In his love for and desire to express the beauty and fullness of God’s word, the writer of Psalm 119 took the 22 consonants of the Hebrew alphabet and wrote a psalm of 176 verses, with stanzas of 8 verses each, beginning with each letter.  Although our alphabet is different, if we read the psalm aloud from beginning to end, we will find ourselves caught up in the same love for and beauty of God’s word that moved the psalmist.

For the next 3 days, we will focus on Psalm 119, beginning with:

Psalm 119:9-16 [the letter Beth]

⁹ How can a young person stay on the path of purity?

By living according to your word.
¹⁰ I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
¹² Praise be to you, Lord;
teach me your decrees.
¹³ With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
¹⁴ I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
¹⁵ I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
¹⁶ I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.

One thing that resounds in my heart is this question of verse 9, “How can a young person stay on the path of purity?”  In other words, “How, God, can I continue on this amazing path you have just opened my eyes and heart to?”  Or, “How can our younger ones in the faith make it all the way on this journey, walk into all that we see and hope for them?”  Or, “How can our children make it in this world that seems crazier by the year?”

When you really think about it, it seems like a very hard question to answer, maybe even one without an answer or only wishful thinking in response.  But, there is an answer!  “By living according to your word.”  Verses 10-16 then describe in part what that looks like.

Let’s pray today for those who are “young” among us, whether young in faith or in years (and it may be yourself).  Let’s ask God for the ways described in verses 10-16 to abound in their (our) lives.  As we do so, let’s remember that Jesus is the Word and the fulfillment of God’s promises and laws.

When you have 5-10 minutes to yourself today, read Psalm 119:1-56 aloud, agreeing with the goodness of God’s word.

- BR

In a world where Donald Trump rules and nationalism grows, it might be difficult to understand why the metric system deserves to be talked about; but it does, and now more than ever, precisely because of the issues the nation faces today.

The United States is a strange country. Fast food is favorite, people own the most guns, and the football looks nothing like the rest of the world’s. To top off the strangeness, the United States does not use the metric system.

According to the CIA World Factbook, only three countries have not officially adopted the metric system, also known as SI: Burma, Liberia, and the United States. That makes the U.S. the only western industrialized nation in the world that has not gone metric. This fact alone is enough to make one wonder why the U.S. has not converted.

The SI is easy enough with its base-ten increments and prefix repetition. There is no stumbling around on Google to rediscover how many ounces are in a pound, no pointless confusion over whether the recipe calls for two teaspoons or two tablespoons of oil. Everyone’s lives would be easier if the metric system was used.

Perhaps the reason the United States has not switched is because Americans like being strange. The nation has always prided itself on being different. These differences have made the country what it is today; they give the American people a national identity. But what happens when national identity becomes dangerous, when people start to look at the world as “us and them” instead of one global community?

Gridlock. Chaos. The worst wars in modern history were all sparked by nationalism. Society becomes a hyped-up super frat club, with hot testosterone in its blood and latent anger in its shouts. Phenomena like Nazi Germany, American slavery, and Donald Trump are all results of misplaced nationalism. With so much emphasis on the power of “us,” people forget to quiet down and take a stroll in other side’s shoes.

Everybody knows of the danger that comes with extremes; extremists are currently the nation’s most violent enemies. But there is a more dangerous extremist in play, one ignorant of its own faults. It is an extremist that is so driven to be different and great that it will toss empathy out the window and crush the majority with sheer spite. Within the hearts of all Americans, all men and women with influence, there exists this horror.

Well, how is this all avoided? People emphasize the similarities and focus on bringing the world together until there is no “us” or “them” but a single community, one where all differences are eclipsed by striking commonalities. Herein lies the importance of the metric system. Living through the lens of a single measurement provides the U.S. the simplest, most subtle path to togetherness with the rest of the world.

Subtle divides show that there is a dark side to being unique, a side that parents and politicians rarely talk about. It is up to the U.S. to shove it into the light. Measured in lumens of course, not watts.

The post Why metric matters appeared first on The Retriever.

She is an a Biological Sciences major with a minor in Statistics. She was also a presenter at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in 2016. Her project focused on measuring the binding interaction between small molecule ligands and the Core Encapsidation Signal of HIV-1 RNA as a potential drug target. Her future goal will to include obtaining her MD/PhD. She would like to open her own research lab, or have a teaching position at a university or be a clinical researcher. In her free time she is a member of the UMBC gospel choir and Learning Assistant for Biology 141.

Ugonna's research will focus on understanding how and in which orientation certain classes of ligands bind to the recently determined CES structure. Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) has become a worldwide epidemic with a high rate of infection. HIV attacks and destroys the infection-fighting CD4 cells of the immune system. Without treatment, HIV can gradually destroy the immune system and advance to AIDS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. The purpose of this project is to develop therapeutics that target functional RNA elements within the highly-conserved 5′-untranslated region (UTR). The core encapsidation signal (CES) was identified as a minimal region within the 5’- UTR that is independently capable of directing the packaging of the virus’s unspliced dimeric genome.

Read more about her research here…

Program focuses on the preparation of undergraduate students who qualify as either low-income/first-generation college students or members of groups underrepresented in graduate education to pursue doctoral degrees.

 Offers a number of benefits, such as: summer and academic year research funding, assistance connecting with faculty research mentors, hands-on guidance and navigation through the graduate school application process, first-hand exposure to individuals who have earned PhD’s in their field of study, and the opportunity to attend research conferences (fully funded).

Link to program’s web page can be found at http://mcnair.umbc.edu/ where all pertinent information can be found. All inquiries from interested students can be sent to me at marks2@umbc.edu.

 Interested? Apply as soon as possible! Deadline is Friday, March 10^th.

Undergraduate Research Awards provide up to $1,500 to undergraduate students to support their research or creative work with a UMBC faculty mentor on an original project. 

UMBC students of all years and disciplines are invited to apply, as long as they will remain enrolled at UMBC long enough to complete the proposed work.

This is an award for all majors!  Visual artists, filmmakers, photographers-- we want your projects!

Apply Now!

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