Monday Musings: Good Food

Around this time last year I began thinking about the connection between food and God's word. After all, scripture calls itself edible, sweeter than honey in fact, and in Revelation (10:9-10), John is even commanded to eat it. And stranger still, Jesus tells us to eat his flesh, and to remember him whenever we sit down to break bread and share drink with other believers.

I want to eat scripture. To desire it and savor it and devour it. To ingest it and have it become part of me. And at the same time, I want to think about what it means to remember Jesus when I eat. I have a sneaking suspicion that there are choices in the way we eat that will either help or hinder remembering him, and even affect the way we sit down to the meal of his Word. Fast food versus slow and savored. Seeking the welfare of the city by investing in local food. Considering where our food comes from: Were the people who worked to produce my food treated fairly or kept under the yoke of oppression as I consume ease, efficiency, and low prices? Were the sources of my meal grown or raised in a way that reflects good stewardship of the plants and animals that God created for us to care for and to eat? Are the calories I'm putting in my body a cheap imitation of real food, or lasting, healthy goodness?

These are questions that I'm thinking about in new ways all the time. I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I'm sure you'll hear more of mine as we continue together.

Two books, woven together with story and not just information, have educated me, inspired me, and kept the wheels of my thoughts turning. Eat this Book, by Eugine Peterson (author of The Message), and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (The author of several great books including Poisonwood Bible).