There are so many issues that surround the consumption of food that there is rarely a short, simple, easy answer that resolves all the fears and concerns people have about their eating habits. There are short absolute truths, which when adequately understood, can resolve those fears quickly. But gaining sufficient understanding of those brief ringer truths often involves thinking through several issues first to clear the mental view enough to make the final and full demonstration of total dominion over food.
We’ve been thinking together about some of those issues on this blog.
One belief that I’ve had to think a lot about over the years is the proposition that you should eat whatever is on your plate. This admonition has deep roots from times past when food was scarce, hard to come by and treated as a limited resource. It is only fair to mention that in many parts of the world today this is still the case, even in America.
I have senior friends who grew up in the Depression and suffered from hunger because they had no food. The effects of that searing experience have not always been easy to shake later even when food was easy to come by. Some virtuous qualities grew out of the austerity such as learning to not let anything go to waste and finding a way to use leftovers creatively. But attitudes, such as “Eat everything on your plate,” which was obviously the wise and grateful thing to do at the time, have also held on.
I grew up hearing “Eat everything on your plate.” My parents knew what the Depression was like and did not forget its lessons.
But I’ve also seen great harm from blindly following the “Eat everything on your plate,” instruction.
What if there is too much food on your plate? Are you required to eat it anyway, stuffing yourself beyond reason?
Oversized proportions are frequently served in restaurants. You order, the chef prepares your order accordingly to management policy, a waitress serves the order, and a plate is put before you.
To listen to mom’s voice in the background that counseled through your growing up years, “Eat everything on your plate,” is to feel obligated to eat it all, or guilty if you don’t.
I broke free from this constrictive mind-grip when I quit listening to those voices and started reasoning my decisions out spiritually.
I grew to love Jesus’ statement, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” This guidance told me that it wasn’t food that sustained me, gave me life and kept me healthy and strong. It was the word of God, or truth, that supported me.
I may not fully understand this truth to demonstrate it totally. I still eat food in my belief that I need it to live. But nonetheless, Jesus did demonstrate it fully and left us his example to learn from. Step by step, or perhaps, bite by bite, it is okay to prove truth in degrees…
To “take in” the word of God required spiritual mindedness, I decided, and listening to the voice of Truth, and growth in spiritual understanding.
When I sat down for a meal and concentrated on thinking about spiritual truth rather than what was on my plate, I found I ate a lot less. I wasn’t as hungry as before. And my desire for garbage food significantly diminished. I learned from experience that consuming truth in thought, reasoning with it, loving it, and growing with it was far more desirable than any food I put into my mouth.
On the other hand, though, when I neglected to pray during a meal and got all consumed into eating bite after bite, I went into a semi-mesmerized state of thought, ate far more than I needed too, even to the point of stuffing myself.
I began to see a direct trade-off from concentrating on the intake of material food versus concentrating on the intake of spiritual truth. And the latter was far more desirable in effect on my thought and body.
So, when wrestling with, “Eat everything on your plate,” I realized that the issue was not how much food I ate , but how much spiritual truth I thought. When thought was balanced with God, the amount of food I ate was balanced with the right amount of food appropriate to eat.
“Eat everything on your plate,” is a human instruction, a mortal opinion, often based on fear and not necessarily on divinely inspired ideals, at least in circumstances where lack of food is not an issue. They were words of wisdom that had served their purpose and were ripe for replacement in a society where often way too much food was placed on a person’s plate.
Since I grew up in a family where many people were way overweight, I never asked my children to clean their plate. I felt the kindest thing I could do for them was to see that it wasn’t necessary to eat everything. Most of my friends and I split meals in restaurants where portions are large. But the best thing we can do, as you said, is to know that God is in control and that food has no power.
When at a restaurant, I take home the left-overs, or when traveling, we split one meal often so there is no waste.
But when one has a choice to take portions, I always advice, take a tiny bit, then go back for more.
So clean your plate, but responsibly.
