Medical Doctor's Description of a Crucifixion

author unknown

    The cross is placed on the ground and the exhausted man is quickly thrown backwards with his shoulders against the  wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist.
    He drives a heavy, square wrought-iron nail through the wrist deep into the wood.  Quickly he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flex and  movement. The cross is then lifted into place.  The left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees flexed.  The victim is now crucified. 
     As he slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain -  the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves.  As he pushes himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, he places the full weight on the nail through his feet. Again he feels the searing agony of the nail  tearing through the nerves between the bones of his feet.  As the arms fatigue, cramps sweep through his muscles, knotting them into deep relentless, throbbing pain.  With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward to breathe. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled.  He fights to raise himself in order to get even one small breath.  Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream, and the cramps partially subside.
     Spasmodically, he is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen.  Hours of limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-renting cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against rough timber.  Then another agony begins: a deep, crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart.  It is now almost over -- the loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level-- the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues-- the tortured lungs are making frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air.
     He can feel the chill of death creeping through his tissues.  Finally, he can allow his body to die.
     All this the Bible records with the simple words, "and they crucified Him" (Mark 15:24).  What wondrous love is this? Many people don't know the pain and suffering our Lord, Jesus Christ went through for us.  Because of the brutality, crucifixion was given a sentence to only its worst offenders of the law.
     Thieves, murderers, and rapists would be the types of creeps who got  crucified. Yet, here Jesus is being crucified between two hardened criminals ... What did Jesus do?  Did he murder anyone?  Did he steal anything?  The answer, as we all know, is NO!!  Jesus did nothing to deserve this type of death, yet he went willing to die, in between two thieves, so that we might be saved.  And there, between the sinners, our Savior was slain for our sins.

Romans 10:9  "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." 

Tips and Tidbits

Staying Hydrated ~ While on vacation, during a very hot week, we filled drinking bottles half full of good drinking water and froze them the night before.  In the morning we topped them up with water, and went on our way.  They provided refreshing ice cold water all day long, and helped keep us much cooler.  Sometimes a headache can be brought on by not drinking enough water, so remember to drink plenty.  A person weighing 120 pounds should drink at least 60 ounces (half their number of pounds) of water each day, and even more when they are perspiring.  Also coffee is a diuretic, and one cup of coffee requires two cups of water to meet your needs for water.

A Healthy Carry-Along Snack ~ Before our family vacation, I made a huge batch of my mother's granola recipe.  Much of it was stored in Ziplock snack bags with a plastic spoon tucked inside the bag.  These snack bags were then put into freezer bags and kept in the freezer.  They were nice to carry along with us for snacking.  Yesterday I also tucked one inside my purse, knowing I'd be gone over lunch and it kept me from eating out.  I'll include the recipe below.

A Recipe Sent to You Every Day ~ You can sign up to receive a recipe each day by e-mail: http://www.finecooking.com/pages/fc_make-it-tonight_eletter.asp

Sourdough Bread ~ Linda Crosby in Virginia says,"We love sourdough bread, but I thought I needed to get a "starter" from someone, and I didn't know that I could so easily make one myself!"  Here's the link:  http://www.io.com/~sjohn/sour.htm

Shoes for Appliances ~ If your blender or juicer is leaving black marks on your kitchen counter, give them little overshoes, by gluing some of those soft plastic medicine bottle caps onto the feet of your appliances - or just set the appliance on the caps.

Jewelry Hook ~ Screw a cup hook beside the sink (not over it) to hang rings and watches when washing dishes, unless you keep your rings on for a good cleaning as I do.

If It's Too Hot to Cook this Summer, remember to cook ahead and freeze meals before next summer comes.  That way you can simply pop them in the microwave for quick, easy and delicious meals, rather than heating up your kitchen so much.  You will also find recipes below to cook this summer or anytime.

Defrosting Your Freezer ~ Should you own a fridge whose freezer is not self-defrosting, here's a tip for you.  Wipe the inside of the freezer compartment with a cloth dampened with glycerine.  When it's time to defrost again, the chunks of ice will drop without effort.

A Lock on the Freezer Door ~ There have been times when our upright freezer door was either not shut properly or it may have popped open because of ice buildup or being too full.  Either way, the result was not so good!  So we now unlock and lock our freezer each time we use it, and so far it's working great! 

Tutorials on Sewing, Quilting, Crafts, Crocheting, etc. ~ http://sunshinescreations.vintagethreads.com/p/popular-tulorials.html  Thanks to Debbie Klinect in Florida for sharing this link!  (I was thrilled to read in a recent newspaper how sewing is becoming more popular, especially among younger women!  Yeah!  They said it is partly because of the recession. - Lois)

Removing Hard Water Deposits on Showerheads ~ Pour at least a cup of white vinegar in a plastic bag, pull the bag up over the showerhead, so it is immersed in the vinegar, tie it above the showerhead, and allow to soak about thirty minutes or until the hard water deposits dissolve.

How to Find the Latest Medical Information Online ~ By using these links, you can be knowledgeable about the latest health breakthroughs:
        www.health.nih.gov - Find phone numbers for health hotlines and subscribe to newsletters about cancer, Alzheimers, etc.
        www.medlineplus.gov - FInd the lowdown on more than 800 illnesses and follow daily reports on medical breakthroughs.
        www.webmd.com - Type your symptoms into the "Symptom Checker" and get a preliminary diagnosis quickly.|
        www.clinicalresearch.nih.gov - Enter your condition and location to discover if you may benefit from an experimental medical procedure.

Mosquitos and Roses ~ This week my son, James, reminded me of a tip included in Heart to Heart the last few years, which I had not followed this summer - that mosquitoes are more prone to bite people who eat bananas during mosquito season.  So right away I peeled all my newly purchased bananas, cut them into 1-2 inch lengths and froze them for smoothies - for later.  Next I put the banana peels in the blender with water, and poured that mixture at the base of my rose plants, since they love the nutrients and that helps them flourish.  By the way, James also reminded me that eating garlic and taking 100 mg. of vitamin B1 each day will help prevent mosquito bites.  B-complex - 100 works great.  He hadn't had a bite all season.  I do take B-100, but was eating bananas some, and got my first two mosquito bites this week, as I was photographing a blue dragonfly.

Colorful Fruits and Vegetables ~ The next time you go to the grocery store and purchase all those colorful fruits and vegetables, before you wash them or put them away, why not arrange them on your kitchen table and take a picture!  It just might be pretty enough to frame, and will be a reminder to you and your family to eat foods that are good for you.

Carrot Juice and Cancer ~ An alternative health care professional told me recently that drinking an 11 ounce glass of carrot juice every day will prevent cancer.  It's sweetly delicious and is certainly a good measure in the right direction.  It may surprise you that a person receives more nutrients from carrots when they are juiced (raw, of course) than in any other form.  The enzymes in raw vegetables help convert food into energy.  The second best way nutrients are absorbed from carrots is to cook them, and the third best way is to eat the carrots in their raw form.  So the juicing process provides the very best, and cooking is next best.