The weather here in Texas at the end of August is unseasonably cool. Rachel and I have consequently been walking more in the morning and the evening, and apparently a lot of other people have the same idea. For those we have had the chance to converse with along the way for their motivation to be out walking or running, health is the reason given.

Having the will, and acting on the motivation to improve or maintain one’s health is a welcome and comforting observation for me to see in people around me. I spent my High School years observing many people thinking that they could ingest all kinds of drugs, alcohol and engage in unhealthy activities without consequence. At one time in my life I thought these were the “cool” people, the people that one wanted to be associated with because they were so “fun” to be around. I didn’t stay in that delusion long. I credit a few significant friends that were instrumental in awakening my senses to what was actually good and healthy, true and meaningful and remain thankful for their impact on my life.

Even then, however, we didn’t know much or care much about what was actually healthy in terms of our physical bodies other than not doing things that obviously were detrimental to our mental and physical being. At the time we were bombarded with messaging that was promoting the convenient life that was ours to have if we were willing to take our labor wages and trade it for what the marketers promised would bring us happiness, contentment and becoming part of the “in” crowd. The food industry had begun to substitute cheaper processed substances for truly nutritional food, and most of us bought into that system. Twinkies, Ding Dongs, frozen dinners, you name it, they had slick advertising campaigns that brought out the hunger in us, first of all by the marketing, and then by the additives that fooled our bodies into needing more of the effects that our bodies underwent as we transitioned from good nutrition to food that would later be found to cause all sorts of diseases, including cancer and heart disease.

I remember my dad taking baby aspirin for his alleged heart issues resulting from a fast food diet. That actually resulted in his death as the thinning of the blood caused a major rupture in one of the blood vessels in his brain. I still can see the X-ray’s that were presented to our family at the time that showed how profound that rupture had been. We found out later through medical research that taking baby aspirin regularly was a causative factor for this condition.

So Rachel and I have had various experiences that have caused us to realize the wisdom of Hippocrates when he said;

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”

We grew up when the phrase “A pill for every ill” had been cemented into the American psyche by people that had seen the profit potential of a medical industry that could feed forever on the unhealthy state of the nations individuals. And why not? So many people had decided that unhealthy habits were what they wanted to focus on in life for the “thrills” and the “experiences” that were evidently experienced by those who bought into that lie. Why not capitalize on people’s insistence that they could rectify any physical or mental issue with a pill or procedure?

We left that idea of a pill for every ill years ago, including more recently a supplement for every ill. We are learning what a blessing health is, and how best to maintain it through listening to what our bodies are trying to tell us. We are embracing the freedom that comes from taking control of one’s health through understanding the ideas that Hippocrates, and many others knew and articulated for those who had ears to hear. We don’t think that we will ever understand the entirety of the complexity that God built into our physical bodies, but we are humbly seeking those mysteries that God reveals to those who actually seek Him in this area as in any other area of life. What’s interesting, we have found that God has brought understanding to a wide variety of people that we would never have normally known about regarding health. It reminds me of the verse in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus says:

"He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous”

Does the idea of a life that is lived well, coupled with the ideas behind health stewardship appeal to you?