Love Your Enemies
You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
This reading comes from the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said this after he gave the commandment to, " Love thy neighbor as thyself". There were some, though, that thought this did not apply to your enemies. Jesus rejected that view.
This is an important teaching because it sets us completely apart from the world system. In that same sermon, Jesus said...Resist not evil; but if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
Jesus’ teaching to love your enemies sets up the idea that good and bad are not so easily defined. He said, “Judge not that you be not judged”. That carries the same idea. He also taught us to stop trying to separate the wheat from the tares and just let the two grow up together, and let God take care of it. It is not clear to us from our flawed perspectives exactly which side God is on.
Believe it or not, this applies to the way we approach healing and health. Not only will this philosophy make us strong in our personal relationships and our politics, but also in our health. This is not a way of weakness, but rather it is a way of self reflection and accepting responsibility and for allowing healing to run its course. It is a way to stop making the situation worse.
There is nothing in the world system that harmonizes with these teachings. We are all about military might and keeping ourselves safe and combatting germs and viruses. We are in a constant state of war….from microbes to nations to religions to aliens from outer space.
I have greater insight into these teachings now that I have studied Natural Hygiene and the Biogenic Lifestyle, because I have seen how our symptoms are healing symptoms.
Disease almost always presents itself when we have erred and become out of harmony with the Laws of God and Nature. The enemy is there to clean up our mess and to make us change our ways. It is painful, but if we will let it run its course, we will be better and healthier when the crisis is over...provided we have adjusted our lifestyles to be in harmony with the Laws of Life.
When you bring force to bear against the invader - the disease - you make it stronger. For a time, it may appear that you have successfully suppressed the symptom, but it is still lurking hidden inside your body to appear later in a more virulent form.
When we stop attacking the bad, and put all our efforts on improving the good, the bad will disappear.
The correct response, when confronted by any enemy is to first take a look at what our personal responsibility is in the situation. Taking personal responsibility is the first step in healing. Instead of killing your enemy, try loving it. Be thankful that it is there to show you where you have missed the mark.
Your disease is a force of good to clean up the mess that you have made, and it will work for your good. Your job is to stop contributing to the mess so the cleansing can succeed.
The law that appears to work against us is actually working for us. We only need to learn how to think correctly and bring our thoughts and actions into harmony with the Reality that is God.
The Laws of Life are always working in our favor. Learning and growing enables us to live in harmony with the great, loving creative law. We find grace on every step of our journey.
In sickness, the correct response is to stop what you are doing, fast, pray, live simply, and expect to be healed. Endure the pain, for joy comes in the morning.
Love your enemies. Resist not evil.
I don’t see the material and the spiritual as being two separate things, but rather as two sides of the same coin. Love is the binding agent to bring them together. The trick is to learn how to think outside the mind viruses that run amok in the programming of our subconscious minds. How many of your most cherished beliefs are actually mind viruses that have no basis in reality?
The quest is to awaken to your intuition….the higher mind...and lead from that mind. Follow your heart. Stop reacting from the programming. You can make plans for your future, but do so by thinking intuitively in the present moment.
In the treatment of our dis-eases, the world systems looks at the body as being fundamentally flawed. They approach sickness and disease as the enemy. But there is another way...which is the way of self-responsibility and love.
Sometimes we are told that the body will break down and catch a disease, and nobody really knows exactly why or what to do about it. They tell us that some diseases are just baffling...their cause is unknown...and we don’t really know what to do about it. Then they tell us “Just follow the doctor’s orders. Don’t think about going outside the establishment for cures though. Those people out there are just quacks.
Sometimes we are told that the body will break down as we get older. They say that disease is inevitable. They might acknowledge that lifestyle choices involving nutrition, exercise and stress accelerate the breakdown of the body, but for the most part they have little faith in our ability to actually change our lifestyle habits. Doctors with this mindset think that “We can fix this”. They administer drugs, perform surgeries to replace worn out parts or cut them out completely, replace blood, and do whatever they can to give us a few more weeks, months, or years until the final breakdown comes.
Sometimes disease is blamed on flawed genetics. Our diseases are seen as destiny stored in our DNA with no hope of cure in most cases. Actually diseases that are genetically determined and not preventable are very rare. Dr. Bruce Lipton, who wrote Biology of Belief, says that studies have shown that an improved diet in mice can even prevent their genetic diseases from being passed on.
