The True Story of Rudolph

A man named Bob May, depressed and brokenhearted, stared out his drafty apartment window into the chilling December night.

His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing.

Bob's wife, Evelyn, was dying  of cancer.

Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy could never come home.  Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just like everybody else's Mommy?"

Bob's jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears. Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger.

It had been the story of Bob's life. Life always had to be different for Bob. Small when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not remember. From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in.

Bob did complete college, married his loving wife and was grateful to get his job as a copywriter at Montgomery Wards during the Great Depression.

Then he was blessed with his little girl. But it was all short-lived.  Evelyn's bout with cancer stripped them of all their savings and now Bob and his daughter were forced to live in a two-room apartment in the Chicago slums. Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938.

Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy a Christmas gift. But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined to make one - a storybook!

Bob had created an animal character in his own mind and told the animal's story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope. Again and again Bob told the story, embellishing it more with each telling.

Who was the character? What was the story all about?

The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form.  The character he created was a misfit outcast like he was. The name of the character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose.

Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day. But the story doesn't end there. The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print  the book. Wards went on to print, “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and   distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores.

By 1946 Wards had printed and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Wards to print an updated version of the book.

In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Wards returned all rights back to Bob May.

The book became a best seller. Many toy and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy from the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter. But the story doesn't end there either.

Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to Rudolph.  Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore, it was recorded by the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White Christmas."

The  gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so  long ago kept on returning back to bless him again and  again. And Bob May learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn't so bad.

In fact, being different can be a blessing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Enjoy life...it has an expiration date! 

In God We Trust

Can Magnet Therapy Relieve Your Pain?

Updated November 25, 2014.

What is Magnetic Therapy?

Magnetic therapy is based on the theory that when delivered directly to the body magnetic fields can stimulate healing from a range of health problems. Although its health claims include the treatment of multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, arthritis, insomnia, inflammation, and even cancer and heart disease, there is little scientific evidence for magnetic therapy's effectiveness.

How Does Magnetic Therapy Work?

Magnet therapy takes many different forms. In some cases, magnets are applied to illness-affected areas with the help of wraps, shoe inserts, self-adhesive strips, belts, or "magnetic jewelry" like bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. Other products include magnetic mattress pads and blankets, as well as magnetic-field-generating machines and even magnet-conditioned water.

·         Magnetic Therapy

·         Magnetic Bracelets

·         Holistic Acupuncture

·         Acupuncture for Anxiety

·         Alternative Medicine

Since scientific support for its use is so limited, it's difficult to determine how magnetic therapy might promote healing. However, proponents maintain that magnets can stimulate circulation, relax the blood vessels, increase endorphin levels, reduce muscle tension, and normalize metabolic functioning. 

Magnetic Therapy Research

Even though claims that magnetic therapy can treat diseases like cancer and multiple sclerosis are unfounded, there is some evidence that it may help relieve pain related to these chronic conditions:

1) Arthritis

In a 2004 study of 194 adults with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee, researchers found that those who wore magnetic bracelets for 12 weeks had a decrease in arthritis-associated pain. Meanwhile, a 2001 study of 64 people with rheumatoid arthritis of the knee showed that 68% of those who used magnetic therapy reported feeling better or much better after one week.

2) Chronic Pelvic Pain

For a 2002 study of 32 women with chronic pelvic pain, one group of patients had active or placebo magnets applied to their abdomens for 24 hours a day. After four weeks of continuous use, those who received the active magnets reported significantly lower pain levels than at the start of the study.

3) Fibromyalgia

After six weeks of sleeping on magnetized mattress pads, 13 women with fibromyalgia reported significantly less pain, sleep disturbance, fatigue, and next-day tiredness. A control group of 12 women (who slept on non-magnetized mattresses) had smaller improvements in pain, sleep, fatigue, and tiredness. The study's authors note that improvements in both groups might have been due to use of a better mattress pad.

More Science on Magnetic Therapy

There is also evidence that magnetic therapy may help reduce neck pain, post-polio pain, and diabetic foot pain. But in studies on the use of magnetic therapy for relief of chronic low back pain and wrist pain related to carpal tunnel syndrome, researchers found magnets no more effective than placebo treatments.

Magnetic therapy may show promise in the treatment of female urinary continence, however: In a 2004 study of 24 patients, 58% of participants showed improvement after eight weeks of receiving twice-weekly magnetic stimulation of the pelvic floor.

Caveats

If you're undergoing radiology, it's important to avoid the use of magnetic devices. Pregnant women and people with cardiac pacemakers should also forego magnetic therapy.

In addition, it's important to consult your doctor about the condition you're seeking to alleviate through magnetic therapy and to discuss the potential risks and benefits of magnetic therapy. Self-treating and avoiding or delaying standard care can have serious consequences.

Sources:

Brown CS, Ling FW, Wan JY, Pilla AA. "Efficacy of static magnetic field therapy in chronic pelvic pain: a double-blind pilot study." American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2002 187(6):1581-7.

Chandi DD, Groenendijk PM, Venema PL. "Functional extracorporeal magnetic stimulation as a treatment for female urinary incontinence: 'the chair'." BJU International 2004;93(4):539-42.

