As consumers increasingly turn to natural remedies for their health concerns, the debate over the efficacy and safety of natural medicines has become more complex. Many individuals are choosing to supplement or completely replace traditional, Western medicine with natural medicines. There are a variety of reasons for this resort, such as a desire to reduce the risk of drug-related side effects or the tendency to prioritize holistic approaches to health. Whatever the reason may be, it is important to evaluate the wisdom of resorting to natural medicines.

One of the primary arguments in favor of natural medicines is that they are often less toxic and produce fewer side effects than their pharmaceutical counterparts. This is particularly relevant for individuals with chronic conditions who are taking medications every day.

These individuals may experience unwanted side effects such as dizziness, nausea, or liver damage, which can detract from their overall well-being. Natural medicines, on the other hand, are often created with fewer synthetic ingredients, making them a safer alternative.

Another argument in favor of natural medicines is their perceived ability to alleviate illness at the root cause instead of merely treating symptoms. To offer an example, a natural medicine like echinacea can be used to boost the immune system and reduce the duration of a cold or flu. In contrast, cold and flu medicines treat symptoms such as runny nose, fever, and sore throat but do not address the root cause of the illness. This means that individuals may have to take them multiple times throughout the course of the illness, whereas natural remedies are thought to tackle the underlying issue and shorten the overall duration of the ailment.

Normally, natural medicines are often more affordable than traditional, Western medicines. This is particularly relevant for individuals without insurance, who may struggle to afford the costs associated with prescription medications. Natural remedies can be brewed at home or purchased at low prices from health food stores, making them an accessible option for individuals in a variety of financial situations.

We may consider the potential downsides of relying solely on natural medicines. For one, natural medicines may not be as consistent in their dosage as traditional medicines. Since natural remedies are often prepared from plants, their potency may vary depending on factors such as soil quality and harvesting conditions. This means that individuals relying solely on natural medicines may not have as much control over the dosage they receive.
Natural medicines may not be regulated as strictly as traditional medicines. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has specific guidelines for the safety and efficacy of traditional medicines, but these guidelines do not necessarily apply to natural remedies. This means that there may be less information about the potential risks and benefits of natural medicines, which could put individuals at risk if they are not informed about the potential side effects.

It is important to consider that natural medicines may not be effective for all health concerns. While they may have some beneficial effects for certain ailments and conditions, they may not be effective for more serious illnesses or injuries. Individuals with chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, or cancer may require medications and treatments that are only available in the realm of traditional Western medicine.

The wisdom of resorting to natural medicines is a complex issue that requires consideration of a variety of factors. Ultimately, the decision to rely on natural medicines should be made on a case-by-case basis and in consultation with a healthcare provider, taking into account the individual’s medical history, current health status, and the potential risks and benefits of a given remedy.

IN the gospel, there is a part where Christ tells us some indications meant to guide us in our earthly journey. (Mt 7,6.12-14) “Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.” (Mt 7,6)
These are words that clearly tell us that we need to develop an abiding sense of the sacred even as we immerse ourselves with the mundane things of the world. They are meant to remind us that our life is not simply a natural human life, but is also a supernatural life with God.

As image and likeness of God, our life cannot help but be also sacred as it is a shared life with God. We cannot help but also handle sacred things in our life, like the sacraments and the sacramentals. In fact, the natural moral law that governs our moral life should be regarded also as sacred. We just cannot treat it the way we treat the purely natural law of physics, chemistry, biology and the like.

And then, Christ continues to tell us about the Golden Rule. “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the Law and the Prophets.” (Mt 7,12) This is a basic ethical law that should govern the way we treat each other. It’s a way to achieve the basic peace and order in our social life.

This Golden Rule reminds me of the way we handle the traffic on the road which can be a good image of how our life actually is. There are many vehicles going in different directions. We just have to learn how to give and take so that each one can reach his destination safely. Especially in a heavy traffic situation, there should be a good sense of reciprocity, flexibility and adaptability.

This does not mean that there are no absolute truths that all should follow. We just have to learn how to live and uphold it in spite of our unavoidable differences and conflicts not only in matters of opinion but also in matters of belief.

We need to remind ourselves that truth in the end can only be achieved if it is also lived, upheld and defended in charity. That is why, we should be ready to go through unavoidable suffering the way Christ suffered to live and defend the truth in charity. In fact, suffering can be the very touchstone of truth in charity.

Thus, Christ also said that to arrive at our proper destination, we need to enter by the narrow gate. “Enter through the narrow gate,” he said. “For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.”

That is why he also said in another part of the gospel that for us to follow him, we need to deny ourselves and carry the cross. (cfr. Mt 16,24) We can readily see the wisdom of this divine indication when we realize how easy it is for us to be deceived, confused and trapped into some kind of a silo when we just follow what we want.

