More Important Than What is Ingested

Reading Dr. Mercola’s website can be overwhelming. It is full of great information, but the key word here is “full.” In my first post on this subject, I referred to the email that started this whole series. I will quote part of it again:

Do you ever get depressed reading Dr. Mercola’s website? I got an email update yesterday and went to check out some of the articles, and I feel like I am going to either totally mess up my kids for life or be left eating nothing but air.

[snip]

I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Dr. Mercola. How do you cope with the knowledge that he provides? Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

I am all too familiar with the pseudo-panic attack that accompanies learning, for instance, that that soda I like to drink is causing major cell damage. Read the back of anything prepackaged, and you will likely find ingredients that are difficult to pronounce, and possibly dangerous.

Now, if you have read this blog for very long at all, you know that, for various reasons, I am careful about what my children eat. Truth be told, we are in the process of switching over topicals as well, things like soap, shampoo, and lotion. However, what if I cannot afford to switch out a product? What if I live in a state where raw milk, though I think it is best, is illegal to purchase and my house isn’t zoned for owning a cow of my own? Must I despair?

Peace, my sisters.

Mark 7:14-23:

And [Jesus] called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” {Thus he declared all foods clean.} And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

I, like most other mothers, desire to give my children the healthiest start possible. However, I cannot allow all the health information out there to distract me from the fact that raising children is first and foremost a spiritual activity. I will discuss tomorrow about Jesus declaring “all foods clean,” but I think that today it is important to stress that it is more important to concentrate on discipleship. Effective discipleship {Shema-style, if you will} is the best start I can give to my kids. It is like feeding the heart rather than the stomach. Of course, I am not an expert on this, since we are still little around here, but There It Is.