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Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ004125S
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00:24 The Arctic is the most northerly region of the planet earth
00:29 and covers 16th of the earth's surface. 00:32 People usually define the arctic as the area above the 00:36 Arctic Circle, an imaginary line that circles around the 00:40 top of the globe. The arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, 00:45 parts of Canada, Russia, the USA, Queensland, Norway, 00:50 Finland, Sweden, and Iceland. 00:52 Winter in the arctic means short days, 00:56 and at least once a year there's an entire day of darkness 01:00 in this freezing region. And it sure gets freezing out here. 01:05 Temperatures as low as -70 degrees Celsius have been 01:10 recorded in the arctic. Yet despite the freezing cold 01:13 temperatures, people live here and call this wintry wonderland 01:18 home. Amongst these are the indigenous people of Lapland 01:23 called the Sami, they've adapted to the cold weather 01:27 and have found ingenious ways to survive in one of the 01:31 harshest environments on our planet, 01:34 this includes domesticating and farming reindeer 01:40 The Sami have practiced traditional reindeer herding 01:43 for centuries. Reindeer herding is more than just a profession 01:48 to the Sami, it's a way of life. 01:50 The Sami are known as the people who walk with reindeer. 01:55 But they not only walk with reindeer, they also rest with 01:59 them and they bring us a reminder of an important message 02:03 from our ancient past. 02:05 A message we will do well to remember in our modern world. 02:10 So, join me and the Sami herders as we walk with reindeer 02:16 to find out all about it. 02:35 It's the middle of winter in Finnish Lapland 02:37 the days are short and the temperature today is about 02:41 20 degrees below zero. 02:43 Lapland is located in the very north of Finland 02:47 deep inside the Arctic Circle and borders Sweden, Norway, 02:52 and Russia. 02:54 This place dishes up the stuff of a real arctic winter wonderland 02:59 like snow-dusted forests, cozy log cabins, aurora borealis, 03:05 the Northern Lights, and a population that's made up 03:09 of more reindeer than people. 03:12 And these reindeer are perfectly designed for living up here 03:17 in one of the coldest places on earth. 03:19 To begin with, they are very well insulated 03:26 they have some pretty clever ways of keeping warm, 03:29 for example, they grow a thick coat with two layers of hair. 03:34 A dense undercoat and then an outer layer of hollow hairs. 03:39 That final layer traps the air and provides excellent 03:43 insulation, it ensures that they retain their body heat. 03:47 In fact, it's so effective at keeping in heat 03:51 reindeer can even lie down in the snow and not cause it to 03:55 melt. Then reindeer have distinctively shaped skulls 04:00 and have a broader and flatter muzzle than just deer. 04:04 Their noses are specially adapted to warm the air 04:08 that they breathe before it enters their lungs, 04:11 this helps them maintain their core body temperature. 04:14 Even their hooves are special, in summer when the ground is wet 04:19 the footpads on their wide splayed hooves soften 04:23 and become thick and spongy providing extra grip 04:27 to help them keep their footing on the soft tundra. 04:30 Then in winter the footpad tightens and shrinks back 04:35 exposing the rim of the hoof that grips and provides 04:39 traction in the slippery snow and ice. 04:42 Even their eyes change color between summer and winter 04:47 to adapt to the widely varying levels of light in the far north. 04:52 Their eye color changes from yellow-green in summer 04:56 to dark blue in winter. 04:58 Due to the extremely limited amount of light up here 05:02 in winter, reindeers eyes need to be much more sensitive 05:07 to the light than in summer. 05:09 The blue color during the darkest months of the year 05:12 help scatter more incoming light and results in better vision. 05:17 Reindeer are the only mammals that can see ultraviolet light 05:22 this ability lets them see things in the icy white of the 05:26 arctic that others would miss. 05:29 With all these unique and wonderful attributes 05:33 reindeer thrive in these freezing conditions 05:37 and in a place where cattle and sheep cannot survive, 05:41 they are valuable to people. 05:43 The reindeer is the only domesticated deer in the world 05:47 and the people who first domesticated them here in 05:51 Lapland were the Sami people. 05:53 The Sami are Scandinavia's only indigenous people 05:58 and they inhabit areas around the arctic circle in Norway, 06:02 Russia, Sweden, and Lapland, here in Finland. 06:06 There are about 100,000 Sami scattered throughout this region. 06:17 The Sami people have been herding reindeer for centuries 06:21 and there at the very heart of traditional Sami life and culture 06:25 reindeer are a way of life for the Sami people. 06:30 There are more than 7,000 reindeer herders here 06:35 known traditionally as Bode "siiddat" or reindeer-walkers 06:39 and that's exactly what herders once did following the 06:45 fast-paced animals on foot or wooden skis as they sought out 06:50 the best grazing grounds over hundreds of kilometers 06:54 of terrain. Modern-day herding is a mix of traditional 07:00 skills and land-use and motorized herding. 