You are what you eat. Or, What's in Mystery Meat, anyway?

Dear Readers,

I lay moaning in my bed. I was so miserable, so embarrassed and so humiliated! My stomach ached from too much food. I hadn't felt that way in a long time. I'd almost forgotten what gluttony felt like.

What was I thinking? Amazingly, the whole episode started in my mind, not in my mouth! I'd been looking forward to the Cultural Diner for days. Now, there's nothing wrong with the Cultural Diner. You can have it anytime you're hungry. And who isn't hungry? The remarkable thing--it really is all-you-care-to-eat there.

And we like what they're feeding us! After all, instant sensual gratification is so tangible at the Diner. Our mouths savor the meat there, fat and sizzle and all; we can super-size the already gigantic portions; and the refills are always free. We have questions, and the answers at the Diner are so attractive. "Buy bigger, buy now, look perfect, Here's How." " Live life as you see fit." "Look better than ever!" "Don't you want to look like this?" "No money down!" "You deserve the best that money can buy!" Don't ask questions! "Somebody's gotta win; it might as well be you!" And if you're not up to the task, we have Viagra and Cialis. In fact, a pill for everything.

It seems as though the Cutural Diner has gone into the catering business, too. We're finding it in places we would least expect it. Goes to show how effective their marketing is. Be aware of what they're feeding you, even at the church that prioritizes entertaining its members with a “relevant” mix of loud music, amusing skits, and video clips.

Beware the need to keep a television in the car, the bedroom, and the bathroom. Beware a culture that teaches us to avoid meaningful conversation by putting on our headsets whether on the subway, shopping for groceries, or eating at the Diner.

Are we getting full? We're taking it all in, consuming what they give us, but our appetite is never satiated. We're sacrificing a deeper hunger to fulfill a shallow need. We're consuming the superficial in order to avoid facing the visceral.

But if we remain hungry for a solution to loneliness, it is not because we lack access to something that will fill us. In fact, God has given us unlimited access to spiritual food and spiritual drink. If we remain hungry, we do so because we choose to starve ourselves.

We do not fully understand why the world is as it is, and the mystery that looms over us. It is an intimidating feeling not to fully understand the answers to life’s profound questions: Where did I come from? Why am I here? What will happen when I die? So we seek others for answers to these great questions. And we hope that the answers will soothe the loneliness. The other answers, however, are scary because they conjure up notions of objective moral standards, accountability for actions, and, most frighteningly, an eternal God.

The next time we're tempted to pop in the earbuds and grab a quick snack at the Diner...let us feast instead, on the Manna in our cultural desert; let us eat of the Bread of Life; slake our thirsts with the Living Water. Just think how far a few loaves and fishes might go...

Eccl 2:25 "for without Him, who can eat or find enjoyment?"

Eccl 9:7 "Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do."

What's on your menu? What's in your wallet? The Cultural Diner comes at a high price, but you can charge it.

~Bill

"The Kingdom of Heaven is not meat and drink...but righteousness, peace, and the Holy Ghost."