Allergies

We learned something about our youngest child yesterday. He was running around like a normal kid, into trouble, being too loud for indoors, saying he was hungry - you know, all the typical six year old stuff. During lunch, he ate a decent helping of all the foods he liked. He took two small bites of a muffin, then stopped because he didn't like it. Within a minutes, he began complaining about his stomach hurting. He was tired and wanted to go home. His eyes began to look puffy. Our oldest son had a flu-like virus recently that came on just as quickly, so we assumed it was something similar. Within twenty minutes, he had hurled twice. We quickly got him home, where he slept for over two hours.

After his nap, he looked like nothing had happened. You would have never known he was the same kid who was so sick just hours earlier. We began to think, "Hmmm.... I wonder if he was allergic to something in that muffin?" He even said when he first started feeling bad that he thought he was allergic to it. We called the person who made the muffins to find out what was in them and see if there was anything "new" in them. We discovered the muffins contained finely chopped walnuts.

We don't know of any real allergies our son has. We know that when he was young, he reacted adversely to peanut butter, so he hasn't had any of that since. By his choice, he avoids all nuts because in his words, "They are yucky." For obvious reasons, we are now seriously contemplating having him officially diagnosed.

If you know anything about nut allergies, you know just how life-threatening they can be. Entire school districts have banned nuts in any form from their schools. In some places, kids cannot bring the good old standby of a PB&J for their own personal consumption.

If we were only so wise on our faith journeys. Sometimes there are things along the way that spell certain death for us, at least a spiritual death. They need to be avoided like the world's worst nut allergy. Many times it is much more subtle. They allergen to your faith may not be something you immediately recognize, but it is close enough that maybe you should avoid it all together. My son's peanut butter reaction five years ago leads us to believe walnuts are also a no-no.

The trick becomes how to recognize those allergens that bear a family resemblance. Nuts are easy. What about allergens to our faith? No one would argue that pornography is definitely bad for your faith. What appears up for debate though is what other types of movies fall into that category. Will Saw III lead to some type of allergic reaction, just not in the same way? Or even harder to discern, what about Arthur and the Invisibles or perhaps Desperate Housewives? (PERSONAL NOTE: I am not lobbying one way or the other for any of these titles, but would be glad to if asked)

Allergens pop up everywhere - not just the usual suspects like movies, tv, and music. What we do with our leisure time or how we spend our money can bring allergic moments. Avoidance is the best policy. Of course, there is a prescription strength antihistamine that is available over the counter. If a faith journey is your desire, put your faith in the power to keep you on the journey. That power only comes from God himself.

Just a thought . . .