Sebastian Lopez

Follow me as I follow Jesus - 1 Corin 11:1

[Sebastian Lopez @seblo_11]

Read 2 Chronicles 18 this morning and was stunned at how accurately it spoke to our current reality.

Big takeaway : Don't let political alliance, hierarchal pressure or power struggles stop you from speaking the truth.

Reminder : God is in control. He will see you through 🙌🏽

[ESPN FC @ESPNFC]

MESSI TO LAUTARO MARTÍNEZ IN STOPPAGE TIME. THEY JUST DON'T QUIT. 🔥🔥

ARGENTINA ARE INEVITABLE 😱

[Los Angeles Lakers @Lakers]

Thank you, LeBron 💜💛

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

The scariest finding in this paper: the subjects couldn't tell it was happening.

UPenn ran this study on 48 healthy adults. One group slept 8 hours. Another slept 6. Another slept 4. For 14 straight days. They tested cognitive performance every 2 hours from 7:30am to 11:30pm.

The 6-hour group's reaction times, working memory, and sustained attention deteriorated on a near-linear curve. By day 14 they were performing at the same level as someone who hadn't slept at all in 48 hours. The 4-hour group hit that threshold by day 6.

Here's the part that should unsettle everyone who thinks they "do fine" on 6 hours: the subjects' self-reported sleepiness flatlined after the first few days. Their brains kept getting worse. Their perception of how impaired they were stopped updating. The cognitive decline was invisible to the person experiencing it.

The researchers found a hard threshold. Any wakefulness beyond 15.84 hours in a day produces cumulative neurobiological cost. That cost compounds every single day you exceed it and does not reset with a weekend of sleeping in.

About 35% of American adults sleep less than 7 hours a night. 40% of those get 6 hours or less. In 1942 that number was 11%. We built an entire professional culture around a sleep schedule that this paper says is functionally equivalent to pulling consecutive all-nighters.

"I'm fine on 6 hours" is the most common response to sleep research. The first thing chronic sleep debt destroys is your ability to notice chronic sleep debt.

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

The actual research is wild. Every time you push down a feeling, your brain has to choose between suppressing that emotion and recording what’s happening around you. It picks the suppression. The memory doesn’t get saved.

A 2000 Stanford study confirmed this: people told to hide their emotions while watching a film remembered far fewer details than people who just reacted naturally. Suppressing emotions uses up mental energy, and that leaves less brain power for saving new memories.

Brain scans show why. A 2012 study found that suppression quiets the hippocampus (your brain’s memory-recording center) right when it should be saving information. The two brain regions that normally team up to lock in memories stop talking to each other.

Over time it gets worse. Suppression keeps cortisol (the stress hormone) elevated, and cortisol shrinks the hippocampus. Chronically stressed people can lose 10 to 15% of its volume. Just three weeks of high cortisol can shrink the tiny connection points between brain cells by about 20%. The good news: studies show this shrinkage can partially reverse once stress levels drop. Not necessarily permanent.

A Finnish study of 1,137 older adults tracked over roughly a decade found that habitual emotion suppressors had nearly 5x the risk of developing dementia, even after controlling for genetics, smoking, obesity, and education.

There’s a better way to handle emotions that doesn’t cost you your memory. It’s called cognitive reappraisal: instead of bottling the feeling, you reframe what’s causing it. (“This meeting isn’t a threat, it’s practice.”) A 2003 Stanford/UC Berkeley study found reappraisers had more positive emotion, better relationships, and higher wellbeing. Suppressors got the opposite on every measure. And reappraisal carries zero memory cost.

The difference comes down to timing. Suppression kicks in after the emotion has already fired, so your brain is fighting its own response while simultaneously trying to record the moment. Reappraisal changes how you interpret the situation before the emotion fully activates. Same event, same person, but your hippocampus stays free to do its actual job: recording your life.

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

Progress in this country never comes easy or quick. For every few hard-earned steps forward, we might stumble a couple steps back. But sometimes, the slow, steady effort of generations is rewarded with justice that arrives like a thunderbolt.

That's exactly what happened in a remarkable sprint of history ten years ago this week.

[Rich Villodas @richvillodas]

The prophets in the Old Testament remind us repeatedly:

Worship without justice is worthless.

[Lance Orton @lancejorton]

Love this kingdom-centered perspective from @BrianZahnd.

