Let Holiness Overcome the World 2
Bible passage: Daniel 1:3-7
“3. Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility-- 4. young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service. 6. Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego. "
There is a book called “Dopamine Nation” written by Anna Lembke, a professor of psychiatry and addiction medicine at Stanford University in the United States.
This book is written by an addiction expert and is a bestseller selected by the New York Times in 2021. This book explores the role of ‘dopamine’, a neurotransmitter in the brain that regulates pleasure and pain, and the question of ‘how a life pursuing pleasure affects human health and happiness’ is discussed in detail.
The key points of this book can be summarized as follows, and I quote, ‘If you indulge in pleasure, pain follows, but if you learn self-control, you can enjoy true joy.’ If we properly control the 'dopamine system' in our brain, we can maintain a balance between pleasure and pain.
