In July of
2017, I made the decision to become vegan. This wasn’t a decision I made
suddenly, without thought, or based purely on in-the-moment emotion. It was
something I had been slowly working towards, researching, praying about, and
studying ancient and modern words of God and the prophets.
I
first really learned about the idea of veganism from my friend David who had
been vegan for a while before we met. I had of course heard of veganism before
meeting him, but had never put much thought into it, and often dismissed it as
foolish, distant, radical, not something worth thinking about, and even against
the will and plan of God. This played into much of my early friendship with
David. I would often challenge him on his choice to be vegan, I would site
claims that he was missing vital nutrients like protein and calcium by avoiding
meat and milk. I would site claims that God gave us animals to use for food.
This continued on for a couple years of our friendship before I came to accept
it and realized many of my claims were wrong.
While
David was certainly a catalyst in my choice to become vegan, he was not the
primary cause. It ultimately had to be my choice. Once I mellowed out and came
to accept his choice to be vegan, I became more supportive. When I would eat
with him I would often eat vegan foods with him. This applied both when we ate
at home, and also when we went to restaurants. When I wasn’t with him, I would
still generally eat a lot of meat, milk, eggs, etc.
Over
time I started to notice something. When I ate vegan meals, I would often feel
a bit better, lighter, happier, and more in-tune spiritually afterwards than
when I ate something that wasn’t vegan. I had also been having various health
issues such as upset stomach, gas and bloating, and back pain, and I would
generally notice a decrease in those symptoms when eating vegan as well.
As
I started to take note of these differences in how I felt, I was also starting
to reach out to doctors for help with my digestive issues. My experiences with
the doctors would be that they would either dismiss my concerns as not as
limiting or important as they felt to me, or they would recommend very specific
and difficult to follow dietary changes or various medications that of course
ran the risk of different side-effects as well as potentially making me
dependent on an expensive pill to feel alright.
As
all of this was happening, I felt that I wanted to look at my choices of food
from a more spiritual perspective. I started to really challenge some of my deep-seated
beliefs on what the teachings on food consumption were in the church. I had
honestly never seriously and purposefully read through the Word of Wisdom. Of course
I had read verses here and there, and heard talks and lessons on it given in
church, seminary, and institute, but in almost every case when (and if) food
was talked about, it was said that it teaches “everything in moderation”.
The
"problem" with the word moderation is that it’s not limiting on any one thing in particular.
In other words, a dinner plate that’s 50% meat, 50% vegetables would be
considered moderate as neither the meat or vegetables are in excess of the
other. A 60% to 40% ratio could also generally be considered moderate.
When
I actually read the Word of Wisdom, I found that a different word was used in
speaking on the consumption of meat. In D&C 89: 12-13 it states:
12 Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the
air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving;
nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;
13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be
used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.
The
first key word used here is sparingly. Sparingly is a more limiting and specific
word than moderation. For example, if I have a dinner plate that’s 50/50 meat
and vegetables, I would be eating in moderation, but I wouldn’t be eating one
or the other sparingly as they are equal values.
More
important for me though was the wording in verse 13. God specifically states
that it’s pleasing unto Him that “they should not be used, only in times of
winter, or of cold, or famine.” For me that stood out very clearly. When I
looked at my own life, I realized I’m certainly not in a time of famine. Even
if it is winter or cold outside, because of advancements in technology,
transportation, and agriculture I’m pretty much never in a situation where I
would need to eat meat for survival. And God stated that it’s pleasing unto Him
that they are not used outside of those specific instances.
Some
of the other scriptural accounts that really stood out to me in making this
decision are those scriptures that talk about when the earth was and will be
perfected. During the time of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the earth was
in a perfected state. There was no death.
Genesis 1:29-31
29 ¶ And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb
bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which
is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl
of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is
life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and,
behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Genesis 2:15-16
15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the
garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of
every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
During
the time when the world is again perfected there will also be no death. Even
the animals will not feed on each other.
Isaiah 11:6-9
6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the
leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the
fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young
ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the
asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy
mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 65:25
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the
lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.
As
I considered those scriptures, I thought of how we are here on this earth to be
tried and tested, to eventually hopefully reach perfection. While no one will
achieve perfection here, and no one can achieve perfection without the grace
and atonement of Christ, and we will all sin and fall short, I felt that I
could still try to work towards it during this life. And when I considered that
part of the nature of the perfected world was the absence of death or killing,
I looked at and challenged my own participation in the killing of animals.