07:03 Instead of walking or skiing, the herders now often rely 07:09 on expensive all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles 07:12 to keep up with the demands of herding. 07:16 But the Sami and some of the most tenacious people on earth, 07:22 the cowboys and cowgirls of the tundra. 07:31 Deeply in tune with nature and able to move and guide 07:36 huge herds of reindeer during brutal winters over vast 07:41 expanses of tundra. 07:48 Here in Lapland, the Sami herders schedule is not 07:52 governed by time in the movement of the sun, 07:55 but is tied to something far more important, 07:59 the movement of the reindeer. 08:02 The yearly cycle of the reindeer determines everything, 08:08 in late April through to June, the majority of reindeer 08:13 calves a bull, after that the reindeer are released to the 08:18 summer pastures and allowed to roam freely. 08:21 Then in mid to late June the reindeer are gathered for 08:26 calf-marking. Round-ups are carried out in the specific 08:30 reindeer cooperative locations or herding districts 08:34 where the herds are counted, the new calves are marked, 08:38 with distinct earmarks that identify their owners. 08:41 And then the reindeer are released to roam freely 08:45 until autumn in small herds ranging in size from a few 08:50 animals to hundreds at a time. 08:52 In the autumn the reindeer mate after which they are collected 08:58 into reindeer corals and separated. 09:01 The respective owners determine what animals will be butchered? 09:06 ownerships are re-affirmed and the animals to be kept 09:11 are counted. The work at the corals often involves extended 09:15 families and networks and some- times whole villages can be 09:20 involved. After separating the animals, they move to 09:24 winter pastures, in modern times the reindeer herders 09:29 supplement the natural liken pastures with artificial fodder. 09:33 After separating more animals for selling, additional corals 09:38 are organized to determine ownership and group attachment 09:43 of each reindeer. Then the animals are moved to 09:47 spring pastures and the reindeer yearly cycle 09:51 begins again. And that's what's happening right now, 09:54 the reindeer are being released from the corals and the 09:59 Sami herders are moving them to the spring pastures. 10:02 It's easy to understand why reindeer are revered in Sami 10:08 culture. For thousands of years these magnificent animals 10:13 have adapted so perfectly to the freezing arctic conditions, 10:18 have provided Sami families with everything they need, 10:22 food, clothing, accommodations, transport, money, tools and 10:29 weapons. Reindeer are at the very heart of traditional Sami 10:34 life and culture, reindeer are a part of the Sami peoples 10:39 very identity. They say that one of the best ways to 10:43 get to know society is through language and this is certainly 10:48 true of the Sami people, the close relationship with 10:51 their reindeer is reflected in their language. 10:54 It's estimated that there are about 1,000 Sami words 11:00 devoted to reindeer appearance, behavior and habits. 11:04 Many of the words are unique and colorful, 11:09 for example, take the word Poronkusema, it's an old fashion 11:14 Sami measurement, it's the distance a reindeer can walk 11:19 or pull a sleigh before it needs a rest-stop, a comfort stop. 11:24 Reindeer can't travel too far without answering the 11:29 call of nature, they must have a rest stop every 71/2 km 11:33 so that they can urinate. 11:35 So when the Sami are walking with reindeer, they have to 11:40 stop and rest every 71/2 km, then there's the Sami word 11:46 Peninkulma refers to the distance a barking Lap reindeer 11:51 dog can be heard in still air. 11:53 The Sami people have bred these dogs for herding and guarding 11:59 their reindeer and on a still night, their shrill bark 12:03 can be heard for a distance of 10 km across the tundra, 12:08 that distance is called Peninkulma. 12:12 These two old fashioned Sami measurements certainly are unique 12:19 and fascinating. However most of the Sami measurements 12:23 to do with distance are related to the human body. 12:27 For the Sami, the human body ruled when it came to measuring 12:32 just as it did for most ancient civilizations. 12:36 For example, the Sami had measurements that are very 12:41 similar to the old imperial system of measurements 12:44 which is also based on the human body. 12:47 An inch is the width of a man's thumb, the Sami called it 12:52 a Tuuma, a span is the length between the tip of the little 12:59 finger to the tip of the thumb when the hand is stretched out, 13:03 the Sami called it a Vaaksa, a foot is the length of an 13:08 average man's foot, the Sami word is Jalka. 13:12 And it's not just the Sami in early English that's used the 13:16 body as a standard for measurements 13:18 that's how people have measured things for thousands of years 13:23 dating right back to the third millennia B.C. 13:27 The early Egyptian and Babylonian records indicate that length 13:34 was first measured with a forearm, hand, finger, and foot, 13:38 even the very earliest civilizations needed measurement 13:43 for purposes of agriculture, construction, and trade. 