For Whom There is No Room

For my friend, CM:

Into this world, this demented inn,
in which there is absolutely no room for him at all,
Christ has come uninvited.

But because he cannot be at home in it,
because he is out of place in it,
his place is with those others for whom there is no room.

His place is with those who do not belong,
who are rejected by power because they are regarded as weak,
those who are discredited,
who are denied the status of persons,
who are tortured, bombed, and exterminated.

With those for whom there seems to be nothing
but the world at its worst,
Christ is mysteriously present
With these he conceals himself,
In these he hides himself,
for whom there is no room.

—- Thomas Merton

Courtesy of Bob

Slow Carb How-To, Part 2

It has been a week since I made my resolve to eat slow carb. The results are pretty good. I might sound trite if I say I have more energy, but it is true! Even with all the “refining fire” recently, I have slept well at night and kept choo-choo all day. My bowels have normalized. The scale says I’m hovering between 125 & 130, which is a nice range, one I hope will lower.

And….NO SUGAR CRASHES! That is the best part of the whole deal. I don’t have to worry about a pre-dinner or bedtime shakiness/confusion/feel-like-I-will-pass-out condition. I have snacked a couple of times, eating just peanuts or the nut part of the trail mix, but that was just enough to get me through to the next meal.

For this installment of Slow Carb How-To, I will address the Fruit Question. Do I eat fruit or avoid it because of the sugar content? How would you get Vitamin C and all the other fruity goodness if you avoid them?

The answer is, I avoid them partially. I bought three pears to eat this week and also use unsweetened applesauce in my oatmeal. Other than that, no daily servings of two or three berries/tree fruits for me! Canned fruit is pretty much entirely out as well…have you looked at the sugar content of pineapple chunks in juice? I mention that fruit because it is my favorite. The one can in my pantry will just have to wait for a special day…like our anniversary next month.

The key to getting the bodily necessities in slow carb is eating veggies and legumes, which have a surprisingly high content of Vit. C and Folic Acid and all the rest. Did I mention sweet potatoes??
I also don’t eat leafy greens raw all to often. The NT way advises to cook them to remove the oxalic acid which inhibits the other nutrients within the leaves.

The only supplements I take daily are a folic acid tablet and cod liver oil, 1 tsp/day. If I get leg twitches, which are a sign of a magnesium insufficiency, I take a tablet or two of that. I also keep lysine tablets around to chase away pesky cold sores.

Still learning every day how to keep the temple strong!