Diet and Other Issues.

 Diet and Other Issues.

 

Recently, it was brought to my attention that an old woman cannot get by with eating everything she came to with an air of complete insouciance. Not to worry about what or how much we ate came easily as a youngster. Now, things have definitely changed. Sugar and carbs have become words that relate to problems with various body chemicals now. Such fun. Even chips and Pace picante sauce have to be limited unless the chips are pieces of bell pepper instead of corn chips. Sigh. Limiting oneself is never easy. Those who have become vegan or vegetarian—yes, there is a difference in the two terms—must find it difficult at first to find something to enjoy eating that does not include beef, lamb, chicken, pork, or other types of meat. Not sure anyone has come up with a type of food that substitutes for fish. So far, chemically altered substances have been used for fake meat, but it just seems a bit much to have “meatless” meatballs. But health sometimes demands limits on various things that we like—especially when it comes to food or drink.

 

Life has always had limits in certain areas, whether or not we think about it that way. Here back some years ago, the 911 operators got a call from some lady who reported a murder about to happen. She was watching a soap opera and could no longer tell the difference between real life and her TV series. Some folks really get “into” the characters on those various shows. Networks have had all kinds of problems when the “stars” demand more than the networks will offer yet find themselves in a bind because the particular stars are the only ones that fit the desires of their audiences. Believe it or not, we have become an “audience” nation. And it is not just in the U.S. that this phenomenon has occurred. Too many folks are very happy to allow a few commentators or “news” presenters to do their thinking for them. Unbiased reporting hardly ever happens—not back in the day and certainly not now. It seems every report has a slant to it.

 

One of the hardest things to limit is the tendency to worry. Some of us could become professional worry warts with a great deal of ease. Certainly, we are presented with plenty of fodder for our worry webs: this action leads to this result which leads to this disaster, ad infinitum. Someone is always available to point out the possibilities that come from lack of action by governmental agencies—or the impossible results of governmental action. Case in point: how does one make life possible for thousands upon thousands of immigrants when resources are already stretched beyond relief for those who are actually paying for the resources? It is interesting to note that Egypt refuses to allow the residents of Gaza to cross into their country. Sometimes even compassion has to have limits.

 

Let’s talk about voting. Does voting need to be limited to those who are actually members of a country, a party, a nationality? If the Palestinian people could not keep Hamas from taking over their country through voting, should we be surprised? Could our own country be taken over by one party because of the people who are allowed to vote? Do those who vote need to prove that they are American citizens?

 

Limits: Sometimes it is a bit of a concern—not necessarily a worry—that we might not know if someone is or is not a Christian. Now think about this for just a second. How do we treat someone that might be of a different belief? Do we limit our kindnesses to just those of our own denomination? Or do we treat each man, woman, and child as if they, too, are a child of God? If you really think about it, God blessed us (most of us) by allowing us to be brought up in a household where God and His laws were respected. Should we not, therefore, behave more justly than the man who has never known of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice? We accept the sinner, the alcoholic, the strangely dissociative personalities that come into contact with us. While we protect ourselves and our families from harm, we still need to accept that God does not have any need for us and our tendency to limit His love to just a few. The birds sing for everyone; the winds blow away the dust of the last year’s bird nests. And it rains on the just and the unjust alike. All things considered, limiting our diet is a simple thing compared to limiting love.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.