Food

I figured today, I’ll keep in line with the namesake of my blog and steer away from the directly, or traditionally religious jargon I’ve been known for lately.  That’s assuming I’m actually “known” in the vast landscape that is the blog-o-sphere.

So let’s discuss food.  Have you ever considered where your food comes from?  Have you ever considered the purpose of food?  Is there any sort of spiritual, or even sacramental element to food?  (by sacramental, I mean, a window into the sacred)  Is it possible that there could be some sort of connection between the previous questions?  I’ll offer up a simple scenario and we’ll see where things progress from there.

If we consider the current landscape of food, especially in western culture, primarily in America, food closely reflects the values of society as a whole.  We want it now, we want it cheap and we really don’t want to have to participate in any sort of long term interaction with anyone in order to secure the purchase of these commodities.  Essentially, we accept our lot as excessive consumers and food becomes nothing more than another industry, a product, something else we buy and consume.

In my opinion, there are several issues with that line of thinking.  I’ll try to be as concise as possible here.

First of all, when we choose ignorance, we are just as guilty as if we are willfully disregard something as true and beneficial.  This refers to my original question, “have you considered where your food comes from?”  Are you aware that much of the food you “enjoy” is brought to you by the sweat of slaves?  Products like coffee and rice, among others, are largely farmed, grown and harvested for pennies on the dollar.  Many of those farmers don’t even make enough money off their product to put food on their family’s table.

Another large portion of the food we eat contains corn, and it’s probably true that most everything has some sort of corn related product in it.  You may be thinking, well, corn is a vegetable, so at least I’m getting some veggies.  That would be a solid argument if the corn that’s in everything was actually a natural product.  It’s been so massively genetically modified, that it will no longer grow in the the wild.  I mean, do you really want to be eating something that is also used to fuel your vehicle?

Then there’s the issue of the meat we eat.  The beef and chicken we eat are fed the leftovers of the corn crop.  The reason for that is we can grow them to market weight in a third of the time that natural growth allows.  That’s then were the antibiotics come in.  Animals aren’t given those to fight off infections, they boosted with antibiotics and steroids to keep them alive long enough to get them to the market for the maximum price.

Okay, so all this begs another question.  What is then the purpose of our food?  It’s my opinion that it was originally intended to bring life and healing to our bodies.  But now, I think it does just the opposite.  It sucks the life from our bodies and really doesn’t offer any sort of healing properties.  I mean, what would we look like, if when we caught a cold, if we sipped herbal tea and ate only dark, leafy greens and naturally dark colored fruits and vegetables instead of popping a pill and washing it down with a glass of hormone laced milk and genetically modified (what’s labeled as) chicken noodle soup?

That brings me then to my third question, is there something spiritual about food?  My answer is yes.  There is a connection between all these arguments.  When I am aware of where my food is coming from, purchasing only those products that were fairly produced and traded, I am participating in the life and well being of the farmers who produce my food.  I’m making sure that I’m not enjoying a delicious meal at their expense.  That is a deeply spiritual experience.  Further, when I consider the purpose of my food and the nutritional value, or lack thereof, it becomes some much more than just a routine filling of my stomach.  When we think about our food either bringing life or sucking it from me, either through bloating or Montezuma’s revenge, I’ll always choose those things that give life.

We all want to know what our purpose here on earth is.  I believe that one of the elements of our purpose is to bring life, and that, across the board.  Food is one of those ways.  I choose to support local or fairly paid farmers, I choose not to eat beef and chicken, mainly because the production of those “foods” does not in any way bring life because of the massive amount of pollutants emitted during the production process.

So, do I know where my food comes from?  For the most part, yes.  Have I considered the purpose of food?  Absolutely, and I feel so much better eating naturally, organically and fairly traded.  And do I believe there is some sort of spiritual element to food?  Without a doubt!  Would I rather be intimately connected to a farmer and his family or a production machine and hospital bed.

Submission-Part 2

It’s entirely possible that this post could end up in a parallel flight pattern as one I’ve written a few months ago.  Even still, this is something that’s kind of been gnawing at me for quite some time and was lured up from the cellar of my mind a few days ago.

