Lazy People Fact #59274658365: You were too lazy to read that number.

Mea Culpa. Mea Maxima Culpa.
Today I violated two of my core principles. Because confession is good for the soul I hereby publicly cop to:

1. Turning on the heat. We went all last winter without doing that and were on target for a repeat, but the sight of my sick wife huddled in her chair suffering silently led me down the path to destruction. The thermostat read 62, a level that would have been almost luxurious when we lived in our last Michigan house. Arizona has spoiled us. I turned on the heat and set it at 67, but overwhelming guilt and sucking sound coming from the checkbook had me turning it off at 66. The sun coming in the south facing windows should hold it there, or nearly so, for the rest of the day. 
2. Grocery shopping. Again, I employ Adam's line, "The woman you gave me...." My only option for breakfast was cold cereal, so bare are the pantry shelves. Pam is still in no condition to be out anywhere, especially where food is sold. So I had her make me a mercifully short list and I wandered around the nearest grocery store (as opposed to the cheapest grocery store) struggling to find the eight items on that list. Question: why is cheese nowhere near either other dairy products or the meat dept.? It's on the opposite side of the store! And bread is as far away from the bakery dept. as possible. This is why I don't go in grocery stores. And why Pam has to get better very soon.

Just a few days ago I speculated on the cause for the grumpiness so common here in Sun City. Then yesterday I read a news article that offers an explanation for that sour attitude among older males. A just-released study says that the lower testosterone levels that occur naturally as males age can cause mood problems, including both sadness and grumpiness. 

This raises all kinds of questions in my mind. (You understand that the preceding sentence serves as a caveat. As my wife says, it's a scary place in there.)

If rising testosterone levels in pubescent males causes the growth of body hair why do decreasing levels in old age cause hair to grow out of my males' ears and noses? Not fair!

But of more significance, should I older males change to a different deodorant? If sadness and grumpiness are bad things, and if they can be at least mitigated by a testosterone-laden gel applied to one's armpits, should I older males do that? 

Let's assume for the sake of discussion that there are no adverse side effects, an assumption I'm hesitant to make. Doesn't the term "naturally occurring" suggest that messing with it might bring unintended and not-so-good consequences? If Somebody designed the body so that it produces less of anything as it ages maybe he had a good reason for doing so. Just maybe the body will do better with those lower levels, a little bad attitude notwithstanding. 

Then there's the whole issue of utopian thinking. "My life should be free of all things negative and undesirable, and I'll do and take whatever is available to get me there." 

For those of us who see all the bad stuff in life as the result of sin's corruption of the Designer's intent that's a flawed proposition. Until God has reconciled all things to himself that kind of flawlessness ain't gonna happen. Yes, medical science has much to offer us, much pain to be alleviated, and much dysfunction to be cured. But somewhere there's a line (I don't know where it is!). We're never going to solve every problem this side of eternity - medical, social, personal, or any other type. 

Which leads me to another potential problem with testosterone therapy for mood enhancement. Just maybe the best course of treatment is for me males to understand there may be physiological causes for attitudinal issues, but then turn to spiritual cures. It might mean that as I approach old age I need to work a little harder at "Rejoice in the Lord always," and "Be kind, one to another." So what? I understand that I have to work a little harder to preserve muscle mass and heart health. Why not more vigorous spiritual exercise? Might an expensive rollon medication keep me from the spiritual discipline God calls me to practice as I mature not just chronologically but spiritually? The happy pill can have the effect of turning me into a spiritual wimp in a society where ease - and wimpiness - are quickly becoming the order of the day. 

James tells us that struggling produces strength as the Lord teaches us to rely on God's grace and resources. A daily dose to increase testosterone levels might take the sadness and grumpiness away, but I might be better served - more importantly God might be better served - if I buckled down and determined to live out biblical behaviors even (especially) when it is more difficult.