Brazil Visit 4: Post # 8

This morning i was the recipient of a long dissertation on the subject of healthy food. This is unsurprising given the ever increasing interest in this subject. My friend detailed the problems of gluten,and chemicals in food or eaten by animals raised for human consumtion. He emphasized that these caused cancers. He then used the numerous OT references about Canaan being a land of milk and honey to advocate including these foods in one´s diet. Apparently organic fod is available in Brazil, and, unlike the US, is not far more expensive but only slightly so. All of this may be, but there is another reality. Prior to modern farming methods being employed, and yet today in countries where they are not widely available, the specter of starvation has never been far from most people in history. Without the advent of chemicals to prevent widespread eating of food by insects or other animals, much less food would be produced, and many more would starve. Now relatively wealthy environmentalists can smugly argue that there are simply too many people for the Earth to sustain. Of course, they would not be the ones starving. From the Biblical perspective the command to be fruitful and multiply ( Genesis 1) has never been rescinded. This implies that God has sufficient love for all. He also promises to make a new heavens and a new earth to replace the present one. ( Isaiah 65:17) Sometimes i wonder, with all the emphasis on exercise, eating healthy food, and related care of our bodies, which will inevitably perish, whether Christians actually want to be with Jesus in heaven. Now i am not urging destruction of our bodies, but a more balanced view. The underlying idea that everyone should be able to live into their eighties and beyond, is a very modern theme, made possible by medical and other advances. In 1900 the average age of a North American was 47 years. This included a fair amount of infant and child mortality. Paul writes in Philippians 1 that it is far better to be with Christ. I believe that a man who entered the third heaven and had profound knowledge of Christ is a better reference than pagan desires for long life on this planet.