Getting a handle on what we eat - Part 2 of 3 - Michelle Boccanfuso Nanouche, CSB Christian Science Practitioner & Teacher

3/5/2012

Getting a handle on what we eat - Part 2 of 3

Things really took off in the comments on Part 1 of the series, "Getting a handle on what we eat", over the weekend. The post delved into some common food concerns and the healing response of seeking harmony and balance by engaging with God's goodness and our spirituality at mealtime.

Sue said, "I must confess to not having noticed the extent to which Mrs Eddy deals with this [food issues]." Kathleen highlighted, "I love what you wrote here: 'I think Jesus begs the question, “Are you willing to stay awake to spiritual identification long enough to carry it into your daily routine?'" Tamara asked, "What does it mean enjoying something in a spiritual perspective?" This opened the discussion wide to all sorts of inspiration from Kim :" I love the idea of harmony and balance in eating" - and from Béatrice: "I think I got it! It's about 'seeking first the kingdom of God'!! :-)"

That just gives you a tiny taste. Check out the original post to see more. Thank you to everyone who wrote in and helped take the subject deeper. Today's post considers what constitutes a healthy relationship with food and offers practical tips.

On food, Jesus counseled, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

In the Glossary of Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy gives three definitions for KINGDOM OF HEAVEN that shed some light on the kingdom of God that Jesus was referring to. I discussed the first in Part 1.

The 2nd definition is “the realm of unerring, eternal and omnipotent Mind.” As the expression of unerring Mind, we do not need to punish ourselves to repair what we perceive to be mistakes made in the past relating to food. We can have a healthy relationship with food right now.

Seeking the kingdom of heaven, the realm of unerring Mind, right now, we can stop obsessing over mistakes and start expressing a natural alertness to what is good.

Stay conscious to what you are eating and why. Mindlessness while eating, unconscious gnawing, is sensualism indulged. Lack of interest in eating or punishing diet rituals indicate a lack of awareness and appreciation for the opportunity to express spirituality at the dinner table.

In all cases, gratitude can keep us alert to what we are doing with food, and why.

Say grace. That is, pray before and during your meal. Do it, audibly, silently, whatever works for you.
Thank the cook. Ever notice how good things taste when someone else prepares them? Its not the food. It is the gratitude! Even if you are the preparer of your own food, thank the cook.
Engage in conscious gratitude with each bite. Mary Baker Eddy once said, "[I]t is God that feedeth the hungry heart, that giveth grace for grace..." (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 322)

Healthy eating is not just about increasing or reducing intake or changing desires. It doesn't involve finding and sticking to the right formula for your diet. As in all human activities, healthy eating subserves the interests of spirituality and the expression of "unerring, eternal and omnipotent Mind." When spirituality and gratitude take the lead at the dinner table, behavioral adjustments - if needed - naturally occur. To this end, we can meet the challenge to stay conscious of God's goodness as we eat.

Are you critical of yourself? Are you critical of what you are eating? Do you ignore yourself and your surroundings? Are you sleeping through your meal? Try saying thank you. Gratitude keeps you conscious.

The Psalmist said, "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the
hungry soul with goodness. "(107:8,9)

We deal with this subject of food at least 3 times a day, everyday, if not more.So lets not make our relationship with food a curse. It shouldn't be allowed to distract us from our real job of reflecting and experiencing the kingdom of heaven - the unerring, eternal and omnipotent Mind that is God!

Check out the interesting discussion below and then go to Part 3 of the series.

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Amy Duncan

3/5/2012 06:49:24 am

"Stay conscious to what you are eating and why." To this "why" I might add "and when." So many people (I used to do this, and still have to catch myself every now and then) eat when they're not hungry (which is "why," too!). They eat because they're celebrating, sad, bored, angry, tired, or to entertain themselves, to keep themselves company while they watch TV, etc., etc.
Another thing I've noticed is that people believe they need to cut certain foods out of their diet altogether because they're "fattening" or bad in some other way. Balance is a spiritual quality and I think we need to find our own sense of balance in our eating habits, but to stop eating some particular food (let's say, chocolate or potato chips) is just a form of idolatry...we're just making that particular food into a little god. Thanks, Michelle, this is such an important topic!

