Healthy

Since I haven’t written anything in a couple months, I thought I’d take things in a bit of a different direction. I thought I’d tackle the tofu part of the title. More specifically, I’ll roughly iron out a couple connections that I’ve begun to explore in my own life.

So, let’s get crackin. I’m sure we’ve all heard the cliche, you are what you eat. The older I get, the truer that statement becomes. Especially in light of the work of Max Gerson and his daughter Charolette, among many others. In short, their convictions are that, though many of us would not readily admit it, we are killing ourselves by the food we are eating. Namely the heavily processed, genetically modified, trans-fat saturated, not-at-all-naturally-growing matter that fills our refrigerators and restaurants that we call food. And to top all that off, most of us are awfully sick with one ailment or another for most of the year, so we go to the doctor and get things like an antibiotic for our cold, or flu. Or we schedule a regime of chemo and radiation therapy for our cancer.

First of all, are we really that ignorant? Antibiotic?? Is there anyone else in the world who realizes that there is such a things as healthy bacteria? An antibiotic, simply put, kills ALL bacteria. Do you see the connection? The antibiotic kills the good along with the bad, which, just take a look around at the health of people around you, and you’ll notice that those antibiotics are likely doing more damage than they are doing good. But that’s neither here nor there, right?

Let’s take cancer as an example. Max Gerson was curing cancer and other debilitating diseases in 1928. Yeah, that’s right, 1928! How, you might ask? Through a raw, organic regime of massive amounts of juices and other naturally growing foods. He had almost a 98% success rate. Let’s compare that to our modern medical practices. Pretty much our only answer for the problem of cancer is, LET’S RADIATE! or chemo… This may be a shock, but according to the Abilene Reporter News today, radiation may cause cancer. But, that’s ok. Someone has cancer so we’ll treat it with an agent that also…causes cancer… brilliant idea! Here are a couple figures from globalhealingcenter.com:

• “Percentage of cancer patients whose lives are predictably saved by chemotherapy – 3%
• Conclusive evidence (majority of cancers) that chemotherapy has any positive influcence on survival or quality of life – none.

So, to take the discussion through a different door, specifically speaking to folks who would label themselves as Christian, in the broadest sense of the word, what does this mean? I would suggest that its awfully difficult to have a healthy spiritual life (be honest with yourself) and NOT have a healthy physical body. Further, I would suggest that it’s equally difficult to treat your illnesses, either medically or naturally, if the food you eat is counteracting or suppressing the desired effect of the medicine. Now, I could be lynched for this one, but I would further argue that the “medicine” you take for common and crippling diseases is in fact not helping your body heal, but making it far more difficult for your body to fight off the infections.

Essentially what I’m saying is, is that there must be some inherent connection between the health of our physical bodies, the health of our spiritual selves and the food that nourishes us. Are you finding real nourishing food or are you simply filling your stomach artificial, chemical imitations of food? Do you think you can be a chronically ill, sickly, and malnourished person and have a flourishing spiritual life? Are we so naive to think that the food we eat doesn’t have some sort of effect on our body, whether good or ill?

Just a couple thoughts. It seems to me that there are some basic assumptions that we make about our bodies, in their entirety, that are not really based on anything other than, if I die, I want to die happy (with my face buried in a hormone laced, genetically modified bacon cheese look-a-like burger). To top it off. Are you food choices sustainable, or are you supporting some sort of bigger, more global destruction of life?

 

Responsibility

This is effectively attempt number two of my experiment I initiated earlier this week.  As with all experimental trials, some things work, others simply don’t.  So for this post, I’ll redirect my scalpel in an attempt to hit a different nerve.  Though I received two excellent comments from a couple readers, I’m not sure I hit the nerve I was hoping to.  And please remember, I am merely carrying out these observations in an attempt to spark conversation for positive change in the world.  I know that deep within the bowels of our being, we all want to be apart of something positive, affecting measurable compassionate transitions in the lives of people and in the overall life of this world we live in.