The China Study by T. Colin Campbell is a comprehensive study on nutrition. It found that genes are virtually irrelevant when compared to diet. Genes themselves don’t cause disease, but an unhealthy lifestyle and poor diet can change gene expression in such a way as to develop disease. What we eat and the toxins to which we expose ourselves affect our genes. Good nutrition very often overrules heredity. Many people have recovered from genetic diseases by fasting and following an uncooked diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts and seeds. When we supply the body with the correct diet and all the requisites of life, it is possible that even genetic errors, damaged genes and congenital defects may be corrected, either fully or to some extent. More important than our genetics, is what we have done to keep our genes healthy. Most of our health status is determined by diet, lifestyle choices and other environmental factors. Genes are only part of the story. There is now evidence that many diseases attributed to bad genes are actually caused by a bad diet that feeds the genes, affecting them for the worse.
The germ theory believes that disease-producing microorganisms are either present in the body or introduced into the body, and that they cause disease. The cure is to get rid of the germs with drugs, usually by injections. We are living in pandemic-phobic times. The germ theory is pervasive in our collective American consciousness, and its tenets are powerful.
I think the best model for disease is based on the toxemia theory because it teaches health by healthful living. Everything at its most fundamental level is energy that follows natural laws. If we cooperate with the natural laws of our being, we will have health.
In 1986, a book called Fit for Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond became an all-time best seller in the diet and nutrition category. It was my introduction to Natural Hygiene, as well as many other people. It made natural hygiene a household word. I bought the book as a diet book, back in the 1980’s and toyed around with the food combining. Many of the tenets of the book just made common sense, but I did not become serious about breaking free of the herd at that point.
But in about 2005 or 2006, when I was feeling so desperately ill, and felt little hope for recovery, I prayed one night to be shown what to do. In the morning I had the strong impression….Get out your Fit for Life books. It was at that point that I did begin to practice and learn as much about Natural Hygiene as I could. Fit for Life is Health 101. It’s not the whole story, but it is a starting point. Health via raw food is an alternative movement that is gaining momentum.
Here is the sequence of events: we get sick because we become toxic, and we become toxic because our bodies run low on Nerve Energy. Disease is an energy crisis in a toxic body.
Health by healthy living is a system that is grounded in human physiology and the health sciences. It gets the best results for sick people that are seeking to recover their health. For many sick people, it is the only route that will get them any good results at all. The health care systems that work are based on principles that align with natural healing knowledge and health care. To the degree that any alternative you choose harmonizes with these principles, to that degree it will be successful in helping you to get well and stay well.
Disease is the natural, normal result of toxic accumulations within the fluids and tissues of the human body as a result of nerve energy supplies being too low to keep itself clean.
Disease is toxin accumulation in the body that leads to a downward spiral of pathological symptoms. The only cure of disease is a natural cure...health by healthy living. It is based on giving the body energy enhancing conditions for health and removing energy draining leaks. That is the only way the body can get the nerve energy it needs to go through the cleansing and repairing processes. Sometimes a water fast can be appropriate with supervision, but nowadays, possibly, a raw juice fast will be safer.
Enervation is an important word in natural healing. Enervation is exhaustion so deep that the body is in deep trouble. Enervation is the first step in the disease process. When the body is enervated it is so low in nerve energy that poisons that are created in the body or taken into the body accumulate in the fluids and cells, and finally in the tissues and organs.
Nerve energy is the low grade electricity that is generated by the brain to supply current to the body and to regenerate and repair all the tissues. Nerve energy enables the body to function well through the use of nutrition from diet, air, water, and sunlight.. and also enables it to eliminate toxins from within and without. When we have a high state of nerve energy and are well-nourished on the ideal diet, the body has the vital force it needs to keep itself well-nourished and well cleansed, free of disease, and full of vitality. A popular saying is moderation in all things, but that is an error. What we need is a lifestyle of moderation in all things good and avoidance of all things toxic so we can keep the demands upon the body at a reasonable level. Health comes when nerve energy is high and body toxicity is at a healthful, homeostatic level!
What most people refer to as energy, in not nerve energy. Most of the time the are referring to things we eat or drink, exercise, calories we eat, stimulation, excitement, or mental and emotional activity.
Here is the key:
Anything the mind and body consumes from the outside, anything the mind and body generates in the form of creative thoughts or mental constructs or emotional output, anything the mind and body exerts in the form of muscular output is not nerve energy. These activities are stimulating, and they may make us feel energized….but what is happening with these activities is we are expending nerve energy and not generating nerve energy.
The only way to restore nerve energy is through rest. The brain, just like your phone or computer, is needs recharging on a daily and nightly basis. We can only recharge nerve energy by sleep, resting, napping, quiet still time, and fasting when indicated.
When the body is so low on nerve energy that basic elimination at the cellular level is below par, the poisons created within the body and poisons taken into the body from outside sources accumulate in the fluids and cells, and finally, in the tissues and organs and systems. The elimination of toxic wastes is impeded.This accumulation ultimately leads to pathological symptoms. The body has to operate under the severe handicap of toxic overload. The cure is based on providing the conditions for health and removing the energy-draining leaks so that the body can get its energy supplies up and initiate self-cleansing.
