Taking your medicine

from Et Tu, Jen a great analogy:

I heard someone make a great point on Relevant Radio the other day. The show’s host made a comment about the Church’s rules, and the guest (can’t remember his name) pointed out that what the Church offers should be thought of more as a prescription than a set of rules.

When I heard this it was one of those “ah-hah!” moments. This has been my experience with Church teaching. Sure, I can ignore its ideas on how to live life; I can do my own thing on the grounds that I’m a free thinker who refuses to be told what to do. But the Church tells us how to live life in the same sense that our doctors tell us how to take our medicine. If you follow your doctor’s orders for the medicine he prescribed, you will experience healing and health; if you do your own thing and wildly disregard the prescription you might cause yourself great harm—maybe even death.

Based on the results I’ve seen in my life since discovering Church teaching, it is truly like a prescription for healing from a great Doctor. The more closely I follow the guidelines, the better I feel.

Also, if you see it as a prescription instead of a set of rules, it makes dissent seem a lot less glamorous.

  MAKES YOU SOUND LIKE A REBEL: “The law says that I can’t jaywalk but I do anyway! I refuse to be confined by the State’s rules!”

  MAKES YOU SOUND LIKE AN IDIOT: “My prescription tells me to take 7.5 mg of Coumadin but I take 30 mg! I refuse to be confined by my doctor’s rules!”

It’s not that it’s new, I’ve certainly thought about Christ the Healer before. But there’s something about the way she puts it that makes it fresh. That makes me stop and think. Thanks, Jen.