11. Care of Creation- Week 7 Lecture

Dr. Arand explains our role in creation and how we are to care for God\u27s creation in the here and now.https://scholar.csl.edu/care_of_creation/1010/thumbnail.jp

Back to the Beginning Creation Shapes the Entire Story

So creation is more than a stage or scenery for God’s story. It is integral to the entire story. After all, the entire story is about God’s relationship to his creation, especially to those extraordinary creatures that he had formed from the ground to look after and cultivate his creation

Supraspinal Control of Unilateral Locomotor Performance: An FMRI Study Using a Custom Pedaling Device

This study aimed to develop a novel unilateral pedaling device, validate its function, and use it in an fMRI study of bilateral vs. unilateral locomotor control. The new device is MRI compatible and allows for conventional coupled bilateral pedaling, along with decoupled unilateral pedaling. It was designed with an assistance mechanism to simulate the presence of the non-contributing leg while pedaling unilaterally. During coupled bilateral pedaling, the two legs work in unison: while one leg is extending in the downstroke, it provides support to lift the other leg back up as it is flexing in the upstroke. The device uses an eccentric pulley to stretch elastic bands during the downstroke, storing energy that is released back during the upstroke to assist the leg as the bands relax. A phantom scan in the MRI machine was performed, which confirmed that the device did not interfere with signal detection. Experiments were performed to test the function of the device, showing that the assistance mechanism was able to adequately simulate the presence of the non-contributing leg during unilateral pedaling. The velocity and EMG profiles matched between unilateral and bilateral pedaling, with consistent results across days. An fMRI study was performed to compare brain activation associated with coupled bilateral, right unilateral, and left unilateral pedaling in able-bodied individuals with a healthy nervous system. Task related brain activity was seen in the primary sensorimotor cortex (M1S1), Brodmann’s area 6 (BA6), and the cerebellum (Cb). The laterality of activation was shifted to the contralateral M1S1 and ipsilateral Cb during unilateral pedaling, but some bilateral activation remained. BA6 showed no lateralization in activity. Additionally, there was no difference in the magnitudes of the laterality shift in right and left pedaling, and bilateral pedaling was not shifted to either hemisphere. Volume during unilateral pedaling showed no significant change in any brain area across conditions. These observations of laterality and volume suggest the existence of common regions of brain activation for bilateral and unilateral pedaling. Mean intensity in the common area of activation was lower in M1S1, BA6, and Cb for right and left unilateral compared to bilateral pedaling

Proper 22 • Hebrews 2:1–13 (14–18)

Not only did God honor us with the role of being responsible over creation, he now honors us by becoming a human creature so that in him, that right dominion would be restored

Living in the Promises and Places of God A Theology of the World

In this discourse mutual witness is possible as the lives of both Christians and non-Christians function as a testimony to part of the story of God

Living In the Promises and Place of God- A Theology of The World

This Concordia Pages explores how locating the story of salvation within the broader, biblical story of creation impacts our witness in the world. In particular, it considers how being placed alongside our fellow creatures as recipients of God’s goodness and mercy opens up the possibility for a reciprocity of witness—the way in which our lives, contingent and intertwined, allow for both Christians and non-Christians to bear witness to the work and wonder of God. In such a context, the uniqueness of the Christian witness finds renewed purchase and possibility

Devotion in an Age of Distraction

Dr. Arand explores our connection to creation in our devotional life

“I Make These Confessions My Own” Lutheran Confessional Subscription in the Twenty-first Century Robert Kolb and Charles P. Arand

The spirit of Augsburg and the method of the Wittenberg theologians carry the content of the Lutheran confessional documents into the many societies and cultures of the twenty-first century in which God calls Lutherans to repeat their confession of faith for the benefit of church and world

Attending to the Beauty of Creation and the New Creation

The beauty of the earth, in all its intricacies, is a gift of the creator to us. And its value is not practical or ethical, but is given to us simply to delight us even as God delights in it. And it is powerful. N. T. Wright notes that beauty, whether in God’s creation or in human art, “is sometimes so powerful that it evokes our very deepest feelings of awe, wonder, gratitude, and reverence.”1 Beauty blossoms into appreciation for God’s creation and love of the creator