Did you hear that Micky D's opened its first series of vegetarian restaurants in India? That's right! Nobody asks where the beef is over there. What matters is not so much the diet (really!) but the speed with which we eat. It is entirely possible to inhale your food so fast that it may barely touch your teeth. Or, how about the trend of driving and eating at the same time to cram in lunch? The point is that how we eat is just as important as what we eat.
I love the Buddhist tradition centered on "mindfulness." Every morsel is eaten in small bites, rolled around almost to dissolve in the mouth, so that the spirit is nourished along with the body. The food is savored, or respected, because you are aware of feeding the inner spirit along with the body. Regretfully, how many eat so fast that they do not even feed the body with nourishment. Malnutrition comes in many forms.
True story. I watched a lady with brain cancer eating only one thing day after day--an onion bagel with cream cheese. It just hit the spot--and stayed down. She broke off small pieces, dipped them into the cheese, and placed them on her lips. She herself laughed that somebody could literally bake another bagel in the same amount of time! Then she added: It tells me I am alive. The way she was eating affirmed her life, gave her the capacity to respect her body, and one opportunity to feel good about herself.
Of course....
The meal of simplicity is bread and wine for body and blood.
Do you suppose the manner in which we receive Communion is the model for how to eat our meals?
Don't answer that one too fast!
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