Choosing The 'Our Father' Diet

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According to the feature article in the the June 5, 2017, issue of TIME magazine, maintaining a desired body weight isn't affected as much by our calories, fats, sugar or exercise as by our overall mindset about our food and our health.

Not that a balanced diet and good exercise aren't vitally important, but when it comes to weight, the chief factor appears to be how our thinking affects the kinds and the quantities of food we eat. To me that confirms there is a spiritual and not just a biological or physical component to our eating. And since I definitely need help in the weight and health department, I'm proposing what I'm calling the "Our Father" diet.

As indicated in an earlier post, I've come to believe the "daily bread" reference in the Lord's Prayer is an allusion to the daily portion of manna spoken of in the Exodus story. All of God's people were treated with the same gift of ample food each day, and each was to collect and use only their fair daily share.

In a similar way, what if we were to think of each mealtime as one we are sharing with all of our friends and neighbors in God's worldwide family? What if each day we were joined in prayer with the "Our Father" who, like all good parents presiding over their family table, wants to make sure the entire family gets all of the nourishment they need?

For most of us, including myself, that would mean being more mindful of both the kinds and the quantity of foods I eat. The benefits of that mindfulness--that each meal is a eucharistic celebration of gratitude for God's provision and God's presence--is that others will have more of what they need to maintain a healthy weight, and the rest of us will enjoy the kinds of daily portions that will greatly improve our health and wellbeing.

Here's a link to a concern about some of today's most vulnerable people on earth in need of their daily bread:
http://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2017/05/doubling-our-2017-mcc-relief-sale-income.html