Thus, I issue my challenge again.  If you take time to read through this post, though it may be offensive or seem a bit curt, please be apart of the “conversation” and post even a short comment of your thoughts.  Maybe I’m being a bit optimistic and idealistic thinking that a random collection of blog readers and writers who likely disagree about a lot of stuff could actually work together to do good, but I like to aim high rather than wallow in my own self pity, throwing responsibility on someone else for the junk in the world.  So please, join us!

After a much longer intro than I was expecting, I’ll jump right to it.  In doing so, I’ll try to address some of the most taboo issues I can think of.

Responsibility.  I’ve got a couple thoughts.  First, let’s talk some politics.  Specifically, abortion.  Again, I’m arguing with an already constructed religious foundation that I hope to repurpose as a means to make a tangible, positive difference in this world, now.  We gripe and complain all the time about the politics surrounding these taboo issues.  I would even argue that Christians, especially in this country, are really good at making our disagreement known.  Here’s the problem: we disagree with the legislation, yet we are unwilling to provide an alternative.  As far as abortion goes, yes, I agree that there are many factors that play into that decision, no matter what side of the fence you’re on.  I’m not sure that I could argue for or against either side based upon my experience of almost losing my wife and child, unbeknownst to me.  Had I of known the severity of our situation, we would find ourselves in a very different state of affairs right now.

Back to the point at hand.  Traditionally, us evangelicals are perfectly okay with our blood pressure raising to dangerously high levels simply because we won’t bend on our pro life stance.  Now referring back to the notion of responsibility, I would argue that if we really are followers of Christ, we’d realize that pro life and pro choice are simply not adequate answers.  In my opinion, to hell with wasting our time trying to convince people to “join one team or the other.”  Who wants to join me in opening up my life and my home to women who are faced with that decision?  If you’re not willing to engage in someone’s life, even to the point of holding their hand as the procedure is finalized or taking their child into your home, you have no business even thinking you can tell someone what they can and cannot do.  Oh and I know, we can argue all day long about what the Bible says and all that jazz, but it’s likely we don’t know the same Jesus anyway if you think being a good christian means convincing me to think the same things as you do.  Just take a look at who Jesus spent most of his time with, and if you need help with some of the historical background, I’ll be glad to point you to some awesome resources.

My contention is this: don’t depend on the government to tell you how you are supposed to behave and act on behalf of your fellow humans.  Act as Jesus, which is usually not written in any law, either political or religious law.

Responsibility.  Second point and hopefully a short thought.  Slavery.  I think that hopefully, we can all agree that our world is a better place now that that sort of human exploitation is in the past.  Or is it?  One of the most popular criticisms of God is a question that wonders, how can a good god allow suffering in the world.  I would contest that its not so much God allowing it as it is we who are perpetuating the slavery and poverty of the world.  Here’s one example and then I’ll postpone for another post.  Do any of you know where your favorite pair of Nike shoes or Gucci hand bag comes from?  It is highly likely that a child not much older than my son, who is nearly four, is working for pennies a day, in horribly inhumane conditions, just so you can get your shiny new shoes at a decent price.  All the while, the parent company is making a ridiculous profit off the backs of slaves. For a humorous yet direct picture, take a look at the documentary, The Yes Men.

All in all, I maintain that if there is a group of people who will stop justifying our greedy and consumeristic lifestyles, across the board, and take some responsibility for the s*** that’s going on in the world, we can probably begin to make some positive change (in the spirit of Tony Campollo, if your more worried about the fact that I used a particular word than about the essence of the discussion, you’ve missed the point, and there’s really not much else I can do to articulate myself, and I fear this dialogue may come to an unfortunate end).  Now, don’t hear me say I don’t think there is any good happening, because that is not true at all.  In fact, it would likely be even more beneficial for us to join some of the groups that are already working to affect positive change in the world.

So let’s get the conversation going.  Let’s work to bring the kingdom of God here, now.  Let’s quit wasting time trying to convince each other to join our team or think like we do or categorize ourselves in the same political party. Forget all that stuff and let’s follow Jesus into the hurting places of the world and take some responsibility for what’s happening.  I believe that it is in that place that we’ll find God within us all, while at the same time discovering our true selves, being vital pieces of a much bigger and grander concept of life in abundance.