The Answer To Your Prayers
Do you want or pray for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dialysis, surgery, depression?
Don't answer "No" too quickly. And be careful not to start or continue pursuing a path that ultimately leads to insanity and/or disease by doing what creates these man-given problems.
I am not so perfect, I am not "casting the first stone," and I do not judge ("Judge not, lest ye be judged"). But to preserve your sanity and potential for finding truth, health, and freedom, let us now discuss the meaning of what you do. This needn't be seen as a big lecture, and it isn't intended to be unfriendly:"Just the Truth, Ma'am." Well, here goes.
Life is not intended to be unhappy or for that matter, happy. In a sense life just "is." Life is like a blank canvas that you do the drawing on, for good or bad. There is always "chance" or "luck"- good or bad, operating in our lives. But virtually all of what happens to us is exactly what is supposed to, based on what we do.
Now what I want to discuss with you is this: Since diseases and/or health have causes, understand that what you do (not what you hope of pray for) will make one or the other happen.
If you eat high calorie and fat/no fiber foods like meat, cheese, pizza, eggs, bacon, luncheon meats, ice cream, fried and fatty/Chinese foods, since you and I live in the real world, that is like asking for diseases: cancer, stroke resulting in loss of the use of half of your body, death or congestive heart failure from a heart attack or high blood pressure, dialysis-blindness-amputation from diabetes, open heart surgery, hip surgery from osteoporosis or weight-induced grinding and destruction leading to knee replacement.
On the other hand, being optimistic, muscular, trim, eating a high fiber/low fat whole Grain-Vegetable-Bean liv-it (not a die-t), not smoking or having unprotected sex, and avoiding most alcohol is the surest Preventive Medicine method of disease avoidance-leading to freedom, lowered bills, and a happier and more attractive you.
When you go shopping at the grocery store and/or when you cook the high fat/high sweet die-t (as opposed to a liv-it), then that is literally like being in Church on your knees praying for those diseases/horrors listed above. Do not say you do these things and don't want the cancer/heart disease/surgery/depression. What you do, since you are not insane, will translate as what happens or doesn't happen to you in all reasonable probability. So if you don't want problems, don't ask for them, don't pray for them, by virtue of what you do (wrong). Very much as in the Bible, don't "Ask And It Shall Be Given Unto You" as in the way you eat/smoke/drink/don't exercise/or have unrealistic expectations.
H. Robert Silverstein, MD
Hartford, CT