We were planning to go to our son Jeremy's to pick him up and help him get a futon for his apartment last night. It was after work and we hadn't had supper yet so as we were leaving Jerry called him. He asked if he'd eaten yet and he hadn't so Jerry asked if any restaurants near his apartment served "healthy food." Silence. Jerry joked, "Are you silent because you don't know if anyone serves healthy food, or because you don't know what healthy food is?" Jeremy replied, "Well, I don't know what you consider healthy food."
That makes sense. One person's healthy food might mean nothing but vegetables. However, to someone else, it might mean anything that's not fried. This could also apply to spiritual food. Just as everyone has to figure out what foods nourish their body, making them strong and healthy, so we also have to learn what we need to nourish our spirit. Can't you just see a store with aisles of spiritual food? There would be lots of brands--every religion and belief: Baptist, Catholic, Buddhist, or Islamic, as well as Wicca, Pantheist or even Atheist (which might be more suitable for a starvation or elimination diet). There would be sections in the store, but instead of produce, dairy or meat, there would be: contemplation and study; prayer and meditation; or praise, chanting and spells. There would be kiosks where you could choose self-service or serving others, grace and mercy or power and dominion. I can't even imagine all the choices. If you didn't have some idea of what you were looking for, you could really make some bad selections. It would be like going to the grocery store hungry. It's easy to bypass the fruits and vegetables and go straight for the chips and donuts. Those things that taste so good when you eat them, but loaded with empty calories and no nutritional value, they leave you hungry and unsatisfied.
I'm fortunate that I was raised on good, nourishing spiritual food. Imagine how difficult it would be for someone who has no "spiritual roots," or worse, has had a bad experience. Where would they start? Jeremy made the comment that some people on diets are obsessed with food and can't just relax and enjoy a meal. Maybe they are like the Christians who get so caught up in doing everything right that they forget Jesus is all about love and grace. It comes down to finding a balance in your physical life and in your spiritual life.
The First Place 4 Health (FP4H) group we are in is all about balance. Being mindful about what we eat, but not to the point of deprivation. We try to balance what we eat with our activity level. FP4H is also about finding balance in our spiritual lives. Putting God first, others second and ourselves third, we learn how to better nourish our bodies and our spirits. We satisfy our appetites and our hearts with healthy food, we stay active with exercise, Bible study and prayer, and we encourage each other along the way. Oh, and we don't go to the store hungry!
So, I wonder how the "never go to the store hungry" approach could apply to our spirituality. I know I crave a spiritual satisfaction at times and I look for ways to quench that thirst/hunger. There are so many ways to feed your spirituality that I wonder if there is junk section to keep away from. I leave church feeling unsatisfied on occasion and then I feel completely nourished when I do something good. Maybe it requires a concious act to become full... we can't just look at the food to feel less hungry; we have to eat it. I leave church motivated, much as looking at a menu; yet, I'm not satisfied until I do something with it.
ReplyDeleteThat's because the nourishment you receive in worship--the body and blood of Christ--should generate a hunger to go out and share his love with others. To become his broken body and poured out blood, creating in them the hunger to share in the feast that is to come.
ReplyDelete