pay the arena staff.”

 Construction companies said, “Here are some masks for the medical staff and doctors”. Breweries are making sanitizer out of the left-over ingredients. We thought we couldn’t live without Baseball, NASCAR, NBA or going to the beach, restaurants or a bar. Instead, we’re trying to keep those businesses open by ordering take-out.

You’ve got two Democrat Governors getting told “We will make it happen” by a Republican President who has fought with them for three and half years. While the media keeps repeating itself, “We are a nation divided.”

What communist China didn't count on was America saying "Hey, hold my iced tea and watch this."

I think a Japanese Admiral in the middle of the Pacific said it best in 1941, "I think we have awakened a sleeping giant."

Give us a few more weeks (maybe months) and we will be doing much better! And stop listening to the hysterical media!!

Sharing this from another FB friend. We have a wonderful country and an amazing God.

I know we will be ok.🇺🇸🙏🏻🙌🏻🙏🏻🇺🇸

#unitedwestand

I can’t love this enough -  It is way past time to stop fighting in Congress and help get America back on track and fighting this virus! ❤️🙌🏻

Faith can perceive things that the senses cannot (Heb. 11:1).

Faith can perceive things that the senses cannot (Heb. 11:1).

God's Kind Of Love

 

Matthew 8:9-10, 'For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard it he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.'

MATTHEW 8:5-13, LUKE 7:1-10

There were only two things in all of scripture that caused Jesus to marvel. They were (1) the Centurion's faith and (2) the Jews' unbelief (Mk. 6:6). A faith that made Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith, the marvel is worth examining. This centurion believed that the spoken word of Jesus was sufficient to produce his miracle. He didn't need Jesus to come to his house. He had faith in Jesus' word. 

Therefore, we can see that the person who simply believes the written Word of God is operating in a much higher form of faith than those who require additional proof. Compare this centurion's faith with the 'little' faith of Thomas in  John 20:24-29!

Thomas refused to believe what He couldn't see or feel. Our five senses were given to us by God and are necessary to help us function in this life. But if we do not renew our minds to acknowledge the limits of the five senses, they will keep us from believing. Faith can perceive things that the senses cannot (Heb. 11:1).

The type of faith that Thomas operated in was a human or natural faith that was based on what he could see. Jesus said there was a greater blessing to be obtained. That greater blessing comes from using a supernatural, God-kind of faith that is based only on God's Word.

Jesus and God's Word are one (Jn 1:1, 14). Believing God's Word is not just putting your trust in some printed words on the pages of a book we call the Bible. There is much more involved. It is a relationship with a person, the person behind the words. Get to know Him through His Word.

Only Grace and Mercy = Salvation

  Grace and Mercy can only be given - never earned!

His Mercy Endures Forever

  MATTHEW 12:20, 'A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he sends forth judgment unto victory.'

MATTHEW 12:15-21, MARK 3:7-19, LUKE 6:12-16

One of the ways in which God's goodness is revealed is in mercy. We may describe mercy as the readiness of God to relieve the misery of fallen creatures. Many times, mercy is called compassion or lovingkindness.
 It is expressed toward the sinner because of the misery that sin has brought upon him.

The 'reed' referred to in this passage is probably speaking of the reeds that grew in the marshy areas in the land of Palestine. These were very fragile and could be easily bruised or broken. The term 'smoking flax' refers to a linen wick which was made from flax and burned brightly when floating on oil in an open lamp. However, when the oil was depleted, the flax would just smoke until the oil was replenished.

The meaning of these illustrations is that Jesus is ministering in mercy to those who have been bruised or broken (Lk. 4:18), and to those who have lost their oil (spirit). He has come to fill them anew (Mt. 5:3; Acts 1:5; 2:4). The Jews were used to the the judgment of the law but Jesus came to minister grace and truth (Jn. 1:17), even to the Gentiles (Mt. 12:18, 21).

God's mercy to the believer is revealed by His act of taking away the misery of sin's consequences through the New Covenant of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is given to us because of God's mercy. It's not something we've merited or earned. As the Apostle Paul states, 'Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to HIS MERCY He saved us' (Ti. 3:5). God is for you, not against you.

 Cast all of your care upon Him, because His mercy endures forever!

‘þetta reddast’

From: An article
This article was originally published on June 4, 2018, by BBC Travel

The Unexpected Philosophy Icelanders Live By

If Iceland were to have a national slogan,

 it would be ‘þetta reddast’,  (pronounced thet-ta red-ust)

which roughly translates to the idea that " everything will work out all right in the end."

**   The Little Book of the Icelanders in the Old Days, 

 recounts some of these hardships: the long winters; extreme poverty; indentured servitude. There were volcanic eruptions, like the 1783 Laki an eruption that killed 20 percent of the 50,000-strong population, as well as 80 percent of its sheep, which were a vital food source in a country with little agriculture. There were storms that swept in and sank the open rowboats used for fishing, wiping out much of the male populations of entire towns. Things were so bad that even up through the 18th Century, 30 percent of babies died before they turned one. 

 Just 45 years ago, the Eldfell volcano exploded on the small island of Heimaey, spewing millions of tons of ash, engulfing 400 buildings and forcing the evacuation of all 5,000 people who lived there. And just 23 years ago, a massive avalanche decimated the town of Flateyri in the Westfjords, burying more than a dozen homes and killing 20 of the town’s 300 residents.

