Opus 2026-296: Figurative Is Inclusive

I was walking down the path of foods we can, or should, eat.  

Vegetables came early.

(Gen 1:29 KJV)  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Keep in mind that “meat” is basically food not steaks and chops.

Meat was added with Noah.  Up until this time you could be a vegetarian, but I have been down that road before.

(Gen 9:3 KJV)  Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

Then the Lord’s Prayer came, “Give us this day our daily bread.”  Is that literal or figurative?  Yes.  The point that hit me here is that the figurative often includes the literal, it does not eliminate it.  The same is true from the other direction.  This where I am going today.

One of the debates I am always involved in when trying to understand the Bible is whether a statement is literal or figurative.  If you want to join the argument go to a church where the pastor uses the KJV and announce that the book of Revelation is mostly figurative.  You might want to have your will drawn up before you go because you might not be coming back.

Take the statement from the Lord’s prayer.  Does it mean that we are to eat bread every day and that God is supposed to make sure that happens?  If you lived in a day and age when bread was the major food in your culture then that would be a literal request.  You would not be asking for variety but for sustenance.  Today with our abundant choices in what we eat it could be understood just as well as getting enough calories.  If you are gluten intolerant then you definitely want it to be figurative.  

Let the Holy Spirit guide you as you seek to understand truth.  There is often a basic literal quality but that is often applied in many ways to your unique situation.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-255: Exceptions and Excuses

My wife just had one of those discussions that Doctors seemed to love to have about dietary needs and long-term health involving such things as high blood pressure and diabetes.  I always get a kick out of those discussions after I get over being uptight.  I get tired of being told to stop smoking and cut out the alcohol because I have never smoked and you could put all the alcohol I’ve ever consumed into a 1 quart milk bottle.  They love boilerplate because they can be very definite.

One of the issues that always comes up is that Oreo cookie that you’re planning on having.  Of course you deny it.  You act like it never happened.  Unfortunately your blood sugar knows.  The same would go for that meal you have when you go out with the family.  We have a way of saying, “Oh well, this one time will make any big difference.”  We’re right, and we’re wrong.

This is where we get to conceding, admitting, recognizing and implementing the difference between exceptions and excuses.  For most people, one meal rich in all the things the doctor tells you are bad for you will not really make any big difference.  The significance here is the word “one”.  Remember the Lays potato chip commercial, which said, “Bet you can’t eat just one”?  If there was money placed on it I probably could.  Just as long as there was an ending time where I could have the second.  But one doesn’t hurt me.

My problem is that I continually recite that mantra until the bag is empty.  The problem is when my wife asked me to bring home a couple of packages of triple stuffed Oreos and I know she’s going to eat them.  She may only eat them one at a time.  She may keep them frozen.  But they do get eaten and the exception becomes nothing but an excuse.

I don’t know how many times I have had a good day in controlling what I eat and then something will happen and I will say, “Oh well….”

Learn the difference between a genuine exception and a flagrant excuse.  If it’s your 50th wedding anniversary and you want to spend money at a restaurant that you normally could not afford, go for it.  Don’t make the same plans when you celebrate your one week anniversary of cleaning the living room.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-216: Bible medicine

I think the Covid panic did a lot of damage to the trust people have in the medical profession. In our coffee breaks we hear regular antidotal stories about doctors who sold out to make a buck or protect their reputation. Enough are true to make you wonder. I have been blessed with generally good health and I am grateful. Mostly it is due to the grace of God but I think there is also a bit of trust in the provisions God has made to keep us healthy.

The greatest thing we have going for us in that category is the built-in immune system that each of us is born with. During the years I was compelled to teach biology I was amazed at all the things I learned about how the body fights disease. That is part of the reason I think that my philosophy of “Walk it Off” is rock solid. At my advanced age I know about the constant irritation of aches and pains. Generally my body will take care of them.

Of course there are things we can do to aid that. Strangely enough there is evidence that they are all based in the Bible. Can you spell, “Wash your hands?” How about “Get plenty of rest?” I started making a list. I will probably think of other items as soon as I publish this but here are few.

