Chapter 39: The amount of food to be made available
We must always be careful, however, to avoid excessive eating which might also cause indigestion. Nothing so 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.)
"Nothing is so opposed to Christian values as overeating" -- this might be hyperbole on Benedict's part, but I've come to think not. My body must be as relaxed and alert for prayer as my mind and my heart.
Often, my desire for more suffocates the acceptance of the sufficiency of the simple fare that is before me. My desire for more tasty, delicious, sweet , salty, spicy, foods clouds over the healthy and nutritious plate that I need to eat. I am not talking about food in particular but life in general and "food" is the metaphor. I need faith to realize that what God has placed before me on the table of life is my "meal", my "journey", my "way of life". My heart can easily be overcome by distractions of the so-called better life, the more colorful plate, so I pray , for an increase in faith to accept the plate God has placed before me, as the meal that will strengthen me with patient endurance on the way to Him. Is this not the way of the mantra? Is this not the way of the meditation?
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