A test of life is whether we choose the higher resonances of Heaven or the tastes and smells and sights and sensations of earth: whether we aspire to carnality or what is transcendental: to the perfume of paradise or the musk of sensuality; whether we choose the flesh or the higher senses that connect us to the heavenly realm.
When we choose the loftier forms of delight -- the "aroma of sanctity," as opposed to what earth affords (or promises) -- our spirits resonate with joy, satisfaction, and health because they resonate with God.
This is true even with music: classical sounds have been shown by scientists to cause a gorgeous pattern in forming crystals of ice (in fact, some classical music can be set to a metronome with the same beat as the human heart) while hard rock 'n' roll and heavy metal create disfigured, ugly forms -- actual physical patterns. What then to the human body (and mind)?
When music has discordant rhythms (to excite physical humors, as one philosopher put it), it defies the good intentions of God; instead of imparting grace, it imparts what is dissolute.
Holy sounds flow with us (not at us) while noise does the opposite. Whether in how we think, what we listen to, and what we eat (more on what we eat and its "harmony" in a moment), we must be with the proper rhythm, melody, and harmony in order to prosper in health.
A key to life -- emotionally, physically, and of course spiritually -- is to be with the harmony of Heaven.
Create peace and tranquility in yourself. Suppressed anger, competitiveness, jealousy, and isolation -- depression -- can be as harmful as toxic chemicals.
Empty yourself of the negative and build up the temple of the Holy Sprit by what comes in your ears and eyes and also in your mouth.
On to nutrition:
Natural foods are somewhat like good music: they have a healthful resonance, flowing best with the body because God created both. Like discordant music, anything artificial does the opposite.
Natural water, it was found, formed far more beautiful crystals that water with chemicals.
We must form a diet that plays like a symphony, granting the physical system a number of nutrients that best help and heal us. Patrick Quillan, an expert on the use of nutrition to conquer disease, has even seen folks with pancreatic and advanced lung cancer or multiple myeloma survive through a change in diet that involves more natural food -- slashing refined sugar and also dairy products, and anything fried, overly salty, low in alkalinity, or processed (except on occasion).
"The point is: we can isolate and concentrate certain factors in food for use as therapeutic supplements in cancer therapy, but we must always rely heavily on the mysterious and elegant symphony of ingredients found in wholesome food," emphasizes Quillan, who says that every body needs different things, and that there is no single "magic bullet." But there are certain factors he sees over and over, and simplifying food is one of them (avoid anything with a long list of polysyllabic ingredients).
Numerous foods that slow tumor growth include apples, apricots, garlic (especially this!), citrus fruit, cranberries, spinach, turmeric, and seaweed (Yes, seaweed; see your local Thai restaurant).
As for sugar: "Let's just say sugar is the enemy of a healthy body," says the aforementioned author. "It robs the body of nutrition and lowers the white blood count for hours. This allows the immune system to become overrun with toxins such as metals, fungi, parasites, bacteria, and viruses [repetitive injury]. Refined sugar will initially provide a quick burst of energy, but soon that energy dissipates. You are left feeling tired, even lethargic, and depressed. Consuming sugar causes chronic inflammation in your body and leads to issues with the heart, liver, and kidneys."
Inflammation is behind so many illnesses -- from allergies, arterial damage, and arthritis to cancer.
Many diseases we think are inevitable with age are not inevitable. Diabetes is all but totally preventable with most people. Few realize that white-flour products break down into sugars (yes, that means donuts, other pastries, and most commercial bread). Go whole grain, except on occasion (yes: treat yourself at times). Go natural. It is the "prescription" of Heaven.
Healthy food must join with a healthy outlook on life.
Noted a doctor named Dr. Stephen Sinatra, "In 2001, a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology gave strong confirmation to the power of a positive attitude. The study analyzed the medical histories and length of life of nearly two hundred Catholic nuns who had completed handwritten autobiographies during the 1930s, when they were in their early twenties. 'Positive emotional content in early-life autobiographies was strongly associated with longevity six decades later,' after the nuns had retired from years of teaching school, the authors reported."
Happy, joyful, hopeful. See opportunity everywhere.
Harmonious.
Detoxify. Make sure your doctor is a healer, a maestro, not just a writer of prescriptions (in tune spiritually as well as medically). Get rid of fear. Fear comes at you like crashing noise; joy, like ordered music, flows with you, unto God.
[resources: The God of Healing]
[see also: Are your decisions born of fear or love?]