Concerning submission.  Now, realize I grew up within a particular flavor of Christianity that basically rode the fence between conservative and fundamental thought.  There’s probably no way for me to remember all the times when I heard things like “submit to the authorities,” or “children submit to your parents.”  Just to make sure we are clear before I get rolling, I’m not advocating any sort of anarchy or blatant parental disobedience, per se.  Above all, I believe we’ve been given a marvelous organ called a brain, and far too often, we DON’T use them.

Moving on.  I want to refer back to another post I recently posted entitled “Sinless.”  Essentially, I posed the question, was Jesus really sinless, as we have come to describe sin (based upon laws of the land, religious laws, etc.)?  Now, to continue that line of thinking a bit further.  My opinion is this.  According to the standard definitions we apply to sin, Jesus sinned.  Understand that it was not ever his intention to undermine, dismantle and rebuild Judaism.  He is often quote in the Bible as saying, “I came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.”  Essentially, there was some sort of disconnect.  The religious folks seemed to be a bit more concerned about making sure they behaved and believed in “right” sorts of ways.  Thus, that focus on not doing wrong things spawned this whole conversation of our traditional argument that we are required, by the absolute authority of scripture, to obey the laws of the land.

For all intensive purposes, that’s what was expected each time the submit card was played.  So, my question is this.  What does it mean to submit to authorities?  Further, is this even the right question to ask?  If not, what is a better question?

If we take an honest look at scripture, Jesus really wasn’t all that interested in jumping into the flow of society and keeping his head low, which could be another way to describe submission.  We often just tuck our tails and crawl back to our houses, obeying the traffic laws, paying our taxes (most of which goes to military spending), standing idly by as someone get their face knocked in at school because we don’t want to “get in trouble for fighting.”  See where I’m going with this?

Please don’t hear me say I think laws are evil, because we all need some sort of boundaries.  But, if we are to fully embrace the way of Jesus, to follow him honestly and sincerely, we’ll almost assuredly find ourselves having to decide whether we’ll obey the law or save a life.

The difficulty then with this entire discussion is that we’ve got to deprogram ourselves from the notion that the spiritual world (however we want to define that) is intimately connected to the physical world.  If Jesus were to speak a word to us today, I imagine it would sound almost blasphemous, as we are unable to release ourselves from the bonds that religion has put on us.

So, in layman’s terms.  If you call yourself a follower of Jesus, yet live blindly, without purpose and intention, why follow?  If you follow the way of Jesus, is the prize of heaven worth watching this world crumble?  My argument is that the man, Jesus, lived totally differently.  What he carried seems not to be the sin of the world but the responsibility of the world, essentially telling us that if we follow him, we must take up our cross, carry the responsibility of participating in screwing up this world, yet choosing to make a difference.  And, we like Jesus, as we begin to take responsibility for the world around us is, we die.  Yes, I mean literally.  Jesus didn’t die because it was required by God, he died because that’s what happens to people who live an alternative life, contrary to empire.  Jesus was a threat to the oppressive society in which he lived.

The same is true today.  Jesus was interested in freeing slaves, literally.  Setting the captives free, literally.  Living, and living abundantly, literally, here and now.  Jesus’ was of living in and interacting with the world around him was so offensive that there really wasn’t anything else to do accept to kill him.  Similarly, some of the peaceful rallies that happen here in our nation, fighting for people, are so awkward in our violent world that most of the time we end up throwing tear gas, punches and billy clubs anyway because it’s much easier to oppress someone than release them from bondage.

All this to say: I don’t think blatant civil or even religious disobedience is the best choice.  However, we do have brains, and I would argue we’ve got them so that we’ll use them, and decide how best to live out the way of Jesus in our world, which, much like in his day, will probably end up breaking a law or offending the religious folks.

But, let’s keep on pushing a new way, no matter the resistance.  I don’t want to just think the same as Jesus, I want to live and breathe as he did, submitting to that which drew him into authentic relationship and community with EVERY PERSON he came across.