13:48 Using the body as a standard for measurement was simple 13:52 and convenient. Early standard units might have only applied 13:58 to a single community, or a small region with every area 14:03 developing its own standards of measurements for length 14:07 and weight. But with the development of manufacturing 14:12 technologies and the growing importance of trade between 14:15 communities and ultimately across the earth, 14:18 standardized weights and measures became critical. 14:22 In the 18th century modernized simplified and uniform systems 14:28 of weights and measures were developed. 14:31 The metric system was officially adopted by France in 1799 14:36 and over the 19th and 20th centuries, it became the 14:41 dominant system world-wide. Although several countries 14:45 including the United States and China continue to use their 14:49 own customary units. 14:51 Although there have been a great variety of different systems 14:56 of measuring distance over the course of history, 14:59 the measurement of time has been far more uniform 15:03 and standardized around the world, even her in Lap land. 15:08 The oldest clock was most likely planet earth, 15:13 historically the large units of time were measured by the 15:18 movement of the earth in relation to the sun, moon, 15:22 and stars. So, there's the year which is determined by the time 15:27 it takes the earth to complete one full orbit around the sun. 15:32 Then there's the month, which is based on how long it takes 15:36 the moon to orbit the earth. And there's the day, 15:40 which is the time it takes the earth to rotate once on its own 15:44 axis. Then the day is subdivided into 24 hours, and hour into 15:51 60 minutes, and finally a minute into 60 seconds, 15:55 so, all of our major time measurements are related to the 15:59 movement of the heavenly bodies. 16:02 All of them with one exception the week. The week is unique, 16:09 in that, it's our only major time unit that isn't connected 16:13 to the movement of the heavenly bodies. 16:16 The week is a period of seven days, a unit of time 16:20 that has no astronomical basis whatever yet we order our 16:25 lives in a seven-day cycle. The seven day week is one of the 16:31 most durable phenomena in History, it's universal 16:35 and virtually in every nation and civilization on the planet 16:39 throughout history, you'll find people living out their lives 16:44 to the rhythm of the wake, even here in Lapland. 16:49 The week is one of the most important calendar units in 16:53 our lives. How did this 7-day cycle become so popular, 16:59 so universal, and come to occupy such an important place 17:04 in our minds and our calendars? 17:06 How did it become such an important rhythm of human life? 17:11 Where did it originate? 17:14 Well, the origin of the week has long baffled anthropologists 17:19 and scholars of ancient history but now amazing new discoveries 17:24 in the scientific world are shedding light on this mystery. 17:29 The relatively new science of chronobiology has uncovered 17:33 some totally unexpected facts about living things. 17:38 Now chronobiology is a field of biology that studies how 17:43 body's natural cycles, mental, physical, and emotional, 17:47 are affected by the solar and lunar rhythms. 17:51 We've known for a long time that our bodies operate on a 17:57 circadian or daily rhythm as well as monthly and annual rhythm, 18:02 but Chrono biologists have only recently discovered seven-day 18:07 cycles or circumspect cycles written into our biology 18:12 and what's especially interesting is that this 18:17 7- day cycle is the central rhythm by which all other 18:21 circadian rhythms in our bodies are tuned or orchestrated. 18:26 In fact our blood pressure cycle, coping hormone cycle, 18:32 immune response to infections, production of blood and urine 18:36 chemicals, our heartbeat, the common cold and even our 18:40 mood or general state of mind all operate on a 7-day cycle. 18:46 There's even evidence of a 7- day cycle in the formation 18:52 of our tooth enamel. The 7-day weekly cycle is embedded in our 18:57 genes, but it's not only written into the biology of humans 19:02 the 7-day cycle is also found in animals, plants, and insects. 19:08 Experiments conducted by leading scientists prove that 7-day 19:14 cycles govern fundamental aspects in the lives of flies, 19:19 rats, bees, and even primitive algae. Amazing as it may seem, 19:26 we were all created with a 7- day biorhythmic cycle 19:31 built into us from complex humans down to simple bacteria 19:36 and one-cell organisms. Science proves that the 7- day weekly 19:42 cycle is etched deeply into our DNA and life on planet earth. 19:49 What explains these 7-day or weekly rhythms? 19:55 Well, simply this, the seven day week was established by 20:01 God Himself right back at the creation of the world 20:05 and that 7-day cycle was etched into mankind's DNA, 20:10 mankind's consciousness, way back there. 