The Invisible Resistance Theory: An Illustration Exploring Unseen Health Issues

I’ve often tried to explain to a friend, family member or co-worker why I can’t do all the things I used to do – all the things that most normal healthy people can do.  I probably try too hard to explain that actually, most of them are a pretty understanding bunch. 

I, like many others, have what I call an “Invisible Disease” which in turn causes all kinds of “invisible resistance” that healthy people normally do not experience. 

For me this invisible illness takes the form of depression and severe OCD. For others it could be any number of things – from the mental ( as I have mentioned) to the physical ( Multiple Sclerosis, Lyme Disease etc..) to the emotional ( i.e. having experienced severe abuse) and even to the spiritual ( As a Christian I believe in such a thing as spiritual warfare – good vs evil, a real and powerful spiritual enemy of humanity…). For people suffering with these things, it is not time that they do not have enough of ,  it is energy -  Physical, psychological or otherwise.

As I said at the outset of the blog, I’ve often tried to explain the invisible, not always with success. Not long ago I came across a brilliant illustration by Christine Miserandino on her blog “butyoudontlooksick.com” . She refers to this illustration as  “The Spoon Theory”. She writes

" As I went to take some of my medicine with a snack as I usually did, she (her roommate)  watched me with an awkward kind of stare, instead of continuing the conversation. She then asked me out of the blue what it felt like to have Lupus and be sick…. I started to ramble on about pills, and aches and pains, but she kept pursuing, and didn’t seem satisfied with my answers. I was a little surprised as being my roommate in college and friend for years; I thought she already knew the medical definition of Lupus. Then she looked at me with a face every sick person knows well, the face of pure curiosity about something no one healthy can truly understand. She asked what it felt like, not physically, but what it felt like to be me, to be sick.”

You can read more of the illustration she ended up giving here: The Spoon Theory

While I found the Spoon Theory to be excellent I’ve wondered about other illustrations – especially ones that may be more directed to men.  I have one here that I would like to share with you – it centres on the world of sports and athletics and  I think I will call it ‘The Invisible Resistance Theory” … or something like that.

In athletic training there is a growing use of ”resistance”  tools that provide additional resistance to or force against  the athlete in training. Some of these tools include speed parachutes (which you’ve probably seen on Nike and Reebok commercials)  and weighted clothing  from vests and backpacks to ankle and wrist weights.

In regards to “speed” or “running”  chutes , The Runner’s Guide describes them as such: 

“The excess fabric billowing behind the runner creates drag which makes the runner have to work harder to overcome this drag. This helps the runner to improve both his speed and his strength because the muscles are working hard to negate the resistance associated with the use of the running parachute.”

And howstuffworks.com adds:

“Speed chutes also afford runners a psychological edge. It's this extra mental resilience that shows when other runners tire out. When the winds gust against you while attacking the last big hill of the race, it's wind-resistance training like this that provides an extra edge.”

Wikipedia reports this about weighted clothing:

“Research demonstrates that using an overload during sprinting or speed drills requires lower-body muscles to generate more force against the ground which could lead to gains in strength and power and ultimately faster acceleration during running.

…..A standard form of military and fire fighter training is not only be able to carry a backpack, but to march and run with one loaded down with a concrete "marble". Part of SWAT training is to be able to do pull-ups wearing a heavy pack.”

So we can fairly easily grasp this concept of training and why it would prove beneficial in the official “race” or “game” when we are not held back by the extra resistance. That training now enables the athlete to  become faster, stronger,  more explosive and even more mentally strong.

But imagine this. It is the official sporting event but one of the athletes is forced to wear all of his resistance training tools.  He has a speed chute doing its best to create drag and his weighted clothing enhancing the power of gravity on his body.  If this athlete equalled the performance of his peer who had no resistance tools than we would say – “Amazing, that guy has overcome so many disadvantages and still performs so well”.  Even if the first athlete did not perform well we would all readily understand why and come to his defence as well as patting him on the back for the valiant effort.

But in order for this illustration to really work we must imagine one more thing – all of the resistance tools attached to this athlete are, in fact, invisible. They cannot, or will not, be seen by the crowd or his fellow athletes or even the officials of the competition.  He is not recognized for the extra effort he had to put in due to the disadvantages of the resistance tools and he receives no compassionate pat on the back. It is instead assumed that he is weak, lazy or maybe just a coward.

As the philosopher Albert Camus once wrote , “ Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.”

