Part way through the fast
When food becomes an issue (either for fasting or diet) you realise how much of an issue food can become. So far today I have noticed what a central part of life it is, not just because it nourishes us but also as a key social interaction.
As I sat watching my son eat his lunch two things became quite obvious. Firstly this was important family time centred around a meal which, if I'm honest, on a busy school day is the only family time spent together (over breakfast and over tea). The second thing was more significant, that this was something that we shared and there is a great deal of power in the act of sharing for it provides common ground and mutuality. No matter what we all bring to the table from the day, we are on an equal footing and in a common place as we share the same food. Sharing also has the ability to bond. As you sit out of the equation because you cannot share then to a degree you are isolated. It seems that the sharing of food offers a kind of togetherness that reaches beyond just being together.
The above is not just true of family settings. The social (and indeed pastoral) interaction of food also became obvious in the two meals that I have declined with church people. Admittedly I declined out of an awareness of my own weakness, I could have gone but I knew how hard it would have been, but even so these were social and pastoral occasions that I have missed. When we think of the spirituality of food much is made of the importance of the last supper, a meal in which Jesus met with friends and enjoyed a social occasion. Yet out of the social came a sacrament and means of grace that has transformed lives since and which carries both pastoral and healing qualities.
The final reminder, half way through the day, of the centrality of food to our lives is the fact that my youngest son has spent all morning trying to feed me with his toy food. And I mean all morning, bless him. In play we often see fantasy mixed with the things that are quite normal and it is in writing these words that the whole point of today and the end hunger fast campaign comes home. In our house we are extremely lucky that food is quite normal, Nathan is playing like this because it is very much part of his life, he cooks with us and eats with us at least three times a day. By contrast there are people for whom food is almost a fantasy, and some foods are quite literally a fantasy. Play brings fantasy and normal together in an exciting and fun way, poverty sends the fantasy and normality of food poles a part in way that is both inhuman and just plain wrong.
As I sat watching my son eat his lunch two things became quite obvious. Firstly this was important family time centred around a meal which, if I'm honest, on a busy school day is the only family time spent together (over breakfast and over tea). The second thing was more significant, that this was something that we shared and there is a great deal of power in the act of sharing for it provides common ground and mutuality. No matter what we all bring to the table from the day, we are on an equal footing and in a common place as we share the same food. Sharing also has the ability to bond. As you sit out of the equation because you cannot share then to a degree you are isolated. It seems that the sharing of food offers a kind of togetherness that reaches beyond just being together.
The above is not just true of family settings. The social (and indeed pastoral) interaction of food also became obvious in the two meals that I have declined with church people. Admittedly I declined out of an awareness of my own weakness, I could have gone but I knew how hard it would have been, but even so these were social and pastoral occasions that I have missed. When we think of the spirituality of food much is made of the importance of the last supper, a meal in which Jesus met with friends and enjoyed a social occasion. Yet out of the social came a sacrament and means of grace that has transformed lives since and which carries both pastoral and healing qualities.
The final reminder, half way through the day, of the centrality of food to our lives is the fact that my youngest son has spent all morning trying to feed me with his toy food. And I mean all morning, bless him. In play we often see fantasy mixed with the things that are quite normal and it is in writing these words that the whole point of today and the end hunger fast campaign comes home. In our house we are extremely lucky that food is quite normal, Nathan is playing like this because it is very much part of his life, he cooks with us and eats with us at least three times a day. By contrast there are people for whom food is almost a fantasy, and some foods are quite literally a fantasy. Play brings fantasy and normal together in an exciting and fun way, poverty sends the fantasy and normality of food poles a part in way that is both inhuman and just plain wrong.
The basic requirement of food should never be a fantasy - #endhungerfast
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