Do you have an unhealthy love affair with food? Do you spend inordinate amounts of time dwelling on what you’re going to eat? Are you preoccupied with mealtime, savoring your next snack, planning what you’re going to order at the restaurant tonight?
The definition of lust is to have a very strong desire to obtain something, usually something physical like sex, money or attention. But an inordinate craving for food could fall into this classification too.
In the realm of character building, lust is not a healthy quality. It’s a blind pursuit of the selfish mind that can warp outlook, lead to poor judgment and cause devastating harm to oneself and others, all in the blind belief that if one can only get what one wants, they will be happy.
But are they ever happy? Not really. There is never permanent satisfaction from sensual over-indulgence. Its allures are illusion.
And thus it is with food. Food is not the source of genuine happiness and contentment. These are spiritual gifts. They come from God, and are found in Spirit.
The person lusting after food in the belief that happiness lies ahead in the next bite he sticks in his mouth is living an illusion, and the consequences are unhealthy.
The healthier way is to seek out spiritual food—the inspiration of Truth and Love. A growing understanding of God uplifts thought, inspires outlook, and generates lasting joy. It keeps mind and body fit without physical thought-taking.
Interesting blog. Understand your point about the role of food. I think just eating to get “fueled” is missing out on one of the “sparkles” of the human experience. Beautiful food is a gift from God and brings families and friends together in fellowship and gratitude (think of Thanksgiving dinner!). But you bring up an interesting point: lusting for food is a whole different ballgame.
Great blog Evan! You answered some questions that have been bothering me about all these diet fads such as Paleo, etcetera. Not that there’s anything wrong with healthy natural eating but friends I know that use these plans (and want me to) obsess over it.
I like your spiritual approach and will use it instead. I have a great feeling all false appetites will start falling away.
Thanks Evan!
Timely thinking. Recently I have been that wonderer, when more time should engaging spiritual things instead of food things, right on tract Evan, Thank You!
It’s about slavery, isn’t it? Expand any of the worldly idols waaay out….food, sex, the love of money, fashion, overuse/misuse of the internet, personal sense ad infinitum… and the results of any and all of these are…well, we can easily project the
results…
“Error found out is two-thirds destroyed, and the last third pierces itself,…”
as Mrs. Eddy informs us in her Miscellaneous Writings, pg. 355.
Good one, Evan. Thank you!
(Food for thought!!)
Seeking spiritual food instead…great tip!
To eat food is a joy. To see a good movie on TV or Theatre is a joy. To read a good novel is a joy. To hear good music or see a good show is a joy. That’s how I see it, also better yet, to learn of my relationship to God is a better joy yet.
One time I found myself with a craving for chocolate so strong that I was going through every drawer and cupboard in the kitchen looking for a single chocolate chip when i suddenly realized that this was like a smoker out of cigarettes looking in the ashtray for a smokable cigarette butt. That was the end of my chocolate cravings! It has been many years since. I can still eat chocolate but i never crave it nor over indulge.
Well you got me today. I found a new bakery that made perfect croissants and HAD to have one. It looked and smelled delicious. The first flaky bite was bliss. As I was eating the rest of it, however, I quickly realized I didn’t want it, didn’t need it and should have left it right where it was – in the bakery. It was a quick lesson in cratering to temptation. Thanks for today’s blog.
I know that I have been sabotaged by food by following certain diets. When they work and they make you happy it is hard to stop. I like to look at food creatively . I love to cook and
I love to read cooking magazines and watch cooking shows. I spend a good deal of time enjoying this. Somehow I don’t feel it is wrong . If something doesn’t taste good I won’t
eat it and waste the calories. My interest with food is healthy . I consider it more like a hobby or talent. But I shall try to be more alert to how I think about it. Whenever I sit down to a festive holiday dinner I’ll eat and everyone hears “MMMMMMM”. We all giggle.
Food should be fun!
I used to fall into a blind grazing mode. The first few bites of something, a sub or a pizza, taste great. Then the fourth chomp doesn’t really do anything for me. And even less so with the fifth. But I tended to fall into a blind grazing mode where I kept piling it in, somehow feeling that I ‘have’ to finish it – the footlong sub or half of a pizza.
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Moral of the story: PORTION CONTROL! If I get a footlong sub that’s cut in half, I cut one of the halves in half, put that on a plate, and put the other three-fourths in the frig. Same with pizza cut into eight slices. I put a slice on a plate and put the other seven in the frig beore I start chowing down. So I end up eating the one-fourth footlong or the one slice of pizza, and I’m happy with just that. Yeah I know there’s nothing really prayerful or spiritual about that, but through prayer I did get the feeling, “Try putting just a fourth of that sub on a plate and see what happens…”
Lust for food has been a battle most of my life; I hate it and yet I give into it. It’s like being an addict, you know it harms your life and has negative consequences, yet you plunge ahead and indulge.
Lust for food has been a battle most of my life; I hate it and yet I give into it. It’s like being an addict, you know it harms your life and has negative consequences, yet you plunge ahead and indulge.