Thursday, December 17, 2015

Advent 19: FOOD FOR THOUGHT



You are what you eat.


That cannot be true, because if it were I would be at least 20% a walking, chocolate-dipped potato chip.

My eating habits are what I call "flexitarian."  Theoretically that means I use sensible discretion around my food, and don't feel enslaved to any one particular diet.  Well.  Sometimes.

I became a vegetarian a decade ago, during one bright and shiny Lent. That was when I decided to educate myself about the meat industry in America, and what I found ensured that, when Lent ended, my vegetarianism remained.

These days we all have our own personal food fads, and it's gotten more and more complicated as more and more "scientific" results have been reported.  Should we eat eggs?  Dare we touch butter?  Would an oatmeal breakfast definitely be best each day?  NINE daily servings of fruits and vegetables?  Wow.

And what, you wonder, has this got to do with Advent?

 

It's possible to have too many choices.  


For example, I never shop at Home Depot if I can help it (sorry, I know it's a wonderful place in many ways) but I find ALL THOSE CHOICES entirely overwhelming.  Just walking in the door starts me thinking in capital letters. 

Ironically, we are barraged with constant extra choices during this season of Supposed Simplicity. 

There's the what to eat choice.  Everybody's pushing a different diet, so that we don't pack on the pounds during the holidays.   What will it be?  Paleo?  Mediterranian? Vegetarian?  Low carb?  

And there's the what to wear choice.  Tom and I went to a Christmas party last weekend, and I tried on three different outfits before I was satisfied--and I don't even have that many clothes.  I remember thinking, If I limited myself to one little black dress things would be simpler.

Even gift giving, that lovely Symbol of the Season, can be fraught with peril.  Should you make a donation for the people on your list who need absolutely nothing?  Or do you make them something with your own fair hands?  Maybe give them a gift card so they can choose for themselves?  But gift cards are so cold, how about something warm like a sweater?  But what size?  Some people make a Christmas list.  Others prefer surprises.   

And on it goes.  

No wonder there are twelve Stress Points for "Christmas Approaching." 


SIMPLIFYING

  
I take hope from Michael Pollan, a New York Times writer, who has waded through all the conflicting data on food and come up with Three Simple Guidelines around eating.

Eat food.  (As opposed to what he hilariously refers to as “foodlike substances.”)

Not too much.  (Portion control is crucial.)

Mostly plants.  (Use meat as an occasional side dish rather than the centerpiece.)

 

Perhaps we could do the same thing for many of our seasonal choices.


That famous scripture quotation "moderation in all things" is actually not from scripture.  But St. Paul has some sage advice on the topic:


All things are lawful for me; but not all things are helpful.  
All things are lawful for me; but I will become enslaved to nothing.
(1 Corinthians 6:12)


When we are preoccupied with worrying about what we eat or what we drink or what we wear (as a famous man once said--thank you, Jesus) then that is a form of slavery.


This year can be different.  If we make it so. 




'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,


And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.


When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,


To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come 'round right

                                                                      
                                                  ~Elder Joseph Brackett, Shaker, 1848

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