Article January 25, 1993 Issue

What do we respond to?

Obedience to God's law frees us from helpless submission to disease.

Marian English

Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and I have something in common. These men of the book of Daniel refused to respond to a signal to bow down to a false god. The king of Babylon had made an idol and decreed that at a certain sound everyone must worship it. As the Bible relates, "An herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sack-but, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up." A modern term for what the king was requiring of the people might be "conditioned response."

When a signal suggesting a certain response is repeatedly presented, a predictable pattern of behavior emerges, as when our family pets come scrambling to the kitchen every time they hear the can opener operating. That is conditioned response. It may seem quite harmless, but sometimes unthinking response to some signal, or set of circumstances, can be extremely trouble-some.

For instance, when I was a child, certain physical conditions were the signal for me to develop symptoms of a cold. This predictable result could recur any time of the year whenever those conditions were present. The response was invariable. Expecting to suffer with severe symptoms, I would retreat to the bedroom and entertain the cold symptoms for days. My parents furnished various cough and remedies and the tenderest of care, but still many school days were wasted and countless special events were missed while I struggled repeatedly with this ailment.

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