I love to eat. Marcia and I are mindful of maintaining a healthy diet (as long as it includes some chocolate!). Marcia prefers to make most meals from scratch so we don’t eat much processed food. We also don’t consume much ‘organic’ foods except what we grow. We just like the taste and nutrition of natural foods. Considering the numerous recalls of tainted food, the growing prevalence of GMOs, and the temptation of ‘super’ foods it would be easy to become over zealous about what we consume. We try not to be fanatic about it because we know:
It’s easy to be consumed by what we consume!
Dr. Steven Bratman shares a time when all he could think about was what he ate, always searching for special foods to fulfill his ‘perfect’ diet. He observes that “healthy eating can (lead people to be) at risk of a dangerous obsession with eating ‘proper’ food.” He says he found himself “seduced by righteous eating.”
Isn’t that a danger we all face, and not only with the food we eat but with anything we exaggerate to a higher focus than what it should have in our lives?! It could be the coffee we drink, the clothes we wear, the obsession with beauty and youth, even our consuming hobbies.
Diet, fitness, beauty have become ‘gods’ in our culture and we’re tempted to make our bodies their temple of worship. I wonder, are we more willing to cleanse our bodies of physical toxins than we are to cleanse our soul of toxic thoughts and habits? We cross a blurred line when eating healthy foods leads us to disproportionate stress and consumes our whole life. It not only consumes us but negatively impacts our relationships with our family and friends. Ultimately what we focus on affects our mental and spiritual health. We could say the same thing of the blurred line between healthy exercise and obsession with the god of fitness, the addictive hobby, the maddening compulsion to find a cure for everything that ails us.
In his book Health Food Junkies Dr. Bratman shares a quiz to help identify if even healthy eating has led to an eating disorder. I invite you to join me in reflecting on whatever consumes our minds and activities:
How much time do I spend worrying about my (fill in the blank) activity?
Do I feel guilty when I don’t focus on this?
How many hours a day do I spend thinking about it?
Do I find myself planning for tomorrow’s activity today?
Do I consider my activity a ‘virtuous‘ endeavor?
How does it affect the quality of my relationship with others?
Am I becoming more strict with my ‘rules‘?
What other ‘good things’ am I willing to sacrifice for this?
Does engaging in my activity elevate my self-esteem? Do I tend to look down on others who don’t?
Does my activity isolate me socially?
Does it feed my need for being ‘in control‘?
Does it drain my time, money, and energy for better things?
The parable of the talents illustrates that God cares about how we invest our time, money, and energies. Not every permissible thing is beneficial. All throughout scripture He warns us to focus on what lasts and what matters most. It’s not bad to be zealous about life. Just be careful that what you consume doesn’t end up consuming you.
“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” – Romans 12:10-11
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