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[From the STMcC archive; 2007, May 17]
Yoey O’Dogherty, the pastor at The Holy Vineyard Church in Napa Valley, California, recently had his Sunday school children tested to determine how well they were learning their Scriptures; the results were mixed and a bit disappointing. One child wrote that “Saint Paul cavorted to Christianity. He preached holy acrimony, which is another name for marriage.” Of course, since Saint Paul didn’t “cavort” to Christianity but rather “converted” to it, this child was given just a 50% correct grade on this particular question.
Another child who scored just 50% correct on a question answered, “Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree. Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark. Noah built an ark, which the animals came on to in pears.” You don’t need me to tell you that Adam and Eve were NOT created from an apple tree (everyone knows that it was Little Johnny Appleseed who was created from an apple tree).
One kid who did manage to score a 100% on a question said that, “The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.” Although The Bible doesn’t actually say that the “forbidden fruit” was an apple, we know this to be a fact because it can be found in all of the famous paintings from that era. (But what even few sincere Bible students today realize is that Eve’s second bite into the apple exposed a worm, and when she began shrieking and yelling at Adam to “Kill it! Kill it!” this became the real Second Commandment.)
Genesis 3:16 tells us that after Eve transgressed God’s rule and then enticed Adam to also eat the forbidden apple, God pronounced judgment on her and stated, “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” This goes to show that sometimes even God is only 50% correct.
Since that time, a lot of men have gotten down on women, and while some people say this is only “natural”, I say, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” (Hell, I don’t know what it means, but I quote it frequently because I found it in Gideon’s Bible in 1986 while trying to survive an excruciating hangover in a little roach-infested motel in Nevada. I credit that particular verse for saving my life, and this is a story as American as apple pie!)
I still regularly read from The Bible, but sometimes my theology doesn’t comport with that of the typical Christian church. For example, I believe that Eve has gotten a bum rap; I think that in eating the apple she was merely trying to clean her colon. The health benefits of a clean colon have since been established and there are a few ways to acquire one: some people ingest these herbal formulas found in health food stores. Other folks undergo colonics. (I’ll admit that when I was a teenager, my buddies and I sometimes pushed our way in through the out door at the theater in order to see a movie for free, but that’ll be the day I’m going to pay money to someone to push something in MY out door!) The best way to a healthy colon that I have found involves apples . . .
I was once pretty much of an expert on the Edgar Cayce psychic readings. After a thorough and objective investigation into them, however, I eventually determined that some of them relating to spirituality are downright dangerous. His “health” readings, on the other hand, I still believe were gifts from God.
Cayce was way ahead of his time (some readings are still beyond our ken) and the information in his health-related readings was unquestionably supernaturally obtained. How could he have known so long before anyone else discovered it that the Vitamin B-17 (Laetrile) content of “bitter almonds” would prevent the growth of cancer? [See the books ‘World Without Cancer: The Story of Vitamin B-17’ by G. Edward Griffin, and ‘Alive & Well: One Doctor's Experience With Nutrition in the Treatment of Cancer Patients’ by Dr. Philip Binzel Jr.]
In all the years that I have done the Edgar Cayce 3-Day Apple Cleanse, and promoted it amongst my friends and acquaintances, only two people other than myself have completed it – both of them women. (I always did suspect that women have more ‘intestinal fortitude’ than men do.)
THE THREE-DAY RAW APPLE CLEANSE
[According to Edgar Cayce’s reading #543-26]:
“[F]or three days…take NOTHING except apples – RAW APPLES! Of course, coffee may be taken if so desired, but no other foods but the raw apples. And after the last meal of apples of the third day, or upon retiring on that evening following the last meal of apples, drink half a cup of olive oil. This will tend to cleanse the system.”
In reading #294-182 he elaborated that the apples to use for this colon cleanse are “the Jonathan variety, or the jenneting; the Black Arkansas, the Oregon Red, the Sheepnose, the DELICIOUS, the Arkansas Russet; any of those that are of the jenneting variety.”
Because the Red Delicious apples are always readily available, it is the variety that I use when I administer the cleanse to myself. (Ideally once a year, since I’m a vegetarian. A flesh-eater might consider doing it every 6 months.)
How many apples should you eat? Cayce didn’t say, but what happens is that the fiber and pectin in the apples loosens up all of the matter that has collected in the crevices of your intestines over time, and then the olive oil flushes it all out. So the more apples you eat, the better. I always begin with the idea of eating 9 a day, but by day three, I’m so sick of apples that I can usually only manage to get 5 or 6 of them down me.
The hardest part, of course, is slugging down half a cup of olive oil. (For crying-out-loud, DON’T SIP IT!!! The coward dies a thousand deaths, the hero dies but once). I get it down in one or two gulps and then have some Listerine handy to immediately wash out my mouth (which sure beats the Ivory soap that my Ma liked to use for that purpose).
While one might think that the results would be immediate, and that racing to the bathroom will soon be necessary, I have never found it to be so with me. In fact, I take the olive oil after the last apple just before bed, and I sleep through the night, never needing to make “the mad dash” at any time.
