I'm afraid of suffocating. I am afraid of going blind. Seriously afraid. This fear has not toppled over to irrational, yet, and is most likely based on my experiences with asthma, and the fact that without glasses I am totally blind. We're all afraid of something. At least I don't scream when I see a spider, right?
My paralyzing, scares-me-to-death fear is cancer. I'm a wimp. I found out during both of my pregnancies that I cannot tolerate nausea. While I have a fairly high pain threshhold, I can only stand it for short periods of time. If you have had cancer or know someone who has, you can understand this fear.
Now, add to it that I am a carbon copy of my dad - spiritually, nutrionally, physically. You can see where I am going with this. We are exactly alike. Our humor, sarcasm, intelligence, compassion for people, love for Jesus, work ethic. Yep. I got all of his good stuff. I also tend toward obsessive-compulsive, have a temper, eat too much, love foods that hate me, prefer my couch to the treadmill, and struggle with weight issues. I came by those traits honestly, too.
So, if I am an image of my Dad - and I would not change that for anything in the world, and some cancers tend to be hereditary, then guess what I worry about? I know this is foolish. I do not plan to live in fear, but emotions are what they are, just responses to outside stimuli. Once the wave of emotion passes, my brain kicks in again with that awesome intelligence my dad gifted me with and I resume rational thought.
No, I will not live in fear. We have been commanded to not love in fear. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?" Matthew 6:25 (NIV). Taken out of context, though, this passage would tell me to go on living without regard for the number of brownies I enjoy (They are gluten-free; that has to count for something, right?), the chemical-laden creamer in my coffee, and the cheese on my pizza. Taken out of context, we can eat and do what we want with reckless abandon. No worries.
No scripture is meant to be taken out of context! We criticize non-believers who do this to us, yet attempt to justify it when it suits our worldly wants. We are not to be sloths, or gluttons. Our bodies are made in the image of God! I don't vision God sitting around with bonbons and coffee watching 25-year-old episodes of Murder, She Wrote. No, I see God eating for sustenance, for fuel. I see God using the things He made to care for a human body, not the things humans have mutated, not the chemicals we have substituted.
No, we must remember that there is an Old Testament with instructions, too. I have read this passage often in the past few years, trying to motivate myself to view food as Daniel did. Thanks to Pastor Josh Yates, I have an opportunity starting tomorrow to approach the Daniel Plan with a group of fellow believers, to combine faith, friendship, fitness and food the way God intended.
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way...but the official told Daniel, "I am afraid of the lord my king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you... Excerpts from Daniel 1:8-11 (NIV).
You see, the king treated his chosen captives well, feeding them from his table, for a period of three years. It was a form of brainwashing. Daniel understood the temptation and asked to be excused from the lavish feasts! He wanted a slave's portion and nothing more. Yet at the end of the time, he was stronger, healthier and more well-nourished than those the king had spoiled with feasts. Daniel allowed himself to be nourished spiritually first, and physically second. Imagine if we only read that passage before sitting down to those restaurant portions of the deep-fried plate.
No, I should not worry about what the future holds. I should, however, follow Biblical examples such as Daniel's when it comes to taking care of what is supposed to be a temple for God. We might or might not be able to influence God's plans for us through prayer. I don't know. I know He hears prayers. I know He answers prayer....just sometimes not with the answer I selfishly want. I also know that having a deep relationship with Christ means doing my human best to live like Him. Since I do not recall any Gospel account of Jesus being a glutton (quite the contrary), I am confident I am not where I should be.
So, I will focus on nutrition, what goes in and on my body. I will diligently try to use resources God created on this Earth, and not the artificial ones created by man. This will not be an easy task. Many manufacturers and suppliers don't tell you how their products are made. GMO items are not labeled. You have to look for the non-GMO labels. Even organic items, like castor oil, can be life-threatening to those who harvest them. Knowledge is power. Prayer is all powerful.
I will not worry. I will do what I am supposed to do. I will pity the friend who draws me as an accountability partner. You have your work cut outor you.