For someone who is relatively healthy and has never had a significant experience with this metaphorical  type of “invisible resistance” it can be very difficult to understand why another person seems so apparently “weak’ or “lazy” or “afraid”. For that matter, someone who has experienced one of these types of invisible resistance may find it hard to comprehend someone who is experiencing another kind.

It is so easy to judge; so inconvenient to take the time to educate ourselves on a given matter. But as one of the biblical proverbs reminds us:  “He who answers a matter before he hears it,
It is folly and shame to him.” Proverbs 18:13

While some things can never be fully understood until we, or someone we love, goes through it personally, there are still ways to learn and react in a positive way. Taking the time to educate ourselves on the topic at hand, to read or listen to firsthand accounts of people who have dealt with the issue  - or even simply to hold our tongue for the time being and to always remember to be compassionate. 

In this particular illustration, let’s ask ourselves “Why did that athlete perform so poorly compared to the others?” “Was there something bothering him or holding him back that we may not be aware of?” 

In real life – let’s take the time to find out before we judge.  Let’s take the time to find out so that we may instil confidence and encourage the athlete for his valiant effort. 

Chart - The Jewish Calendar and Day Structure

Here is a chart I made up of the Jewish Calendar and Day structure ( for Bible study purposes or whatever purposes) . The info was sourced from Nelson's Book of Bible Maps and Charts. Feel free to share or download - hope its put to good use 

The Avengers and Deity (spoiler alert)

A quick thought for you:  Remember that scene near the end of the movie where Loki demands that the Hulk stop and bow down to him because he is a god? Then the hulk proceeds to beat the living daylights out of Loki and utters something like “puny god”. 

There’s a great lesson for us here. I am personally quite tired of hearing about the deifying of ourselves … or of any human.  Some talk about it in terms of us “evolving” into gods, some in terms of meditation where we find our “inner” god, still others talk about being one with nature or the universe and thus fulfilling their godhead.   I think sometimes we need a “hulk” like beat down for our own humility.

Humans are not gods. You are not a god.  As Captain America says in the movie ( and what I believe as well) “There is only one God ma’am and I doubt he dresses like that (referring to Thor)”.  That’s cute – I like it.  But it is a serious truth.  God is sovereign, supreme and supernatural. He is far above us and the Bible teaches us that we are not worthy of Him. HOWEVER – God somehow finds in us, as His rebellious creation,  an intrinsic value and incomprehensible worth – worth dying for. And He did that by entering into full humanity - all the while retaining His full deity - in the person of Jesus Christ. 

 So it may be sad that “we are unworthy but full of worth”. It is only by understanding this background of rebelliousness we all share (you know – human nature), that we can truly understand the deep love God has for us and the great plans He has for us and to better us. 

And, admittedly , I need to work on understanding God’s  thoughts of worth towards me.

I’ll leave you with a few Bible verses:

"Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.... They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen."

Romans 1:22,25

Not to mention Ezekiel 28....

Eze 28:1 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,
Eze 28:2 "Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,' Yet you are a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god 
Eze 28:3 (Behold, you are wiser than Daniel! There is no secret that can be hidden from you!
Eze 28:4 With your wisdom and your understanding You have gained riches for yourself, And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
Eze 28:5 By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches, And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),"
Eze 28:6 'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,
Eze 28:7 Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you, The most terrible of the nations; And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, And defile your splendor.
Eze 28:8 They shall throw you down into the Pit, And you shall die the death of the slain In the midst of the seas.
Eze 28:9 "Will you still say before him who slays you, 'I am a god'? But you shall be a man, and not a god, In the hand of him who slays you.

Sherlock Holmes : Theist? (What a Lovely Thing a Rose Is)

I’ve finally been able to watch a bit of the BBC’s acclaimed series “Sherlock” and from what I’ve seen it seems to be as brilliant as the critics say. There is one thing that I find puzzling though. From what I have seen it is apparent that the writers of the show have presumed that if one transported the fictional character of Sherlock Holmes into the 21st century he would, without question, be an atheist. 

And I wonder why they presume this. Is it because of the character’s perceived emotionally bankrupt personality? If that is so then it is an insult to atheists. Is it because of Sherlock’s mastery of logic and precise scientific method? If that is true then it is an insult to theists ( who happen to make up some of the brightest minds in the world today).

