Do you spend a lot of time thinking about food? Not just at meal-time, but between meals, wondering what you’re going to eat in a few hours, making preparations, running to the store, going over the menu, and mentally salivating at the thought of eating what you have planned?
If you have dominion over the body, over appetite, over what you eat, and are fear-free about food, then fine. You have no issues. But if you’re struggling with too much weight, afraid of what you eat, or spending too much time thinking about food when you should be thinking about other more important issues in your life, then there is room for improvement. And it may help to get more focused on consuming spiritual food than material.
Spiritual food is truth and love coming from God. It comes in the form of thoughts, ideas, inspiration, intuitions and inklings that land in thought and remain to be discerned, understood and acted upon. They flow continually to you without fail, and when you’re listening and searching for them, you’ll find them.
Now if you spend all your time thinking about material food, your mental tuner is not dialed into receiving the spiritual food God is sending your way. Spirit and matter are opposites, like black and white. To take in spiritual food, attention needs to be focused in a spiritual direction, toward Spirit. If your mind is filled with images of doughnuts, chips, lattes, carrots, salads and protein shakes, it’s not filled with images of truth and love. There is a direct trade-off to be aware of. Through prayer, sincere desire and honest effort to be more spiritually minded, you can move your balance of attention from matter to Spirit, and be more successful in demonstrating dominion over food. It’s the healing truths of God that truly satisfy.
Humans have to eat. There is no argument there. But consuming food should be a generally simple affair. If you’re a chef, a mother caring for a large family, or in the business of food preparation, you might be thinking about food all day long, but it can be subservient to your greater goal of cultivating spiritual mindedness, feeling close to God and expressing truth and love in everything you do. What you do spiritually should always trump what you do physically.
Jesus said, “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat” Mathew 5:6, The Message.
Satisfy your spiritual appetite first! What you consume from God will satisfy you the most and make you the happiest and healthiest person possible. It will also give you dominion over meal time and the body.
Good one Evan….And by the way I am very grateful to you and your loving efforts and appreciate your clear comments to some of my posts….
This mornings message is coincidental to a few discussions I have had with church members recently…..Specifically my having expressed that since my entry into Christian Science 11 months ago I have noticed my relationship to food has changed. This has happened without conscious effort, rather I have suddenly realized I am not thinking about food and now go for long periods in-between meals and when I do eat, the meals have become simple, organic, healthy and most of all a joy to prepare. Along with this I now enjoy preparing food for others, especially the Elders in my community I care for. Your writing this morning is precisely the reason why…namely I am spending the vast majority of my time, irregardless of what activity I’m engaged in, feasting on the banquet of Divine thoughts and ideas from Christian Science material and most importantly, for me, from streams of information flowing into my consciousness….This has given new meaning to the old adage “Food for Thought”……Anyway without trying I am now 30 lbs lighter now without any effort except for the effort of study, prayer and contemplation…
Evan did an emil notice get sent this morning?…I didn’t receive one as usual
Thanks, Evan! And I know, from reading your Testimony and hearing your Lecture, that you have proved in your own experience exactly what you are talking about here! Health Food, Organic Food, Supplements, Vitamins, and on and on anonymous…..seem to have really taken a hold of peoples’ thought on our Planet these days. Spirituality and Spiritual Food seem to have taken a “back seat” for many! Am so grateful I was raised in a C.S. Family where I was taught that Food has no real power over you, unless you choose to give it that power in your thought. (See Science and Health). And of course, Jesus, spoke of how, “..the flesh profiteth nothing.” (See The Holy Bible). I especially love your line in today’s Blog: “What you do spiritually should always trump what you do physically.” Some deep meaning there……..
A practitioner said to me that we also need to be careful that we are not FEARFUL of certain foods. Sometimes we may be in a situation when we cannot avoid eating something we don’t like (but we still eat it so not to offend maybe?) or maybe something we consider to be very unhealthy so we accept it from that other person with love and appreciation , knowing that Love protects …that our spiritual food is what feeds us ..the material does not have to have the power we give it in thought.
Also I heard an online lecture where a guy drank acidic poison thinking it was orange juice but with the prac’s help to calm his fear , there were absolutely no after effects. this could go on as it’s a big subject but I think my prac was right pointing out that we must not fear …maybe that was also what Jesus meant as they were very obsessed about eating “unclean” foods in those days. He allowed his disciples to eat food that was for the temple I think but defended himself saying God doesn’t want sacrifices.
