Holiness Through Eating

eat healthy

Unofficial Reverand Alex said:

Fasting is a very old, very good practice to better achieve holiness. But, at some point, we still need to eat.

Every moment of every day is an opportunity for holiness; why would the moments when we eat be any different?

The first thing I've found, when trying to find holiness at the lunch table, is gratitude. A spirit of gratitude goes a long way, and with us being so spoiled by our modern American diets, gratitude is easily forgotten, but quickly re-learned.

Another virtue to be found is humility. Eating with an attitude not of just "I'm hungry", a self-centered & flesh-serving mentality, by acknowledging the weakness of the flesh & asking God to make something holy happen from this meal, the results are varying, but always favorable.

By no means am I downplaying the merits of fasting; in fact, one benefit of fasting is the extra gratitude & humility you feel when you can finally eat again, if properly done.

Any other ideas for holiness from the dinner plate?

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In 1 Peter 1:13-16, we are told to have a holy conduct for God is holy, which is a quote from Leviticus where God was giving instructions for how to have a holy conduct, so following those instructions is about acting in accordance with the holiness of our God, such as with Leviticus 11:44-45 in regard to refraining from eating unclean animals.

I once listened to something which talked about the details of eating an apple - that God designed that tree to grow and produce fruit, that He sent the rain to water it, that it drew up nutrients from the soil and transformed them into nutrients in a form we could assimilate - I'm not doing a good job, but the person I listened to went into great detail and I began to appreciate not only the thing I sometimes think of when I eat - which include the farmers, getting the food transported, the money God provides a way to earn to buy it - or better yet when we had a farm and I well knew how rain was necessary, protection from predators and disease, how insects could wipe out supply and many their things - but this person went into matters of creation of the planet and how things work on a molecular level, and I found that a pretty amazing way to meditate on how we can be grateful in that degree for the food we eat.

And I agree that fasting, breaking the fasts, and the joyous feasts of the Church, especially if we have given attention to the poor during the fast, can raise our level of appreciation for the many benefits we receive from God.

What a great reminder post. Thank you!