Does this Apple cleanse REALLY clean out your colon? Well, without getting too graphically disgusting let me just say that . . . well, just check . . . well, YES! IT WORKS, and you will find all the evidence that you need in the bowl.
I personally feel that Eve’s reputation has been unjustly maligned. I think that in eating the “forbidden fruit” Eve was simply trying to improve her health by cleaning out her colon, and if God had understood that, she would have remained the apple of His eye, and Man wouldn’t still be walking around with a lump in his throat (i.e., an Adam’s Apple) at the thought of her painful punishment.
But even if Eve was merely thumbing her nose at God, I wouldn’t allow that to color my feelings toward all women;
I wouldn’t judge them all based on one bad apple.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.
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“There's a sadness in the heart of things,” said the second Z-man. The first Z-man added, “It's life, and life only.” The Wizard warned, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!” But then I dreamed the answer and I told it to them: “We have fallen asleep in God's embrace, having a nightmare that we are elsewhere.” So, now you understand what this Blog’s "stuffs" is all about.
Oh boy! I better don't say anything...LOL
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe one thing--one thing only: "An apple a day keeps the Doctor away."
Hey, thanks for stopping by my blog, and for your comment :-))
Doris
DISCCONNECTED ~
ReplyDeleteGOD said to Eve:
1) “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception
[Correct]
2) "In pain you shall bring forth children
[Correct]
3) "Your desire shall be for your husband
[HA!]
4) "and he shall rule over you.”
[HA!-HA!]
Two for four is 50%.
But He's still a great God.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
DORIS ~
ReplyDelete>> . . . "An apple a day keeps the Doctor away."
Yeah, but it brought God running!
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
I didn't know you were a vegetarian, Stephen. I might want to do that apple thing. Perhaps I'll lose some weight in the process... One can only hope.
ReplyDeleteI'll say another thing: That I believe the forbidden fruit WAS the knowledge itself and not a physical fruit like an apple. Metaphor. I think Eve was an archetype and that since the bible was written by men and not God himself/herself that that 50% is MAN's take on it.
MARJORIE ~
ReplyDeleteEveryone I know who has done the 3-Day Apple Cleanse (all three of us) has lost about 5 pounds during the process.
Well, I certainly do not believe the 'forbidden fruit' was really a fruit - apple or otherwise. Yes, I agree with you that it was knowledge, or to be a bit more specific - a false state of consciousness that SEEMED to result in spiritual "death" (a belief that man was separated from his God). This is a topic that could get very detailed and require extensive dialogue.
The hand of man has certainly intruded into the written Word in various places, but I also believe that The Bible was indeed, by and large, inspired by God and like no other book on the Earth.
Believe it or not, I view "Eve" as both an archetype AND as a genuinely historical person. (Leave it to me to discard the "Either/Or" approach and say, "BOTH!" Ha! This is so... "me".)
Thanks for your comment, Friend!
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Hi, Stephen, Thanks for the posting. I really enjoyed reading it. I love apples, too, by the way. Ruby
ReplyDeleteGRAMMY ~
ReplyDeleteThanks! Glad ya liked it.
When it comes to apples, I myself am more of an avocado guy.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Stephen did you know that the Spaniards couldn't pronounce the Aztec word for what they called the avocado. That was the closest they could get. The actual word they used for the fruit meant "testicle". Just an interesting little tidbit.
ReplyDeleteMARJORIE ~
ReplyDeleteUh... no. ...Didn't know that. Not sure I WANNA know that.
Now wait a second. Who was using a word meaning "testicle", the Spaniards or the Aztecs?
Ya know... considering the shape of an avocado, that just makes a lot of sense.
I think you've just converted me from a lifelong avocado nut (pardon the pun) to an apple fan.
May I ask how you acquired this knowledge? (Or is that something I ought not to ask?)
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
It was the Aztecs. The food network has an awesome show called Good Eats. That's where I heard this little bit of information. You know you still love avocados!
ReplyDeleteMARJORIE ~
ReplyDelete>>...You know you still love avocados!
I wish I was as convinced of that as you are. I'm just not sure, and I don't think I will be until the next time I try to eat one.
Thanks for the lovely mental image, my friend! (I remember back when cooking shows were more about F-O-O-D than S-E-X.)
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Actually it is a great cooking show. It just inserts the science of cooking and historical tidbits. I love that show.
ReplyDeleteMARJORIE ~
ReplyDeleteI ain't much for cooking (or cooking shows) but I does like to eat!
;o)
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
LOL on the childrens' comments. They say the funniest things.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I could do the apple diet. Too much acid!
Ellie Garratt
ELLIE ~
ReplyDeleteToo acidic? Then try the 3-Day Childrens Cleanse. You eat nothing but children for three days, and at the end of the third day, you drink half a cup of bourbon.
No guarantee it'll cleanse your colon, but it will definitely reduce the noise in your house.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Hey! Thanks for visiting and commenting on my story :-)
ReplyDeleteHope all is well with you.
Doris