Poisons saturate the blood stream and the body fluids first...and then the cells, tissues, and organs. In the more advanced conditions of toxemia, all the body fluids and the cells and tissues are affected. The entire body is involved. The weaker organs and body parts breakdown first. It might be the blood vessels or one of the organs of elimination that takes the brunt of the poisons.
The downward spiral into disease will continue unless we bring about an intervention to reverse our course.
There are a lot of health teachers out there telling us that we got sick because we got toxic, but nearly all of them tell us to take something...or undergo some treatment or therapy to improve our condition. Some will even say to change our diet...eat an all fruit or almost all fruit diet...or take long fasts. But the truth is, we get the best results when we learn to live the simple, natural lifestyle that builds health. This method is based on self-responsibility, education, and self-care. This approach will save you money and is totally non-toxic.
It is good news to realize that we are sick because we are toxic. The body is not flawed, as we were told. That should make us happy and excited! The question we need to ask is, “What do I do to get back my energy and end my crisis?” There is hope. People get better within days or weeks of doing right and eating live foods! There is a way to end the energy crisis in our toxic bodies and recover our health and joy.
There are two types of diseases...acute and chronic. Symptoms are called acute in their early stages, and the body can make a complete recovery to health if corrective action is taken. Examples of acute illness are the common cold, a mild case of flu, diarrhea, headache, indigestion, fatigue, and the "itis" diseases in their early stages.
After disease has progressed until irreversible tissue damage has taken place it is called chronic and degenerative. Examples of chronic disease include advanced cancers, emphysema, gangrene, ulcerative colitis, and rheumatoid arthritis. In the cases of chronic disease, we can begin to follow the simple, natural lifestyle until an acute symptom develops, at which time we will begin a supervised fast or possibly a juice fast. The body can arrest the degeneration and often make a partial or near-full recovery when corrective action is taken immediately and strictly.
People just want to get well. They want to get results. And the very best results and fastest results come with healthful living habits. The most important things to do to recover health is to focus on building the good, rather than fighting the bad.
Get enough rest and sleep for building up Nerve Energy reserves
Eat a raw food diet for energy conservation and for wholesome nutrition so that cells and tissues will be replaced with superior materials.
Practice the daily fast, which means no snacking and no eating after the evening meal until lunch the next day. Omitting the breakfast meal conserves energy.
The only cure is the one that the body initiates and conducts and maintains. Our job is to provide the conditions for health and remove the causes of disease. The things we do to conserve and enhance nerve energy are our only medicine.
There are no treatments or therapies or pills or potions to take that will get you well: there is only the self healing body receiving your natural, healthful loving care to get you well.
Only the body does the healing, so even diet, or fasting, or exercise should not be thought of as treatments or therapies. They only provide the conditions for health. Think outside the medical box and think of your own body as healer. Make this paradigm shift and step through the looking glass if you want to get well and stay well without having to depend on drugs and doctors.
It is very popular now for people to do liver cleanses or some type of detoxification to rid their bodies of toxins. They use toxins to reduce toxins. This is enervating, toxic detoxification. This is like beating a tired horse. Their systems are already tired, and then they ingest substances that force their bodies into elimination. The only detoxification that makes sense, is the natural, physiological processes of the body alone doing the cleansing, eliminating, and excretion of toxins by discontinuing toxic substances and practicing an energy enhancing lifestyle.
Detoxification never refers to taking some medicine or over the counter drug to help you cleanse.
Our prescription is take these four nutritive energy enhancers:
Pure air, pure water, sunlight, and non-toxic raw foods.
There is only one disease...toxemia...and one cure...revitalization, cleansing, and repair. Health is our hobby...an adventure...and fun. Once you try it, you will be so glad you did.
These are the basic requisites of life....the things that enhance nerve energy. When we practice them consistently, the body builds health.
Cleanliness - inside and out
Pure air
Pure water
Adequate rest and sleep
The ideal diet of non-toxic, properly combined, raw fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouts, organic whenever possible
Right temperature
Adequate sunlight
Regular exercise
Emotional balance which includes freedom from addiction, high self-esteem, a purposeful life, and meaningful goals
Nurturing relationships
The opposite of the energy enhancers of disease forces the body to adapt by building disease. Any symptom that develops is the body's attempt to stay alive in less than ideal conditions. The primary cause of disease is lack of nerve energy or enervation, the secondary causes are legion, and they are seen in our energy draining lifestyle choices. The cause is ultimately lifestyle related. We can learn to minimize the sources of toxemia by practicing an energy conserving lifestyle and by eliminating energy robbing habits.
The bad disappears when we focus on building up the good, which is what the good book meant when it said to resist not evil and to love our enemies.
We have met the enemy and he is us. - Pogo
