Biblical dietary advice

So I was sitting at my friend's table where she had put her giant print Bible in front of me, letting it fall open at random to see if I could read it without my glasses. I could. We were all talking about other stuff. I looked down and these verses caught my eye:

Job 6:6-7
Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
or is there flavor in the white of an egg?
I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.

I could not make this stuff up! I laughed out loud, picturing the times when medical and diet people have tried to make me believe that egg white omelets were good.

I'm not a small person. In high school after some serious dieting with Nutrisystem, they made me quit before reaching my goal because my hip bones were sticking out and visible through my clothes. I was in a size 12. I had to come to terms right then with the fact that I was never going to be one of those tiny petite model-types I so wanted to be.

There is a popular radio personality that regularly dispenses some variation of the following advise about losing weight:

Anyone can lose weight. It's just a matter of controlling your calories. There aren't metabolic disorders that keep you from being thin, after all, you never saw a fat person in a concentration camp.

This past month or so have proven her right. If you live on a concentration camp diet anyone can lose weight. Of course, concentration camp diets weren't big on nutrition, and people were sick from all kinds of diseases and even died of starvation. When my stomach started giving me such trouble and I could not eat, I did lose weight. I lost more than 20 pounds in just over a month. Of course I was also faint when standing for more than 5-10 minutes, and was having a hard time stying alert in conversations, and my skin erupted.

What is the moral of the story? Well, I'm not completely over my stomach stuff, but from what I've read about the symptoms, I have developed a peptic ulcer. So I am de-stressing as much as possible, and have decided to only eat what is appealing that doesn't make me sicker.

A week by the beach helped. Our new grandbaby lives within easy walking distance of the beach, so when he and mom were sleeping, I was at the beach. I've always found the beach healing. The sound of the ocean, the vastness and majesty, the fun of watching the birds dash into the surf, beachcombing, smelling the salt air. Much as I love Colorado, it has always been hard to leave the ocean for this vast arid land.

That aside, I have always been a bit rebellious when it comes to all the diet stuff. When margarine was touted as better than butter, I said no way. I'd rather have a little butter than a lot of margarine. Now it turns out the margarines are the worst kinds of fat. So now they say to eat even more tasteless "healthy" margarines. I say, why not eat olive oil and a little butter?

My biggest problem is eating on the run. I need to slow down and like Jack Lalane (sp?) never eat anything from a box, can or bottle. Fresh foods that God created from fresh real ingredients are better than the tasteless crap, or even the flavorful chemical-filled creations of so-called diet food.

A doctor told me to do the "Body For Life" program. I did it wholeheartedly. I bought a gym membership, spent 6 days a week at the gym, ate all the "right" foods, including their diet shakes. It was expensive and a chemical adventure. I didn't lose much weight until the doctor put me on medication. So I was drinking all these expensive shakes with an absolutely unpronouncable ingredient list from Dow Chemical and it took medication to actually get me to lose weight.

What I have discovered, and am still learning is that I can exercize without the excessive nature of the gym treatment. (Walking in the surf is ideal!) I can eat better food without the laboratory experience of diet bars and shakes. And I will never eat egg white omeletes.

Let me remind you of some of the things we have learned or unlearned in recent years.

Coffee is bad for you. Coffee is good for you.
Chocolate is bad for you. Chocolate is good for you.
The ideal diet is low fat. No low carb. No, wait. Some fat is good for you. Some carbs are good for you. Oh the low carb causes gout and kidney stones.
Margarine is better than butter. No margarine is MUCH worse than butter.
Alcohol is bad for you. No, wait. Alcohol is good for you.
Turns out, studies show it's better to eat whatever you want with people than to eat a heart-healthy diet alone. Eating alone is bad for your heart.

Actually, the one thing that has been consistent as near as I can tell is that processed sugar is bad for you. Period. So I am cutting back on sugar. Since sugar is in every kind of processed and fast food, it will be more and more difficult to figure out what to eat when on the way back from Wellington or Aspen or wherever, but I will have to stop and buy peanuts or apples or perhaps even plan ahead (gasp!) and pack travel lunches ahead of time. What a thought!

At any rate, I have never found Biblical dietary advice to be refuted. Daniel and the chosen Isrealites were fed a diet without all the rich foods of Babylon and it was superior. Timothy was told to take a little wine for his stomach's sake. Job says flavorless food without salt and eggwhite omelets make him ill. Terrific advice.

