Chicken Soup

"The meat taken should be that of hens or roosters
their broth should also be taken
because this sort of fowl has virtue
in rectifying corrupted humours."
Rabbi Moshe ben Maimonides

Fr. Georges was with Anne when she drew her last breath (See "We Are Spirits" post below) That night at church, Georges was visibly worn out. Even when you believe that death is not an end but a beginning, letting go is no easy task. "I felt it in my heart," he told me as we sat together in the quiet church. Because he cared so much, I think he felt a physical pain as well as an emotional one.

A few days later Georges was sick. Sore throat, coughing, sneezing, aching, fever sick. He needed a nurse, or at the very least a good dose of chicken soup. Merry ME to the rescue!


I talked to Georges yesterday and he was feeling better. He said he was sure it was the soup. I wonder what it is about chicken soup that restores a person to good health?


According to an article by Nanci Baren* healers began prescribing the broth of the fowl as long ago as the 12th century. Noted Jewish philosopher and physician "Rabbi Moshe ben Maimonides used his 'fowl brew' to treat such things like hemorrhoids, constipation, and even leprosy. He strongly believed and especially praised the brew's healing power for respiratory illnesses like the common cold."


Breaking chicken soup down to its natural essence, scientists will tell you that chicken soup is full of amino acids, beta-carotene, Vitamin A, and anti-oxidants. But one doesn't need a Bunsen burner to know that it is the warm, chickeny goodness of the soup that makes you feel better. When heated to perfection the broth keeps you hydrated, while the poultry vapors open up stuffed sinuses.


However, the combination of chicken, carrots, onions, and celery is no pharmaceutical elixir. No, the fowl broth needs a little something extra to work its magic. Georges says he thinks the special ingredient is love. I think he may be on to something.



Merry ME
* http://reacharticles.blogspot.com/2008/08/does-chicken-soup-have-healing-powers.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Easter Miracle

Image
How is it that after someone you love dies, time moves on even when it feel like its standing still? Philosophers, poets and writers have tried to answer that question since time began. I don't have the answer. I just know that, by what I can only imagine is the Grace of God, it does. When you heart is broken into something resembling a 1000 piece jig saw puzzle and there are no directions on how to put it together, somehow it mends. When some else dies and it cracks again, God stitches the old wound and the new wound together into a patchwork of healed scars. Fifteen years ago, when I watched my mother draw a breath then counted the seconds before she took another but none came, I sat by her bed and tried to imagine being a motherless child. Then I did what any kid would do, ran down the long hospital corridor sounding the alarm. "My mother isn't breathing." "My mother isn't breathing."  Want to see doctors, nurses, CNAs, and cleaning ladies tur
Read more

Holy Moly

I knew it had been quite some time since I'd posted anything here, but had no idea it had been since December. Where does the time go? Is there anyone out there still reading this blog.  I don't know what happened, but the words just quit coming. And maybe I got lazy. One's muse leaving town and being lazy is a deadly combination, especially for a blogger. Well if you're still here, I'd like to redirect you to a new blog. (I know that doesn't make any sense - not writing one place then starting in another. It's kind of like having 5 pairs of jeans, but knowing in your heart of hearts that you really need the ones that are sale staring you in the face.) The new blog Crazy Maizey   chronicles the life of my son's dog, Maizey. She has been diagnosed with cancer. We all feel very sad.  Right now Maizey doesn't even appear to be sick. She limps now and then, but can plays, swims, and beats up her brother like always. For some reason, learning abou
Read more

Book Review

Image
Misadventures of a Happy Heart A Memoir of Life Beyond Disabilities by Amy Quincy When E-books first came out, I was of the I'll-never-buy-one-because-I-like-the-feel-of-a-book-in-my-hand school of thought. Then I bought one. Then two. Then enough more to realize reading on a Nook was infinitely easier than holding a bound book and turning the pages, especially when reading in bed. Which is where I usually read. I also like the fact that I can make the font bigger to match my diminishing eye sight. I got a new pair of glasses last week and was amazed at how clear and bright the world looked through the new prescription. The saleswoman put a card with tee-tiny writing on it under my nose and I could read with no difficulty at all. Until I got home. Now I'm having to move my head either up or down depending on whether I'm looking far away or close up. Perhaps I should have saved the money I spent on new glasses and bought a larger Nook. None of that made any differe
Read more