Roundup is a toxic weed killer. It is touted because to use it, you spray the top of the plant, and the plant is killed down to the roots. The plant spreads the toxins through its system and the whole thing dies.
While I am explaining the workings of Roundup, I am not promoting its use. Those toxins are then in the air, on the ground, and in the earth which can have other damaging effects. I try to avoid using Roundup if at all possible.
But there is the issue of toxins. We are told that toxins build up in our bodies; throughout our flesh and blood and tissue. Evidently, we need to get rid of those toxins to be healthy. The toxins come from the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat as well as other sources. We may even be taking in the toxin Roundup someway somehow! If it kills a plant, it certainly cannot be good for us.
A health practitioner was talking with me recently about toxins and the need to rid the body of toxins. Articles in magazines, newsletters, and on websites talk about cleansing the body of toxins. All things considered, I am a very healthy eater. I am vegetarian. I try to limit my consumption of eggs and dairy. I seldom consume processed food. I buy fruits and vegetables and tofu, and I try to buy organic much of the time. I do a lot of cooking involving a lot of chopping even to the point of getting tendonitis! So I can’t say that I am taking in a lot of toxins through my food. Through air and water, some, perhaps, but not much.
So does that mean I am clean, pure, unpolluted? Hardly. In the gospels we are told that Jesus said it is not what goes into the body that pollutes it but what comes out of the body that pollutes it. Well, there I have plenty of impurities; things I have said and done that are far less than pure and unselfish. Things that are hurtful. Attitudes that are damaging to others and myself.
Lent is a time for us to round up our toxins and purify, cleanse, and evict them. It is a time to forgive ourselves and others for toxic behavior in the past. It is a time to clean the slate, so to speak. This is a time to let go of what is holding us back, including regrets and past failures and mistakes. We cannot rewrite the past, but we can construct a new future. In this Lenten season, may we detoxify of what truly defiles us.
Prayer: We pray for a pure heart. A heart ready, willing, and open to be filled with Divine Love and that alone. May we have the courage to clean out the toxins from our hearts and our lives so that God’s love may live in us, bring us health and wholeness, and through us, bless the world. Amen.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 