Hygiene and sanitation from the law. Here you have the concept of washing. Some utensils are to be destroyed if contaminated, others can be washed. The priest was your local clinic. He was trained to recognize the difference between leprosy and a rash. We also have the idea of isolation.

Wine was recommended for your stomach sake while drunkenness was condemned. Dietary restrictions to avoided contaminated and parasite laden foods. Moderation was a goal.

The problem in stress and burnout was addressed with the Sabbath. Even slaves and animals were supposed to have the day off.

Chastity is something that gets a lot of ridicule today but we would be a healthier nation if we showed more restraint. Sexually transmitted diseases are one of the problems. You also have the elimination of pregnancy without the protection of the family.

All in all God has given us a lot of clear direction in how to live a healthy life.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-199: What Is Real?

I am mystified by the phrase, “Real food.” My wife likes to use it when she is passing judgment on something I am eating. It is almost like she thinks I am picking up a plastic decorative apple and munching away.

Real food? If I am eating it, believe me, it is real. You may not like my choice. I have yet to find a steak that meets my idea of well done. It is almost impossible to put too much salt on spinach. I can eat Cheerios without any sugar. If necessary I can even eat sugar without any Cheerios.

I think that real food is some mysterious preparation that has no preservatives or additives. It is a very flexible standard though. When I am asked to pick up a couple of packages of Double Stuffed Oreos I realize that I am not in on the formula for what makes something real. My guess is the formula will constantly be changed to suit the needs of the speaker.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-131: Check Your Sources

There are so many sources of ultimate knowledge that I have a hard time sorting it all out.  My focus today is the diet gurus with a nod to the revised nutrition pyramid.

When I was in college my mother went on Weight Watchers and had ongoing success.  Since she did the cooking we all went on the program and I was doing very well with it until I was drafted into the Army and forced to eat military style.  Later I tried different programs and had temporary success.  Finally about 10 years ago I got serious about avoiding diabetes and lost what I needed.

I have always had a relatively healthy diet, or so I thought.  I like most vegetables and dislike fat.  I had my issues like an addition to salt but I am one of those people that salt does not attack.  I was aware of the nutrition pyramid but did not worry about it because I ate that way anyway.  Then they revised it by turning it upside down.

One of the lessons of my life is that I stop listening to the experts and the most recent “scientific research” which is usually paid for by the people being vindicated.  You know the pattern.  Coffee is bad for you then it cures cancer.  Eggs are bad until they aren’t.  

Several years ago my wife came across a book called The Weigh Down Diet.  Over the years I have read it three times and keep coming back to the Biblical basis for its principles.  One of the quotes jumped out at me on my recent reading.

God  “has put food down on earth for us to enjoy, and He did not accidentally leave the basic four food groups out of the Bible.” p. 71

I recommend the book as a source of principles.  The author tends to get touchy-feely a lot which I don’t buy into but the principles are sound.  Maybe your local library has a copy.

Shamblin, Gwen.  The Weigh Down Diet.  New York:  Doubleday, 1997.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-024: Stay One Step Ahead

Somewhere I remember a great sage making the comment that we started dying the day we were born.  At the time it seemed to make some sense but I’m here to question that today.

Death can be many things.  If you go back to the garden of Eden, death means separation from God and His plan, an eventual decay and end to the physical body.  It did not mean “die right now”.  If they had been more obedienct we might have no nursing homes today.

But how did someone say that we start dying when we’re born?  I think his intent was spot on, but he missed his starting date.  I would suggest that the human body starts dying when it reaches the point of being developed.  It’s possible that different parts of the body might start decaying quicker than other parts.  What is the last system in your body to reach maturity?  I have no idea.  Perhaps some doctor could tell you.  But let’s just say that your sense of coordination develops much later than your taste buds.  I am still waiting.  That would mean that your taste buds, once fully developed, would start dying off while you might get more and more coordinated every day.  We know the taste buds start dying.  It’s just one indication that there is a limit to how long things will last.

I would suggest that the time we start dying is going to vary with each individual.  It could be as early as your teens and it could be as late as your mid 20s, but the day does come when the tide turns.  Being old and being well passed that turning point, I can almost feel things shutting down.

