Happy New Year, Godzilla!

Resolution for myself: Don't be too judgmental.

So, with that in mind, a confession: Last week, I recorded several old Godzilla movies, stretching from 1954 into 1992. I've enjoyed most of them, including this dancing Godzilla scene from "Godzilla vs. Monster Zero," which goes by other names as well, including "Invasion of Astro-Monster."

I must admit, most of these movies are pretty bad. Dancing monsters. Monsters imitating soccer with boulders. Young monster befriending a child (in all fairness, it's in the child's dream). Unlikely flying saucers. Aliens wearing slightly modified cones that you see for pets after surgery.

Now, what's that got to do with being too judgmental?

Weird Al: 'I go to church'

This summer, Weird Al Yankovic came out with a new album. I've always enjoyed his work - funny, clever, entertaining.

Now, I have very little knowledge of Weird Al's set of personal beliefs but got a small and positive glimpse about his typical Sunday a few days ago in Parade magazine:

Generally, I get up and pour myself a bowl of cereal with some soy milk on it. I quickly check the Internet. I go to church, and then I might pick up a burrito or food for the whole family. Maybe we’ll go to the park, watch a movie on TV, or camp out in the backyard.

"... I go to church, ..."

That small, unpreachy statement says something. It says that it's OK to tell people you go to church. It might lead to great things for someone who hears you.

Now, is Weird Al perfect in everything because he goes to church? Of course not. No one is. But perfection is not required. God loves you just the way you are.

Now, from Al's latest album ...

Rewiring the post-stroke brain

A summary of a study done in the town where I live. Sometimes, you read about a report that mirrors your own experience. Like those studied in research on pushing the brain to find new pathways, I felt my brain rewiring itself for far longer than six months:

Until recently, scientists believed that, following a stroke, a patient had about six months to regain any lost function. After that, patients would be forced to compensate for the lost function by focusing on their remaining abilities. Although this belief has been refuted, a University of Missouri occupational therapy professor believes that the current health system is still not giving patients enough time to recover and underestimating what the human brain can do given the right conditions.

In a recent article for OT Practice Magazine, Guy McCormack, clinical professor and chair of the occupational therapy and occupational science department at the MU School of Health Professions, argues that health practitioners believe their clients need more time and motivation to reclaim lost functions, such as the use of an arm, hand or leg. With today's therapies, it is possible for patients to regain more function than ever thought possible, McCormack said.

"Patients are able to regain function due to the principle of neuroplasticity, or the brain's ability to change, especially when patients continue therapy long after their injuries," McCormack said. "Therapists once believed the brain doesn't develop new neurons; but, now they know neurons change their shape and create new branches to connect with other neurons, rewiring the brain following an injury or trauma."

Sometimes, it's hard for stroke survivors to learn patience - myself included. I felt so much frustration on reading and writing, finding the wrong words when speaking. In particular, volume or tone was wrong, or I would mixup pronouns - calling a guy a "her" or a woman a "him." Weird.

On some days, I could even feel that I my brain had moved up one more notch. One in particular was very close to home. I was in much (St. James United Methodist, in Little Rock) and was during a hymn. I had felt like I could no longer carry a tune. But on that day, suddenly I gained some ground; I could have sworn that I felt it.

So in a house of worship, I lifted up my own little prayer.

Patience is hard sometimes. But this study gives some hope that even months and months post-stroke, rewiring is possible.

Bearing with one another in love

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

-Ephesians 4:2

I pity the people who consciously decide to avoid going to church. Have heard all the excuses and, in years past, have used a few.

But to the bottom line, as a stroke survivor: When I needed fellow Christians, they carried me with love through recovery and beyond.

Church is not the most important thing in the world, by any means - God is the ultimate importance. But a good church is a conduit to a better relationship with God. If you haven't found a church home, find the one that helps you build that relationship. In the final analysis, that relationship is what life is about, the reason you - all of us - exist.

In the right place, churchgoers learn from each other and lean on each other. Together, they explore deeper and deeper into faith. They find answers and push into even more complicated questions. Without a support system, we only play in the shallow pools of faith. With fellow believers we can love and trust, we can explore the depths of faith and understanding.

From Korea 2006