He Called Me Daughter

I would slide my arm around his waist and say "Hi there, Pops." He would give me a one-armed hug and say, "Hello, daughter." His smile would grow brighter, in a way that seemed just for me. I knew it wasn't, but I've always been fond of self-delusion and so it warmed my heart anyway. I knew he loved me and that was all that mattered.

Since I was a kid, Jack Boucher "Baldy" was a fixture in my life. Jack lived on his ranch east of Colorado Springs for most of his 81 years. Probably the single-most hard-working man I have ever known, Jack worked until days before his death. Married for 56 years, he and his wife, Shirley, raised four kids on the land where he was raised.

Of all the memories I have of him, a few things stand out: I never heard him say a harsh word or say an unkind thing about anyone; He loved people and was not harsh or judgemental even while he strove to live a good and upright life; He reached out to people no matter who they were. I'm not sure he noticed whether you were a trash collector, a felon or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Those weren't the things that mattered to him. Where your heart was with Christ mattered, what your struggles were mattered, true teaching of the Word mattered.
Jack was a praying man. His love for people translated into praying for them. He trusted in his Heavenly Father to listen to his requests. He was generous. He went out to eat with people all the time, especially the folks from church, and he often picked up the tab for folks he knew were hurting financially.

I heard once, years ago, that his wife, Shirley, fed him horse oats and liver for breakfast every day of his life. Looking at his vitality and how slowly he aged, I always believed it. A couple of months ago I was eating dinner at their house and I told him how it was hard to argue with that diet. "I don't eat horse oats," he protested. "You do when I tell the story."

He had a great sense of humor and yet was a serious man, always ready to talk about Jesus.

"It is a wondrous thing that Man can talk to God." Such was his belief. It is wondrous, indeed.

Today Jack is talking to God face to face. He was welcomed with a marvelous reception and I am convinced he heard the words, "Well done."

The man who called me daughter has gone to his reward. I shall miss my Pops.

Anticipation

Some of you may be puzzled as to why I haven't written much lately. Well, my system has decided that my stress would reside in my gut. For a while now I have been plagued by intermittent nausea and stomach aches, but for the past few weeks it has been virtually non-stop, with the notable exception of a really terrific lunch at my friend Evelyn's house where I surprised myself by being able to eat roast beef with carrots and potatoes. I even had a second helping! Amen!

The upside of this has been that I've lost around 20 pounds.

The downside is that I've really felt awful and not known why. It became clear to me recently that the business struggles and the financial fallout are the source of my stomach problems, and so I'm working toward stress reduction. It's kind of embarrassing for me to admit that I'm struggling in this way. Do I trust God? Yes I do, but it's not a simple trust. It is hard-fought. I struggle to trust, even when I believe in my head that God is faithful and believe what the Bible says, I am aware that we must endure hardship. Endure, not enjoy.

Hebrews 12: 2 says: Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

I have been looking to live in perpetual joy. Joy in the midst of troubles, in the midst of bad news, in the midst of pain...but Christ himself for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame. The joy was in the future. It was anticipated, not experienced in the moment. He endured. He despised. And so, in the midst of despising the shame, I can endure, looking forward to promised joy.

This is a real gift to me, to see this for the first time. The joy does not have to be in this present moment, but we can endure, knowing that joy is anticipated. I am anticipating joy. That anticipation has brought peace.

Books As A Delight

A quote from the book by the same title, first published in 1921, written by William A. Quayle.

Books as a delight! Things that woo you and lure you. If anybody can get a book in his hand that does not appertain to his business, that is worth while. The love of a book because it is a book, and the holding of a book in the hand to warm the hand instead of putting the hand to the fire; a going around where books beautiful are, just the loving a book, not because it is of any use or because it has any bearing on our business, nor because we should be informed by it, nor reformed by it, nor deformed by it, but because it touches our life, and so we might be other than we are.

From Grime to Green

Just a few weeks ago I was on the road to Longmont, and the next day to Wellington (just past Fort Collins). For anyone who doesn't know, Wellington is about 140 miles each way--that's a lot of highway for one day. The entire world seemed the color of sludge--a blackish, graying brown. The sides of the roads, the medians...well, even the highway signs were all the same color, thanks to a coating that could only come from the gravel and salt mix the highway and street departments have been using to cover the roads to make them passable this very snowy icy winter. Even piles of snow left here and there are barely recognizable with their top layer being black. It was a truly depressing world. Everything, even the cars on the roads were all muted by this same dirty film.

