I Chose Not to Be COVID Vaccinated and What the Edo Swordsmith Taught Me About Body, Faith, and Discipline through Jesus.
In the old ways of Edo, a swordsmith
would rise before the sun touched the mountains top peaks. The air would still be cold, untouched by the noise of men. Echos of birds calls and the fresh wind. He would wash his hands, steady his breath, and approach the fire not as a laborer but as a servant of something greater that was being created in the fire.
To craft a blade of this callibar was not merely to shape steel as seen on the history channel. It is the discipline of the body through purifying the mind, and align the spirit.
Impuritys have no place in this process.
The iron was chosen with care. The water was clean from the local stream or mountain. The hands were steady. And the heart
above all was quietly ready to work.
Whatever entered the forge would be carried into the blade just like our bodies.
I think about this very often now, living in a world far removed from that stillness. A world of noise, speed, and pressure. A world where decisions are pushed, not contemplated. Where conformity is praised more than conviction itself.
I have made a choice that some do not understand years ago.
I am not COVID vaccinated.
This is not out of rebellion for rebellion’s sake. Not out of hatred for anyone or this is right or this is wrong. Not out of ignorance. But from a place of conviction of stewardship over my own body, and trust in something deeper than fear you seen on TV.
As an American, I hold the right to speak, to choose my thoughts and to stand firmly as I chose to be. That right is not comfortable at times. Espically working at a hospital currently. It is not always welcomed. But it is mine that I made risking it all for a simple choice.
I will not trade it for approval.
I see the world differently now. I walk through stores and observe people. not to judge, but to understand. Carts filled with food that weakens the body. Sugar disguised as comfort. Chemicals disguised as convenience. A quiet surrender happening aisle by aisle by everyday people.
I ask myself.
When did we stop guarding what enters our bodies?
Was it the commercials or that person on Instagram eating 50 cheese burger for clicks? Was it a culture thing? Is it a childhood thing or Somethings more deeper.
The swordsmith would never allow corrupted steel into his forge. Yet we allow corrupted habits into our daily lives without question.
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This is not about perfection. I am not perfect. But I am awake to the responsibility of my actions.
Takeing care of one's body as something sacred.
Not blindly followed by everyones else's habbits. To have awareness of what your actually eating. Questioning not from pride or ego from our hearts but from sense of duty and purpose. Has society really fallen off this path so deeply?
My faith in Jesus is not separate from this as well. It is the center of it all in my daily life. I believe my body is not just mine to do with as I please. It is something entrusted to me. A temple, not a tool for convenience all the time as the world says it should be.
Trust does not mean recklessness.
It means I do what I can to eat better, move my body, stay aware of things being said on TV and then I place what I cannot control into His hands.
That is not weakness.
That is faith.
In Edo, the blade that left the forge carried the mark of the man who made it. That Smith's master and there master passed down. His discipline. His patience. His choices. It takes 5 years to become a swordsmith in Japan. It takes 5 minutes to get a burger from McDonald's and you tell me the difference here. Where is the learning or understanding. Really think a 5 minutes burger is good for you? Get out of here.
What we consume, what we accept, what we allow into our lives it shapes us.
Not all at once.
But slowly.
Quietly destroying our mind and mental health.
Until one day, we either stand firm like tempered tamahgana steel.
Or we bend without resistance. Looking 50 in your 30s. Can't breath walking up the steps. Watching netflex with your taco bell 3 days a week till look down at your gut at the pool. Not saying being big is unhealthy but it can be depending on how you shape your life. For example I was at work and a doctor could not bend down. Yes there is medical problems someone can have and I understand that. Yet he's young said nothing about that and said can't do that am getting old. He's 40s. My wife mother almost 60 and dose yoga looks late she's in her 40s. Movement of one's self. Food you put in your body on a daily basics. Prayer. Where is your hope and determination. Your Instagram reel of that couple with the water front house is not going save you. You do not see the hard work that's a 20 second short shows do you? Yet to continue this opinion.
I have decided to chose my own path.
Being honest.
Not to divide but to stand.
Not to believe everything I hear or see.
like the swordsmith before the flame, I will continue to refine what I can control in my body, my mind, my spirit and my trust God with the rest. in the end of all this .
The forge does not lie.
It creates. What are you creating in your life today? Thank you
Ray.