Colbert AP, et al. "Magnetic mattress pad use in patients with fibromyalgia: a randomized double-blind pilot study." Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation 1999;13:19-31.

Segal NA, Toda Y, Huston J, Saeki Y, Shimizu M, Fuchs H, Shimaoka Y, Holcomb R, McLean MJ. "Two configurations of static magnetic fields for treating rheumatoid arthritis of the knee: a double-blind clinical trial." Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2001 82(10):1453-60.

Tim Harlow, Colin Greaves, Adrian White, Liz Brown, Anna Hart, Edzard Ernst. "Randomised controlled trial of magnetic bracelets for relieving pain in osteoarthritis of the hip and knee." British Medical Journal 2004;329:1450-1454.

Disclaimer: The information contained on this site is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for advice, diagnosis or treatment by a licensed physician. It is not meant to cover all possible precautions, drug interactions, circumstances or adverse effects. You should seek prompt medical care for any health issues and consult your doctor before using alternative medicine or making a change to your regimen.

WSJ: Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God

By

Eric Metaxas

Dec. 25, 2014 4:56 p.m. ET

In 1966 Time magazine ran a cover story asking: Is God Dead? Many have accepted the cultural narrative that he’s obsolete—that as science progresses, there is less need for a “God” to explain the universe. Yet it turns out that the rumors of God’s death were premature. More amazing is that the relatively recent case for his existence comes from a surprising place—science itself.

Here’s the story: The same year Time featured the now-famous headline, the astronomer Carl Sagan announced that there were two important criteria for a planet to support life: The right kind of star, and a planet the right distance from that star. Given the roughly octillion—1 followed by 24 zeros—planets in the universe, there should have been about septillion—1 followed by 21 zeros—planets capable of supporting life.

With such spectacular odds, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a large, expensive collection of private and publicly funded projects launched in the 1960s, was sure to turn up something soon. Scientists listened with a vast radio telescopic network for signals that resembled coded intelligence and were not merely random. But as years passed, the silence from the rest of the universe was deafening. Congress defunded SETI in 1993, but the search continues with private funds. As of 2014, researches have discovered precisely bubkis—0 followed by nothing.

What happened? As our knowledge of the universe increased, it became clear that there were far more factors necessary for life than Sagan supposed. His two parameters grew to 10 and then 20 and then 50, and so the number of potentially life-supporting planets decreased accordingly. The number dropped to a few thousand planets and kept on plummeting.

Even SETI proponents acknowledged the problem. Peter Schenkel wrote in a 2006 piece for Skeptical Inquirer magazine: “In light of new findings and insights, it seems appropriate to put excessive euphoria to rest . . . . We should quietly admit that the early estimates . . . may no longer be tenable.”

As factors continued to be discovered, the number of possible planets hit zero, and kept going. In other words, the odds turned against any planet in the universe supporting life, including this one. Probability said that even we shouldn't be here.

Today there are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life—every single one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart. Without a massive planet like Jupiter nearby, whose gravity will draw away asteroids, a thousand times as many would hit Earth’s surface. The odds against life in the universe are simply astonishing.

Yet here we are, not only existing, but talking about existing. What can account for it? Can every one of those many parameters have been perfect by accident? At what point is it fair to admit that science suggests that we cannot be the result of random forces? Doesn't assuming that an intelligence created these perfect conditions require far less faith than believing that a life-sustaining Earth just happened to beat the inconceivable odds to come into being?

There’s more. The fine-tuning necessary for life to exist on a planet is nothing compared with the fine-tuning required for the universe to exist at all. For example, astrophysicists now know that the values of the four fundamental forces—gravity, the electromagnetic force, and the “strong” and “weak” nuclear forces—were determined less than one millionth of a second after the big bang. Alter any one value and the universe could not exist. For instance, if the ratio between the nuclear strong force and the electromagnetic force had been off by the tiniest fraction of the tiniest fraction—by even one part in 100,000,000,000,000,000—then no stars could have ever formed at all. Feel free to gulp.

Multiply that single parameter by all the other necessary conditions, and the odds against the universe existing are so heart-stoppingly astronomical that the notion that it all “just happened” defies common sense. It would be like tossing a coin and having it come up heads 10 Quintilian times in a row. Really?

Fred Hoyle, the astronomer who coined the term “big bang,” said that his atheism was “greatly shaken” at these developments. He later wrote that “a common-sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with the physics, as well as with chemistry and biology . . . . The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.”

Theoretical physicist Paul Davies has said that “the appearance of design is overwhelming” and Oxford professor Dr. John Lennox has said “the more we get to know about our universe, the more the hypothesis that there is a Creator . . . gains in credibility as the best explanation of why we are here.”

The greatest miracle of all time, without any close seconds, is the universe. It is the miracle of all miracles, one that ineluctably points with the combined brightness of every star to something—or Someone—beyond itself.

Mr. Metaxas is the author, most recently, of “Miracles: What They Are, Why They Happen, and How They Can Change Your Life” ( Dutton Adult, 2014).