Chapter 39: The amount of food to be made available
Nothing is so opposed to Christian values as overeating, as we can see from the words of our Lord: take care that your hearts are not weighed down by overeating. (From para. 2 of Ch. 39 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
These are strong words against overeating -- an indulgence all too easy to do in an affluent and fast-paced culture. But I hear St. Benedict in these words affirming the staunchly incarnational -- embodied -- nature of prayer and service. My body must be part of the integrated whole of selfless attention, and my body must be fit for selfless service.
“Some devils can only be cast out by prayer and fasting”, Jesus pointed out. That includes the fatal devil of overeating, that is, food addiction, as some moderns call this root of today’s obesity epidemic. Our consumer society tells me, always, that I need, must have more of everything. It promotes acquisitiveness as it kills me. Meditation and the mantra restore my life as they remind me that, just as I am in your eyes, Abba, I am enough, I have enough, I do enough.
ReplyDeleteThe quotation from Luke that Benedict uses are Christ's words to his apostles urging them to be "vigilant and pray" . Overindulgence in any form, especially food, makes for drowsiness and therefore meditation and prayer are deeply affected. It is not fasting that is very difficult but it is declining that second helping, that superfluous more, that the body and its senses and appetites can't seem to do without. Borrowing words from John the Baptist in John 3:30, I must decrease and he must increase. Very simply, when I pay more attention to my body's wants, I push my Christ-consciousness into the peripheries.
ReplyDeleteI think I have no problem with overeating but I have a big problem with 'overdoing.'. And I guess this is an area where God through meditation invites me to overcome.
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