Page 118 - Overcoming Addiction

All of this is just a roundabout way of agreeing with your chapter, and
indeed Paul’s writings concerning the flesh and the Spirit. However, the radio
analogy has been powerful for me, because it takes away the ‘grey areas’ and
makes it clear that even a little leaven can leaven the whole lump. I am certain
Yahweh has the same things on the hearts of those called to be overcomers
everywhere, who are realizing the need to leave Babylon without taking any
garments or belongings along from that city.
Grace and Peace be with you, Joseph!
Your brother,
Michael Shevlane

Following is another profound witness that brings a very insightful
testimony to the effect of a worldly diet on the inner man. This brother from
California describes the increase of spiritual sensitivity that was his after he spent
a year without watching television or reading other media, but reading only the
Bible.

The Air We Breathe

During the fifteen years I flew a private plane I gained a new perspective
on smog. After spending most weekends in the clear, clean air of the mountains
we would fly home at 11,000 feet with a 200 mile visibility. I never noticed the
air at that altitude smelling clean, for clean air has no smell. It is odorless and
invisible.
From the air the LA basin has the appearance of a lake filled with a yellow
brown smoky substance, 1500 feet deep, and during descent you realize you will
soon begin to breathe this into your lungs. As the plane would enter the top of the
haze, the sensation was more like getting ready to submerge in a submarine, and
my body would take a deep breath like you would before going under water. The
instant you submerge the visibility immediately drops from 200 to 3 miles, and,
if at night, the stars disappear as an orange haze illuminates the cabin and the
sky. As the air pours in through the vents, you first sense the temperature
change, then you wait to take your first breath. Then comes the stench, a musty
chemical smell, something like burned oil, then tightness grips your lungs as
your body gives its warning.
At cruising altitude, it is very peaceful. The plane is on autopilot and all I
have to do is enjoy the scenery and watch out for occasional aircraft that, at
night, I can see coming over 100 miles away. But, now things become very busy.
The radio is active as I begin checking in with air traffic control. The reduced
visibility keeps me on high alert watching out for air traffic as I follow my
planned route to avoid restricted areas, and peering intently through the haze
trying to locate the airport.

Fifteen minutes later, I am safely on the ground and take a deep breath --
AND SMELL NOTHING. It is not that the air no longer smells, but that I don't