Michelle Nanouche link

3/5/2012 08:04:28 am

Good point, Amy! It's all part of mindfulness to know what and why you are doing and when you are doing it.

And as you say, motives are important when it comes to food decisions and it is never helpful to label a food as "bad" when it is the thought, the belief or underlying fear, and not the food itself, that may need to be looked at. That said, one might say that Mrs. Eddy’s statements concerning the use of intoxicating drinks (p. 454) being inconsistent with Christian Science practice, for example, indicates that we do need to self-police our intake in some instances.

We seem to get two perspectives on eating in Science and Health - one dealing with food problems, and the other dealing with general diet or the habit of eating.

For food problems, Eddy writes along this general theme, "If mortals think that food disturbs the harmonious functions of mind and body, either the food or this thought must be dispensed with, for the penalty is coupled with the belief. Which shall it be? If this decision be left to Christian Science, it will be given in behalf of the control of Mind over this belief and every erroneous belief, or material condition." p.388

For eating habits and regular mealtime, she had another perspective, "The generous liver may object to the author's small estimate of the pleasures of the table." p. 129

In the case of one healed through Science of stomach issues to "perfect health without a vestige of the old complaint," she explains that "these truths, opening his eyes, relieved his stomach, and he ate without suffering, "giving God thanks;" but he never enjoyed his food as he had imagined he would" while he was still sick. (The account in full runs from 220-224)

I think this is why diets are so inconsistent in their results. One size does not fit all when it comes to the beliefs and fears that enslave us. For some the path may well be discipline and giving up the pleasures of sense. For others it may involve the freedom to throw all rules out the window. For most, it is probably in the middle somewhere. But I think it is safe to say that bringing food issues under the umbrella of the pursuit to know God and to know oneself spiritually, each one can find his own way from sense (be it material pain or material pleasure) to Soul (to supersensible satisfaction and health).

Amy Duncan

3/6/2012 06:20:16 am

Thanks, Michelle...it's so freeing when we stop "idolizing" food!

Béatrice

3/5/2012 07:13:25 am

The articles (links) are wonderful! How good to think about this subject with gratitude!! I especially love the article: What really feeds (by Elise Moor. And also: Gratitude transforms a lonely Thanksgiving (by Marilyn Wright) is so helpful! I chuckled when I read the sentence: "The more we comprehend them (the seven synonyms or names for God), the more they permeate our everyday life and color everything we do." This is such a wonderful match to what I was wondering about in my comment to the 1st part of this series! It is amazing to me! Thank you, thank you!

Michelle Nanouche link

3/5/2012 07:16:32 am

It is really special what is unfolding. Thanks, Béatrice!

Kim

3/5/2012 08:36:08 am

Again Michelle - what a wonderful topic for the age! You are bound to become the next Christian Science Jenny Craig!

As introduced in Dante's Divine Comedy, one of the Seven Deadly Sins is, as we know, gluttony. The way that Dante defined it was "excessive love of pleasure."

Keeping that in mind, second to all those wonderful pharaceutical ads on TV are probably those for all kinds of different foods. No wonder our society is so hypnotized that we can't resist a pit stop at the nearest McDonalds! We think that this will bring us pleasure and don't even consider that we are wildly tipping the scales from spiritual to material every time we eat something that we don't need. As Mrs. Eddy says in S&H on pg. 392:24: we must always "[s]tand porter at the door of thought." (I LOVE that!)

The Lord's Prayer puts it succinctly - "give us this day, our daily bread." To me, that means in all kinds of ways, what we need for this day, and this day only. That also reminds me of something that I read in the latest edition of "We Knew Mary Baker Eddy" on pg. 240. In a letter to a dear friend Mrs. Eddy wrote," God bless you and every day show you a little more of Infinite Love. Just your daily bread, more you will not digest." While she was not speaking specifically of actual food in that letter, she was speaking of God's love and our ability to absorb His meaning on a daily basis.

