I live in the South where religion is of upmost importance.  I’ve recently been thinking about the dozens of Facebook posts I see each month that start out with the words, “Please pray for me…”  

The post then goes on to say something like, “I was at Sam’s Bar-B-Que on Saturday when I started having a heart attack…” or, “I was leaving Jim’s Steak House when I fell down with intense pain.  Turns out I had a kidney stone…” or, “I’ve just been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes…”

“Please pray for me.”

I am all for asking for prayers and for praying for someone, but I also think we each have a responsibility to take care of ourselves.  

If I am overweight and eat large slabs of meat, I’m just asking for a heart attack. 

If my cholesterol is out of control, I may be inviting cancer to take hold.  

If my blood pressure is high, I may be asking for a stroke.  

If I drink too much milk and eat too much cheese, I may be asking for the calcium loss that accompanies it and then osteoporosis. 

If I eat too many animal protein-containing foods, I am setting my kidneys up for failure.

If I don’t get enough folic acid in my diet, I may be setting myself up for Alzheimer’s disease.
 
If I am overweight and my glucose gets high, I may be setting myself up for Type 2 Diabetes.

In other words, I think each us needs to learn about the healthful effects of eating a plant-based diet.  Then our prayer requests can go down.

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© 2010-2015 Melinda Coker

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