Well something interesting about the mark and getting de-sensitized to it. Not only are tats popular but body type implants. This is my experience. When I had PMR and was on prednisone for a year, the steroid made my diabetes out of control. Thank God the PMR is in remission and I’ve been off the steroid for two years. But it has been a struggle getting my glucose numbers down. Last year my A1C was 8.1. I have brought it down to 6.6 and still working on it. But this summer my Dr gave me this gadget called a continuous glucose monitor. It’s a plastic tab that sticks to your skin and has a little metal wire that sticks in your body. You wear it for 15 days then take it off and install a new one. It works through an app on my iPhone and tracks the glucose in my system. So if I eat something too high in carbs it will show my glucose spiking. If I’m having a low sugar an alarm will go off. It works through Bluetooth and WiFi. It is amazing and is helping me to get my diabetes under control. I am not high enough for insulin, just a pill. But for those on insulin the cgm can communicate with an insulin pump and inject insulin as needed, thus eliminating finger pricks for testing. For people on insulin the cgm is paid for by ins. My Dr gave me a few samples to start with and I buy my own from Amazon, it’s $88 per month. Because it is helping me so much I’m willing to pay the price. But my whole reason for bringing this up is how I was against using anything stuck to my skin, and now I am experiencing the huge benefit. So I’m meditating on this in anticipation of how the mark of the beast could be implemented. Slowly technology is moving in. Pace makers, glucose monitors, artificial organs, teeth implants, lens implants in eyes, etc. Just looking at changes going on in the last fifty years.
I have two lens implants, one in each eye. I count it as gift from God to replace my cataracts. I think your glucose monitor is a Godsend for you. I say no to tattoos, however.
What something is in itself and the intention involved in its use matters. From what I can see (one has little choice these days), tattoos seem to mostly represent pagan symbols, perhaps demonic ones (is there a difference)? Other than demonstrating ugliness, I see no necessary function for them. Implants that replace a misfunctioning organ are morally neutral in themselves, but their usage to help the body function more normally is a good thing and well-intentioned, no different, as far as I can see, to wearing spectacles in order to see better.
These devices are good, but the gold standard is still a finger-prick blood test. These devices measure glucose in the interstitial fluid, the fluid between the cells in your tissues, whereas glucose enters the bloodstream first. That’s why they lag behind by 10 to 15 minutes. However, they do show glucose trends and can help you identify which foods don’t agree with you. Think of it like a train: the locomotive at the front represents the blood glucose measured by a finger prick, while these devices measure what’s happening in the last carriage. I recently watched a fantastic Croatian documentary from 2010 about Our Lady of Guadalupe. Scientists, painters, chemists, and priests discussed the miraculous event and the many things that remain unexplained. One French monk made an interesting point: he said that we can sense a kind of culmination, as if everything is moving toward its end. Just as evil seems to be growing in power, the Holy Spirit is also working more powerfully and revealing Himself through technology. We are witnessing scientific progress on an unprecedented scale. I was born in the late 1990s, and when I look at today’s technology and compare it with what we had in the early 2000s, the difference is like night and day. Just think about it: the first motion picture was made in 1888, the first powered flight took place in 1903, the first computers large enough to fill entire rooms were developed in the early 1950s, the first mobile phone call was made in 1973, and the first text message was sent in 1992. It all seems almost unreal. Yet, just like these glucose monitors and every other form of technology, evil remains in the shadow of God’s perfection. There is something within us—the image of God in each of us—that helps us discern which technologies truly serve our good. We have embraced television, the internet, and mobile phones. We are monitored around the clock by satellites and drones. Calls can be intercepted, our voices can be copied, and, more recently, even our likenesses can be recreated in AI-generated videos. However, from Adam and Eve, through Mary and Joseph, and ultimately to Jesus and every human being who has come after them, there is one thing that cannot be taken away from us: our yes or no to God. We cannot control the consequences we face or the crosses we must carry, just as the generations before us could not control theirs. But as long as we are alive and breathing, we still have the freedom to choose God or reject Him for the sake of some personal interest.
You’re just a kid! Ha. I am 77. I personally knew my great grandparents and he was born in 1881. That’s a lot of years!
My father was born in 1949 and was the youngest of six children, with four older sisters. My grandparents had him when they were already in their forties. I’m also the youngest of five, with four older sisters. My parents had me when they were already well into their forties, too. Interestingly, my father, my paternal grandfather, and I were all born on January 20! So exchanging birthday wishes is like Christmas and New Year’s for me: “Happy birthday!” — “Same to you!”
