The way to love someone
is to lightly run your finger over that person's soul
until you find a crack,
and then gently pour your love into that crack.
~Keith Miller

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Gluttony

These are weeds ...
H says the only way to really get rid of weeds is to fortify the turf ...
The "good" stuff will scoot the "bad" stuff out
poison just poisons everything...

WRATH


Gluttony - n.
excess in eating or drinking
greedy or excessive indulgence
... a serious failure in self-discipline

I grew up hearing it used like this:  "He is a glutton for punishment."  Maybe in reference to Cassius Clay (back before...)... or Barry Goldwater.  Daddy was a fan of both.  Gluttony seemed to be an admirable quality, comparable to tenacious.

My husband says Gluttony is the only sin with a sponsorship in our religion.  We "fellowship", which really means we get together and eat.  Hmmm, the Baptist (okay not all Baptists, probably only my baptists ... okay, probably only me) fellowship table ... I think I can see all seven of these sins represented there ... that is amusing and I am a bad person for observing that ... I know. That entire story may be told in the UNBELIEVABLE delicious Italian Creme Cake served on a gleaming silver cake throne ... footed ... (I have the recipe ... lol)



I am going to see Gluttony as what?  Excessive consumption ... but not so much as "of food".  I think it is in The Screw Tape Letters that CS Lewis helps me see "an exquisite thinness" as gluttony all dressed up and set to prance.  I should find that ... it is illuminating to understand gluttony as something consumed beyond ... moderation for lack of a more exact descriptor.

Gluttony is an emotional escape, a sign something is eating us. ~Peter De Vries (The New Yorker ... not the quote, the guy)

The flesh endures the storms of the present alone; the mind, those of the past and future as well as the present. Gluttony is a lust of the mind. ~ Thomas Hobbes

The scriptures hold many references to gluttony ... usually in the same verse admonitions against drunkenness ... and idleness.


I am thinking of it as Thomas Hobbes illuminates it.  A lust of the mind ... seeking cake and circuses  as a salve for what the soul keens for.  I think the vices appeal to our flesh and tend to circumvent what we really really long for.  As Mr. De Vries points out ... an emotional escape, but I think more accurately a sort of panacea ... or a layer of gunk between us and the soul nourishment we think we are gathering up for ourselves.  I'm thinking about the children of Israel, wandering, scared ... hungry, crying out. And then food ... all around them plenty.  They must have been over come with relief.  And ... they were told to gather only enough for present needs ... in other words, be present, but their minds ran to provisions for tomorrow.  How could they not?!  Yeah ... I know they had witnessed many miracles, but ... well, my refrigerator is pretty amazing too.  I don't worry for "food", but I do want to gather up other stuff.  Stuff for later.  Lotsa stuff for later ... . This self sufficiency must be part of it.  These layers insulate me from God's provisions ... presence ... guidance.


The little web search took a different track on this gluttony stuff.  The links I looked at were all about weight loss and ... temple of God references.  Ummm ...  I think it's pretty clear that the "ideal clothing size" is a moving target.  I think this gluttony thing is less about my earth suit and more about a nourishing diet for the soul.  Bread of Life ... communion.


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