[beIN SPORTS USA @beINSPORTSUSA]

Back-to-back champions of America! 🇦🇷 🔥 Lautaro scores, Messi smiles, and Argentina now has 16 Copa América titles 🤩 A team for the ages 👏
#beINSPORTS #Argentina #Messi #CopaAmérica

[Sebastian Lopez @seblo_11]

@VPNiX0N Legit thought this while watching

[Sebastian Lopez @seblo_11]

@SHsquared My hearts with you brother 🫶🏽

[Rich Villodas @richvillodas]

My preaching advice to those preparing for Easter:

1. Trust the story. Let it do the work.
2. Trim your sermon. Less is more.
3. Try to relax. Life will go on no matter how you do.
4. Remember that Christ is risen. That’s what truly matters.

[Rich Villodas @richvillodas]

The Bible is more communal than individual.

Jesus teaches us to pray "Our Father" not "My Father."

Paul uses the phrase, "our Lord" 53 times, & "my Lord" only 1 time.

"Jesus is my personal savior" is not found in Scripture.

We are the people of God.
We belong to each other.

[Jon Machota @jonmachota]

A loss is one thing, this is an embarrassment

[Roy Nemer @RoyNemer]

Absolutely incredible work by @AFASeleccionEN. Argentina, World Cup winners. 🇦🇷

[Dov Kleiman @NFL_DovKleiman]

𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚: #Cowboys QB Dak Prescott says they should've put up 50 points on the #Eagles if played up to his expectations.

"If I play my best game, we were putting a 50 up there."

Dak has 25 Total TDs to only 2 INTs his past 8 games with a 7-1 record over that span.

Should he win MVP?

[Tommy Beer @TommyBeer]

Wow.

Incredible story told by Mitchell Robsinon’s high school coach Butch Stockton.

Stockton explains his wife passed away in September and that Robinson visited her every day she was in the hospital.

At the funeral, Mitch said he’d invite Butch to live with him in NY. Stockton took him up on the offer and has been Robinson’s roommate since the start of the season.

[Dallas Cowboys @dallascowboys]

.@NFL HISTORY 👏👏👏

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

“The cries of the Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me. What I don't understand is why the cries of Palestinians sound different to you all.”

[Sebastian Lopez @seblo_11]

@abe24nazar He had a great game

[Refaat in Gaza 🇵🇸 @itranslate123]

Heartbreaking 💔. Please read.

Hospital volunteer, Tariq Jibril, shared his experience in the following words: via @RamAbdu

"I was unaware that someone had filmed me, and it was a surprise to discover the video days after it went viral on social media. In light of its widespread circulation, I feel compelled to narrate its backstory.

My role as a hospital volunteer involved assisting in the reception and emergency department. I was responsible for transporting patients after their examinations, ensuring they reached the necessary destinations, whether it was for X-rays, CT scans, or other medical procedures. I'd then return them to the doctors and help allocate them to the appropriate departments, be it orthopedic, pediatric, surgical, or others.

That particular night, the hospital witnessed a surge in casualties due to heavy Israeli bombings in densely populated areas. Entire families had perished, and I found myself frantically racing to save the injured.

A doctor handed me a critical case, a 13-year-old named Omar Al-Jarousha, instructing me to rush him to the operating room. Urgency was paramount. I swiftly escorted Omar to the operating room, ensuring he received immediate medical attention.

Outside the surgery room, a child named Ibrahim Al-Jarousha approached me, holding my hand and pleading, 'Please, let him survive.' After admitting Omar, I led Ibrahim away, and we sat near the hospital garden. Ibrahim had sustained a foot injury. We spoke, and I asked if he had a connection to Omar. He revealed they were cousins, and their families had tragically perished. With Omar being his sole surviving family member, I consoled him, offering words of comfort and praying together for Omar's safety.

Ibrahim had many innocent questions, and I could only reassure him that God holds the power to do anything. We sat together for an hour or two before I was summoned by the nurse in the operating room. Inside, I discovered Omar, wrapped in a shroud bearing his name. The medical staff expressed their condolences, and I was tasked with moving Omar to a bed.

To my astonishment, Ibrahim stood by the door, reading Omar's name and breaking down in tears. I, too, broke down beside him, unable to control my emotions. That night became one of the most challenging experiences of my life.

If the war concludes and I survive, my first mission will be to search for Ibrahim Al-Jarousha. In the unfortunate event that I don't make it, I implore you to find him, as he is a trust held by all who know me.

Sincerely,
Your brother Tariq Jibril
Hospital Volunteer"