Health and food
Health food stores offer a variety of items purporting to be purer and more nutritious than other foods. Natural foods are said to be uncontaminated by chemicals and additives. But a recent report has questioned whether this type of food is necessarily better. N1
n1 The New Times,m December 12, 1979.
To one looking for the best approach to health, such confusion over the value of foods and other nutriments can be disturbing, and we may wonder just what is the best course to follow.
Christ Jesus understood the spiritual nature of nourishment and recognized that man's life belongs to God. God is the source of health and well-being. Christ Jesus urged his followers, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink . . . . Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" n2 He recognized that people sometimes give food more power than they ascribe to God.
n2 Matthew 6:25.
If we realize that God, infinite good, forms and maintains the universe, we can rest assured that nothing harmful can be part of that creation. We may suffer for gluttonous behavior, but the suffering comes not because the food is harmful but because of the attitude we hold about it. If we expect food to give us contentment, or if we use it as a release from feelings of doubt or unworthiness, we will find that, like other material satisfactions, food cannot really fulfill us. But if we understand that God is our Life and that our true nature is spiritual, our consumption will be governed by obedience to divine law , and our desires will become less material.
The impact of our seeking the "bread of life" instead of relying on "bread of flour" is that material needs will become less mentally consuming for us, and we will have greater freedom from the sometimes whimsical interaction between food and a so-called material body. We will discern more clearly that life doesn't come from alfalfa sprouts -- or from twinkies snackcakes. Life is God, and the satisfaction of living in obedience to that Life brings us true health and happiness.
To reach this discernment may require some discipline and also a willingness to give up belief in material laws about health and food. For example, in describing someone who had been healed of dyspepsia through prayer, May Baker Eddy n3 writes: "This person learned that food affects the body only as mortal mind has its material methods of working, one of which is to believe that proper food supplies nutriment and strength to the human system. He learned also that mortal mind makes a mortal body, whereas Truth regenerates this fleshly mind and feeds thought with the bread of Life." n4
n3 Mrs. Eddy is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.
n4 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,m p. 222.
Because God is our Maker, our true, spiritual life is no more dependent on food than moonbeams are on flourescent bulbs for their brightness. Nor are certain types of food requisite for continued good health. We can resist the blandishments of health foods, junk foods, and anything else that would put material gratification instead of God first in our lives. Then, fed by the "bread of Life," we will make wiser choices and be less likely to be attracted by fads. And the World of God will prove to be the best -- and only -- health food around. DAILY BIBLE VERSE And be not conformed to this world: but be yet transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2
