I love my dad. No seriously, I think God gave me the best one. Sorry to those of you who can't claim my dad as your own...
For the past two years, not a crumb of wheat nor a drop of dairy has touched my lips. Ok, maybe a few morsels. But, since I discovered my wheat and dairy intolerance, I eliminated them from my usual diet. Although it did improve my health significantly, I've occasionally wondered why some of my symptoms remained. Today, I learned that... not only does my body have problems digesting wheat and dairy, but it also has issues with soy, corn, and sugar. According to my doctor (an applied kinesiologist), wheat, dairy, soy, corn, and sugar are the five most common food sensitivities. (So, I'm normal?)
Why?
Wheat, dairy, soy, corn, and sugar are in virtually everything that comes in a package. There's corn in marshmallows. (Check your labels. It's there. High fructose corn syrup.) There's also corn in my favorite brand of garlic salt. (Cornstarch.) Perhaps the prevalence of these five foods in the typical American grocery store and the commonality of being allergic to them are both somewhat correlated to which crops the U.S. Department of Agriculture chooses to subsidize:
If the government pays you to grow those crops, then you'll invent a way to sell it!
I also don't think it's a coincidence that the majority of corn, soybeans, sugar beet, and sugar cane U.S. crops are genetically modified. Then again, I also really enjoy conspiracy-theory documentaries about the U.S. food industry, such as Food, Inc., The Future of Food, King Corn (disclaimer: I haven't actually seen King Corn yet, but I like the trailer), or even Super Size Me.
However, we cannot blame the government for everything. Nor should we.
So, what can I eat?
-Fruit
-Veggies
-Meat
-Eggs
-Beans
-Nuts
-Rice
-Potatoes
Delicious. Wholesome. Life-giving food.
When people discover that I am allergic to wheat and dairy (and now soy, corn, and sugar), they often think that I am deprived. I'm "deprived" of foods that don't make my body feel good anyways. So, I'm not terribly deprived. I'm actually liberated.
Side note: I am not saying that wheat, dairy, soy, corn, or sugar are inherently bad for
your body, depending on how they're processed and in what form it enters your mouth. But there is a bit of common sense with food: the closer it resembles the way God made it, the more your body will be nourished (and not drained) by it. Thus, a baked potato (unless it is smothered in dairy products, as we Americans like to do) will energize your body more effectively than a bag of potato chips.
Anyways... this post is getting really long, and I still haven't told you why I started writing it in the first place.
After I discovered these additional food sensitivities this afternoon, my daddy called me. He wanted to support me in these new dietary challenges and will be forgoing wheat, dairy, corn, soy, and sugar in his diet during this week, too. That simple statement of solidarity was more powerful and healing to me than any rant about the U.S. government or disappointment over adjusting my diet again.
My dad shows me, over and over again, who the Church is:
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.
Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.
18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil [or food allergies], but overcome evil with good.
- Romans 12:9-21
If you skimmed that passage, go back and re-read it. It describes the Church. It describes you and me.
Oh, but that doesn't describe me! No, perhaps not, but it does describe Jesus. Though we are to reflect our Lord, we are often clouded mirrors. Thankfully, Christ slowly removes the debris stuck to our surface, spraying the glass cleaner and scrubbing vigorously. One day, we will look like Him.
In the meanwhile, we let Him scrub and yank away our debris. And we begin to see Him more clearly.
Often I see Him in my dad.