Physical fruits!!!

Spirituality is sometimes way too abstract for people... what is love? what is joy? What are those spiritual fruits? However, we all know what's an apple, pear, or banana, right? ;)

Anyway, what's amazing is that the love of my life and myself are both not that much of a fruit lover. I don't regularly eat fruits... and nor do my wife. However, recently Boeing and Mayo Clinic has teamed up to care for employee's health. We even got a $100 gift certificate just for participating on some online health survey... and the people at Mayo clinic even went as far as calling us to help steer us on a more healthy path. The person I spoke to plan on coaching me to eat healthier, and to exercise for 6 months so that I can lost some weight.

And the end result is that we are eating more fruits, and wife is already experiencing some differences/benefits of our healthier eating! Thank God for them!!!

In retrospect, what is wrong with these people? Not only are they not getting paid by us, they actually gave us $100!!!!!!! Are they stupid or something? ;)

So I did some research. About Mayo Clinic: It is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a philosophy of "the needs of the patient come first." More than 3,300 physicians, scientists and researchers and 46,000 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has sites in Rochester, Minn., Jacksonville, Fla., and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz. Collectively, the three locations treat more than half a million people each year.

So how did they get started? Perhaps it was fate, perhaps happenstance or maybe even luck. Whatever you decide, this is certainly a story about being at the right place at the right time -- a moment in history when scientific discovery made possible the creation of modern medicine. It's also a story of an extraordinary family -- Dr. William Worrall Mayo, a frontier doctor, and his two sons, Dr. William J. Mayo and Dr. Charles H. Mayo, and the great institution they built, Mayo Clinic. It's the story of a deadly tornado and the partnership that evolved between the Mayo family and the Sisters of Saint Francis. It's a story about unusual dedication, willingness to face a hostile and harsh environment, a story of discovery, sharing, collaboration, selflessness and generosity. It's also a story of how people came together in a small town on the edge of America's Great Plains and built the first integrated medical practice and how that practice developed a model dedicated to providing the best care to every patient every day.

Anyway, I've decided that they are doing God's work! Yes!!! Thank YOU LORD!!!! :)

Today's scripture reading is about Zechariah, father of John the Baptist. I really like his prayer:

Luke 1
68 主 ─ 以 色 列 的 神 是 應 當 稱 頌 的 ！ 因 他 眷 顧 他 的 百 姓 ， 為 他 們 施 行 救 贖 ，
69 在 他 僕 人 大 衛 家 中 ， 為 我 們 興 起 了 拯 救 的 角 ，
70 正 如 主 藉 著 從 創 世 以 來 聖 先 知 的 口 所 說 的 話 ，
71 拯 救 我 們 脫 離 仇 敵 和 一 切 恨 我 們 之 人 的 手 ，
72 向 我 們 列 祖 施 憐 憫 ， 記 念 他 的 聖 約 ─
73 就 是 他 對 我 們 祖 宗 亞 伯 拉 罕 所 起 的 誓 ─
74 叫 我 們 既 從 仇 敵 手 中 被 救 出 來 ，
75 就 可 以 終 身 在 他 面 前 ， 坦 然 無 懼 的 用 聖 潔 、 公 義 事 奉 他 。
76 孩 子 阿 ！ 你 要 稱 為 至 高 者 的 先 知 ； 因 為 你 要 行 在 主 的 前 面 ， 預 備 他 的 道 路 ，
77 叫 他 的 百 姓 因 罪 得 赦 ， 就 知 道 救 恩 。
78 因 我 們 神 憐 憫 的 心 腸 ， 叫 清 晨 的 日 光 從 高 天 臨 到 我 們 ，
79 要 照 亮 坐 在 黑 暗 中 死 蔭 裡 的 人 ， 把 我 們 的 腳 引 到 平 安 的 路 上 。

We ought to be grateful to be able to enjoy fruits, we also ought to produce fruits so that other may enjoy the same things we've enjoyed! May we all be very very fruitful, both physically and spiritually!!! :)

(Luke 1:1-25,57-80)