As
I was studying the scriptures, I decided I wanted to look for words of modern
prophets on the matter. After quite a bit of searching I found a video that
really touched me. It’s called “Return to Sparingly: Quotes From LDS Prophets
and Apostles.” (I will share it below and include a link). This video had a
huge impact on me, and really opened my eyes to the history and significance of
the Word of Wisdom that I was totally unaware of before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXGXodVrYsA&lc=Ugya8agkyAuraP936wJ4AaABAg
As this video is basically just quotes, here's a transcript to the quotes if you'd rather just read them:
https://returntosparingly.weebly.com/quotes-video-transcript.html
As this video is basically just quotes, here's a transcript to the quotes if you'd rather just read them:
https://returntosparingly.weebly.com/quotes-video-transcript.html
I
came across another video called “Discovering the Word of Wisdom: A Short Film”
that similarly had a big impact on me and really got me thinking. (shared and
linked below).
As
I found all of this information I started to genuinely feel uncomfortable about
my choices of food. I felt that there was something I needed to change, and
that it would improve my life spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and
physically. I prayed a lot and fervently asked God for answers. Eventually I
made a decision. I set a date when it would be easier for me to fully
transition over and decided I was going to do it. The date of, I went
cold-turkey. I started eating only foods that were vegan and nothing else. And during
this time I prayed a lot and continued studying. I really wanted to know if
this was what God wanted me to do.
I
got my answer not long afterwards. It wasn’t a big huge moment, it was more
subtle and drawn out. But as the days went on and I stayed committed to eating
vegan, I noticed my life improving in many ways. And eventually it just clicked
that this was what I was going to do, that it was more than just a personal
decision, it was a spiritual one and a commitment made between me and God. That
the Word of Wisdom is indeed a word of wisdom. Not all included in it is
commandment. But God gave it for council that if I accepted it, I could live a
better and healthier life, and I could continually learn new things about how
to take care of myself and my body.
I
have not taken this change in my life to mean that I should pressure or command
others around me to follow the same and become vegan. I still love those in my
life who are not vegan. That does not mean I do not feel the need to encourage
others and share with them the benefits I have received from this change. I
very much want to help people realize what I did, make a change, and experience
the benefits from it. But I want to do it in a way that respects others’
agency.
This
summer I’ll hit the 2 year anniversary of my transition to a purely vegan diet.
During the past approximately year and a half I’ve experienced both criticism
and support. But I plan to stick to it unless and until God commands otherwise.
And, for the sake of my family, friends, and those around me, I want to share
the benefits of and my testimony of the Word of Wisdom and following its council.
I know that God, the creator of my body, knows what’s best for my health, even
if sometimes I’m unsure or unwilling to listen. I know that I can find answers
in the scriptures, from modern and living prophets and apostles, and from
prayer and personal revelation. I’m so thankful that God placed people and circumstances
in my life that led me to really want to learn about and improve how I care for
my body. And I’m thankful for my chance to live here on this wonderful earth.
Just one other quote I found today
while preparing to write this post that I really loved. This is from a talk
given by Ezra Taft Benson (then of the Quorum of the Twelve) in a devotional on
March 4, 1979. The talk is entitled “In His Steps” https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson_in-christs-steps/
Second: food. To a great extent we are physically what
we eat. Most of us are acquainted with some of the prohibitions, such as no
tea, coffee, tobacco, or alcohol. What need additional emphasis are the
positive aspects—the need for vegetables, fruits, and grains, particularly
wheat. In most cases, the closer these can be, when eaten, to their natural
state— without overrefinement and processing—the healthier we will be. To a
significant degree, we are an overfed and undernourished nation digging an
early grave with our teeth, and lacking the energy that could be ours because
we overindulge in junk foods. I am grateful to know that on this campus you can
get apples from vending machines, that you have in your student center a fine
salad bar, and that you produce an excellent loaf of natural whole-grain bread.
Keep it up and keep progressing in that direction. We need a generation of
young people who, as Daniel, eat in a more healthy manner than to fare on the
“king’s meat”—and whose countenances show it (see Daniel 1).
