Believing it to be
just a clump of cells
We call it what we want
And do what we want
We ask…
“What do these cells mean to me?”
We say…
“My body my choice to do whatever I want”
Regardless of what my choices produce
Or how my choices impact my neighbor.
We just want to have fun
We don’t care if our bodies become tombs or wombs
We don’t want to think beyond the present moment
When pleasure is promising us so much right now.
Who cares if my choices affect the lives the others
Why should I care about the lingering effects
I cannot control myself in this moment
I feel like it
I crave it
How can it be wrong
When it feels right and it feels good
I cannot deny myself
The pursuit of happiness is my right
Pleasure is what I freely choose
To liberate myself from my reality
From my lack of imagination, boredom and despair.
So what if my choices result in life or death
Life or death is my choice
This act is nothing more than an opportunity
To feed my rapacious appetite
This transaction is mine to make
To get what I earned
To get what I deserve
It is a physical need
Why are you trying to make it anything more than that?
It is fuel
My body needs it to function
It doesn’t matter who I get it from
Or how I get it
As long as I get what I want
Because what I want is what I need
In getting what I want, I can get some needed satisfaction and peace
Though the satisfaction and peace are temporary
And they quickly escape my body
I hang on to the high as long as I can
Unconcerned about what comes next
Or what price I’ll have to pay
Or what price you’ll have to pay
For my recklessness and lack of personal responsibility.
Don’t worry
I will deal with the consequences
I can either take a pill
Or have a procedure
And handle “God’s will”
However I want
It is my body and my life
What’s the worst case scenario…
That this clump of cells turn into something?
If that happens, then I can just go to the doctor
He can deal with it
Isn’t that his job
To make sure that I don’t have to deal
With the consequences of my choices
And to make sure I have the right to life
No matter if my choices murder the life that I have been given
I am free to choose
It’s not hurting you
You have no right to deny my right
To eat and drink whatever I want, whenever I want and however I want
Even if that means my consumption kills me quickly or slowly
Causes heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer or makes me more vulnerable to viruses
Or results in the death of my heart, mind, body and relationships
And the costs of my choices are incalculable
To my families, neighbors, communities, churches, country and world
So what if my act of consuming is an act of violence
That reverberates throughout my body
Affecting all
And I abort my life and my call
To love God with all my heart, mind, soul and body
And my neighbor as myself.
Am I supposed to feel bad about my choices
Or if the food that I daily choose
Mocks God and the gift of life he has given me
To remember his goodness and love, and my relationship
With creation and its creatures.
Strange that you think I should care so much about a clump of cells
That I call food
And go so far to call it a blessing from the Lord
To remember all is grace and all is a gift
You act as if my body is some kind of holy temple
And my choices profess life and what I believe to be true
About God.
DeeAnn Dean 