Eating as Community Behavior

Sorry I've been so absent on my blog! I've been traveling nonstop, and finally have been able to sit down and breath... just in time for the holidays! Actually, I love the holidays, and they are even sweeter to me as I live my life free from the pain of overeating, purging, and starving.

Many women I speak to equate the holidays with overeating, or the panic of having to figure out what to eat or not eat. Sweets and treats, parties and functions- all lend themselves the opportunity to enjoy the people, gatherings, and food that we are around, or the opportunity to eat (purge, restrict) to our destruction.
God seemed to have three things in mind when he created our bodies to need food:
1.) We need a variety of foods for our bodies to function well
2.) We have taste buds so that we can enjoy food and the flavors they provide
3.) We can eat in community rather than in isolation and secrecy

Around the holidays we are typically eating in community more than other times of the year. Many women don't eat in front of others, only to binge on food later. Baking becomes disastrous as dozens of treats are consumed before they are wrapped. Those struggling on the anorexic end worry about what they will be served and how they can hide their restrictive habits.

A perfect contrast to this is Jesus' approach to food. He ate when hungry, stopped when satisfied, and loved the community act of sharing a meal together. His good friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus routinely ate meals together and talked. His first miracle was performed at a blow-out wedding where the party would have ended in disgrace if He didn't step in. And some of the most profound words found in the Bible took place at a last supper.

The fuel to disordered eating is secrecy and isolation. So this holiday season, let's enjoy the food and company we have. Let's savor the conversations rather than the plot to get rid of the food later. Let's celebrate the taste buds we have, and the texture of rich conversation and love. It's a delicacy too precious to ignore.