If you’ve talked to me this past week at all, you know that my mother is here visiting from Colorado. You also know I’ve been whining about vegetable soup.

See, my mom has decided I should eat less meat – a lot less. Now, she’s not a vegan or whatever you call them but one look at me and my current size has convinced her I ought to be eating a lot more healthy stuff. So to be fair and because it made me think of an article for a bulletin, I want to make some observations about becoming a vegetarian.

Obviously it’s a big change from being an omnivore (or worse, a meatatarian!) You can argue that we’ve got teeth for cutting meat, and that our creator designed us this way on purpose. Our bodies need protein, various vitamins readily found in meat, and it makes sense to eat it to many. When someone gives up meat, they might flirt at it. They might say just no more beef but chicken, fish is OK. I am not talking about those who don’t go all the way, because they are not really vegetarians. I am talking about those that cut it out of their lives. Yes, it’s hard!

These folks are forever fretting about how things are cooked. They eat peas, but were they cooked in butter? Ahhh! Maybe some fried Okra, but was milk in the batter? Yikes! What kind of shortening was used? Did the cookie they’re eating contain eggs? Oh no! And so it goes…

Their friends laugh at them. They think they are “strange” to say the least. Heads shake and whispering goes on, and lots of quiet laughter. Not always out of meanness, just the uneasiness people have to come to grips with this odd behavior real vegetarians have. Yet if it’s done right, they avoid various illnesses and troubles in their lives. Many see the benefits of it – but just can’t manage the dedication or get over the mental hump that they are somehow “giving something up.”

Compare that to becoming a Christian. Being a Christian is definitely the healthier after-life style! Oh, you can argue that being sinful is “natural” to us, that the devil made me do it, that our lusts are part of how we are made. Yet we aren’t just animals – we are supposed to be better than that! And not going all the way with obeying the bible, what’s the sense in that? Oh some will call themselves Christians. They believe in God. But all that obeying stuff? Thinking about God day after day, hour after hour, and behaving themselves? Yes, it’s hard.

We do need to examine the things that we do, everything. Is sin involved? Does it cause damage to my reputation, even if it seems innocent? Ahhh! Good intentions wrapped around corrupt works? Yikes! We should substitute good habits for evil ones, and not try to mix them up to accomplish God’s will. Using evil means to achieve good results? The ends justifies the means? Oh no! And so it goes…

Our friends may laugh at us. We’re strange, different, odd. Heads will shake and whispering with quiet laughter goes on (and many times not-so-quiet mocking). How confusing it is in this “get ahead” world to step back and make yourself a servant to others. Oh, we all know we should behave a certain way but it’s hard to get over that hump of being selfish, of letting go of self, of actually putting others ahead!

I’m not ready to give up eating Fudd burgers. Fortunately I don’t have to, they aren’t going to keep me out of heaven. But giving up sin? The good book says we should rejoice in serving others over ourselves. I know these are the best memories in my life, and the most precious time I ever spend. Anyone who tries to tell you different may want you to trade your cow for some beans, and in this story, the story of your life, there are no giants at the top of any stalks. Hmmmm, have I mentioned lately there’s a sucker born every minute? <grin!>

Randy