Don Alexander

Now it's peanut butter, that staple of American lunch boxes. I understand that there are truly individuals who have an allergic reaction to peanuts and in some cases it has been fatal. That is nothing to laugh about. But peanut butter is one of the latest in a long line of elements of our world we are warned about and urged to fear. It is no wonder that children grow up afraid to live to the age of 18 and adults think the only way out is suicide or drugs or illicit affairs to numb their anxiety about a dangerous world. Peanut butter...ozonomania...popcorn cooked in certain oils...red meat overcooked in women's diets...red meat in anyone's diet...diets...lack of diets...lack of red meat...too much protein...not enough protein...butter...margarine...mushrooms(not the drug)...criminals on the streets not yet in prison...too many criminals in prison...MTBE in your gasoline...MTBE in the ground water and not only in your gasoline...danger of small cars...danger of large "Suburbans" and SUVS...HIV and AIDS in the general population...Vaccines in children and adults and immunizations...lack of immunizations...vitamin supplements and use of minerals in supplements...lack of vitamin supplements and insufficient minerals in the diet and supplements...chicken instead of red meat...no chicken because of chemicals used to plump them up...microwave your kitchen sponge or else...wash your hands frequently...washing your hands too frequently...chemicals in the plastic of baby rattles... asbestos in the ceiling of the school classroom...use of antibiotics to treat viral infections when no bacterial infection is present...lack of antibiotics when infection is present...burning the newspaper in the fireplace or woodstove and the fumes...radiation from the microwave and color TV...danger from the overhead electrical wires and transformers...weedkillers in front lawns and insecticides in apple orchards and ...computers and cashless society...Y2K problem in computers and potential "crash" of all our modern Tower of Babel's systems.

Used to be: watch out for the neighbor's crazy dog, angry uncle, spoiled kids, and hot stoves. Communists, crooks, and greedy merchants. Well, we live in the "information age" in which Technology is God, and "to be informed" is the watchword of truly educated and capable people. It is true that we know more about diseases and to the extent that science thinks God's thoughts after Him, discovering new cures, we are blessed. But, do you ever get tired of the push to "live in fear"? We do not encourage apathy. We encourage faith and courage. Faith in God and courage in ourselves so that we do not get distracted from our goal of "showing forth the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light" (I Peter 2:9-10).