Dear Fellow Christians,
Today is a holiday in South Korea, the Lunar New Year. This is the biggest holiday, and as such is responsible for the most alcohol sales in the week leading up to this day. I believe South Koreans were number two in the world for per capita alcohol consumption, next to the Great Bear, Russia, where the women do a lot to help out with the numbers, meaning the men of Russia need not drink as much as the men here.
One thing is sure here in the Land of the Morning Calm; women who drink more than a modicum are not well-received. If only that were true of men as well, we would have a decent nation, following what I understand to be Christian principle. It does not take but a rather small amount of alcohol on a daily basis to move oneself into the categories which shine so well on research results which purport benefits to the brain, and specifically protection against dementia.
I do not drink at all, but I recognize that there is probably some physiological benefit to consumption of a small quantity on a daily basis. My father said an eighty-some-year-old female patient of his took a "toddy" every day, one tablespoon of whiskey. That was about thirty years ago, when he told me of that, and before research began to show so much benefit to the brain from moderate consumption. Even then, my dad said he did not advise her against it, as she was clearly in control, never drank more than that tablespoon in a day.
My father, a doctor in Taylorsville, NC, also told me that one in twelve people who take their first drink will become an alcoholic. More people die each year from alcohol abuse than all other drugs put together (excepting tobacco). Why would anyone want to risk something like that? Most say, "Well, I am not the kind of person to lose control." implying the one in twelve was doomed from the start not so much because of his genetic predisposition, but because of his moral failings, weak character.
However, a Christian is a person who has stood before God and most candidly admitted that he cannot handle his life on his own. That does not bode well for anyone about to dabble in mind-altering substances, does it? I don't know; I don't want to utterly judge all of our fellow Christians in other congregations, who regularly imbibe more than we.
I heard from my father that his father, a Baptist preacher, used to in jest call Episcopalians "Whiskeypalians." I have a high school friend who is Episcopalian, and drinks a lot, in the high class society of Salisbury, NC. He is a beloved and dear friend, and expresses sincere reflections on Christ, gleaned through his communion in his church. I only wish he were independent of alcohol, and could realize that his church's accepting culture enables his degree of consumption.
Too, I believe that many of the benefits of alcohol in protecting the brain may be available equally through other means, such as aerobic exercise.
It is time for me to take my children to the English children's service now. Have a happy Sabbath.
Love, Nathaniel
Today is a holiday in South Korea, the Lunar New Year. This is the biggest holiday, and as such is responsible for the most alcohol sales in the week leading up to this day. I believe South Koreans were number two in the world for per capita alcohol consumption, next to the Great Bear, Russia, where the women do a lot to help out with the numbers, meaning the men of Russia need not drink as much as the men here.
One thing is sure here in the Land of the Morning Calm; women who drink more than a modicum are not well-received. If only that were true of men as well, we would have a decent nation, following what I understand to be Christian principle. It does not take but a rather small amount of alcohol on a daily basis to move oneself into the categories which shine so well on research results which purport benefits to the brain, and specifically protection against dementia.
I do not drink at all, but I recognize that there is probably some physiological benefit to consumption of a small quantity on a daily basis. My father said an eighty-some-year-old female patient of his took a "toddy" every day, one tablespoon of whiskey. That was about thirty years ago, when he told me of that, and before research began to show so much benefit to the brain from moderate consumption. Even then, my dad said he did not advise her against it, as she was clearly in control, never drank more than that tablespoon in a day.
My father, a doctor in Taylorsville, NC, also told me that one in twelve people who take their first drink will become an alcoholic. More people die each year from alcohol abuse than all other drugs put together (excepting tobacco). Why would anyone want to risk something like that? Most say, "Well, I am not the kind of person to lose control." implying the one in twelve was doomed from the start not so much because of his genetic predisposition, but because of his moral failings, weak character.
However, a Christian is a person who has stood before God and most candidly admitted that he cannot handle his life on his own. That does not bode well for anyone about to dabble in mind-altering substances, does it? I don't know; I don't want to utterly judge all of our fellow Christians in other congregations, who regularly imbibe more than we.
I heard from my father that his father, a Baptist preacher, used to in jest call Episcopalians "Whiskeypalians." I have a high school friend who is Episcopalian, and drinks a lot, in the high class society of Salisbury, NC. He is a beloved and dear friend, and expresses sincere reflections on Christ, gleaned through his communion in his church. I only wish he were independent of alcohol, and could realize that his church's accepting culture enables his degree of consumption.
Too, I believe that many of the benefits of alcohol in protecting the brain may be available equally through other means, such as aerobic exercise.
It is time for me to take my children to the English children's service now. Have a happy Sabbath.
Love, Nathaniel
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