Out of Control

     There are two reasons I am skeptical of health trends. The first is that I have seen diets, diseases, preventions and cures come and go through the years. Caffeine has gone from bane to beneficial in a decade. The same chocolate that was once empty calories is now an antioxidant. Hypoglycemia gave way to yeast intolerance, which paved the way for the current cootie--gluten intolerance. I am not saying people don't really have these conditions, but even diseases become fads and can be over and/or self diagnosed. Vitamin C has been upstaged by vitamin D, cranberry juice by acai, etc. I have ridden the exer(cise)cycle from isometrics to aerobics to cardio, pilates and, currently, circuit training. If I tried to incorporate only those exercises that claimed to be the most important or effective, it would still take three hours a day. My same old fitness routine may be dated, but it also daily, which is probably more important.
     The second reason I put little credence in health fads is because they promote the illusion that we can control both the length and health of our lives. Jesus spent a large portion of his ministry healing people, but I know of only two health references and neither of them would be found in the wellness section of a bookstore.
     1) Mark 7:15-19 (My condensed paraphrase) Nothing we eat makes us unclean. It is only passing through.  Mark inserts that this declared all foods clean. Welcome back bacon.
     2) Matt. 6:27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? (NIV)  That sucks the go right out of the goji. We spend time and money trying to guarantee a longer, healthier life and the only guarantee Christ gives is that it won't work.
     Today I was one of hundreds of mourners at the funeral of a godly, healthy 61 year old man who died of a massive brain hemorrhage. Nothing could have prevented or cured his condition. The only thing the family could control was their testimony in mourning.  If I'm already floundering to control my body (hard), tongue (harder), thoughts (hardest), I am not adding health to the list. The healthy thing about being out of control, is the rest I get from knowing who is.