Hello Faith pals,
I have included a video clip from Geoff Serpell, for those who can access it. Some of you may have seen it, but it is worth watching again.
Made me think about war, and good inventions that have been created due to war.
Let’s look at some from World War 1:
Tea bags: Not invented during World War 1 (in 1908 in the United States), but a German company copied the idea in the war, and supplied troops with tea in cotton bags. They called them ‘tea bombs.’
Wristwatches. Although many say they were invented during World War 1, they were not (for example, Elizabeth 1 had a small clock she would strap to her arm) BUT their use took off dramatically, because a wrist watch kept both hands free in the heat of battle. Distances were too great for signalling (and in plain view-far too risky) but artillery barrages had to be synchronized, so wrist watches became the answer.
Zips: the US military, particularly the Navy, incorporated them into uniforms and boots. After the war they were used in civilian clothing, and bags.
Stainless steel.
This one I love: vegetarian sausages! NOT something invented by hippies in the 1970s! Konrad Adenauer, mayor of Cologne had to work out a way to combat starvation in the city and region. He added soy as the meatless ingredient. It was dubbed the Friedenswurst, the ‘peace sausage.’ He was denied a patent in Germany (it was contrary to German regulations about the proper content of a sausage-it had to include meat) but Britain, Germany’s enemy at the time, granted the soy sausage a patent on June 26, 1918.
To conclude with these amazing life changing/life giving inventions:
Cosmetic/plastic surgery: During the height of World War I, a young British sailor named Walter Yeo was wounded horribly in the 1916 Battle of Jutland. His upper and lower eyelids were burned off. Nearly a year later, he found himself in a facial injury ward started by the father of modern plastic surgery, Harold Gillies. A native of New Zealand, Gillies had come to Europe as part of the Royal Army Medical Corps. In 1917, he performed what is known as the world’s first plastic surgery, grafting a flap of skin over Yeo’s disfiguring wounds.
Blood Banks: Doctors rarely performed blood transfusions prior to World War I. However, following the discovery of different blood types and the ability of refrigeration to extend shelf life, Captain Oswald Robertson, a U.S. Army doctor consulting with the British Army, established the first blood bank in 1917 on the Western Front. “The point was to have a blood supply as close to the front as possible for wounded patients,” Casey says. To facilitate storage, blood was kept on ice for up to 28 days and sodium citrate was added to prevent clotting.
So…there you have it! What good inventions will come out of this covid war?
News: Jenny Longmuir had a birthday last Friday. Happy birthday Jenny!
John Wallace is back in hospital. Hopefully home later in the week.
‘This is my comfort in my distress,
that your promise gives me life.’
-Psalm 119:50
This prayer came through from Presbytery:
Loving God, we thank you for the gift of new growth.
For the people who never give up.
For the ones who look after the sick.
For those who insist that black lives matter.
They are all like saplings, small plants that point to a bigger future.
We thank you for the call to new growth in our own lives,
To new commitment, to fresh honesty, to deeper love.
Be with us as we begin to branch out. Make us stronger.
Amen.
Blessings and love,
Barbara