Bible passage: Jonah 2:1-4
“1. From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2. He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4. I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' "
There is a word called ‘hormesis’. This is a term coined by German pharmacologist Schultz after discovering ‘a phenomenon in which small amounts of poison paradoxically cause yeast to multiply.’
Even small amounts of harmful substances can have good effects. So, in a way, therapeutic drugs are called ‘microscopic amounts of poison’ and in fact, pharmacology is a study that deals with poisons. It is said that the word ‘hormesis’ began to be used in earnest after the results of a survey on the effects of space radiation exposure on Apollo astronauts were announced in 1970.
It was expected that space radiation would cause great harm to the health of astronauts, but surprisingly, a new discovery was made that exposure to small amounts of radiation paradoxically enhances immunity and inhibits aging. Even though it is a toxic substance, it kills people if used in large quantities, but if used in small amounts, it can have good effects. Jonah, who appears in the scripture, encounters the most despairing moment in his life. After disobeying God, he encounters a storm, is thrown into the sea by sailors, and ends up in the ‘belly of a fish.’ If you think about it from a human perspective, it seems like God is doing too much.
Andiko la Biblia: Yona 2:1–4
“1. Ndipo Yona akamwomba BWANA, Mungu wake, katika tumbo la yule samaki. 2. Akasema, Nalimlingana BWANA katika dhiki yangu, naye akanijibu; katika tumbo la kuzimu naliomba msaada, nawe ukasikia sauti yangu. 3. Maana ulinitupa vilindini, ndani ya moyo wa bahari; na mafuriko yakanizunguka; mawimbi yako yote na mapigo yako yote yamepita juu yangu. 4. Nami nikasema, Nimetupwa mbali na macho yako; lakini nitatazama tena kuelekea hekalu lako takatifu.”
Kuna neno “hormesis.” Hili ni neno lililobuniwa na mfamasia Mjerumani Schultz baada ya kugundua jambo la kushangaza: kiasi kidogo cha sumu kinaweza kusababisha chachu kuongezeka.
Hata vitu vyenye madhara vinaweza kuwa na manufaa vinapotumiwa kwa kiasi kidogo. Kwa namna fulani, dawa za tiba huitwa “kiasi kidogo sana cha sumu”; kwa kweli, famasia ni somo linalohusu sumu. Neno “hormesis” lilianza kutumiwa sana mwaka 1970 baada ya kutangazwa kwa utafiti kuhusu athari za mionzi ya angani kwa wanaanga wa Apollo.
Watu walitarajia mionzi ya angani ingeathiri sana afya ya wanaanga, lakini kwa mshangao iligunduliwa kwamba kiasi kidogo cha mionzi kinaweza kuimarisha kinga na kupunguza kasi ya kuzeeka. Kitu chenye sumu kinaweza kuua kikitumika kwa wingi, lakini kwa kiasi kidogo kikaweza kuwa na manufaa. Yona katika andiko la leo anakabiliwa na wakati wa kukata tamaa zaidi maishani mwake. Baada ya kutomtii Mungu, anakumbwa na dhoruba, anatupwa baharini na mabaharia, kisha anajikuta tumboni mwa samaki. Kwa mtazamo wa kibinadamu, huenda ikaonekana kana kwamba Mungu amezidisha.