Then came the rain. Oh, was I in heaven. Real rain. The colors have begun to return. My lawn is greening up, tulips are poking their heads out of the soil and the grime is beginning to disappear from the roadsides and medians. Even our cars seem to be losing their coating as more and more of us run through the carwashes, wanting to believe that this long winter is over.

Color and brightness have returned. It's strange for me to have such a keen appreciation for spring, for I love winter and snow, but I hate the grime. Spring does cheer me up as I see which of my plants have decided to return, and I long to plant more. With the spring is a burst of pollen which clogs me up on the inside as all the road crews sand mix does to the outside during winter. I feel full of sludge. This year I'm fighting back with Claritin, Sudafed and Mucinex. Between the three I feel nearly human.

I couldn't help myself the other day, and went around to my planter beds and spread bags of 50/50 mix to feed the soil. I also spread handfuls under each of the bushes and flowers I planted on the perimiters, as well as a bit for my poor cherry tree.

I bought one of those small indoor greenhouses with 32 peat pellets inside that expand with water and allow you the perfect spot to germinate seed for later planting in the garden. Tomatoes (two kinds), broccoli, green onions, and lavendar are sitting on a bench in the dining room. The broccoli and green onions are the first to sprout, peeking up within just days.

I need to build a bed in the back for a vegetable garden. Perhaps this year I will go and dig up goat manure for the garden.

I went to pick up scrap wood for firewood the other day and part of it was a beautiful but slightly broken crib. The two sides are perfect for trellises for clematis or morning glory, and I plan to plant the one good end in the back for shoring up...well, I haven't decided yet, but isn't that part of the fun? Slowly...oh, so slowly the yard will become what I had hoped for. I want two more raised beds in the side yard and one large vegetable garden in the back, with who knows what growing around the edges. Fences aren't that attractive to look at when you could plant espalleired apple trees or grapevines along them. The fence becomes the canvas for your imagination to paint with life!

Will this be the year I get the pond in? Who knows. Perhaps I can figure it out once we are out of this terrible financial crisis. Maybe this year I will find a few outdoor seats to spread throughout the yard to enjoy the parklike atmosphere I am trying to create. I'm looking forward to the raspberries, red and black, taking off and perhaps starting some grapes and french lilacs. We'll see.

I can't wait to get my zinnia seed in the ground and perhaps finding some more perinnial or self-seeding flowers to fill up my beds. I love to bring fresh-from-my-garden bouquets to bring when a guest for dinner or when visiting the sick or infirm. It lightens my heart to see it. I also love to tuck in a freshly cut bloom in the ribbon of a gift for a shower or birthday party I'm attending.

What do you like to do in spring?

Righteous Indignation...Anger...Rage

I have been thinking about what happens when we of the church turn on our own. I have been thinking about it because I've seen it happen, been the victim of it and have a dear friend who has been abused by the self-righteous, holier-than-thou, so-called Christians in the name of righteousness, and in the name of Christ.

I was with a group of churchwomen eating at a local pizza restaurant. An extremely obese woman came in and sat down with her food. One of the ladies looked at her in disgust and with disdain dripping from her voice said, "How can she eat in public when she looks like that?" The lady was eating a very modest size meal, but that wasn't the point. To me, the point was how dare we look down our snooty noses at this woman whom Jesus loves? With great restraint and by the grace of God I controlled myself to say only, "some of us wear our sins on the outside, and some of our sins are hidden."

To these people who have called my friend and spewed acidic hate through the phone in the name of righteousness, I want to take them before the church and publicly call them to task for their hateful, ungodly, unbiblical behavior. My friend was told that God had withdrawn his blessing forever from my friend's life and the life of my friend's family because of a momentary sin. I want to rip them limb from limb! I am so incredibly angry, and yet...Jesus loves them too. Oh, I don't believe he would let this go, he seemed to have a record of chastising the self-righteous and moneychangers.

Others have been cruel to my friend's children because of my friend's one-time, repented of, covered by the blood of Jesus, 100% forgiven sin. Vicious vile people. when someone repents aren't we supposed to restore them so that they don't lose heart? I know that is completely scriptural. We are told to bear each other's burdens, and that love covers sin. I believe that means we don't expose someone to public shame unless biblical, private discipline yields no results.

