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On Enlightenment (Vol. 4, No. 20)Several years ago, I noticed that I wasn’t feeling very well, physically. Besides having little energy and lots of aches and pains upon rising in the morning, I just didn’t feel good about myself. One day, a story line on the cover of I looked forward to gaining this life-changing information. In fact, I came home a little early. Admittedly, it was partly from excitement and partly because I didn’t want anyone catching me reading Ladies Home Journal. I have to tell you that I was truly enlightened that day. My first moment of enlightenment was my discovery that, except for maybe two of the story lines on the cover of the magazine, there is no index to find anything else in a periodical intended for a primarily female audience. Yes, there is a table of contents. But I soon learned that the stories on the cover were cleverly reworded in the table of contents to confuse the male reader. I had no choice but to go through each and every page of mascara ads and food recipes to find this life-changing information. But, hey, I was out to feel good about myself. So I moved forward, one page at a time. Thirty minutes later, I was staring at the back cover wondering how I missed the story. I had seen no big title or pictures that would signal that I had found the feel-good article. It was during my second pass through the magazine that I had my second moment of enlightenment. “Stories” aren’t always stories. In fact, most of the “stories” trumpeted on the cover of this particular magazine were actually “boxes.” You know what I’m talking about. Little bits of information sequestered away on a page with something that may or may not be related. I made this discovery when I threw the magazine in disgust. Little postcards flew everywhere. As I bent to pick them up, I noticed that the Journal was lying face down with several pages crumpled. Not wanting to leave evidence of my perusal of the periodical, I quickly scooped it up and began stroking one of the wrinkled leaves. As I smoothed furiously, I noticed a little box, a sidebar if you will, on the page titled “Your Health.” In small print, the words “The Secret Formula to Wellness” sat coyly waiting for a reader. The next line was the key. “If you want to feel good about yourself . . .” Below the introductory line were three bullet points: eat well, exercise, rest. Except for a paragraph in yet smaller print that talked about the results of some clinical study by a group of doctors who had nothing better to do than test a theory that has never been a secret to anyone, that was the entire message. Eat well, exercise, rest. Thus I stumbled into my greatest moment of enlightenment. Deep down, I already have a basic understanding for the way things should be. Certain ideas just make sense. Few, if any of them, are secret. Fewer still involve shortcuts or magic formulas to success. God really has given us the knowledge we need. He only asks that we pursue His truths. “Folly delights a man who lacks judgment, but a man of understanding keeps a straight course.” Proverbs
Shine On!
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