Diners, Minutemen, Trees and Health

Sunday was a rainy day around here in Arlington. My wife, Carolyn, and I decided to make one of our three or four times-a-year pilgrimages to The Arlington Restaurant & Diner and have a late breakfast. It never fails to disappoint. Good diner fare at reasonable prices in a friendly atmosphere.

After the eggs, bacon and home fries had accomplished their mission, we decided to take in the Minuteman Visitor Center on Route 2A in Lincoln. It seemed like a perfect thing to do on a damp day.

So, off we drove and found ourselves visiting this place for the second time. The National Park Service does a really fine job of presenting the events that began the American Revolutionary War via a multimedia show. Very informative. 

For instance, I (and I suspect many others who grew up in the 1950s) was taught that Paul Revere’s famous alarm was “The British are coming!” What a surprise to find out that he instead roused the populace by shouting “The Regulars are coming!” The Regulars referred to the British army, and it suddenly made perfect sense that British colonists would use that term. I mean, we probably wouldn’t refer to our own troops as “The Americans are coming!”

As we were walking out, Carolyn pointed to an unusually large pine tree whose trunk had divided into many different secondary ones part way up—each reaching to the pinnacle. 

My ever-vigilant wife wondered whether that tree might be a blog topic. She was right and here it is!

Now, I saw in that majestic tree a metaphor—a metaphor about health and health choices.  

It began with a single trunk—a single desire, if you will—for health and well-being. A desire that we all share. But even though the tree branched-off into different routes to the top, those separate paths weren’t automatically invalid. They were just different paths.

If any of us were of a mind, we might choose one branch over another to reach the goal. But the goal—the desire—would be the same. 

And what would the metric be for our success? Simple. Did we reach the top? Was our health improved? 

For the past 21 years, I’ve chosen a prayer-based method as my preferred system of health care. I’ve relied on it because that metric was achieved each time I needed it—better health and a better sense of well-being.  

And isn’t that what’s important? Isn’t that what counts?

So when you think about health care, do you see only one large trunk?  Or are you aware that there are other options—other viable routes—that can lead to that much sought after goal? 

To health.