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Natural Awakenings Central New Jersey

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Songs of Freedom, We All Long for Liberty

The yearning for freedom is like a seed that dwells deep in our hearts—freedom from scarcity, from conflicting relationships, from addictions, from health issues. This yearning for freedom binds the centuries.

In the Americas, this clamor can be heard in the words of the national anthems of many countries. The Colombian national anthem mentions the “invisible light of sublime freedom.” The Uruguayan anthem says, “Freedom, that clamor that saved our country.” The Mexican anthem asks that “the echoes resound with voices of unity and freedom.” The Argentine anthem exclaims, “Listen, mortals, to the sacred cry: Freedom,” and the American anthem reminds us that this is “the land of the free.”

Mary Baker Eddy proclaims in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “Citizens of the world, accept the ‘glorious liberty of the children of God,’ and be free!”

Let the seed in your heart sprout.  Water it with gratitude. Accept the liberty to be free as your God-given nature. Yearn to see each other as God’s child, to feel God’s ever-present love and to grow freer and freer from all limitations—and watch as the seed’s tender shoots manifest themselves in improved health, progress and joy in families, friends and the world. Let freedom always be included in your anthem song. 

From a free podcast series titled Your Daily Lift. Songs of Freedom is by international speaker Enrique Smeke, a practitioner and teacher of Christian Science healing from Newburyport, MA, and Miami, FL, raised in Argentina. Used with permission of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston (ChristianScience.com/dailylift).

Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

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