Purity III

. . . and before you were born I consecrated you . . . 

 - From Jeremiah 1

Consecration has to do with the setting apart of someone, or something, for a particular purpose; a holy purpose, a sacred purpose. 

There's an idea, prevalent in Scripture, that the conception of life is something over which God has full control. He sees us before our parents even knew each other. He loved us and could identify the location of our component parts in the time of our great-grandparents and beyond. 

It's interesting to think about that - - - everybody you encounter, every moment of the day, may be carrying cells that are intended for a holy purpose, ordained by God; that will become manifest in one of their descendants, that will not be born until another two hundred years have passed. 

This setting apart, and this higher purpose . . . this is what purity is all about. It's a realization that our bodies actually belong to God, and that we are to be good stewards of everything He has given us; even if that "everything" includes our very own bodies, souls, and spirits. 

What good is it to care about  making the environment, and the ecosystem, pure and perfect, if we do not have that same aspiration for our own bodies? Aren't our bodies part of the ecosystem?

Are we capable of denying ourselves of certain hungers and drives, in order to make ourselves of greater value to the long view of human progress?

We expect a smoker to quit, so that the air we all breathe may be cleaner. And yet an addicted smoker will swear they need a cigarette to make it through the day. 

We condemn people that driving while impaired, even if their drink barely tipped the sobriety scale. 

A glutton does not stuff himself while leaving other unaffected. We may all have to pay for his healthcare. We are all bound to make allowances for his special needs, brought on by his own choices that could have been otherwise. 

There's no such thing as personal behaviors that don't affect others. There are plenty of details, lots of anecdotal evidence to back this up, vis-a-vis any vice. And there's probably laboratory evidence, too. 

The abstinent, the tee-totaler, the person with clean vocabulary, the moderate, the non-smoker . . . all of these behaviors that deny oneself some vice, all contribute to society's well-being, without being a drain on society.

When you're set apart for a great task, you want to be well-prepared. You want to be pure and without blame. It is a high calling and aspiration. You will become strong at denying yourself access to vice. And it's clear . . . our culture wants people to do what's best for the community. We've just become very selective about that, in the past generation. 

Purity is a very good habit, that benefits others. Every time.