How do we respond to that?  On one point you just accept what is reality.  If my heart wears out, it wears out.  A lot of people think that drugs or exercise or a positive attitude can make it last longer.  Maybe so.  Probably not.  But at another point there are things that we can do.  We can work on exercising and stretching.  We can do things to keep as fit as possible.  We can put off the day where everything comes to a close.

The same with our minds.  I don’t know how predestined such things as dementia or Alzheimer’s are, but my guess is that if we are keeping our minds active and constantly challenged the onset of those problems will be held at arms length.  I may be totally wrong, but I’m going to go forward with that hypothesis.

What strengthens our muscles?  Movement and resistance.  I’m sure diet might have something to do with it but if you sit in a chair all day it probably doesn’t matter what you eat or how good an attitude you have.  My suggestion is that we each need to find a challenge in life and work over overcome it.  For those of you who are believers, that might mean a more intensive study of the word and getting involved in some serious conversations about what things mean.  For those who are not believers, it might mean studying the Constitution or taking a class in law.  It might mean becoming a philosopher and sitting around the coffee shop and expounding your ideas, of course, with the understanding that this will generate argument and conversation.  All of this will stimulate what we call our mind.

Sitting in the dark on my porch, I am enthused about the future.  I’m getting old.  If I’m too feeble to get to the mirror for evidence, then all I have to do is hold out my arm and look at the wrinkles.  I can still be enthused about the future.  Somebody once said they would rather wear out than rust out.  Plug your brain in.  Get it active.  Get out of your chair and walk somewhere besides the refrigerator.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-429: In the Image of Bug

This morning, my mind went to a meme that I saw attacking artificial sweeteners.  It showed a picture of something which I couldn’t identify with a group of bugs, walking around it and not touching it.  The written portion pointed out that ants and bees, and a long list of other creatures would not touch this particular artificial sweetener.  I think their point was because the ants didn’t eat it, we probably shouldn’t put it in our bodies.

I’m sure that if I could think for a while, I could come up with all kinds of things that I might eat that ant wouldn’t.  Conversely, I vaguely in the back of my mind, remember watching a video of a group of ants, hauling the carcass of another dead bug towards their tunnels.  Am I supposed to take that picture as suggesting I need to eat more dead bugs that I find laying on the ground?

How often do we see things that are represented as facts and connected to other facts and acting like they actually had something to do with each other?  I think it’s an overwhelming habit we have.  We see it in the climate change advocates.  Drought is a result of climate change.  Floods are result of climate change.  Heat waves are the result of climate change.  Blizzards are a result of climate change.  What’s key here is they change their terminology from global warming, and global cooling to climate change.  I remember a line that I believe Dick Cheney threw out one time after describing dramatically this climate change and saying it’s called “winter”.

Don’t get too excited about all of the people telling you that everything is going to kill you.  My understanding is we’re going to die eventually anyway.  The side effects of the medicine they want you to take might be more serious than the side effects of your artificial sweetener.  We can’t get the data.  We just have to use the common sense that was built into our bodies.

Which brings me to my point.  We are created in the image of God, not in the image of bug.  We are certainly not created in the image of contemporary science.  Bugs don’t care what we think, they just want to bite us.  Science doesn’t care much about us as long as they get paid for coming up with the opinions that they are told to express.  Our God gave us free will and we are free to make choices based on what our minds and the Holy Spirit tell us is right.

Make sure you are channeling the right image.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-426: Click Bait: We Are All Going to Die

I was only able to read the first part of the headline, but it was truly frightening.  I think we have now reached the point where we know there’s no chance of living to a healthy old age.  The target today was baking soda.  As I said, I could only read the first part of the click bait, but it was clear that they were going to do an expose on the benefits and the dangers of baking soda .

You realize if they take away your baking soda, you lose your chocolate chip cookies?  I’m not enough of a chef to know what else is involved, but it would really drastically change our lives.  Add that the fact that baking soda has been used, I would guess, for centuries if not millennia and the human race seems to have survived.  Not so anymore.  Now some agency or government entity or Talking Heads Internet Guru has decided that they need to look into the dangers of baking soda.

