Day of Atonement

My hunger was manageable today.  That's really saying something considering that I worked out this morning and the rest of my family "oohed" and "ahhed" over homemade fajitas tonight for supper. (It probably helped that I was in meeting while they ate.)

I've been doing some research on the festivals, feasts, and celebrations in the bible. Today I was reading about The Day of Atonement...more commonly known here as Yom Kippur.

This day is the holiest of day of the Jewish year. But is also very solemn because it is about atoning for the sin of the people. The ritual is elaborate and you can read about it in detail in Leviticus 16.

However, it's been on my mind because it got me thinking about the fact that Israel was concerned not only with personal sin but also with the sin of the nation. They obviously took responsibility for the sin that was committed corporately by the people.

Wow. We are so not like that. The western world is all about independence and personal choice.

We are lucky to find people in our culture who will take responsibility for themselves much less the choices of our government and the "people" as a whole.

What makes this particularly ironic is that we live in a democracy where our government represents our choices. This would not have been the case back in those ancient days.

What would a Day of Atonement look like for us? If Americans rose up together to accept responsibility for the wrongs that we have done as a nation (internally and externally), what would that look like?

Yes, I know we've also done great things! And I believe that we have taken the time to pat ourselves on the back many, many times for those things. I am a grateful American and so glad that I live in this country, but we fall way short of being perfect.

Do we have too much national pride to admit that we have even done any wrong?  Do you see the excesses here and the poverty and suffering that pervade many areas of the rest of the world? Or is this not your problem...not our problem?

In fact, how many Americans don't even realize that our pride is sinful? Instead we celebrate our pride like it's a good thing...a great thing.

Once upon a time were the people of Babylon or Greece so full of pride? What about those who were part of the Roman Empire?

We've been warned.

Legislating Our Eating

Yesterday was such a full and busy day that I was up until midnight but still didn't find the time to post.  I was very tired and actually fell asleep when I came home for lunch.  Please pray that my energy level rebounds.

Some students from a town very near the small town in which we used to live produced a video and song in response to the changes that took place this year in school lunches because of the "Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act" of 2010.

I have listened to my own kids talk about the small portion sizes and the complaints that they hear often from their classmates.  (And, by the way, the cost that I pay for my kids meals certainly didn't go down!)  What have the kids learned from this?  Candy bars can be easily stored in a locker for later consumption.  The plan is backfiring folks.

Just a few days ago, New York City's Board of Health approved Mayor Bloomberg's ban on soda that is served in a cup larger than 16 oz.

In the paper this morning, there was a chart showing current and predicted obesity levels in every US state.  The 2011 BMI rates are based on a recent report by the Center for Disease Control (chart on left).  I did a little more research and found that the predicted BMIs for 2030 were estimated by the "Trust for America's Health" (chart on right).



Oh, the health issues of the rich and spoiled.  (Yes, that's us.)

Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.  --Philippians 3:17-21 (emphasis mine)

Can we really legislate healthier lifestyles?  Do we want to be told what we can and cannot eat?  What will come next...required amounts of exercise?

One of the things I appreciate about the democratic and capitalistic forms of our government and economy is the people's ability to live out their God-given right to free will.  We have the freedom to exercise this!  In many countries, they do not.

We get to choose where and how we work.
We get to choose if we will help others financially.
We get to choose what we will put in our mouths.
We get to choose our religion, our leaders, our lifestyle, our words.

We are so fortunate that we get to make those choices for ourselves!  Sometimes we make great choices and other times we choose very poorly.  Free will!  We suffer the consequences of our own actions.

Do we really want to start taking away our ability to make these decision for ourselves?  Do we want to take away the free will that was a gift from God?  Apparently those who passed the restrictions for our school lunches and those who think they should decide how much others should drink think this is a good idea.

Oh...but the bottom line is that we are truly worried about the COST of obesity. Hmmm...maybe different rates based on BMI for health insurance makes more sense.  This is a reasonable natural consequence that doesn't restrict one's freedom.

What must those who live in countries full of starving people think about such a problem?

Remember, our bodies are God's temple.  We have a responsibility to take care of them.

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. --1 Corinthians 3:16-17