From day to day we are meant to absorb what we can and what will help us down the right sprititual path. Pushing the envelope does nothing but waste the resource. No matter what form it takes!

Michelle Nanouche link

3/5/2012 09:26:21 am

Ha! That is the thing! I couldn't possibly come up with a human solution for each one's need. We don't need another Jenny Craig. (Although, I am grateful for Jenny and her journey to bless others in the way she understands.) We have the solution, each one of. We are spiritual, meaning we have a permanent relationship with Spirit that is discoverable and demonstrable. How exciting to find our way through finding Christ Jesus to be the way and an understanding of God to be the destination!

Just love what you wrote, Kim! Great contribution to the conversation!

Kim

3/5/2012 11:04:30 am

Thanks for your constant encouragement and validation, Michelle. It means a lot!

Kay

3/5/2012 08:53:37 am

I love the blog and all the comments..........love "thanking the cook"! my husband put too much salt in the oatmeal yesterday (big hands! big pinch!) I ate it with gratitude.........

Michelle Nanouche link

3/5/2012 09:29:42 am

This reminds me of a time I had symptoms of stomach flu, and my husband wanted to feed me. He brought me a fish sandwich loaded with mayo that I wouldn't have liked even on a good day. But he offered it with such love, that I ate it. It went done smooth as could be and I even liked it. Ahhh, what love and gratitude in return for it can do! Thanks, as always, Kay!

Tamara

3/5/2012 09:19:19 am

I liked how you linked our comments!
Your blog today reminded me of a period in my life when I had to deal with stressful situations in work and at home. Because of this, I simply had no time to think about eating; I started eating more than usual and got fat. I've never been through this before, which made me feel very uncomfortable with myself and with the image I had of myself. So I started doing a crash diet, and calories and weight became very important to me. Still, I could not go back to my normal weight easily. I lost weight only after many months, and after much suffering, because I stopped eating many things that I liked. Shortly after that I started a new stage in my professional life that involved living outside my country for long periods of time. I was afraid of getting fat again, because I did not know what kind of foods to eat and was afraid of not being able to weigh myself every day to control my weight.
That was the turning point in my thinking, because I realized that the only thing I could do was pray. Through prayer I realized I was acting according to a human sense of balance, which involves counting calories and measuring weight. This is not the way God expresses the balance in each of us.
Sometimes I think there's a subtle line that separates the human perspective of a spiritual point of view, especially when it comes to an issue like balance in eating, a subject that is so covered by the media. It is easy to find a definition (or more settings) about what it means eating in a balanced manner.
And that's what caught my attention in your blog: eating in a balanced manner has nothing to do with managing matter, has nothing to do with food or body.
Balance has to do with putting the kingdom of God first. You emphasized gratitude as a way to do this. And it was more or less what happened to me: after asking God to guide my thoughts and my actions, I realized that I was so grateful to have the opportunity to work in another country, learn about another culture (that includes eating different things), that this good experience could not bring elements of error, like imbalance. I just forgot about the calories and weight, but I focused on gratitude and trusted that God would guide me to what was right. But, as you emphasized in your blog, that does not mean not to think about eating. It means replacing human thoughts by spiritual thoughts.
When I returned home several months later, I realized that my weight remained the same.
I am still learning about balance in eating, that's one thing one have to put into practice every day.

Michelle Nanouche link

3/5/2012 09:31:11 am

Just great, Tamara. Good examples. Love this: "After asking God to guide my thoughts and my actions, I realized that I was so grateful to have the opportunity to work in another country, learn about another culture (that includes eating different things), that this good experience could not bring elements of error, like imbalance."

Tamara

3/5/2012 02:23:22 pm

This experience showed me also that identify someone as "good matter" (normal weight) is not a spiritual point of view, because this means giving up our spiritual nature. You said something like that so much better than I in that Audio-Chat "Prayer about cancer".

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