|
|
The Word of Wisdom, backwards From behavior and moods to energy and relationships, all of
life is tied to the health of our bodies. The
basic "care and feeding guide" for the human body is Doctrine
& Covenants Section 89. We
are often so sure of what it says that when we read it we don't see what is
really there, so I suggest that new clarity might result from reading it from
end to beginning, starting with verse 21, then verse 20, etc., pondering as you
go. Please do that first; don't deny yourself your own connection to the Spirit.
Then if you are interested
in my testimony and some quotes from LDS Church leaders, read on.
Verse 21 promises that the destroying angel shall
pass us by. If he is not passing by
the Saints -- and he is not -- why not? (See
D&C 130:20-21) Six years ago I
felt that angel hovering ever so close. At
that time a kind friend taught me to live the Word of Wisdom with exactness,
and, thankfully, the destroyer moved on. My
desire is to bless my children by dying peacefully in my sleep in my old age. Verse 20 promises that we will walk and run without
fatigue. I'm much better, but I have
a long, long way to go! Verse 19 promises us wisdom and great, even hidden
treasures of knowledge. I used to
think that promise was available in the natural course of gospel living and was
superfluous in Section 89. I've
since learned that this promise is true. Verse 18 promises us health.
Are we healthy? We do well on
infant mortality and trauma treatment, the great killers of the past, but how
about diseases connected to diet -- diabetes, heart disease, cancer,
auto-immune diseases, and a host of others? Verse 17 tells us that all grain, especially wheat,
is for man. I partake daily. Verse 16 tells us that the "fruit of the
vine" is for man. Assuming this to be
a metaphor for fruits and vegetables, I partake
daily. Verse 15 tells us that we may eat animals in times
of famine and excess hunger. For me,
that condition does not exist at this time.
I do not partake. Verse 14 (See also Genesis 1:29-30) tells us that
all grain, besides being for man, is ordained for the use of beasts, to be their
staff of life. Obviously not all
beasts eat grain now, but apparently they will again. Isaiah gives us these poetically phrased
particulars about animal life during the Millennium, "The wolf and
the lamb shall feed together," he says, "and the lion shall eat straw
like the bullock." Implicit in this pronouncement is the fact that man and
all forms of life will be vegetarians in the coming day; the eating of meat will
cease, because, for one thing, death as we know it ceases.
- Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, p.
658 That Millennial condition will come about
not by pronouncement from the pulpit, but as men become more peaceful and more
kind to animals. I learned this from
Brigham Young in Relief Society. (See
also JST Genesis 9:21, page 797 in the back of the Bible) Let the people be holy, and the earth under
their feet will be holy. Let the
people be holy, and filled with the Spirit of God, and every animal and creeping
thing will be filled with peace; the soil of the earth will bring forth in its
strength, and the fruits thereof will be meat for man.
The more purity that exists, the less is the strife; the more kind we are
to our animals, the more will peace increase, and the savage nature of the brute
creation vanish away. . . Let the whole people . . . be possessed of that spirit
and here is the Millennium, and so will it spread over all the world.
- Teachings of Presidents of the Church,
Brigham Young, p. 333 Verses 12-13 says we please the Lord when we eat animal
flesh only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.
Would we turn down an opportunity to please our Shepherd? Hyrum explained the "famine"
part: And why to be used in time of famine? Because
all domesticated animals would naturally die, and might as well be made use of
by man as not.
- Hyrum Smith, Times and Seasons, Vol. III., p. 799 Verse 11 tells us all vegetables and fruits, in
season, are to be used with prudence and thanksgiving.
Verse 10 tells us that all wholesome plants are
ordained for the constitution and nature of man.
I'm comforted to know that the Lord created food especially for my body's
constitution, and I trust that He put into it all the vitamins, minerals,
proteins, etc. that my constitution requires.
As for my nature -- I do want to protect my personal hormonal balance
from being influenced by the hormones of animals.
Verses 5-9 tell us not to use stimulants.
Hot drinks are prohibited, and we've been told those drinks are tea and
coffee. Caffeine drinks are not
mentioned, though President Hinckley told the whole world on the Larry King TV
show that we don't use them. He also
slipped the "c" word into a conference address last April.
We might avoid caffeine simply to support our Prophet.
I personally choose not to drink the body
fluids of animals, although this preference stems more from Verses 4 and 19.
I do not want to burden my body with milk designed for the constitution
of a cow, nor do I want to partake of the viruses and bacteria or the added
hormones, antibiotics, vaccines, and other toxins that come with the cheese and
ice cream I used to love -- and still wear around my middle, stuck to me like glue -- which it is, casein being the main ingredient in glue, as attested to by the cow
pictured on the bottle. We are also told not to consume tobacco or
alcohol. Not mentioned, but worth
considering, are street drugs and mind-altering prescription drugs (Ritalin,
Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, etc.). They all destroy health over time, most of them
cut us off from the spirit, and we now know that most of the anti-depressants
cause violent killings and many times more suicides than they prevent. (Never stop
taking anti-depressants without help.) Verse 4 tells us that there are conspiring men in
the last days. I recognize them as
the ones who sell us food and drugs that they know full well are harmful for our
bodies. Their advertising is
persuasive and deceptive; they work for a clever, ruthless devil. Verse 3 tells us that the weakest of Saints can
live by this commandment. What,
then, do we do to be among the strongest of Saints?
Perhaps we add a
second meaning to the word sparingly: sparing the lives of the animals by
allowing the "dumb animals to live." Verse 2 says this scripture is the order and will
of God for our temporal salvation in the last days.
I want to be saved. I also want to live by Alma 32:13-15 which
tells us to humble ourselves because of the word rather than waiting to be
compelled by circumstances. I
indulged my cheese and ice cream addiction long after the spirit was telling me
to stop; I hope you'll be smarter than that!
