_ -	Wide World
■ ▼BILLIONS of voices—some audible, some inaudible-cried exultantly, “Run, baby, run!” And run she did. Faster than any woman athlete in the entire world. Who was she? Have you forgotten the Summer Olympic Games of 1960 in Rome when a trim, petite soul sister, Wilma “Skeeter” Rudolph, before millions on TV and tens of thousands in the grandstand, captured gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and anchored the United States by winning the 400-meter relay, and becoming America’s only triple gold medal winner?
Did you know that Wilma did not walk unaided until she was eight? As a baby, Wilma was left crippled by double pneumonia complicated by scarlet fever at age four. The doctors predicted that she would be a cripple for life.
Wilma’s mother, Mrs. Blanche Rudolph, was a very determined and devout woman who believed in prayer, faith, and perseverance. She believed that her little girl would not only walk but would run. Struggling painfully with crutches and braces, a girl made of less stern stuff than Wilma would never walk, to
say nothing of becoming the world’s fastest female athlete. But plenty of fruit juices, daily massage, and an indomitable spirit, coupled with prayers of faith, made the dream of a praying mother a glorious reality. Run, baby, run!
From time immemorial men have pitted themselves against one another in running contests. The footraces of the early Greeks set the stage for the Olympic games. Down through the years running has been a popular athletic event. The competitors have been young men in their prime.
Today instead of running for a prize, men and women are running for their lives. In many cities throughout America, middle-age, old-age, and some young men and women are walking briskly, jogging, or running for the physical benefit—running to live.
It is well known that the lives of many men are cut short because of hardening of the arteries and subsequent heart attacks. If all men would do what hundreds of their neighbors are doing, life would become more meaningful, and the chances are good that they would live much longer. Running to live has become an exciting and rewarding experience for me.
Maintaining good health requires more than running to live. It includes strict compliance with all the laws of health, including our eating and drinking habits. Man is'a three-dimensional being, whose mind, body, and soul belong to God. (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.) God is so concerned with your well-being physically, mentally, and spiritually that He commands you to be extremely careful in whatever you do to your body. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31.
Have you considered alcohol, harmful drugs, and tobacco—considered the damaging effects upon the body and mind, as well as upon the soul? Did you know that it has been medically proved that tobacco is the chief cause of more than 60,000 deaths annually from lung cancer, and is a major factor in 100,000 annual deaths from cardiovascular diseases? No wonder 100,000 doctors have stopped smoking! Can you honestly glorify God in the continual use of a deadly poison that is almost certain to shorten your life-span?
When it comes to marijuana, LSD, heroin, etc., the record from coast to coast of the tragic results— especially to young people—should be warning enough to “run, baby, run.” “Why shouldest thou die before thy time?” Ecclesiastes 7:17.
And now let me address a personal appeal to every housewife. If you want that man of yours around for a long, long time, make a radical change in your soul food menu.
Neither you nor he may consider what you eat relevant to longevity, but too many soul sisters are widows whose husbands’ untimely deaths were the direct result of faulty eating habits. Did you know that excessive amounts of sugar, coffee, and an abundance of fatty foods are contributors to early death?
Now a word of caution concerning coffee. The Associated Press made this release: “Medical researchers are taking a look at coffee drinking as a possible contributor to coronary artery disease and heart attacks. Some find evidence it might play a role. Studies of man’s life habits have implicated fatty foods, cigarette smoking, and lack of exercise as increasing the risk of heart attacks.”
Take a hard look at what is coming out of the soul food kitchen, literally floating in fat. Let me quote from Grace Halsell’s book, Soul Sister:
“In Harlem soul food includes all the simple, filling, cheap parts of the hog (feet, snout, tail, intestines, stomach) as well as such nourishing vegetables as black-eyed peas, okra, and collard, turnip, kale, and mustard greens. Negroes speak of ‘good, filling grease,’ a reference to their style of deep-fat frying (fried chicken, fried porgies and other fish, and hushpuppies, crusty cornmeal bread ‘cooked in grease), which came to us from Africa, via the West Indies.”-— P. 111.
My soul sister, you are killing my soul brother with fried, greasy foods. Modern research has revealed the damage caused by excessive use of saturated fats in the diet. Cholesterol, an essential fatty substance found in the cells and the blood of the body, causes trouble when too much accumulates in the blood. Deposits clog up the arteries, resulting frequently in
fatal heart attacks and other complications. Fatty meats, as well as butter, eggs, lard, and shortening, consist largely of saturated fats. Cut down on them, and better yet, cut them out, if you want that man to live.
According to Dr. William Collins of Maimonides Hospital in New York, “man was born a vegetarian. If he had remained a vegetarian, he would never have fun into the problem of hardening of the arteries. Man originally lived on the savannas and meadows of Africa. He ate vegetables, fruits, cereals, grasses, tubers and shoots. But as a result of drought he turned to animals and meat. This marked the beginning of his troubles.”—NBC Emphasis, “What’s New in Science?” Frank Field, Commentator.
Yes, man’s original diet was vegetarian. “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” Genesis 1:29. In other words, vegetables, grains, fruits, and nuts. And, from one soul brother to another, that is the best diet for us today. Actually meat eating became a part of man’s diet as a temporary expedient due to the Flood. God, who made man and knows what is best for man, gave specific instruction as to the kinds of flesh food that should be excluded from our diet. This prohibition includes many of our favorite soul foods, even pork. Read Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14.
A great deal of moral courage is required to change a lifetime of bad habits, such as smoking, drinking, the use of harmful drugs, etc. But don’t become discouraged. There is One who can help you. His name is Jesus. Consider these reassuring words: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13.	□
If you want more information upon this or related subjects in this series, write today to:
SOUL FOOD BIBLE GUIDES—ICL-10 Box 59, Nashville, Tennessee 37202
Offset in U.S.A.