Not because I wanted to, but because I was puny.
On Saturday - with no warning whatsoever - I woke up achy and not feeling too good. By mid-day, I had a temperature of 101. I stayed in bed all day (which is a clear indication that I'm not feeling good.)
It's been about 80 days since I did this very radical shift in my diet - going all raw. That detoxes your body as you go along, but you reach a point where it does something even greater to you. I think I reached that Saturday. I treated none of the symptoms. By mid-morning Sunday, it was gone. That means my immune system kicked in! Hallelujah!
My friend Kathy has already been through it and said it was like having a short episode of the flu. Bingo!
We live in a very toxic environment. In fact, the more I learn about it - the scarier it gets.
Just consider your skin - the largest organ of your body. Our skin absorbs 60% of what we put on it. Look at your lotions, your soaps, your sunscreens, etc. Those chemicals you can't pronounce are getting into your blood stream!
We breathe in toxic air. We eat toxic food - food sprayed with pesticides - some food which has been genetically modified - some with Round Up to be resistant to weeds! Toxins are everywhere. There is no way to avoid them all. That's why it's important to do what you can to avoid as many as possible. (End of sermon.)
Back to missing church - I love my church family. Not just Madison Church of Christ, but all God's people. I have loved all the congregations I've been a member of - Hendersonville First United Methodist Church, Aurora Christian Church, Tulip Grove Baptist Church and many I haven't been a member of.
I don't go on Sunday and at other times during the week to get my card punched or because I have to or I'm supposed to. I go because I want to! I love being in fellowship with other Christians.
When I am there, there are people all around me going through tough times - some much more difficult then what I'm dealing with right now. I get strength when I see them praising God amidst trials. That is raw, unadulterated faith.
Two weeks ago I prayed with a woman in our Benevolence Center. When I asked her what I could pray with her about, she said "my faith." The standard answer is generally finances, family, health issues, etc. I asked her what about her faith. She said she was losing it. Why? "Because I'm doing everything right and I'm having all kinds of problems."
Unfortunately, people sometimes seek God for what He can do for them. Some people call this the prosperity gospel - as long as you're good and do everything you're supposed to do - God will pour out blesses on you!
That is bad theology! And it's not the truth.
Jesus tells us that God causes the sun to shine on the good and the bad and likewise with the rain - it falls on the good and the bad. (And we need some of it to fall right now on all of us!)
And thankfully, I'm glad the prosperity gospel isn't the way God works. I much prefer His mercy and His grace because if I had to live out His rules to be blessed, I would have been dead a long time ago!
It's day 83 of my raw diet. Next Monday, I'll be celebrating day 90. Can you say $8 raw chocolate bar here I come?
"I love you, O Lord, my strength."
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