Rays of Light

What happened to spring? I guess I’ve been so busy with all the extra tasks of preparing for summer that it just crept up on me without noticing –until the blast of triple digits hit me in the face that is.

No matter how hot it gets though, I just can’t bring myself to use Chicken Poop™ on my lips. Granted, this oddly named lip balm doesn’t really contain any barnyard waste, but the name itself is a bit of a
turn-off. Obviously, you can’t judge a book by its cover but still….

I’ll let you in on a little secret. Although my face scrunches at the thought of putting Chicken Poop™ on my lips, I can’t help but enjoy the expressions on my dinner guests’ faces when they find out I use chicken feet in my matzah ball soup. Apparently, the thought of a chicken’s feet is nearly as distasteful as the thought of its poop.

So why use them? “Chicken feet – gnarly, repulsive and disturbing – make for the very best stock. Devoid of little else but tendons, bone and cartilage (sound appetizing yet?), chicken feet produce a fine golden broth that’s rich in all those obscure nutrients that make a good stock so nourishing: glucosamine chondroitin, collagen and trace minerals…” and “an excellent source of
calcium …” (Nourished Kitchen).

Additionally, chicken broth made with the feet is tastier! If you’re like most, that statement leaves you a bit skeptical, but the proof is in the pudding -or in this case the broth. You’ll have to try it for yourself. Most importantly, it is well-known that chicken broth has natural healing properties.

Today I plan to make soup for dinner because some members of my household are dealing with sinus infections and we always try the natural remedies first. However, we would be greatly amiss if we did not prioritize our healing efforts with the most natural and most essential medicine of all – the word of God.
Whenever anyone in my family is sick, I like to open the Bible and digest some “Gos-pills,” which is my pet term for all the Scriptures which promise physical healing -there are tons of them!

However, it is not only the healing scriptures that we must dwell on but rather the Bible as a whole. There is much instruction given for our spiritual health as well as our physical:

My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh (Proverbs 4:20-22).

The Bible is replete with God’s promise of healing-both spiritual and physical! Yet I know several people who claim they don’t read the Bible because it is nothing more than an unsavory list of “Thou shall not(s)!” While it is true that there are some of those in the Bible, there are also a lot of “Thou Shall” instructions also. Either way, some of these instructions are a bit like chicken feet – a bit repulsive to our way of thinking. Like chicken feet, however, many of these instructions are loaded with nourishment (for our souls.) Once we give them a try, we quickly learn that they are not as distasteful as we initially presumed; they are rather pleasing and satisfying instead.

I share this with you because like the Apostle John, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers (3 John 1:2). Dear reader, if you have hesitated to read the Bible because you are apprehensive about what might be in there, remember, you can’t judge a book by its cover.

Having said that, maybe I should throw some Chicken Poop™ on these chapped lips after all, then go make that soup.

Postscript: In case you were wondering (I was), Chicken Poop™ is made of Soybean Oil, Beeswax, Jojoba Oil, Lavender Essential Oil, Sweet Orange Essential Oil –sounds like good stuff.

(1) Nourished Kitchen @ http://nourishedkitchen.com/ 30 November 2009