In 1982, the late Dr. David I. Naglee, beloved professor of religion at LaGrange College for nearly three decades and one of my mentors, published a funny little collection of essays titled “In Praise of More Folly.” He dedicated it to Erasmus, of course, who penned the original, “In Praise of Folly,” in 1509. Whoopee!

I was graduating from high school when Dr. Naglee was slicing the through the cardboard of his first editions, but 28 years later, his book has a place near my bathroom for days when I need a really good laugh.

My favorite, an essay known demurely as “The Theologian,” is a satire of a professor trying to publish a quality, religious manuscript only to be rejected by the publishers who prefer sillier, more sensational titles, such as “God Is Sick,” or “The Gay Apostles” and “Why I Doubt.” Determined to try again, the professor fires off a new manuscript under the eye-catcher, “God Is Fat,” which seeks to prove why God must be fat, such as God’s repeated predilection for fatted calves, among other hilarious details.

The work gloriously culminates into the development of “Globular Theology” and ends with the assertion that because God is fat and human beings are made in God’s image, we’re supposed to be fat, too. “Up with fat people!” the professor exclaims in the dedication of the new book that is destined to be rejected because, alas, ha ha, the publisher now desires more serious themes.

Well here’s a serious theme: I don’t know if God is fat, but I know I’m fat and I know plenty of other people are, too.

Not a week - no, not a day - completes a turn without a reputable news organization running a health story on morbid obesity while the disreputable ones flutter advertisements on how to lose 60 pounds of belly fat in two weeks with the Acai berry.

Meanwhile, for every furrowed brow of the file-waving physician, the drive-through line at McDonald’s has become impossible with those caramel frappes on the menu and the plus-size section is no longer a beastly corner of fashion mortification. Our chairs are wider, hospital gowns and blood-pressure cuffs have been redesigned to accommodate us and, if that weren’t enough, we have maudlin reality shows like “The Biggest Loser” to keep us churned up but remember this: the diet industry depends upon our failures.

Not long ago, the stigma on the obese was brutal. Obese individuals were lazy, undisciplined and grossly self-indulgent because they were, clearly, in the defective minority. Many of these attitudes remain, but as more of us slip into a sphere that exceeds 200 pounds, some of that has softened.

We’re told our issues are genetic. I don’t doubt the science, but when I look at pictures of our gaunt, unsmiling ancestors, I know there’s more to this than genes. Poor food choices, stress management and declining levels of activity also play their part.

The reasons I gained weight are clear. Seventeen years ago I married and I quit smoking. Smoking calmed me down and when I stopped, I discovered nibbling whatever was edible, particularly when I was stressed, to be a viable substitute. I was dismayed to gain 60 pounds in six months and have gained it, lost it and gained it back more times than Garth Brooks has retired.

When I see someone who is obese, I find that besides seeing someone who’s probably using food to take life’s edge off, as it were, I am also seeing a person who might be spending a great deal of time sacrificing herself for the happiness of other people and extending very little of that love and kindness to, as the late Michael Jackson would crow, “the man in the mirror.”

It’s easy to assault ourselves with “Tomorrow, I’ll join a gym because I’m disgusting,” but much harder to go for a healthy stroll because it feels good and we like looking at the crape myrtles when they’re in bloom. If we, as a society, are determined to get our weight problems under control, we’re going to have to find a method besides shame, because the worst of this mental pestilence is coming from inside of ourselves.

Today I will make good food choices. I will not eat when I’m not hungry. I will walk and enjoy the sunshine. I will drink plenty of water, take a multivitamin, relax with a good book, laugh abundantly and think kind thoughts about myself in spite of my physical imperfections. Tonight I will rest well and do the same thing tomorrow. Why? Because I’m worth this type of daily kindness, and so, my friend, are you.