 Maybe it makes sense, then, that in a place where people were – and still are – so often at the mercy of the weather, the land and the island’s unique geological forces, they’ve learned to give up control, leave things to fate and hope for the best. For these stoic and even-tempered Icelanders, þetta reddast is less a starry-eyed refusal to deal with problems and more an admission that sometimes you must make the best of the hand you’ve been dealt.

The phrase begins to be a little more understandable when you find out that the first Icelanders weren’t marauding Vikings who bravely sailed across the ocean in search of new lands to raid and tribes to wage war upon. Rather, they were mostly Norwegian farmers and peasants fleeing slavery and death at the hands of King Harald Finehair in the 9th Century. They so feared his wrath that they risked the 1,500km journey across the rough North Atlantic seas in small open-hulled boats. It’s hard to imagine those early settlers making the journey – one undertaken with no maps or navigational tools – without a little bit of blind hope.

“We couldn’t live in this environment without a certain level of conviction that things will work out somehow, hard as they seem in the moment,” Ösp said. “Þedda redast represents a certain optimism that Icelanders have and this carefree attitude that borders on recklessness. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t, but we don’t let that stop us from trying.”

With the conditions we live under, we’re often forced to make the impossible possible

 Even on a day without disasters, Iceland is beholden to the forces of nature. The island moves and breathes in a way few others do; fumaroles exhale steam; hot springs gurgle; geysers belch and bubble; waterfalls thunder. The country sits on the rift between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, and those plates are slowly moving apart, widening Iceland by about 3cm per year and causing an average of 500 small earthquakes every week.

Iceland is beholden to the forces of nature

The country’s weather is just as volatile and formidable. Windstorms can reach hurricane force, strong storms can sweep in even in summer, and, on the darkest winter days, the sun shines for just four hours.

When you come to realize that slogans represent the feelings or ambitions of certain groups of people - it becomes a statement of faith and fact!

Many people never look at a positive outlook or solution to many of their problems in life! Yet if you stop and look at all things that occur in our existence here upon the earth - under the right conditions a positive resolution or solution is possible!   

This is the message and idea of the Icelandic Moto is a representative statement of all most of us want to believe - that by living the Commandment of Love your Neighbor - is an eternal principle in the world! 

OK now maybe you will stop saying " you just do not know the problems I have seen! "- Because it's your effort and Faith that will bring you through! 

 

This article was originally published on June 4, 2018, by BBC Travel, and is republished here with permission.

Amen! 

'truth will set you free" phrase is being hijacked

**  A reprint below from a post reply: 

Edmundo Santiago, Author at Providence and Prescience

Answered Dec 12, 2018, · Author has 307 answers and 27.9k answer views

I often find the 'truth will set you free' phrase being hijacked.

Like so many other portions of Scripture or God's historical imprint on earth, it is hijacked and used in a way far from the original message.

In this way, Truth can be thrown to the ground and confuse the simpleminded.

Some manners of this borrowing is to support a political argument or to expose something darkly occult or seemingly nefarious.

I see it when crimes of past government employees or private citizens are brought to light, and an argument is made in using 'the truth' of such crimes being made known will somehow 'set you free'.

Free to get angry, that's' for sure.

Free to affirm that men can be very sinful and blind.

But usually, it is used to pit one group or ideology against another... with the disseminator of that 'truth' is the one that is 'free' and in the light.

But such is not the case.

Let us explore the context of where that phrase is cited.

Let us consider what is being messaged, and in which manner 'truth' is being mentioned.

Every person has their own perception of 'truth'.

For the individual mind and life experience, one thing may seem 'true'... until Truth clarifies things in the Light.

Reading the wider context where the phrase ‘the truth will set you free’ is found:

Even as He spoke, many believed in Him.

To the Jews who had believed Him, Yeshua said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples.

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone.

How can you say that we shall be set free?”

Yeshua replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

- John 8: 30–36

The freedom being talked about is freedom from sin's grip.

Spiritual reality is being talked about by Christ.

The listeners balked and contended He was talking about a physical state of enslavement.

Thus the phrase was conveyed in spiritual terms in speaking about being free from sin.

Going through the context from first to last, we read about those who 'believed' in Yeshua.

God speaks to those who believe, to those He has chosen to have open ears, open eyes, open hearts.

Although others may 'hear' things, they do not understand... and fail to believe.

Since faith/belief is a gift from God, it is God who elects men to actually believe the testimony of the Gospel.

Thus not all will believe although they 'heard' the message of the Gospel or have heard about what God accomplished for them in Christ.

Thus, here we can identify how one man's truth is not what another man recognizes as Truth.

Next, notice those who believe are asked to ‘hold to the teachings’ of the Messiah.

Obedience to the Word of God identifies the believer as His disciple (student, follower).

So it isn't only about only believing, but also doing/obeying the Way.

It is by living such a life that ‘truth’ will be revealed to the believer.

That truth is what sets you free.

The experience of believing in Christ, of following His teaching of righteousness, of experiencing the trials and tribulations of this world when evil contends against your faithful walk.

THIS is what reveals the truth... and sets you free.

The truth of living a life as described here:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.

- Romans 12: 1–2

This is the freedom in Christ.

It is a spiritual reality that helps the believer avoid sin and patterns of depravity.

This is what men’s religions attempt to do, but it is Christ who taught it then and teaches it Today.

It was initially lived out (fulfilled) by Christ so men can have an archetype to follow.

It is through faith in Christ that the believer is able to live it out... and be free.

Nothing to do with political pandering, or suspicions of things dark, or of men's intrigues.

It is actually freedom from such traps of people's minds.

  =====