My Aligned Perspective

I have been fortunate. For a limited time, I have a keen sense of my mortal existence. I have always wondered how I would respond in a time like this. Yes, theoretically, I emphatically declared a level-headed devotion to God—even thanksgiving! That said, how would I actually respond? Think Psalm 100, a passage I read to my family just minutes after my Dad had passed before our eyes:

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 100 (ESV)

Truly, I roar 1 Corinthians 15:55:

O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?

One thing I can tell you, my friend, I will stay the course and keep the faith.

John MacArthur, Fellow Heart Patient

John MacArthur is afflicted with a similar thorn as myself, albeit in the context of a 39 years older body. Of all the preachers I have read and/or listened to over the radio, podcast, and in person, MacArthur has been my favorite. In this session, it breaks my heart to see entropy overtaking him, but it thrills me that his spirit is strong and his desire to work is unimpeded:

2 weeks ago: John MacArthur | TMS Chapel | Q&A

I also enjoyed his interview with the highly intelligent Ben Shapiro, an orthodox Jew. I like Ben's politics (even his WWII knowledge surprises me), but also appreciate his ability to interview, like the one he did with the brilliant Voddie Baucham, who now is a dean of a university in Zambia.

2 months ago: interview with Ben Shapiro Ancient Truths vs. Woke Religion

And while this conference was years ago, John MacArthur's witty and truthful message about an exceedingly difficult topic rings just as true today as it did then. His reference to the Spanish flu is exceedingly timely to our age:

16 years ago (2008): speaker at a Ligonier conference Why Does God Allow So Much Suffering and Evil?

Studying the Playbook

One way or another in September, God is gonna revel more of Himself to me, whether face-to-face or in His word. My studies have been spotty. There have been times I have enriched myself daily with His word...and then there have been times in the desert where I give a passing nod.

I recently spoke with a buddy of mine who shared about his daily study streak that is now going on beyond 3 years. That's something I want for my life.

I want to be that guy again who hauled the weight of his Bible across Europe, who read it while he was alone with no place to sleep on that Belfast night. That guy sat on a concrete floor to listen to a circle of Italians worshipping God, voices and an acoustic guitar echoing across a near-empty Torino train station in a summer evening. Only later, that guy would delight in discovering a hotel to shelter for the rest of that Italian night.

Now What?

I have full confidence that my own end of days has been chiseled out before I was born. From my perspective, chances are, I'll live beyond September.

I have been reading Stay off My Operating Table: A Heart Surgeon's Metabolic Health Guide to Lose Weight, Prevent Disease, and Feel Your Best Every Day by Philip Ovadia, MD. I was delighted that Kelly Hogan had an interview with him a year ago:

13-year Carnivore Cardiac Results: Long-Term Effects of an ALL Meat Diet w/ Kelly Hogan & Dr. Ovadia

After watching it, I am encouraged! It highlights to me that carnivore is my lifelong application. And this approach has served me well, obliterating the family inheritance of diabetes and shredding 140+ lbs (and counting) of excess weight.

My ketones this morning are rising now to 1.9, closer to my pre-hospital 3.8 average. My glucose at 87 is in the neighborhood of my 77 average. Things got a little wonky after water fasting for nearly 7 days in context to the trial-and-error dumping of medications into my body.

The video does make me question whether I ought to be on this statin: yes, my LDL is high, but my triglycerides are normal.

I really don't have a problem with LDL—why would my body actively produce this if I didn't need it? LDL's specific function is to repair the body. Aren't we shooting the firemen responding to a fire? Now, as to what is causing the fire...how did sugar break down my arteries?

I found this paper to be of interest that downplays LDL's role: The Mainstream Hypothesis That LDL Cholesterol Drives Atherosclerosis May Have Been Falsified by Non-invasive Imaging of Coronary Artery Plaque Burden and Progression

In case you don't want to power through the article, let ChatGPT do the heavy lifting:

• The belief that LDL cholesterol drives atherosclerosis is widely accepted but may be flawed.

• Most studies focus on heart disease events (like heart attacks) rather than the progression of silent atherosclerosis.

• Non-invasive imaging techniques show little to no correlation between LDL levels and coronary plaque burden or progression.

• This evidence challenges the use of LDL cholesterol as a primary marker for heart disease risk, especially in asymptomatic individuals.

• If LDL is not a key factor in plaque development, current heart disease prevention strategies that focus on lowering LDL may need to be reconsidered.

I found this visual representation to be telling of a 2021 study, Association of Lipid, Inflammatory, and Metabolic Biomarkers With Age at Onset for Incident Coronary Heart Disease in Women.

My takeaways?

1. 40+ years of unmitigated sugars in the context of a government that hammers home a diet of 65% sugar just may have wrecked me.

2. Carnivore's annihilating sugar from my life and its taking a person's worth of weight off of me has saved my life.

3. If we as a species absolutely require fat and protein only—carbs optional—and our ancient elders harvested that from animal sources through team communication, why do today's government and industry interests promote that carbs trump all? What's really going on here? And I peer from beneath the hospital sheets and uncover a dreadful sight: that slab of margarine atop that pack of Domino Sugar from the cryptkeeper's ghastly galley.

And hey, carnivore just makes me feel ALIVE! Isn't that a good enough of a reason?