I would say the next target may be water, but there are enough people who are already paranoid and driven to bottled water that I think we’ve already arrived.

Stay tuned.  Your water will kill you.  The air you breathe will kill you.  Too much salt will kill you.  Eggs will kill you.  Coffee will kill you.  Now you can add baking soda to the list.

When will they claim that reading blog posts is deadly?

In memoriam. 

homo unius libri 

Opus 2025-369: European Gluten

We are in a wave of gluten intolerance.  I am forced to accept that there is something to it.  The queston is, “Where did this come from?”  I don’t remember anything about it when I was a child.

I remember reading somewhere a comment by RFK, Jr.  He said that he was gluten intolerant until he started eating bread from Europe.  I think the inference was that American farmers spray something on the wheat that causes this problem.  If so it should be easy to research and find out.  Go to it Bobby.

I have a different question that is generated by the weird wires of my brain.  Whatever the American farmers are using it has a purpose.  Europe also grows wheat.  Europe has similar problems to the Americans.  What are they using to control the problem? 

My assumption is that what they use also has side effects.  We just are not hearing about them.  I asked myself what the side effects could be and came up with a suggestion:  It makes people stupid.  Consider how Europeans seem to be on board with socialism and governments that use term “democrat” while being authoritarian.  What would cause an entire continent to have their thinking processes dulled to the point that they would put up with the nonsense.  

Enter European gluten.  I suggest that whatever they are using is causing the masses of Europe to be naive and incapable of logical thought.  I wonder if the same substance is being sprayed in the blue cities of American causes them to continue to vote for Democrats in spite of the obvious results.

Something to think about.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-313: The Falls of Summer

At church there was another prayer request for someone who had fallen.  Cracked bones, possible bleeding in the cranium,  bruises and an abused body.  It sounds like in this case she will be able to soldier on, but I’m thinking of others recently.  Sometimes the falls are because people my age are climbing ladders that they shouldn’t be climbing.  Sometimes it’s because they’re not paying attention.  I wonder how often it’s because we’re doing stupid things.  I know my most recent fall was when I was taking the trash down the driveway and trying to shortcut the process.  I ended up sprawled by the side of the driveway on the grass.  This is when I get thankful for my guardian angels.

This last fall could’ve caused major damage.  I could’ve caught my leg between things and broken a bone.  I could’ve fallen on the concrete and who knows what the results would be.  I could’ve landed on top of one of the rocks imbedded in my yard.  I was even close to a piece of rebar which could’ve punctured me.  Instead, I had a soft landing on the grass.  I felt it for a couple weeks, but life goes on with no major hiccups.

I think of the last few times I’ve gone down.  For me it’s usually that I’m just not paying attention or I’m doing something stupid.  The time before this was when I was walking quickly through the house with no lights on in the middle of the night.  Somebody moved a piece of furniture.  I’m not pointing any fingers, but can you spell grandchildren?  Anyway, I should not have been cruising in the dark.  I should’ve been carefully feeling my way or turning on the light.  I rank this one to stupidity.

What I’m always grateful for are those guardian angels that seem to keep a hand on me.  I try to make it a regular practice to thank them for being there even though I don’t know how many there are.  I’m still thinking of putting out milk and cookies for them but I don’t know if guardian angels like milk and cookies.  I will find out in eternity.

Walk carefully.  Don’t daydream, at least while on the move.  Don’t walk quickly in the dark house.  Make two trips with the trash rather than one.  Above all ask God to make sure that your guardian angels are sharp and on the task.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-236: Bread Theory

I’m sorry I can’t go with the Paleo diet.  I have no problem with you doing it if that’s what you want to do.  The Bible gives us permission to eat meat.  At the same time there is a balance that is expected.  One of the reasons why I can’t write off the things that are grown by the farmers are verses like this,

Psalms 104:14 (KJV) He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

The most common food out of the Earth in those days was probably a grain.  I doubt that it was wheat because I think wheat is a little more temperamental grain.  It might’ve been barley or oats.  It certainly wasn’t the results of being a hunter gatherer.  It wasn’t the fruit of the vine.  It wasn’t an apple from the tree.  It was that food brought forth out of the Earth by farmers.

