When “Natural” Isn’t Always Enough

When I was still a very young boy, I usually heard the grown-ups around me say, The best of anything are those that are natural, from our local herbs to the food we consume to the decisions we make in life, because the surrounding nature is pure and they are from God, not the processed ones. I could also remember visiting my grandmother before she passed away in our hometown. She always loves to prepare her food naturally, from the way she usually grinds her pepper on this flat surface stone and takes herbs instead of medicine when she is sick; to her, it works better than the modern-day drugs.

My grandmother usually says that nature has the answer to everything, and if we look at this closely, it is very true in a way because living a natural life can make life so simple, and eating natural foods nourishes our heart.

But nature might not always hold the answer to everything because I have come to know that because it is natural does not mean it is the best or sufficient. Take this for example: if someone is seriously down with malaria, which herb is going to be effective to save that individual?

Sometimes it might work, but the majority of times it often fails because if not for some antimalarial drugs that we now have today, I'm sure that the vast majority of people around us would have kicked the bucket. Yes, I know that some will say those drugs are man-made medicines, but do you know how much life, love, and how many smiles have been restored because of those artificial drugs?

And this is also applicable to food; eating natural food is the best, but it would be very difficult to feed everyone with what we grow in our compound. How long will it last? The use of technology has made it possible to process some foods and preserve them. Imagine you saying that you will stop eating bread, milk, tea, or noodles or using some canned products because they are not natural.

Now let me talk about our ladies. Being natural in our body might not even be safe. Imagine your wife in the labor room trying to give birth, and she has been labouring for hours but she cannot do it naturally. Will you insist she give birth naturally or opt in for an operation that will save the lives of both the baby and the mom? Even the Bible has instructed that “wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom,” which means that even with nature, we must try to apply our wisdom to improve.

Personally, my take on this prompt is that we must make everything balance. We should not throw away natural things because they are beautiful. But all these human creations and innovations are also part of the natural gift that God has bestowed upon us through his creations, and to neglect those things means that we are neglecting the wisdom we have been longing and praying for.

And when I remember those sayings that the elders said when I was growing up about always going alone for things that are natural, I usually smile not because they are wrong but because my few years on earth have taught me that our day-to-day life goes beyond going after what is natural or what is not but knowing how to balance both, and that is the best thing for me.

Thank you for reading.

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