P.S. I didn’t get an SpiritView email in my inbox this morning either, so I just went to the Website and found it.
For some reason, it didn’t go out as scheduled. I just sent it, so hopefully will show up soon.
Thank God. Food issues coming along with celebrating Thanksgiving. Found a Martha example, to Thank God for EVERYTHING first. Put your thought God-ward FIRST. Pour on the spiritual food, give thanks, then eat.
Thank you, Evan. This is very clear and encouraging.
What a good reminder this is and so applicable at this season of festivities. Food for thought is always the best!
A truly delicious post today Evan. Thanks!
Okay, a little levity here. I had just sat down to order two pecan pies for Thanksgiving from our favorite place in Houston that delivers to us here in another state. I stopped to read your blog. I was truly thinking of those pies! I love beautiful food. I think it’s a gift from God. And our best family times have been around the table. But it wasn’t the food. It was the sharing and expressing of love by the maker of the meal and the takers of the meal! Thank you for putting this in proper spiritual perspective. Now, back to ordering my pies! 🙂
I am a bit puzzled by some comments on food as having no power over us, which I understand…My dilemma is are alcohol or tobacco the same..if so why this requirement for membership and secondly, if MBE were alive today would she be inclined to have some of the foods from todays ‘modern diet” also be restricted as a requirement for membership?
As you all know since her time food has changed with the advent of corporate agri-business using antibiotics and with highly refined processed foods, a lot of which are mainly chemicals disguised as food and with the known science that these kinds of foods are devastating to our bodies and therefore may interfere with clear states of awareness desired for our work.
Even though we acknowledge absolute Truth regarding food, it seems respect for our body by caring for it is essential all the while knowing the illusion of matter and flesh…
Help is welcomed …Thank you all
Hi Maximo,
You are right, this is a BIG topic! Much more than I can address here. Times are much different concerning food today than in Jesus’ time. In Jesus’ time, food choices were small. Today, there are 40,000 choices when you walk into a grocery store. So, more than “Take no thought,” is required to fully understand all the issues involved. Maybe another blog later on that…
But there is a difference between alcohol and tobacco and regular food. They are known to be addictive. To succeed in CS, one needs to have dominion over their thought, and when one consumes alcohol, one is “consuming” a belief that a substance named alcohol can control their thinking and alter it. I understand that alcohol has different effects on different people and in different degrees. But as a rule, alcohol is well known to alter people’s thinking, and is viewed that way by the general public. Its mind yielding to matter.
I also understand that some other drinks, like coke and coffee have similar effects on people. And yes, that is just as bad, because that person is yielding control of their mind to a matter-substance, which is loss of dominion. And if one is willing to yield dominion to a drink, what about a suggestion of disease, a cold, a flu,…and you see where I’m going….
So, dominion is the big issue. Are you exercising dominion in your life, or yielding to matter and letting it become a god, to a degree, and maybe a ruthless one eventually. One has to be honest.
Judge not my neighbor, is my rule. But for me, the more dominion I can exercise over what I consume, the healthier and happier I stay. So I stay away from alcohol and tobacco. I have enough weaknesses to overcome without adding more. 🙂
Evan this has helped so much…Thank you
Use or ingesting anything that would alter clear thinking should be considered in our daily practise . Overindulging in anything is not scientifically sound.
Jesus told us to not worry over what to eat, drink, or cloth ourselves. God will take care of our needs. God will take away false appetite as his/her law is in control and we hold to the truth of our true being.
So doesn’t it follow that Mary Baker Eddy would encourage
wisdom when it comes to our needs as ee live this dream of being human.
Maximo,
Thank you for your comments and questions. I await answers and more input on this subject from Evan. Great blog.
Another big subject! A Good Opportunity to further address the seeming influence of our having to “Take thought” about each morsel that we eat (according to modern trends of thought, aggressive ads, etc): Is this food organic, pesticide-free, genetically-modified, pro-biotic, sugar-free, caffeine-free? …ad infinititum and confusing!
(Mrs.Eddy used only Salt to season her probably very simple New England meals!)
Students of Christian Science can use this teaching to Get Clear about all this: “There is no… intelligence in matter.” Our demonstration of this spiritual fact is individual, of course… no condemnation of others’ present grasp of this stunning truth!
I know what I need to do to break totally free of the belief that matter has power to make laws for me. And I know it takes work! And I am very grateful for all the help I can get, such as this Blog and Commenters.
Thanks, all!
