The Striptease of Human Discovery

The universe is composed of classified information, slowly revealed over centuries in the striptease of human discovery. --Steve Rushin, from his Point After column in Sports Illustrated, 1/16/17

It's been more than a few days since I last posted-- January is in blink-and-you-miss-it full hum...the only collateral damage, so far, is a second bout of bronchitis that reared its ugly head last week. On Thursday I went back to the walk-in clinic and the doctor treating me said this persistent bronchitis is probably a form of "walking pneumonia" called mycoplasma pneumonia. Without other tests he couldn't be 100% sure, but he said the clinic had seen a lot of confirmed cases, all with lingering and recurring bronchitis symptoms. Anyway, maybe the azithromycin I'm on will finally exorcise this insidious evil from within...

Yesterday, I tried to get through our meeting with the district president without hacking-- near the end I'm sure I sounded like I had emphysema. In spite of that, I think the conversation went well; I sputtered briefly on one question, but, otherwise, I feel like we left a positive impression. And it seems ever more likely, in my opinion, that we will be called to serve in Texas; however, we won't know for certain until the end of April.

For this post's subject line, I borrowed from my favorite Sports Illustrated writer, Steve Rushin, whose opening sentence in this week's issue is a gem! What a great metaphor-- "the striptease of human discovery"...

...which applies to an infinite list of pursuits across a wide spectrum of scientific, religious, and other human interests, among them the popular pastime of family history research, and which brings me to the kissing-cousin relationship of DNA analysis and recorded bloodlines (yes, pun intended). My Ancestry DNA results are in (click to enlarge chart) and indicate that a skosh over a third of my genome markers point to Irish roots (ain't that a puck in the gob?!). Well, Irish, Welsh, and Scottish, really, as the primary geo-ethnic demographic. Sooooooo, what'll it be for dinner tonight? I think now I'm jonesin' for corned beef and cabbage...no, how 'bout some Welsh rarebit-- mm! mm!...nae, nae, lassie-- haggis and shortbread (it's offaly good)!!

It is interesting, and Ancestry attempts to match similar DNA profiles with others who have uploaded their family trees-- meaning the striptease could possibly reveal another human being with DNA eerily (but mathematically predictable, I suppose) similar to mine. And this genome typing provides only estimates of ethnicity (based on a growing databases of submitters and research that's very interesting, actually) and there are an infinite (theoretically) number of combinations and billions of people in the world. My wife's is still being processed. I'm curious to see her analysis (that may answer a few lingering questions...).

The week ahead may not kill me, but it's going to wear me down. There's so much going on and so much to do, the bulk of it seminary work. And this bronchitis or boogie-woogie flu or whatever it is has harshed my urge to get busy. Hopefully by this afternoon the fog will break and visibility will improve. I feel like I'm in the calm before the storm.

A closing shout-out for The Boys in Dallas! I'm looking forward to watching tomorrow's game against the Packers! It won't be easy, but I think they can do it!

That's it for today. If you are a prayer, keep me/us in yours, please, that next week (and the week after-- big interview on the 27th) will keep me in it through the last round...

С Богом, ya'll.