So because I was not part of the conversations and have no first-hand knowledge (though I know the players well enough to know that the story is true), I must then tell you to watch yourself in your tendency toward self-righteousness. We all have that. We must go first to the sinner to deal privately. We must protect the reputation of our brothers and our sisters. We must not gossip. We must avoid the temptation to elevate ourselves by degrading our brothers and sisters in the name of truth. If we do not act in love and kindness toward our brothers and sisters when they sin, why should we be treated with love and kindness when we sin?

Think of it this way...

How would you like your private sins made public? How would you like the entire church to stand in judgement of the sins that beset you? What if it's gossip? What if it's lust? What if its jealousy? What if its pride? What if every ugly moment that you are ashamed of were displayed in a video on Sunday morning? Do you think those are any smaller or less shameful than theft or immorality or drunkenness? Do you really? What if you not only had to go to the foot of the cross and accept grace but you also had to pass muster with all the church people YOU know? What if your forgiveness were truly dependent on the sniveling, rude, unlovely group that composes a great part of the church?

What part of the church do you want to be in? Do you want to mimic Christ in his forgiveness, his grace and his mercy? Do you want to cover the sins of your brother/sister? Or do you really want to stand in judgement over your brother?

Oh please...let us not beat up our brother, our sister. Let us lift them when they are down, put an arm around them and carry them when they are weak. And as angry and enraged as I have been to see the hands and feet of Christ sullied in this way, I do appreciate the soapbox which has allowed me to get this out. I beg of you, let the church show the mercy of Christ to each other.

You're Beautiful

After a trip to pick up firewood, I decided to treat myself to Starbucks. With help I managed to fill up the truck, tie it down and drive it on home. If you don't have FM, sciatica and arthritis, you may not know what a feat this was. I was feeling pleased and that kind of delicious tiredness that comes with pushing oneself to accomplish a physical task.

I pulled into the drive through at my local Starbucks (why haven't they called me for an interview yet?) the cheerful male voice called out, "How are you today, beautiful?"

"Fine. How are you?"

"Great. What can I get for you this Valentine's Day?"

Gotta say, that even though I am not one who meets the standard of beauty, and though I knew who it must have been calling out through the speaker (turns out they have this tiny camera so they can see you, but you cannot see them), and though I know this guy is harmlessly flirting, and is young enough to be my son (gasp!) it still made me feel good. It's been a very long time since anyone called me beautiful. Kind of brings tears to my eyes to think about it.

I don't expect those kind of compliments, truly I don't. It sure feels good to hear, even if it's not true.

Made me remember an episode of "Cheers" from way back. Coach's daughter was really frustrated with her dad cause he called her beautiful. "Don't you see me dad?" She didn't want him to patronize her. "Look at me!" she insisted. He looked at her and in a choked voice he said, "You look just like your mother." It was clear from what followed that he had thought his wife was beautiful, and in doing so you realized that his daughter now realized that he was speaking the truth as he saw it. He truly saw her as beautiful.

When I think about it I know many women who look all different ways, ultra-thin, voluptuous, dark-straight hair, short frizzy hair, freckles, big lips, thin lips...oh I could go on, but you know what I mean. Think of the women you know and how their beauty is so different from one to the next. From the wholesome outdoor girl to the pale, wan, ethereal type, each has their own beauty. Perhaps that is the lesson I need to internalize today. Perhaps I am holding myself to a standard which I don't apply to anyone else. Perhaps others see me the way I see them, as having a unique attraction. I don't expect everyone to look alike, merely to be the best individual they are...and in the end, I think I really look for the heart that shines out. Are they compassionate? Loving? Kind? Funny? Merciful? Just? True? Do they face life with courage? I have some friends I would find impossible to describe physically because I see such joy and courage in their faces that that is the beauty I see when I think of them. Their internals shine on the outside.

Oh, that is the beauty to which I aspire. What matters it whether I have perfect skin, flawless body, shiny gorgeous hair, perfectly straight teeth? what does it matter that my eyes don't work together? One day, given enough years, we will all have matching sets of wrinkled skin and gray hair. May the lines on my face be that of smiles and joy rather than the frown of depression. May my eyes shine with love and compassion.