We always need to follow the will of God, not just our own will, for that in the end is what is proper to us.

These days we often hear people say:
“The earth is one. Human beings are brothers and sisters.”
-Yoshikazu Fukaya

We often hear it but we are quick to brush it aside, aliens walk among us. Sometimes, it is also believed that they often visited us. Elizabeth Kolbert in an Article at The New Yorker asks, Have We Already Visited by Aliens? And she said these in the opening paragraph of her article; On October 19, 2017, a Canadian astronomer named Robert Weryk was reviewing images captured by a telescope known as Pan-STARRS1 when he noticed something strange. The telescope is situated atop Haleakalā, a ten-thousand-foot volcanic peak on the island of Maui, and it scans the sky each night, recording the results with the world’s highest-definition camera. It’s designed to hunt for “near-Earth objects,” which are mostly asteroids whose paths bring them into our planet’s astronomical neighborhood and which travel at an average velocity of some forty thousand miles an hour. The dot of light that caught Weryk’s attention was moving more than four times that speed, at almost two hundred thousand miles per hour.

Weryk alerted colleagues, who began tracking the dot from other observatories. The more they looked, the more puzzling its behavior seemed. The object was small, with an area roughly that of a city block. As it tumbled through space, its brightness varied so much—by a factor of ten—that it had to have a very odd shape. Either it was long and skinny, like a cosmic cigar, or flat and round, like a celestial pizza. Instead of swinging around the sun on an elliptical path, it was zipping away more or less in a straight line. The bright dot, astronomers concluded, was something never before seen. It was an “interstellar object”—a visitor from far beyond the solar system that was just passing through. In the dry nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union, it became known as 1I/2017 U1. More evocatively, it was dubbed ‘Oumuamua (pronounced “oh-mooah-mooah”), from the Hawaiian, meaning, roughly, “scout.”

These sighting the 1I/2017 U1 was recorded and documented, it was not a simple “seen” phenomena but subjected to the rigor of Scientific Methods from people who does not exaggerate tales.

As a boy, my Grandfather Gregorio used to point me to the night sky where we can see Stars which are MOVING, he calls them Satellites. As ayoung boy too, the SKYLAB was a fearsome reality, we were told at any moment that unfortunate satellite would befall our heads and our homes .

Looking back, the Moving Stars can be Interstellar Vehicles and we were just unaware that it was such.

Many of us would brush aside and negate what could be an inconvenient truth . We are just one of those Intergalactic Worlds that exists in the Universe. We just don’t know it, but we are simply a sort of clan, siblings and brothers of Earth. The sooner we realize this, the sooner that conflicts would dissipates and that peace among Brothers and Sisters of Earth can come.

Saving our habitat is not just a concern but a responsibility of all. It has been a subject not just of discussion but of policies formulated both in the international and national arena. With international and municipal laws enacted, people are expected to not just observe but to abide by such laws.

In the national front, the statutes enacted by congress are adapted through the passage of enabling laws enacted by the local legislative bodies, from the provincial, city, municipal and the barangay levels. With such legal framework, there is great hope and expectation that our mother earth will be amply protected, preserved and conserved for the present and future generations.

Unfortunately, we are not just hapless observers of the wanton disregard of our environment but are equally irresponsible and remiss of our obligation as stewards of mother earth. Verily, the laws and regulations to protect the environment are followed more on the breach than compliance. Well, that mayhap is the very reason laws are made for. It is very appalling that environmental laws are violated mostly by corporations that are the polluters of mother earth.

We are mere end-users of products that are in plastic containers instead of glass. Worse, the products are now in small sachets to cater to the poor consumers who cannot afford the high prices of such products such as soy sauce, processed vinegar, shampoo and other products that can be repacked. Old people could only remember the days when they can collect glass gallons from soy sauce and glass mugs from coffees.

What is appalling is that the poor end-users are the ones identifies as disposing plastics to the environment. The poor who live in the communities are obliged to do the garbage collection, segregation and disposal under pain of stiff fines and penalties. The task of community cleanup had been lodged upon government agencies that are mandated to protect the environment. These agencies that were compelled by a Supreme Court ruling to cleanup Manila Bay, had to set aside a chunk of its meager budget just to comply with the ruling now dubbed as the mandamus doctrine and the odd label of the mandamus agencies.

The efforts to cleanup Manila Bay became an undue burden on the national budget and the limited budget of the mandamus agencies. The polluter corporations would come out as heroes taking social responsibility by doing their share in cleaning the environment they polluted in the first place.

On the local level, the duty to protect the environment had been used palpably as a political show of the powers that be brandishing their might over political rivals allegedly polluting the localities, purposely missing to ban and nab the real polluters.
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