Once there was a small mountain village nestled next to a high cliff. The happy villagers spent their days filled with laughter and activity much of the time, but an unsettling problem hung like a dark cloud over everyone. Again and again, one of the village children would wander off alone to the cliff only to slip and fall over the side. By the time the victim could be reached it was too late.

The villagers held a meeting to find a solution. After hearing stories from grieving relatives and friends expressing their anguish and frustration, a plan was formed. Because the victims couldn’t be reached in time to save their lives, a path would need to be built, winding to the base of the cliff. Then someone asked if the injured could be properly transported back to the village. Obviously, a vehicle would make the safest rescue.

It was decided the vehicle should be an ambulance, and the ambulance ought to have a trained, paid attendant, as well as a driver. They must be on call 24 hours a day because accidents can happen at any time. Figuring it up, they concluded at least six trained people should be housed in the ambulance service station—which, of course, they would have to build first.

Then came the question of funding. Who would pay for it all? They determined taxes would have to be raised and revenues collected to open a rescue training school within the village. Of course, the tuition would help to pay for the instructors, administrators, utilities, and upkeep of the grounds.

After much discussion and planning, and realizing the enormous expenses and staggering sacrifices called for—in the midst of an argument over which make of ambulance got the best gas mileage on mountains—an ancient great-grandfather struggled to his feet and asked one poignant question.

“Why don’t you put up a fence?”

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” ~ Jeremiah 29:1

In 1903, Thomas Edison wrote, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.” In ancient China, the doctor got paid only if the patient stayed well.

How we see the world and what we choose to focus on is a crucial element of CREATION Life. We call this focus “outlook,” and as the villagers in the story found out, it determines our course of action in any given situation.

Which health approach will you take—the fence or the ambulance?