Refusing Joy

In a weight - and health - conscious culture, the stress of trying to be healthy might be more damaging to our long-term health than the health dangers we try to avoid. Perhaps we should embrace the joy of life - including the joy of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Christmas is a time of celebration, and part of the festive fun is food. Our Thanksgiving-to-Christmas consumption of goodies will surely lead to a few extra pounds and a resolution to start the New Year with a diet.

There's nothing wrong with dropping your excess holiday weight. But in our heroin-chic, Barbie-doll culture, dieting has become a chronic obsession. This approach may have some health benefits, sure, but without a steady regimen of aerobic exercise you may be easing the load while slowly killing yourself.

Killing yourself, that is, with stress.

"You do realize," writes a countercultural commentator named Philip LeFebvre, "that if you stand in front of the pastry case at the coffee shop and calculate calories in your head, trying to figure out if a chocolate chip cookie is going to show up on your hips, you are actually doing more damage to your heart from the stress than if you simply ate the d**n cookie and allowed yourself to experience the joy of it, right? You do realize ...