Both D&C 49:21a and JST Genesis 9:11,
p.797, tell me that when I eat animal flesh and have no need, the blood of each
dead beast will be required at my hands. It
may be
that animals get their revenge by passing
disease to me. Unlike plants, animal
flesh and fluids are full of viruses and bacteria that are harmful to people.
The plagues of the last days may well be delivered by the
animals. Those plagues may already
be here. A quarter-century ago in a BYU Devotional
President Ezra Taft Benson called for a generation that eats like Daniel: To a great extent we are physically what we
eat. Most of us are acquainted with some of the prohibitions, such as no tea,
coffee, tobacco, or alcohol. What
needs additional emphasis are the positive aspects--the need for vegetables,
fruits, and grains, particularly wheat. In most cases, the closer these can be,
when eaten, to their natural state--without over refinement and processing--the
healthier we will be. To a significant degree, we are an overfed and undernourished
nation digging an early grave with our teeth, and lacking the energy that could
be ours because we overindulge in junk foods. I am grateful to know that on the
Brigham Young University campus you can get apples from vending machines, that
you have in your student center a fine salad bar, and that you produce an
excellent loaf of natural whole-grain bread. Keep it up and keep progressing in
that direction. We need a generation of young people who, as Daniel, eat in a
more healthy manner than to fare on the "king's meat"--and whose
countenances show it (see Daniel 1).
- Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 476-7, from "In His Steps,"
BYU Devotional 1979 And how did Daniel eat? Now Daniel and his kinsmen had resolved to
use a severe diet, and to abstain from those kinds of food which came from the
king's table, and
entirely
to forbear to eat of all living creatures: so he came to Ashpenaz (and asked
for) pulse and dates for their food, and anything else,
besides
the flesh of living creatures, that he pleased, for that their inclinations were to that sort
of food, and that they despised the other. - Flavius
Josephus Today many people are feeling promptings
of the Spirit to prepare for Zion in heart and body. Here, in the words of
those
devoted, inseparable, prophetic brothers, is the vision: When God first made man upon the earth, he
was a different being entirely to what he now is; his body was strong, athletic,
robust, and healthy; his days were prolonged upon the earth; he lived nearly one
thousand years, his mind was vigorous and active, and his intellectual faculties
clear and comprehensive, but he has become degenerated. . . . Man is not now that dignified, noble, majestic, honorable and mighty being
that he was when he first proceeded from the hands of his
Maker. . . . (the Lord) has appointed the word of wisdom as one of the
engines to. . . .remove
the beastly appetites, the murderous disposition and the vitiated taste of man;
to restore his body to health, and vigour, promote peace between him and the
brute creation . . . ." - Hyrum Smith,
Times and Seasons, 6-1-1842, pp.799-800 By a proper observance of the Word of Wisdom, man may hope to regain what he has lost by transgression and live to the age of a tree, that as the sun's rays in springtime gladden all nature and awaken life and hope, the Word of Wisdom given of God may remove the thorns and briers from our pathway and strew the same with joy and peace. - Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith as a Prophet, Scrapbook of Mormon Literature, Vol 1, p.118 ©
Joyce Kinmont 2002 my
friend, Thomas L. Rodgers From the Prophets Joseph Smith: In
pitching my tent we found three massasaguas, or prairie rattlesnakes, which the
brethren were about to kill, but I said, "Let them alone--don't hurt them!
How will the serpent ever lose his venom, while the servants of God possess the
same disposition, and continue to make war upon it? Men must become harmless,
before the brute creation; and when men lose their vicious dispositions and
cease to destroy the animal race, the lion and the lamb can dwell together, and
the suckling child can play with the serpent in safety." Brigham
Young: When men
live to the age of a tree, their food will be fruit. Apostle
George Q. Cannon: We are told that
flesh of any kind is not suitable to man in the summer time, and ought to be
eaten sparingly in the winter. Lorenzo Snow,
5th President: thought
the time was near at hand when the Latter-day Saints should be taught to refrain
from meat eating and the shedding of animal blood.. Joseph F.
Smith, 6th President:
I do not believe any man should kill animals or birds unless
he “needs” them for food....Love of nature is akin to the love of God... Heber J.
Grant, 7th President: ...during the
years we have had a cafeteria in the Utah Hotel I have not, with the exception
of not more than a dozen times, ordered meat of any kind...I have endeavored to
live the Word of Wisdom and that, in my opinion, is one reason for my good
health. George Albert
Smith, 8th President:
In the summer he eats no meat, and even in the winter months he eats very
little. Apostle John
A. Widtsoe:. . . plants contain all of the necessary food substances:
proteins, fats, starches, and other carbohydrates, minerals and water
[and vitamins]. The great Builder of
the earth provided well for the physical needs of His children.
(Priesthood manual) Joseph
Fielding Smith, 10th President:
My husband doesn’t eat meat [but rather] lots of fruit and vegetables. (Jessie Evans
Smith) Harold B. Lee, 11th President:
The Lord's word of wisdom . . . counsels the simple diet of fruits,
grains and vegetables in season, with meats used sparingly, has been given you
as a revelation of God's great law of health. . . . If by faith in this great
law, you refrain from the use of food and drink harmful to your bodies, you will
not become a ready prey to scourges that shall sweep the land, as in the days of
the people of Moses in Egypt, bringing death to every household that has not
heeded the commandments of God.
- The Teachings of HBL, p. 205-6 Spencer W.
Kimball, 12th President, sang:
I still don’t eat very much meat.
Ezra Taft
Benson, 13th President:
We need a generation of young people who, as Daniel, eat in a more
healthy manner than to fare on the “kings meat”—and whose countenances
show it. Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th President: |