Currently in my engineering class we are discussing toxicology. There are some interesting theories on safe dosages for certain compounds to be ingested. Paraclesus (1493-1541) wrote, “all substances are poisons: there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy.”

This got me thinking about spiritual things. There really must be a balance to everything we do in life. It is sometimes hard to choke down the fact that we as humans can’t do everything. A lot of life’s decisions come down to priorities and opportunity cost. It’s about sacrificing one thing to gain another. Some people are too enveloped in their careers to establish good family bonds. Some people spend too much time with their family to be able to work enough to provide for them. Every decision is based on a spectrum of possible choices and each spectrum has two extremes. Toxins similarly have two extremes. Even vitamin C in high doses is fatal.

Spiritually speaking, we need to find a balance in life. We need to be what we might say “in the world” but not “of the world.” There is a verse in the scriptures that says to avoid “much laughter.” This doesn’t mean that laughter is bad. It means there are times for laughing and a time for solemnity. Reference the Preacher, “to everything there is a season, and a timeto every purpose under the heaven.”

Tags: Choices

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