 |
| https://unsplash.com/photos/hOj3-0lTK8E |
I thought it was apple cider vinegar (ACV). I was taking it everyday and noticed one time how everyone in the office caught the cold and cough virus except me--and some of them were even sneezing in my face. I really thought I finally found the secret. And why not? Wasn't apple a powerful source of Vitamin C? Didn't they say an apple a day kept doctors away?
But months after the office breakout, I got the cold-cough virus despite my daily dose of ACV. And an officemate reminded me how Vitamin C cannot be stored in ACV bottles. The moment you cut open an apple, its Vitamin C starts evaporating. ACV is good for digestion, but as source of Vitamin C and as anti-virus?
But there are folks who look like they don't get sick at all. My grandpa lived to be a hundred, and at 100 years old he could still carry a 50-kilo sack of rice on his back. And once, also at 100 years, he was struck by a jeep. And he very seldom got sick. Yeah, he ate lots of fresh vegetables because he lived in the province, but how about other people I know who ate meat but still lived long--and never seemed to get sick?
Actually, grandpa did, too. Though he ate lots of vegetables, he also ate meat and pork. A lot of meat-gourging bible characters never got sick. Well, at least it's never mentioned in the book. They died of old age or war. Samson ate meat but never got sick. And how about Jesus? Being Jewish, it's understood he participated in the Passover which involved eating roasted calf meat. But there's no mention of him getting sick.
Well, I can imagine him getting sick now and then. The book of Hebrews mentioned how he underwent everything a human being is supposed to undergo or experience (except sinning), but I'm sure he wasn't sickly or didn't easily catch illness. So, what's the secret then? Is it diet? Lifestyle? Organic food? Incredible immune system? Faith? Spiritual DNA?
Believe it or not, a medical expert (as quoted by Today.Com) said it's chance. Fate was why these folks seldom got sick. “The most obvious reason (why they don't get sick much) is simply that [they] are lucky,” said Stephen Morse of Mailman School of Public Health at the University of Columbia. He's professor of epidemiology there.
Dr. William Schaffner didn't attribute it exactly to luck, but he wasn't able to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes other people seem untouchable to illness. “It’s kind of a tough topic. It’s likely due to a combination of ingredients,” he said. Schaffner is professor of medicine (division of infectious diseases) at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
You know why experts can't pinpoint it? Because it's God's "grace." That's what it is. But if you're an "expert" of some kind, you're not supposed to just say "God's grace." You'd rather allow yourself to admit it's sheer "luck" than say it's God's grace and sound like a fanatic. Experts should remain objective and neutral.
Yup, what they couldn't identify (or refuse to admit) is simply God's grace. Not one earthly or medical factor or even a mix thereof can make you immune to sickness and live longer. There's no life elixir. God decides if you get sick or not, if you live or not. Some health buffs die early of sickness and I have an uncle who smokes and gets drunk a lot but doesn't get sick. Here's what God plans to do in these last days. Click here.
This doesn't mean we can now neglect our health and just do or eat anything. God says in the bible that we're seriously accountable for how we manage our health. "We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him," [1 Corinthians 3.16]
But being a health buff is not why you aren't sickly. It's God's grace. And he gives his grace to whoever he wants to. It's not based on our merits or anything we do. It's purely due to his pleasure.