20:13 The most conclusive evidence we have in history, philosophy, 20:19 and science for the establishment of the global 20:22 week and the 7-day cycle is the Bible account of the creation 20:27 of the world. There, God created everything in the world in 20:33 6- days and then rested on the 7th, this provided the model 20:38 for culture, societies, and civilizations all around 20:43 the world. Here's what it says in the first two chapters 20:47 of the book of Genesis. 21:09 By the 7th-day God had finished the work He had been doing 21:14 so on the 7th-day, He rested from all His work 21:18 then God blessed the 7th-day and made it holy 21:22 because on it He rested from all the work of creating that 21:27 He had done. There it is, sure and simple, 21:32 God created the weekly 7-day cycle when He made the world, 21:37 it's rooted in a created order and it's etched into our DNA. 21:42 It's the cycle humans were designed to function best on 21:47 work the first six-day of the week and rest on the seventh. 21:52 God placed the 7-day cycle in our body chemistry at creation, 21:58 God created life to live on a 7-day cycle, that's the rhythm 22:05 we're made for that's best for us and to help us remember 22:09 that, God, placed this formula for optimum living right in the 22:14 very heart of the Ten Commandments, 22:16 the ten principles He gave us to live by. Here's what God said. 22:51 The fourth commandment calls us to remember our origins. 22:56 You see, it's not only reindeer that need to take a break 23:00 and have a rest, so do we, and God designed us to function best 23:07 on the 7-day cycle. To work the first 6-days of the week 23:12 and rest on the seventh day 23:15 Now, down through history people have tried to change 23:19 this God-given cycle, they've tried to break the 7-day cycle 23:24 and change the length of the week but with disastrous 23:28 results. The French tried to change the 7-day cycle 23:33 in 1793 just after the French Revolution, France adopted a 23:39 10-day week in an attempt to increase productivity. 23:44 During these years French society saw a stark increase 23:48 in injuries, exhaustion, illness and work animals that collapsed 23:54 and died at astounding rates. 23:57 Back then, people attempted to operate on a rhythm 24:02 other than the one they were designed for and the results 24:06 were disastrous. 24:08 The Soviet Union and other societies have tried similar 24:13 changes to the 7-day weekly cycle, but like the French 24:18 found they didn't work and soon all reverted back to the 24:23 original God-given 7-day model. 24:26 Humans function best when we live out our lives to the 24:32 rhythm of the week, the 7-day cycle, that's the way, God 24:36 designed us. God created the weekly cycle at creation 24:41 when He made the world and that 7-day cycle 24:45 is etched into our DNA. 24:48 God made the 7-day of the week a rest day specifically 24:53 for our well-being. God designed every 7th-day as a rest day 24:59 for us and we would be wise to recognize this God-given 25:04 cycle, this weekly cycle that's built into our bodies 25:08 and our environment. 25:10 This is the way life works best for us. 25:14 As scientists are discovering living rhythmically leads to a 25:20 healthier and happier life. If everything around us 25:24 functions to the natural rhythms of the weekly 7-day 25:28 cycle, wouldn't it be wise for us to do so as well? 25:32 To work for the first six days of the week and rest on the 25:37 seventh? This allows us to tune into our body's rhythm 25:42 and to perform at our peak every day. 25:48 If you'd like to find out more about God's plan 25:53 to provide rest for our busy lives in this modern world, 25:57 if you'd like to perform at your peak, if you'd like to 26:00 experience inner peace and happiness, then I'd like to 26:04 recommend the Free gift we have for all our 26:08 Incredible Journey viewers today. 26:11 It's the easy-to-read booklet Experiencing God's Peace. 26:15 This small book will only take you a few minutes to read 26:19 but it could help you find inner peace and 26:22 lasting happiness. This booklet is our gift to you 26:26 and it's absolutely free, I guarantee there are no costs 26:30 or obligations. So make the most of this wonderful 26:34 opportunity to receive the gift we have for you today. 26:41 Phone or text 0436.333.555 in Australia or 020.422.2042 26:49 in New Zealand, or visit our website at TiJ.tv 26:54 or simply scan the QR code on your screen 26:56 and we'll send you today's free offer totally free of charge 27:00 and with no obligation. Write to us at GPO Box 274, Sydney 27:06 NSW 2001 Australia, or PO Box 76673, Manukau, 27:14 Auckland 2241, New Zealand. Don't Delay, 27:17 call or text us now. 27:19 Be sure to join us again next week when we'll share another 27:27 of Life's Journey's together. Until then, let's ask God 27:31 to lead us to find real peace and meaning in our lives 27:36 and lasting happiness. Let's pray. 27:39 Dear Heavenly Father, 27:41 We all face challenges in life, we live in a busy stressful 27:46 world and we often struggle to find true rest and peace. 27:51 But Lord, you have a plan to provide the rest and peace 27:56 we need, you've even embedded it in our DNA. 28:00 Father, guide us to this weekly seventh-day rest 28:05 that you've provided. And give us peace and happiness 28:09 now and forever. We pray in Jesus name. 28:14 Amen! |
Revised 2022-04-20