I agree very much with what you say Evan and love reading the comments too. Here is another perspective 🙂 I am an artist who has always prayed before painting knowing ideas are infinite and bring something good to my buyers and to me in producing them, and absolutely acknowledge that all good and right ideas are from God and certainly anything I do or paint is creation reflected from God..actually the outcome of God’s being expressed.
However, when I had my 2 babies I was shocked and dismayed to find that my life was now filled with (not only my 3 part time jobs) but washing and preparing food! The food planning and cooking and cleaning up after filled my life! I didn’t eat a lot to compensate, but I did decide that, as a mother, (which was also an expression of Gods’ being ) cooking and cleaning could also be done creatively! It’s amazing how you can do 3 things at once (expressing God’s orderliness) .
I quickly came to love cooking and making meals from many different cultures and 30 years later I now still enjoy it very much . I do think about food but as one more talent God has given me with which to express creativity!
I love and follow that thought as an artist. All talent, direction, creativity coming from the expression of God with us. Thanks Diane
Thanks, Evan. This is a HUGE topic that I have been giving a lot of thought to. I don’t quite know how to express it, but there is universal illusion that we seem to be experiencing together and in this “dream” the food the American people are being given is nutritionally defiant, highly addictive AND contributing to the pandemic of diabetes, obesity, heart disease and cancer. CSists are a very small percentage of the populace and we are so blessed to know what we know. However, most of my fellow Americans do not have this wonderful teaching and are suffering greatly. I just heard today that American’s are living shorter and dying longer. There are independent peer reviewed studies that show that food is a very significant factor in these diseases. The food studied was the highly processed, GMO’s foods produced by big agribusiness. I do not want to support what I perceive to be graft, greed and corruption. So about 2 years ago I stopped buying any non organic food and try to buy from local farmers when possible. Why? Because I want to support Love and I see that they are doing what they do out of Love, not greed. Before I found Christian Science I went to Religious Science and had a minister who would say, “Treat (pray) and move your feet.” In other words, pray, listen and then take action. There is some kind of coincidence between the Divine and the human which I do not fully understand, so I pray, listen as best I can, and do the best I can to make things better. I do wish that the CS churches I have attended would have been and be more community minded. My heart goes out to the people who are getting fatter and fatter; sicker and sicker. Praying for a populace who doesn’t know they are being prayed for does not seem to be enough for me. Any other ideas you have on this, Evan, would be appreciated. Oh, bTW, studies have shown sugar to be 8 times more addictive than cocaine and also as mind altering as a glass of wine or such. I choose not to support that either.
Part, if not a large part, of the need is for people to understand their God-given dominion to say NO when appropriate. We are not mindless beings, helpless in the face of food. We reflect an intelligent thinking Mind that can make good choices and produce positive outcomes. But even more, to also learn that genuine contentment and satisfaction don’t come from what one puts in their mouth. It comes spiritually, and through prayer, humility, listening and being honest about what one is hearing from the voice of wisdom. And then acting on it, as you mention. God should be our God, not food!
This has been so helpful…definitely one to print. Thanks Evan and everyone.
I find entertaining has lost a lot of its joy.too many people can’t eat this or only eat that. I don’t want to be a slave to all these restrictions. My daughter is so strict about everything she eats I find her ridiculous. I don’t want to invite her to dinner anymore. When I pet sit at her house I bring all my own food. I don’t want anything she has to eat in her home. I like keeping everything in moderation. I love to cook and I think that I am a creative cook. I read food magazines and enjoy certain TV shows that are cooking shows. I like to learn new recipes and like to keep food delicious,creative, fun.
Wow, so many great ideas. I have a coincidental, different slant to this topic. As my computer was warming up – if that’s what they do – I wrote out a check for the annual Thanksgiving appeal at a nearby food bank. After reading this post and comments, I realized that I also need to pray to know that those who are in need are receiving this spiritual food that you all are referencing. This is an important contribution for me to make.
Thanks to all!
Lots of great ideas to ponder about food. I love what Evan says about it being an issue of dominion. We are not mindless beings. We can make mindful choices about what we eat and how much we eat and why we are eating. It’s also important to remember than human opinion about food changes constantly. Butter good, butter bad. Eggs bad, eggs good. Etc. Good to stay away from health theories about food and rejoice in God’s provision for us. I love Mrs. Eddy’s very stunning comment:”Food does not affect the absolute Life of man.” (Science and Health) Amen to that! Why? Because God is the absolute Life of man.