SENTINEL WATCH August 13, 2007 Issue

A PRAYERFUL ANTIDOTE TO CONTAMINATED FOOD

JILL AARON

In response to widespread reports of food contamination from imported products, the United States government recently established a high-level panel to recommend steps to more carefully monitor these imports, which come from over 150 countries. This past year, incidents of illness and even death have been attributed to E. coli-tainted spinach from California and chemically contaminated pet foods traced to China. Recently, adulterated seafood and toothpaste have also caused concerns.

Such incidents necessarily have people questioning the safety of the food they purchase. However the enjoyment of fresh produce and products from all over the world, need not include the fear of suffering. Careful monitoring of food quality is important and desirable, but the antidote to these fears calls for a more reliable authority than simply tighter regulation and heightened inspections. When viewed from a spiritual perspective, the power and authority of spiritual law is always available, counteracting both food contamination, and the fear of it.

There's an interesting Bible story that affirms this truth. While visiting Gligal at a time of great famine, the prophet Elisha came face to face with the effects of poisoned food (see II Kings 4:38-41). Elisha had ordered the preparation of a large communal pot of "pottage," or stew. A well-meaning fellow, looking to fortify the dish, collected "wild gourds" and, without knowing what they were, shredded them into the pot. These gourds were apparently toxic because when the people began to eat, they cried out to Elisha, "O thou man of God, there is death in the pot." Throwing away the stew and starting over would have been wasteful or perhaps impossible in a time of famine. Instead, Elisha asked for meal, a kind of flour, which he threw into the pot. Then the people were able to eat the stew without any further harm.