This post is about a comparison that should have struck me months ago. As someone with two unique blogs, one on losing faith in a Christian university and one on eating and living a completely different lifestyle from generally recognized health practices, one would assume this was the theme of my first post. What can I say, we'll chalk it up to brain fog.
What I mean, of course, is that health and faith quickly become two sides of the same coin. Your family's beliefs become your beliefs; simple explanations are swiftly popularized; sages of knowledge are assumed to possess understanding that mere mortals are happiest simply accepting; but most importantly, the devoted crave the company of the devotees and often either pity or resent all other paths.
(To the readers I'm quickly offending and scarring for life, these are generalizations, and gross ones at that. There are certainly excellent, praise-worthy, respectable minds and hearts in these camps. I would argue that they are the minority, but I certainly acknowledge them. And continue to compare the shortcomings of the majority.)
To the same degree that government once was, and still is for some, inextricably linked with spiritual authority, health has also enjoyed a special relationship with our belief systems. We both pray for healing and discuss our spiritual health; witch doctors and monks alike will call on one side to benefit the other. But what's especially fascinating is the experience of those who, for whatever reason, decide to assume some level of maturity and autonomy over either condition: who decide they have the capability of interpreting human history and nature for themselves instead of having it interpreted for them. Suddenly, the gods—the carbs, the prophets, the convenience foods, the fairytales, the chronic cardio, the judgmental superiority complex—begin to crumble before rationality. Of course, this is not to say the gods are always less inviting; but it tends to becomes an exercise in futility to embrace a theistic worldview when it just no longer holds up to logic.
To choose a different path from conventional health/faith is arguably one of the most difficult decisions an individual can make. It is easier in every dimension—mental, physical, social, emotional—to bumble along with the currents and flows of all the voices around you. In either case, their concern can be absolutely suffocating, whether your new course is currently bringing you brilliant success or utter misery.
I once read (and I wish I knew where, so I could link it) a man's comment that he would rather discuss religion, politics, and sex simultaneously at the dinner table than touch the "health" subject even for a minute. To accept a different wisdom from the faith in Creationism or low-fat shakes is to rock the boat almost unbearably. Eventually, we strike out on our own, and find what consolation the Internet can offer. Fortunately, this has turned out to be more than I might have thought.
To conclude, a little song I hummed while walking this afternoon:
I have decided to become primal
I have decided to become primal
I have decided to become primal
No turning back, no turning back
Though none go with me, still I will Grok on
Though none go with me, still I will Grok on
Though none go with me, still I will Grok on
No turning back, no turning back
Low-fat behind me, bacon before me
Low-fat behind me, bacon before me
Low-fat behind me, bacon before me
No turning back, no turning back
Will you decide now, to eat that whipped cream?
Will you decide now, to eat that whipped cream?
Will you decide now, to eat that whipped cream?
No turning back, no turning back
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