It certainly cannot be an idea arrived upon by reading the original books. I’ve read nearly all of them and it is clear that the original Sherlock Holmes was a theist. Perhaps it may be argued that he was only a theist in the original works because of the time and place in which Conan Doyle wrote these ground-breaking books. However I highly doubt that as well as Conan Doyle uses that very mastery of logic in his protagonist to venerate the Creator. The best example of this may be found in The Naval Treaty in which Dr. Watson narrates:


"...the authorities are excellent on amassing facts, though they do not always use them to advantage. What a lovely thing a rose is!"  

He walked past the couch to the open window, and held up the drooping stalk of a moss rose, looking down at the dainty blend of crimson and green. It was a new phase of his character to me, for I have never before seen him show any keen interest in natural objects.

"There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion," said he, leaning with his back against the shutters.  "It can be built up as an exact science by the reasoner. Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to rest in flowers . 

All other things, our own powers our desires, our food, are really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its colour are an embellishment of life , not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers." 

from The Naval Treaty by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Pleiades, Orion and the Book of Job

"Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the belt of Orion? Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?

Job 38: 31-32

The Book of Job is perhaps the oldest book of the Bible and a literary masterpiece,  landing in many lists of the best literature of all time ( eg. The Guardian, World Library etc..) 

The actual writing of the book has been placed anywhere from 2100-1900 B.C. to somewhere between the 6th and 4th century B.C. However the Solomonic era  ( 14^th - 10^th century B.C.) seems to be the best fit as it is written in the style of the Hebrew poetic or “Wisdom” literature.

 However the time frame in which the events unfolded is undoubtedly in the patriarchal era ( 2100-1900 B.C., the time of Abraham). Jewish oral tradition is renowned for its accuracy and it would be from this that the author would have heard the story and put it into writing. *

The passage from Job that I would like to reflect upon in this little post is, as read above, chapter 38, verses 31 and 32. 

The constellations of Pleiades and Orion are mentioned much in ancient texts throughout the world. There is, however, in the Book of Job something a little deeper, something we only now in modern times fully understand.

To quote directly from former aerospace engineer, Warren Henderson:

We now understand what God was sharing with Job. Within the Taurus constellation is a tight grouping of stars in gravitational lock; they are called “Pleiades”.  Although many stars are in this cluster (about 440 light years away), only seven are discernible with the naked eye on a clear night.; sometimes these are referred to as “the seven sisters”.

Just as the Bible states, these stars are bound together; they cannot pull apart from one another. However, the constellation, Orion is composed of stars throughout our galaxy , and we know that the Milky Way is expanding. As the years roll by, Orion’s belt is literally letting out a notch.

The answer to God’s question to Job was that only God can arrange and control the constellations in such a way that He binds some stars together and loosens others.

Astronomy today defines Pleiades as an “Open Star Cluster”.

Wikipedia notes:  “They (Open Star Clusters) have long been known to be a physically related group of stars rather than any chance alignment. The Reverend John Michell calculated in 1767 that the probability of a chance alignment of so many bright stars was only 1 in 500,000, and so correctly surmised that the Pleiades and many other clusters of stars must be physically related.^[10] When studies were first made of the stars' proper motions, it was found that they are all moving in the same direction across the sky, at the same rate, further demonstrating that they were related.”

While Open Star Clusters are expected to eventually lose gravitational lock, the largest estimates of Pleiades say it is 75 – 150 million years old and will not disperse any of its stars for another  250 million years in the future.

As for the Belt of Orion, it is known as an “asterism” consisting of three stars – Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka.  

Again referencing Wikipedia we learn that an asterism is :  “a pattern of stars recognized on Earth's night sky. It may form part of an official constellation, or be composed of stars from more than one. Like constellations, asterisms are in most cases composed of stars which, while they are visible in the same general direction, are not physically related, often being at significantly different distances from Earth.”

Although  primarily a poetic book looking at God and the suffering of man, the Book of Job also comments on many scientific phenomena that have held true to this day. Just one more reason why I love and treasure the Bible.

**Of course Christians believe the Book of Job ( and all other books of the Bible) to be more than just great literature. We believe it to be the very Word of God to humankind and, despite how far-fetched this may seem to the secular person, there is actually a significant amount of objective data that lends credibility to the Bible - including scientific ( especially archaeology) and fulfilled historic prophecy and manuscript evidence. There are many good books on this topic if ever one finds oneself curious ( see The Case for Christ by Lee Stroebel, The Bible: Myth or Divine Truth by Warren Henderson and the writings of Dr. Craig Blomberg, Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Bruce Metzger for example…)

For an example of how the Bible penetrates the heart in a more subjective but just as powerful a way you may want to read this article on the great theologian and  WW2 hero Dietrich Bonheoffer here .