פְּנִיאֵ֑ל

 Boqer tov!🌞

    In today's aliyah we discover Ya'aqov named the place he had wrestled with a heavenly messenger Peni'el - פְּנִיאֵ֑ל - which means "face of God".

    Fascinatingly, there is another place, or thing, that is called Peniel, although the spelling has been changed to Peneal. It's a little gland in the centre of our foreheads which has long baffled medical science.

    Science does now know some things about the Peniel, that it helps regulate our inner body clock by regulating the production of melatonin, which fact in itself is amazing. With that said, how many people do you know suffer from insomnia and take sleeping tablets to help them sleep? - To the detriment of the Peniel Gland.

    Again, fascinatingly, the powers that be have discovered that if they somehow controlled this gland in people, those people became much less "religiously fanatic". What does this mean?

    As far as I can work out, this Peniel gland is our built-in connecting force to God and the higher worlds. It is aptly named, because through it functioning properly, we can truly "see the face of God".

    For people who don't believe in the God of the universe, the One True God, but rather believe that they are the power that begins and ends all, it benefits them - they think - to dumb us down and make this little piece of the Divinely created human body low-functioning. How do they do this?

    There are many things that can and do subdue the function of our Peniel glands. To name but a few:

    Fluoride - in our toothpastes, given in daily doses to our children from when they are very little, in the name of good dental hygiene. Not only that, but our tap water is full of it!

    Anti-depressants - how many people today are living with such inner disharmony that they need prolonged use of drugs to make them able to cope with daily life? Many!

    Electromagnetic field-emitting devices (like cell phones & audio or video players.) Oh my gosh! Who knows how many people walk around all day glued to their cell phones!

    Smoking. If this is true of cigarettes, it is surely even more true of the other horde of substances that people - especially our youth - smoke today.

    I am sure there are many more factors that negatively affect the health and proper function of our peneal glands. This is just a short list to show how prevalent the damaging factors are in our lives today. Many people are not aware of this part of their bodies at all, much less its intended function and the damage we unknowingly inflict on it daily.

    God has put it there to enable us to "see His face" as it were. Through this little gem, we are able to connect to the God of Creation who is so far above us and yet so close to us. We cannot know Him in our human state without the means He has given us.

    Things that spark the Peniel gland into life and fullness are things like prayer and Bible study. Acts of kindness, loving our neighbour and doing good as prescribed in God's word.

    Here's hoping and praying for healthy Peniel glands for all of us!