Article May 7, 2012 Issue

100% Natural

The blessings God gives us are the outcome of His love.

Mary Julia Kephart

Some years ago, my soon-to-be husband was driving us to an event in Philadelphia, while I was putting on my makeup. He kept turning to see what I was doing. “I thought you were 100 percent natural,” he said.

What does 100 percent natural really mean? An online dictionary says: “existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind” and includes 60 phrases such as “natural disaster,” “natural gas,” “natural childbirth.” Many advertisers tout their products as 100 percent natural, but some may contain ingredients that are harmful to certain individuals. So, according to these definitions, both good and bad things may be considered natural.

A philosophy course I took in college had a big impact on me. I was intrigued by the many different theories about how the universe came to be. Although some made more sense than the concept of God I was raised with—a God who was an old man in the sky, ready to pour down both blessing and affliction—none of them gave me a moral compass. This freed me to make choices that seemed right and natural at the time, such as smoking and drinking, because everyone else was doing them, but were actually harmful and destructive.