Again, if you want to be a vegetarian, enjoy.  If you want to be a carnivore, enjoy.  If it works for you and you stay healthy, then it works for you and you are healthy.

All I can say is the Bible teaches such things as moderation and balance.  God gave the good things of the Earth for us to enjoy and keep us healthy.  Bon appétit.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-218: Thinking about It

As I get older the question of dementia and losing contact becomes more of an issue.  One of the questions that occurred to me this morning was do people who tend to be skeptical have less deterioration in their mental ability than those who are optimistic.  I reiterate that there is a difference between cynic and skeptic.  

A cynic is not a deep thinker by nature.  He assumes that the worst will happen, that motives are evil and that results will damage.  A skeptic on the other hand knows that things could go wrong and seeks to find ways to correct that.  They are cautious of the motives of others and themselves.  It is not an easy road to walk but keeps you thinking because there are no easy answers.

I think there’s evidence that those who finds things to stimulate them go downhill slower and I just wonder if optimistic people are less inclined to think deeply because they do not have the same concerns.  

Of course that’s rather self-centered.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-212: Lost and Found

I would venture to guess that many of you are aware that you need to lose weight.  It seems to be a common thing in America.  If you’re like me, you have tried many different avenues, many different approaches, many different diets.  Most of them work well on the short term.  The problem is the long-term discipline that is necessary to keep them in place.

When I accepted the fact that I was diabetic and decided that I really didn’t want to start having to use a needle, I got serious and found a way to take the weight off that worked well in the long term.  It had at its core a commitment to change my basic habits and understanding that it was a lifetime commitment.  That was at least 10 years ago and I have gained a little bit back but I’m still in the struggle.  I’m still fighting . I’m still doing the things that I did before.  It’s just not working as well as it did when I was going to school every day and on my feet walking around yelling and screaming at kids.  Retirement has a way of slowing you down.

One of the unseen problems that come up in trying to keep weight off is the sabotage that goes on by people who claim to love you.  I’m sure they do.  At the same time in their attempts to show that love, they undermine your efforts.  Recently, my wife shared with me that she had bought me a bear claw when she went to buy donuts for herself.  When I looked in the box, it was an apple fritter, not a bear claw.  Bear claws are OK but Apple fritters are super tempting.  Now I have a choice.  Do I eat the apple fritter and verify the fact that she bought this for me?  Do I wait until she’s looking the other way, act like I ate it, and dispose of it?  Do I do the impossible, and eat just small portions of it over several days?  Imagine my distress when I picked up the one apple fritter to eat, right now, in one setting, and found that there was a second apple fritter underneath.

We have the grandchildren over.  She announced that for breakfast we would be having sausage and eggs.  She expects me to cook them.  Sausage is very high in calories.  I never eat sausage if I have a choice.  It’s not a religious or spiritual decision.  It’s just pure rationality.  She knows this.  She still thawed out the sausage and announce to the kids that we were going to have it for breakfast.  Is this love or is this sabotage?

Keep in mind that the battle is not just one that you were fighting against your desire to eat, but it also involves people around you.  Sometimes they do things unconsciously.  Sometimes they do things deliberately.  Even when it’s unconscious there’s a very good chance that down inside they know what they’re doing.

I don’t have a solution for you.  I don’t have a solution for me.  All I can offer is an awareness of the conflict that is going on.  How we face it is an individual issue.  May you be blessed in your decisions and discipline.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-424: Healthy Insights: Go Green

As I sit waiting for the little icon to show up that says “skip”, I am forced to listen to the verbal Clickbait being offered up on different YouTube videos.  There’s a guy who is billed as a famous  cardiologist.  I’m not sure why, but he’s famous and great and awesome and I guess he doesn’t make enough money as it practicing doctor and is forced to make videos.  I don’t think I’ve ever listened all the way to the end of anything he has to say.  In this case, I listened just long enough to find out that green bananas are good for me and that ripe bananas will ruin my health.  At least that’s my interpretation of what he said.