Sounds right on the mark Evan. I grew up in a culture, other than Science, where saying grace was automatic. Leaving that culture, and even after coming to Science, don’t find that practice very common. But, your recent introduction of this topic brought it quickly back to mind, and elevated the practice for me, as not just a routine “thank you Lord for this food”, but expressing thanks for all the evidence of good, abundance, caring, loving, nurturing in our lives, before eating, before walking, driving, washing the car, working, etc. Then our thought is indeed dwelling in Spirit, and our actions (responsible eating) follow, obediently and harmoniously (“All that God imparts moves in accord with Him, reflecting goodness and power.”) Power to control appetite, for example. So endeavoring to get back to saying grace.
Thanks for this helpful discussion.
Sancy
Yes, I grew up with the ‘clean your plate’ rule, too. I have learned to take smaller portions and even then when I can’t comfortably finish it, I have given myself permission to leave it. Better for a little to go to waste than to waist! At restaurants, I ask for the to-go box before I eat–and that has worked well for me. But the best, is like you said, to be filled with gratitude and spiritual truths before coming to the table.
It really does help keep everything in perspective.
I think that behind this comment of eat everything on your plate is a belief of lack and perhaps ingratitude. The guilt over leaving stuff on it when others are less fortunate or there might not be more tomorrow or the monetary considerations of wasting food. How many of us eat everything on our plates because of the guilt associated with these claims?
Evan, your thoughts?
To above,
Oh yes, how many times have we heard the infamous, “Now remember the starving children in Africa!” I think it would be better to simply not take so much to begin with and send the saved money to groups that are feeding the hungry in Africa–if that’s an honest desire.
My mom pulled the “Think of the kids in China” on me one time.
I pushed my plate towards her and said, “Send ’em this”.
I still had to eat it. . .
Jim
It’s interesting how perceptions differ. I see “clean your plate” as my parents attempt to teach me gratitude for abundance — not ingratitude. It wasn’t my parents adage that became my problem anyway. it was looking to food for satisfaction or adventure or creativity and trying to fill some kind of emptiness as I grew older and took control of my own ideas about food that became the problem.
The saying that has made more sense to me is “it’s not what you are eating but what’s eating you” that is the problem. Eating for solace or hiding behind weight because you don’t have a satisfying life is a very common problem for many — but one we don’t always like to admit.
And, obesity hides more nasty pain than you can imagine if that’s never been your challenge. This world is not forgiving towards it and people are very open about saying and doing cruel and judgmental things they would never consider expressing towards someone working out a different kind of challenge. Those kind of things have made me give up the battle more than once in the past.
In fact, now that I think about it. Forgiveness in my own thinking about myself and others I see struggling with it and loving the fit controlled idea God put there first may be the most important thing I do….
All the comments have come from the US. Historically, fat was beautiful. See the women in traditional painting. Thin became the model after the advent of photography, which makes one appear fatter than usual. In the Pacific Islands, the fatter the better, and the fattest of all was the king, who did no exercise, and eventually needed two attendants to assist in walking. It is hot and humid in the South Pacific. and according th Lao Tze “Quiet beats heat” and “activity beats cold” The main reasons people want to lose weight, it seems to me, are the doctor told them to, advertising told them to.or fashion says you look smarter, ie. your garments drape better if you are very thin.
This discussion has given me much freedom from food pressure. Eating something only when hungry and then serving small portions. (I think of airline food here, we manage to live to the next meal after trying to eat their miniscule portions.)
I appreciate the comment about forgiveness when I think about myself-and others I see struggling-and loving instead the fit controlled idea of God. I’ll add that to my list today.
Also, Evan, thank you for the thought of allowing God to do more of the parenting. To really understand that we are all under the influence of the one Mind.
Carolyn
I always thought of it as abundance too. There’s no need to take too much; there will be more where that came from.
I really did (and do) think of the starving children in Africa or those in China or elsewhere who have faced not having enough food.
It is sometimes an issue for children adopted from foreign countries who need to learn that they can trust that food will be there.
Amen to the above.
I’ve worked for many years with deprived kids who don’t eat a meal between free lunch on friday and free breakfast on monday morning and who sleep in cars or cardboard boxes.
They don’t ever trust there to be enough there and rarely know what their next meal will be much less care about it’s fiber content or whether it is healthy– and this is in the good old USA not a third world country.
Amazingly they seem to worry about food a lot less than many of us who have an overabundance of it.
I find that intriguing and fascinating.