Yes, I’ll take (another) cookie
First thing’s first… I’m not a doctor. So please, know that before you read one more word. There’s your disclaimer, so here we go…
I encourage you to eat whatever you want these next few days.
I mean, you know your true limits. If you have a peanut allergy, don’t eat grandma’s famous buckeyes. If you have an issue where any kind of food might be immediately detrimental to your health, of course, DON’T EAT IT.
But in our secular culture, where the removal of capital-R Religion has created an existential vacuum, food has become a religion in itself. The conversation about a healthy diet has gone beyond the scope of mere health. Eating the wrong things has become a moral transgression. This religion of food has a strict dogma and has become law-based. Our calorie count has become a new commandment. It’s not just, “How’s your health.” It’s, “Are you a good person or not?” When we misstep, it becomes our fault.
Our diet becomes mechanistic, and our relationship with food loses joy and intimacy. This heart-level stuff is a big part of health! Do we enjoy it? Does our food excite us and bring us closer together with others? A little indulgence is what life is all about - it’s healthy to a certain degree. We need to consider this relational and emotional side of life when discussing health.
Are we eating just to achieve a set of numbers on a ‘health app?’
Have we optimized the joy right out of our food?
So this Christmas, maybe consider enjoying that brownie and slather more butter on those rolls. Apply that gravy like you mean it. It’s likely that the only one counting is you. (And if anyone else is counting, well, who needs friends like that anyway?)
At Christmas, we proclaim that Christ is incarnate and redeems the food that God has declared good1. You are not just what you eat - you are a multifaceted being and God delights in you. Eat as if this were true.
In Joy,
Jonas+
Extremes aren’t good for anyone and this is not what I’m encouraging!