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tip of the day: A Sandwich Option for Better Blood Pressure

Piling your favorite sandwich fixings on the right kind of bread could mean healthier blood pressure. The right choice? One hundred percent whole-grain.

A recent study showed that a diet high in whole grains may help reduce the risk of high blood pressure by as much as 20 percent. And all you have to do is check a label!

The Whole Whole-Grains Story
The story continues to unfold, but experts have some good guesses about how whole grains work their blood-pressure-lowering magic. It's a one-two punch: Whole grains contain potassium, which is the king of all blood-pressure taming minerals, and fiber, which helps you stay blood-pressure-friendly slim. Whole grains also make blood vessels more flexible -- important for preventing pressure buildup in arteries. Are you slim in the right places? Watch this video for clues into a healthy body shape.

Putting Whole Grains to Work:
Are you getting the most out of your grains? Here are some strategies for eking out all the body benefits:

* Eat 'em often. Find out how many servings you need for a flatter belly.
* Meet the whole family. Get to know these lesser-known but super healthful members of the whole-grain clan.
* Be brand finicky. Check out the top four bread brands that deliver the most fiber and nutrients without going overboard on calories.

Mmmm. Make your own hearty whole-grain bread. It's easy with this EatingWell recipe that takes only 1 hour: Oatmeal & Whole-Wheat Bread.

Actively patrolling your health can make your real age as much as 12 years younger

rediscovering our Advent spirituality

It is time to deal on things we hoped for as Advent season is just around the corner my friends....so let me refresh you of our present conditions and stand on the upcoming Advent!

Advent is part of the wider Christian year in which we mark time for the sake of Christian spirituality.

“The simple, unadorned purpose of the Christian year is to proclaim the gospel of God’s saving deeds with Christ.”

Christian year spirituality finds its roots in the Jewish pattern of marking time: “For the Jew to commemorate the past is not merely to recall it as a past event but to commemorate it in such a way that it gives the present new meaning . . . . Consequently, the past and the future converge on the present [kairos] in such a way that it makes a difference in the worshiper’s experience now.”

So, how does Advent make a difference in our worship now? For what action in mission does it form us?

To answer this question, we must look to the Scriptures, assigned by the lectionary, expounded in the Sundays of Advent:

1. The First Sunday: Eschatological – an adult Jesus tells us not even he knows the day or hour

2. The Second Sunday: John the Baptist – we learn about his special ministry calling people to repentance

3. The Third Sunday: John the Baptist – recognizes that he is not the Christ

4. The Fourth Sunday: The Annunciation – Gabriel reveals to Mary that the glory of the most high will overshadow her –

We must take into account the Scriptures expounded in Advent because the Christian year is driven by God’s Story of salvation in Jesus Christ – Scripture.

So, according to these passages and themes, what is the spirituality inherent in this season?

Advent is a time when we look and watch expectantly for Christ’s coming in glory – this results in living that images the end of days – eschaton – the new heavens and new earth.

Advent is a time when we pray desperately for God to ‘break in’ on us, to come in power and glory, to help us to cast off the works of darkness and enact works of light, works of God’s justice.

Advent is a time in which we recognize that this only happens as God comes to dwell with us – Emmanuel – indeed, the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ not only makes possible the salvation of the faithful, it also empowers and mandates our work of mission as Christ’s body.

“Advent is a time when we ask, even plead with God not to leave us alone, for when God leaves us to our own choices and turns us over to our own ways, we are certain to drift from him.”