Life is complex.  I think it’s complex enough already without having to worry about whether ripe bananas will kill me or not.  I’ve been eating bananas all my life.  In fact, I’m going through another period where they’re becoming a part of my diet. and to be honest, I actually like the slightly green bananas more than the ones that are turning brown.  The yellow ones in between can be OK but I tend to like the green.  So my problem is not that he’s pushing green bananas.  My problem is that I have enough gurus trying to run my life that I don’t really need one to pick my bananas for me.

Basic bananas are currently 50 cents a pound here in Texas.  Gurus are a dime a dozen.  They like to sneak up on you with advertisements.  Sometimes they approach you through Clickbait where you voluntarily touch the button. Either way you are informed of all the empty spots in your life.

Good luck with that

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-413: Another Raging Battle

I always marvel at the way God designed our bodies.  Currently on my mind is the way in which the immune system takes on all comers and doesn’t wait until the last minute to get involved.

Disease is a very familiar result of the fall and the coming of sin into the world.  

(Rom 8:22 KJV)  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

It gets personal when these miniature vectors of evil attack our bodies with enough force to generate a noticeable response.  I can feel the opening skirmishing going on.  Coughing and sneezing are indications that irritation is invading the airways.  Sometimes they are repulsed but if they are persistent they may overwhelmed the first lines of defense.  Runny noses, vocal congestion, aches and pains are all indications.

For me the attack is on.  Each day I marvel that the invaders have not won any big battles.  I am grateful to the white blood cells and different micro-organisms that lead the defense.  I am mindful that God provided for all of this.

My part is to get enough rest, exercise and eat properly.  If it were WWII I would be selling war bonds and rationing sugar.

The battle will continue as long as I am alive to celebrate victories.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-387: Creation and Additives

God designed the human body.  Of course that assumes there is a God.  I would imagine that the idea of creating included coordinating all the body systems and assigning tasks to the organs.

What do we know about this God?  I believe God exists outside of time.  That is a concept we can parrot but not necessarily understand.  We are locked in time.  What does it look like to be above it, to be the one who created time.  It would at least imply that this God could be in the past and the future at the same time.  We of course only experience Him in the present.  

That tells me God knew what was coming.

Which starts to get me to the point.  Was our immune system built-in before the fall or added afterwards?  I don’t believe disease existed in the garden of Eden.  Disease is part of sin intruding and breaking down the original creation.  So was our immune system OEM or after market?

Did God design our body knowing that someday the food industry would be putting additives and substituting artificial ingredients in the foods He provided?  Is your body already prepared to deal with these intrusions?  We freak out over the chemicals used and some people think they are the source of all ailments from obesity to mother-in-laws.  My interest would be in whether God already built in the mechanisms to deal with what we consider artificial.  

As an example of Providential planning think of the big oil spill that occurred in the gulf.  The environmentalists were making hay while the sun shined.  It was the end of life as we know it.  Life along the gulf coast would never recover.  Suddenly they went silent.  It seems that there was some kind of microbe that nobody was aware of that appeared and started eating up the extra oil.  It had been there all along.  It had been dealing with the seeps from the bottom of the ocean for millennia.  It was ready to go when the crisis came.

I wonder how much of our concern is because we have been taught to be victims and look for the source of our problems outside ourselves.  We want to be relieved from responsibility for our decisions.  We want the government or one of the doctors making You Tube videos to ride to our rescue.  I will accept that there are a few people who have physical conditions that bring on obesity.  I have seen the videos mocking the concept of  “calories in, calories out”, but it is still a matter of biological physics.  If you eat more calories than your body uses then it will store the excess.  It is much easier to look for a pill or an injection rather than leaving that Twinky in its wrapper.

Does God know about sweet and low?

Asking for a friend.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-334: Headlines: A Crack in the Fake

We hear a lot of noise about the vaccines that were pushed on the population and many of the noises are saying that the vaccines were dangerous.  The voices of the elites don’t even want to acknowledge that such theories are worth considering.  Here at last is a source that backs the claims.  It is found at a news site called Granite Grok.

