Do we live to eat or eat to live?
Do we live to eat? That is, to what extent is eating a priority? How much of our time, energy, and resources go to ensuring that we can eat? OR do we eat to live? Do we see food as providing us with the energy and resources to live our lives in meaningful ways?
Do we live to eat or eat to live? The way we answer this question could say a lot about our circumstances. Those who struggle with food insecurity and poverty are, by necessity, focused on trying to survive. Filling hungry bellies is important to survival and thus they need to live to eat.
There are also those who gain so much pleasure from food, they enjoy a wonderfully cooked meal, fresh produce from the market, and/or a special treat after a long day. That enjoyment can translate into making food a priority and living to eat is a choice they make because eating offers so much more than survival.
When we are comfortable about our circumstances, we have a choice about how we see food. Fundamentally this can make it easier to say that we eat to live because we have sufficient resources, and food is but one contributing factor to our overall wellbeing.
Jesus says: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Jesus, who has been from the beginning, knows that when this world was created it was created to sustain all living beings. God ensured that there is enough so that all people could eat to live. God’s love has provided the resources so that everyone could enjoy life and share their gifts abundantly. We should not have to worry about what we eat, or drink, or wear. Indeed, no one should have to worry about what they eat, or drink, or wear. God has provided.
Unfortunately, while God has assured that there is enough for everyone’s need, there isn’t enough for everyone’s greed. Those who worry about food, and drink, and clothing, are more easily affected by a fear of scarcity and thus more prone to protect what they have and take more than they need. This can lead to actual scarcity, and it is often those with the least resources who are left to go without and thus left to have to live to eat.
‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? God wants us to eat to live. God wants us to use the resources provided for our wellbeing. God wants all people to be able to use the resources provided for wellbeing. What does it look like to let go, to not worry, to trust that the Giver of all good gifts has provided enough for us and for all people?
To what extent did our preparation for this weekend include an understanding of how much is enough for us? How many of us planned to ensure that, no matter how much food we make this weekend, there will be no waste, that it will all go to ensure those who partake live? To what extent did our preparation also include a consideration of what we might contribute to others to ensure that they have enough? Where does worry and trust fit into our thanksgiving journey?
‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? … But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
So many of Jesus’s parables about the kingdom of God remind us that it filled with love, that it is a place where all people can live fully without worry. The kingdom of God is a place where God’s bounty is truly enough for all because those who strive for the kingdom understand what it means to trust there is enough and choose to share. When we open our hearts to these truths, we can catch glimpses of God’s kingdom where our needs are fulfilled, and our hearts are full. What do we need to do to create space through which this weekend can become a glimpse of the kingdom of God?
Thanksgiving is a holiday where food is central because we are giving thanks for the bounty of the harvest. This is a celebration of God’s good gifts that often includes generous donations to food banks as we remember those who are forced to live to eat. May the spirit of this holiday challenge us to acknowledge the generosity of God’s gifts in Creation, and the importance of letting go of worry. May we trust God’s bounty so that more and more people can have the freedom to eat to live. May we use our gifts in ways that offer glimpses of the kingdom for us and for those who need to know they are valued and loved. All this we pray as we sing: 404 The Trumpets Sound, the Angels Sing.