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All my life I've engaged in the proud German ethics of hard work. This gray winter, the years of pressure finally caught up with me. I had always worked hard and done my best.
As Stan and I sat waiting for the latest grain train to rumble by, I thought how the pressures affected my life. Like the train, there was the constant pull of a heavy load.
We'd gone through the deaths of our grandparents, and my dad got sick. Actually, it was an illness he had experienced most of his life: asthma. It kept him from swimming, running long stretches, working the cold winters outside and lifting. He coughed a lot. He died before I was ready for it to happen.
I thought of the wonderful stress of teaching. Great years! But as I grew older, it became more difficult.
We continued to chat as the grain cars tugged behind the honking engine. There was a line of autos behind the long white arm which stopped the traffic behind us. Stan and I continued to visit.
I had always been healthy, and had been good to my body. I took it seriously that it was the "Temple of the Holy Ghost" as stated in Dad's big Bible. I wanted God to have a great dwelling place.
I tried to let my body catch up from my busy teaching years, but I was older, tired and depressed. Winter months were the worst. The doctor prescribed an anti-depressant several years ago; it worked well until now. Slowly I worked to get off the drug. Shaky hands and a feeling of frenzy warned that the process of getting off of anti-depressants is no easy task.
My blood pressure also needed help. It had zoomed to an alarming high. I'm now watching my salt intake as suggested by our doctor.
Stan and I eat out several times a week. I gathered up menus and checked the salt content of the burgers - looks like we will be cutting those Whoppers out, and reigning in healthier food. Shopping has become an adventure, and the nutrient sodium, a surprise. I was not aware that salt was in so many foods and in such great quantities.
Stan asked, would you like to eat your 66th birthday dinner at Trumbles in Albert Lea? I thought of all the eating places where I had asked for nutritional guides, and had begun writing down in my restaurant book the foods that fell within the limits of milligrams of salt I could eat.
The white arm notifying auto drivers they could pass over the railroad tracks began to rise. We rolled forward slowly.
n
. What foods and exercises would help your body be a good home for the Holy Spirit?
. What have you done to make your body a temple fit for God?
...
Sue Peterson has been writing "The Yield" column since 1978 and has been a staple of The Land. She may be reached at sustan2@bevcomm.net or 1010 East 5th St., Blue Earth, MN 56013.
Matthew 6; Psalm 37:5-7