The source is a British government site and it specifically says that unvaccinated children have not developed any myocarditis.  Maybe I read it wrong, so, as they say, read the whole thing.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-288: The Temptation

It would be so much easier to just sit down, lean back and take a nap.  That may not seem like a big problem, but it is not quite 8 o’clock in the morning and taking a nap really is not the way to start your day.

As I get older, I find myself getting weaker.  I have less energy.  I have more of a tendency to take naps, which, in itself is not a problem, but it can become a problem if I let it.  I can let taking a nap substitute for doing something that I should be doing or even just something I could be doing.  It is a real temptation.  At times I give in.  Overall, though, I need to keep moving.

Sometimes I ask myself, “Why do I need to keep moving?”

The answer comes back to my belief that God is in charge of the universe as well as my personal life.  I believe when God is ready, I will pass on to the next phase of life called eternity.  I believe that, as long as He leaves me here, He has some kind of reason for it.  I may not understand it.  I may not see it in this life.  But He has a reason.

So my job is to not take a nap because I don’t think that’s His reason, but to get up.  Get off my duff.  Get moving.  That may mean what it means right now, go walk.  It might mean what it’ll mean in the middle of the day.  Read a book.  It might mean write an essay.  It might mean make a phone call.  There are so many ways in which we are to interact with our lives.

The temptation is to take a nap. Don’t give in.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-155: Ode to Old: Join the Resistance

Why are old people more susceptible to things like the flu?  The elderly are urged to get the flu shot regularly and to be careful when they are out and about.  I wonder if this advice is not part of the high mortality in that age group.  

It is true that we tend to get weaker as we get older.  If we have serious health problems like diabetes and heart disease they will have developed over the years and dragged us down even more.  That much seems like common sense.

I would suggest though that there is something else going on:  Isolation.  One of the realities of life is that our immune system responds to the world we live in.  When I started teaching middle school I went through a regular series of illnesses.  As time went on that decreased in frequency.  After 20 years it became rare.  I remember kids deliberately coughing in my face when they were sick in hopes that I would catch it.  They thought it was funny.  I thought it was funny becuase it didn’t work.  My immune system had been forced into superman mode over the years.

After being gone from education for seven years, I can tell that my defenses are weaker.  One thing that helps is being around my grandchildren.  They bring bugs to the house on a regular basis.  Sometimes it effects me, sometimes not.  

Take your typical stereotype of a senior.  They live in a world devoid of health challenges that their bodies are designed to fight.  They are in assisted living, living alone or in a back room of the house.  They don’t get out and rub elbows much.  Their white blood cells get lazy and scarce.  Their ability to fight back is weakened.  Then you add things like flu shots which may protect them for the season if the drug companies guessed right in which strain would reach out to them.  If they guess wrong then more isolation was in the works.  In a sense the shot, when it works, helps them for the season but makes them weaker for the next round.

I saw some click bait recently that said one in nine American children is now autistic.  I didn’t bother listening because I hate wasting my time of big promises that don’t deliver.  Is it because more children are having problems or is it because the authorities that make a lot of money on autism are changing the standards?  I would guess more of the latter.  The headline also attributed the cause to increased vaccinations.  That does make sense to me.  Where will these children be when they get to be seniors?

Life has a lot of choices to make.  Be thoughtful and realize that they are out to get you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-120: Sneezing

I was going through a bout of sneezing this morning and it didn’t seem to want to stop.  I kept acting like I was in polite company.  I would cover my nose and try to stifle it.  Then I let go one massive sneeze and sprayed it all over creation.  This is not a problem since I was sitting on the front porch, before dawn, by myself.  I was free to do so.

And I noticed that the sneezing stopped.  This makes me ask a question.  Would it be healthier if we would stop trying to contain our sneezes and just let them blow?  Is the sneeze a natural, God-given, way of dealing with something in our head.  Will we be better off if we would stop trying to stop?

How many of the habits we develop to be courteous and civilized are potentially unhealthy?

homo unius libri