Everyone Laughed at Him
Everyone laughed
at him in the school. He was so out of coordination it was laughable to
see him try to kick a soccer ball. He just couldn't manage
it. He was always one of the last chosen for a team when the
children were choosing up sides. Nobody wanted L_____ to be on their
side. His school work was erratic and confused. Tests were run but
no doctor was able to find what was wrong. Doctors would know what to
look for nowadays, but they didn't then. The great discovery of the
genetic system and the effects of chemicals would come later in the 80's and
90's.There was no disease discovered but his whole nervous system seems to be
out of joint. Everyone knew something was wrong, but nobody could find
out what. A spelling list that he mastered one day would be completely
strange to him the next day.
He left our
school and I lost touch with him. Then the news came to me through mutual
friends that trace amounts of a heavy metal--I don't remember which one, but it
wasn't lead--had been found in the well water drunk by the family. a few parts
per million as I remember. He had a natural sensitivity to the trace
mineral and it had destroyed his system. As I remember, he died at about
age 22 or 23, but had a wonderful witness for Christ. I always remember
him with affection and a certain pain around my heart. If I had only
known.
True wisdom is
not adulterated with error; it is pure [James 3:17]. Labor in the word
and doctrine is a very honorable endeavor, and we are to honor those who do
it. The word and doctrine is the grain that feeds the church, according
to 1Tim. 5:17,18. Even the ox that treads out the grain was not to be
muzzled. God did not put this in the law because He has a sentimental
affection for oxen, but to instruct the church [1Cor 9:9]. The church is
not to muzzle them or throw obstacles in their way, but to see that they are
competent, provided for, and encouraged in their work. Too often in the
modern day, it is the purveyors of poisons that are aided and abetted by
ignorant Christians.
It is worthy of
note that other members of L______'s family were not affected as he was.
People's bodies are different and some bad diets will not affect some the way
it does others, but that does not mean that contaminants in the diet are not a
matter of concern.
Bad and false
doctrine even in minute quantities is not a "ho hum, let us just love
everybody" matter. When I hear such things, I think of L_____.
Who would have thought that his tragic life was caused by such a minute amount
of poison in the water which should have been his life. I knew the mother
and the father of L________. They would have been grateful--which parent
wouldn't have been?--to anybody who had come with the truth, even at 2:30 in
the morning with a banging on the door. But we care far more about the
health of the body than we ever do about the health of the soul.
Erratic
Christian behavior is also usually the result of strange and weird doctrines
being infused into the system. If they catch one or two they will have
been successful from Satan's point of view. He has different bait for
different kinds of fish.
