food

Food That Perishes: An Orthodox Approach to Food and Eating Disorders

Remove falsehood and lies far from me;

Give me neither poverty nor riches--
Feed me with the food allotted to me;

Lest I be full and deny You,
And say, "Who is the LORD?"
Or lest I be poor and steal,
And profane the name of my God. (Proverbs 30:8, 9)

At first glance, considering food in the context of Orthodox spirituality and practice may seem inappropriate. But closer examination indicates, in fact, a rather intimate, meaningful connection between the two. We can see this in the quote from the Book of Proverbs that opens this essay. We should eat "the food allotted to us," and which is necessary for our sustenance. To do otherwise is to make ourselves vulnerable to two spiritual dangers.

Problems with Food as a Spiritual Disorder

The first spiritual danger is that we may become so focused on food as an end in itself that it distracts us from what should be our true end: God. In the most basic and first of the commandments, God told us, "I am the LORD your God . . . You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:2, 3). This commandment is echoed by Jesus: "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment." (Matthew 22:37, 38).

What is our treasure: God or food? As Our Lord told us, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Luke 12:34). As our holy father Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain tells us, "If you want to take someone away from God, give [them] plenty of material goods . . . [they] will instantly forget Him forever" (Ageloglou, 1998).

Eating in an Anciently Refreshing Way

Tootie Fields once said, “I’ve been on a diet for two weeks and all I’ve lost is two weeks!”

There is a common pattern of “yo-yo” dieting – you’re on a diet . . . off a diet . . . on a diet . . . . Oh, wait, you’re off again; it’s hard to keep track. Our culture is obsessed with food. We can walk into a gas station or an office supply store and purchase food. It is everywhere! We eat in our cars, on the bus, on our bikes, and in front of our computers. Sometimes we’re eating and forget that we’re doing so.

The idea of eating in a balanced way and living a life in balance seems like a chore. We don’t even know where to begin. And it does not help that we have a multi-billion dollar diet industry working hard to “help us”: “Eat this.” “No don’t eat that – it contains carbohydrates.” “Should I use the pink, the yellow, or the white sweetener packet?” “Is this a low-fat food?” “What should I eat?” Something as basic as choosing what and when to eat can become an overwhelming task. This is not a new problem, but a new twist on an old one. For centuries using food in the wrong way has been a temptation. So what do we do?

Our faith can guide us by teaching us to eat in a spiritually minded manner. In living the Christian life, everything we do should be done for the glory of God. A spiritual father once said to me that our senses were given to us to commune with the Divine. This statement – full of wisdom – really got me thinking. We use our senses literally all the time. So, what are we taking in with our eyes? When we watch a movie or read a book, are we utilizing our sense of vision to commune with the Divine? Or are the choices we make causing us to draw away from Him? What about our eating? Is our time spent eating glorifying God?