Practical advice and the story behind the story
If I lived in South Carolina, I would likely write today about Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of Lindsey Graham who was appointed Monday to finish his Senate term. If I lived in Minnesota, I might focus on wildfires threatening a tourist area there.
But since I live in one of the thirty-one states where cyclosporiasis has been reported, I’m focusing on this parasitic outbreak. I won’t describe in detail the symptoms of this gastrointestinal illness, but suffice it to say you don’t want it.
As a result, the Washington Post advises us to:
- Wash our hands with soap and water before and after handling or preparing raw vegetables and fruit.
- Wash all vegetables and fruit thoroughly under running water before cutting, cooking, or eating.
- Scrub melons, cucumbers, and other firm fruits with a clean produce brush.
The article I’m referencing has other advice for specific foods as well.
By now, you may be grateful for the practical help I’ve provided, but you’re wondering why I’m providing it. You wouldn’t read my Daily Article for gastrointestinal advice any more than I would read the American Journal of Gastroenterology for theological insights.
It’s the story behind the story that interests me. The less relevant we consider it to be, the more relevant it becomes.
How parsley caused an outbreak
The reason public health officials have not been able to stop the cyclosporiasis outbreak is that they have not yet identified its source. One expert said, “We know there has to be a source people are being exposed to—a contaminated food or product. It’s not spread person to person.”
The problem is that there is a lag of two days to two weeks between when people consume the parasite causing the illness and when symptoms appear. Remembering what groceries patients consumed or restaurants they ate at can be difficult. The US food distribution system is so vast and complex that a single supplier may provide different types of produce to stores.
And a contaminated food item can be incorporated into a variety of foods. Last year, for example, a cyclospora outbreak that sickened dozens of people was linked to parsley that was part of a salad.
So, we have a widespread number of people with a widespread number of symptoms that can be treated symptomatically, but until officials identify the source, the outbreak is likely to continue.
Man nearly sucked out of airplane window
For those who read the news through a biblical lens, symptoms of moral illness are everywhere. From movies that normalize “open relationships” (adultery) to books about a single mother’s sex life to criminalizing prayer for those struggling with sexual dysphoria, we see a society in cultural chaos.
Sometimes the source of a problem is obvious. For example, a wife held her husband’s legs to keep him from being sucked out of an airplane’s broken cabin window. When his head was protruding from the aircraft, no one wondered why he was in danger or what to do about it.
But unless you’re looking in the right place to find the source of a moral illness, you won’t find it.
God has clearly identified the cause of our cultural chaos: fallen humans “stubbornly follow their own evil heart” (Jeremiah 3:17), but “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9).
As a result, Scripture commands us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23 NIV, my emphasis). The New Century Version translates the verse, “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.” Marcus Aurelius was more biblical than he knew when he observed, “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
So, how do you “guard your heart”?
“A man after my heart, who will do all my will”
Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). However, as C. S. Lewis noted in The Problem of Pain, “It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to.”
The issue, then, has to do with what our heart wants. And fallen humans have heart disease. From crime to war to sexual immorality, we want what we want more than what God wants.
I am no different. Even when I do what God wants, my underlying hope is often to coerce him into then blessing what I want. Paul’s admission resonates with me: “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (Romans 7:18).
I want to be like David, whom the Lord described as “a man after my heart, who will do all my will” (Acts 13:22). As a result, I need to make his prayer mine each day: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).
Will you join me today?
Quote for the day:
“If you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because he himself is the way.” —Thomas Aquinas
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