Longing For the Snake Oil

So, my neighbor invited me to an event to hear about these wonder products she has been using for about a year from Genesis Pure. I don't need to go into detail about it all with you. Health and nutrition stuff. Juices, supplements, super fruits -- you know the drill. I went mainly because I thought it would be nice to spend some time getting to know my neighbor a little more. I had no intention of buying a bunch of expensive nutrition products.

But as I sat there hearing all these people talking about the health problems they had and how this stuff took care of everything . . . how much energy they have now . . . how they're not having to take medications anymore . . . how they haven't been sick for months . . . and yeah, I felt myself getting sucked in.

I mean, the premise sounds plausible, you know? That we have all sorts of toxins in our body that need to be cleaned out. And we don't get the vitamins and nutrients we need from the food we eat, even if we try to eat healthy. Clean out the bad, pour in the good, and you have to feel better, right?

So, yes, I was tempted. And I still wonder if I shouldn't get a month's worth or so and see if it makes any difference in how I feel. I wrote recently about all the health issues (minor health issues, but pesky ones) that hubby and I deal with that doctors can't seem to fix for us. The promise of a daily juice or pill that would fix everything is quite alluring. And I believe these people are sincere in their testimonies – it obviously works for some folks. Then again, it also sounds like a bunch of snake oil. I mean, how many different companies out there are making claims like these? How many similar wonder products and diets and such have swept the nation and then faded into obscurity over the past several decades?

When I was struggling with all my sleep problems, I went to about nine different doctors, I believe, looking for help. General practitioners, neurologists, sleep specialists, psychiatrists, and yes, an alternative medicine kind of guy, too. I was given all sorts of medications and all sorts of herbs and all sorts of advice. And every new thing I tried was a moment of hope: maybe this was the answer!

That was the familiar, heady feeling I had at my friend's meeting: maybe this is the answer . . .

And then there was the familiar, heavy feeling: no, there is no answer.

Hope is so essential to life. I wish God hadn't made it so fragile.