Alternative Solutions

   In ancient days, Babylonian Empire King Nebuchadnezzar conquered many countries during his reign.  A practice he implemented once he would secure a foreign land was to take captive young men who were gifted with knowledge, good judgment and well suited to serve in a royal setting.  His captives were sent to his palace in Babylon to train and develop these young people by teaching them the Babylonian culture, Babylonian literature, language and feeding them the finest foods and drink that the King ate over the course of three years. In addition, they all were given Babylonian names.  Needless to say, these young men lived well.

   One of the young men, Daniel, due to his upbringing, (Daniel 1), made the decision to not defile himself by eating the food offered to the young men.  To make this known, he had to present himself to the attendant (eunech) in charge over the young guys to not eat the unacceptable food.  Rather than emphatically stomping into his attendant’s office and complain that he was refusing to eat the King’s food, he shared an alternative solution to the problem.  A major part of the issue for the attendant was if any of the young men placed in his charge looked pale and thin compared to the other youths, the King would have the attendant beheaded. 

   By respectfully offering the attendant an alternative solution of being allowed to eat a diet of vege ...