Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Psalm 34:8
This past winter I took a course from The Psychology of Eating called Change your Relationship with Food offered by Marc David.
One of the most important concepts I learned was that we can only digest our food well if slow down and eat in a relaxed state. And we can’t be relaxed if we are eating on the run, multitasking while eating, or grabbing quick bites of food here or there.
I started intentionally sitting down for meals, noticing my state of mind,clearing my thoughts and focusing on prayer and gratitude before my meal. Then I proceeded to eat slowly and mindfully, truly tasting and savoring my food. And this practice truly left me more satisfied. I realized how rushed I‘d become with eating in order to move onto the next more important task on my to do list . This left me unsatisfied and likely to binge and crave sweets later on for energy.
I believe our relationship with God can become something we cram into a busy schedule too. Time spent with God can be a quick “grab and go” as we attempt to be as productive as possible. But when God says “taste and see that I am good” is He not saying “ slow down, experience me, savor the richness and goodness of me focus your attention on me alone?“ Nutritious and nourishing food makes the body feel good, we notice that when we slow down. We can start to pay attention to how what we consume affects us. God is declaring his goodness, and in inviting us to taste Him is actually inviting us to be deeply nourished, deeply satisfied by Him.
Slowing down, savoring, being mindfully present to the moment is a skill that sadly we have to be taught and practice because it goes against the very culture in which many of us are immersed But digestion is the slow process of taking in of food, breaking it down into the nutrients our body needs and supplying our system with the building blocks for good health. It’s no wonder that food is used as a metaphor for God himself. Our ability to slow down, experience Him, letting Him build up the broken and tired and hungry/thirsty places within us is the true path to spiritual satisfaction.
This post has been part of the Five Minute Friday writing challenge to write for five minutes on a promp. This weeks prompt is Savor.
We're on the same page, Wendy. I'm exploring ways to eliminate hurry from my life. Taking our time with God might be the first and most important step. This is good stuff.
This is so good and so true! We're so often in a rush with our food and our God that we miss out on the real nourishment of both. Savoring God's Word and presence with the relish of a five-course meal with friends would change our lives!