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Do not relax the tension of your soul with feasting and drunkenness, but consider what is needful to be enough for the body. And do not rush early to meals, before the time for dinner comes; but let your dinner be bread, and let earth's grasses and the ripe fruits of trees be set before you; and go to your meal with composure, showing no sign of raging gluttony. In place of such pleasures, choose the joys that are in divine words and hymns, joys supplied to you by wisdom from God; and let heavenly meditation ever lead you upward to heaven.
*St. Clement of Alexandria (b. ca. 150)
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The spiritual Life, the mystic way, is a movement from the world, to which we have been wrongly and inordinately attached, back into it, and more fully, more really, more lovingly. In some sense, paradoxical, this is somewhat like saying we must fall out of love with the world of things and persons to fall again rightly in love with it all as an expression of the Good, True, and Beautiful. Then, we see it through different eyes and feel it with a different heart: a living, moving, shining Word of our own true Self in Love. Therefore, no area of our lives is apart from our aspirations to enjoy union with the Divine Spirit, and this includes food.
St. Clement tells us we can find in food inordinate attachment due to potential of food to "relax the tension" of our selves. I submit that much infatuation with food is exactly that, for it easily becomes a medicine for lives lacking the inspiration of a vibrant religious and spiritual Life. While persons glut on food and on drink, their souls are malnourished and languishing.
When St. Clement speaks of a healthy, spiritual relationship with food, he places it in the context of a devotional Life. He admits there are "pleasures" in gluttony - if not, persons would not be so happy about the anticipation of the "all you can eat" trip to the food bar. To be an "all you can eat" person is not befitting for a person aspiring for true joy and honoring his or her body as a sacred vessel of Spiritual Light.
St. Clement says for us "to choose" spiritual nourishment. We, he says, can choose "divine words." I include here all spiritual reading, of Scripture and other sources. We can choose "hymns." Praying hymns, in song or verbal prayer, or meditating on the words of hymns, supplies the soul with superb nourishment.
Likewise, earthly good is of this earth. We eat and drink and it supplies a flesh dying and to decompose. We eat and drink, and we defecate and urinate. You look toward that special meal with hours or days or weeks, or months, of anticipation, and it is over in less than an hour. All this food and drink, and the joy of consuming such, is passing, and so are the pleasures of it.
Yet, St. Clement is right in not leaving us without, for he speaks of a nourishment bringing substantial, lasting, and eternal joy. This comes by means of "wisdom from God." This we find in our devotions and service to others, in every kind thought and compassionate deed.
Then, we see the contemplative Spirit guiding all the practical advice St. Clement gives: "[L]et heavenly meditation ever lead you upward to heaven." We do not have to think of "heavenward" in spatial terms, which would likely lead us not rightly to cherish this life. "Heavenward" applies to the "heavenly" within this world, the Eternal dancing all over the stage of Time and in as as our very flesh.
This other Order of the heavenly, Aldous Huxley, in The Doors of Perception, refers to as seen in experimentation with mescalin, as he looks at the otherwise mere appearance of clothing.
But in Judith's skirt I could clearly see what, if I had been a painter of genius, I might have made of my old gray flannels. Not much, heaven knows, in comparison with the reality, but enough to delight generation after generation of beholders, enough to make them understand at least a little of the true significance of what, in our pathetic imbecility, we call "mere things" and disregard in favor of television.
See how the experience of the heavenly Order, the Higher Awareness, shapes priority? When one sees God in all things and all things in God, how can he or she remain in allegiance to telephones, cars, computers, persons, self , and, yes, food and drink - except as the person knows and experiences all this in the Divine Good?
Yet, infusion of Godness, Love of Christ, Being Filled with holy Spirit, leads to a reengagement with the world that is heavenly, here and now. This, for the contemplative, will usually occur, if not always, after a purgative period of confusing and painful divorce from the things that once held him or her tightly - and this includes his or her religion - and this last may be the most painful purgation.
The contemplative whose perception has been cleansed does not have to stay in his room. He can go about his business, so completely satisfied to see and be a part of the divine Order of Things that he will never even be tempted to indulge in what Traherne called the dirty Devices of the world. (Huxley)
These are teachings of great spiritual Christians through the centuries. That so-called "non-Christian" persons, across time and cultures and faiths, affirm them evidences there universal validity.
Therefore, as we look toward Thanksgiving Day, let us ponder these matters about food: and see in this "food" a sign of everything of this world. Let us consider that the pleasures of an ordering of life separate from God in our consciousness is passing and will ultimately disappoint us. Then, we can see all things, through Love, as sacramental, and we can see these things as means to connect in Grace with others in Fellowship, as well as a means for shared nourishment from the higher Order.
Last, St. Augustine speaks to us of the "daily bread" in the Lord's Prayer; his words apply to our meditation for today, even if his understanding of "daily bread" is incomplete:
It remains, therefore, that we should understand the daily bread as spiritual, divine precepts, which we ought to daily meditate upon and labor after. With respect to these, the Lord says, "Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life [ESV]."
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*Charitable contributions would be appreciated to assist Brian in continuing his ministry. For contributions, contact Brian at barukhattah@embarqmail.com .
*Brian's book of spiritual love poetry, An Ache for Union: Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major booksellers or the Cokesbury on-line store, cokesbury.com .
*The quote of St. Clement is from Scott Hahn, Mike Aquilina. Living the Mysteries. That of St. Augustine is from Scott Hahn. Understanding "Our Father".
*Brian K. Wilcox, a United Methodist Pastor, lives in Southwest Florida. He is a vowed member of Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in South Georgia. He lives a contemplative life and seeks to inspire others to enjoy a more intimate relationship with Christ. Brian advocates for a spiritually-focused, experiential Christianity and renewal of the Church through addressing the deeper spiritual needs and longings of persons.
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