All things are allowed but not all are profitable. All things are made by God: what He has declared to be clean is good.
Gluttony is bad. Sharing with others is good. Withholding food or drink from the poor is to do that to Christ.
I don't eat meat with the blood, more out of personal preference I suppose but I have no hesitations about willingly conforming to a "don't do that" to a do that I do not want to do.
Eat with thanksgiving.
It is better to eat stale bread in the attic than a steak in the kitchen with a cranky woman. That is what I like about the book of Proverbs - it is a feminist tract sometimes.
Eat what is set before you (Rom 14??). Don't make your brother fall because of what you eat - charity is more important. In general, the general rules of theology apply to cooking.
Love thy neighbor. Don't salt his sugar cookies, steal his tomatoes or rejoice when the squirrels eat them.
It is wrong to raise a dog on caviar because the money could have gone to much better uses - so we are responsible for our food choices.
I'd say this sums my "theology" up pretty well. That plus our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and ought to be maintained well enough.
The idea of eating blood, or cannibalism, makes me very squeamish. Both feel wrong on an internal level, though I don't think we have particular theological proscriptions. I think it's better to understand the many dimensions eating can cross, and apply right behavior in each case, as Tomyris did an excellent job of.
And when I was raising my own meat, I took great care to make sure the animals were happy, led good lives, kept them clean, and didn't allow them to stressed or frightened by slaughter.
I go to an EO Church. Fasting is part of the Church name, I think, lol. Not for theological reasons - I don't think there's any teaching from that point of view, but for reasons of asceticism, acknowledging dependence on God, keeping one's passions under control, and probably other reasons as well. In speaking to my priest, he is more concerned about a particular spiritual benefit and not fasting too rigorously nor disregarding for the wrong reasons. He's actually far less interested in what I actually eat. I think he is a wise guide, given that I am just beginning to understand it all.
Oh, MC, I am having the same dinner as you. Well, except that I didn't have cauliflower. And mine is leftovers. They had a sale on roast I've been waiting on for about 2 years lol, so it looks like I'll be having curry stew and chili soon, despite hot summer temps outside.
(And the EO is still in the Apostle's Fast, which doesn't allow meat or dairy, but until I can discover the medical reason why I can't manage with lesser protein, I have Father M's blessing - as I said, he's more concerned with other aspects of fasting.)
I will say since I started that church, I don't discuss food much online! (Since we are not supposed to concern ourselves with how another fasts or doesn't.)
