Why Did I Just Pig Out?

Good morning…

On our walk we did several essential things. We exercised in the fresh air. We walked our dogs around the horse farm. We caught up on the details of our challenging family dynamics. We reminded each other that Christmas will be here one short week from Monday. Coming home filled with feelings, I promptly “pigged out” on comfort food and sweets. Midway through a mouthful, I caught myself. I sat myself down, “Sue, what’s going on?”

People are losing loved ones left and right, young and old, suddenly and after a long, hard battle. Deep grief surrounds me.

Political rhetoric grows louder, hits harder, wreaks havoc. How can we work together peacefully when our leaders stir up chaos?

The war-torn areas of our world are devastating, just devastating, and I feel powerless in the face of the ugly violence. What am I to do?

Family and friends are recovering from serious accidents and multiple surgeries, cancer and addiction. Pain is pronounced. Worry fills my prayers.

Kids are coming home for Christmas. I want everything to go well, for memories to be made, for family bonds to grow. How might I nurture growth?

Actually, I think I over-eat because I over-feel, I over-commit, I over-indulge when I am under pressure.

When another friend came to our home for a visit, I told her about my “pigging out” episode. She said, “I think I ‘pig out’ because I constantly give so much to others, and I just feel empty, angry, tired. Eventually I break, and suddenly I take, take, take. I try to soothe myself with immediate pleasure, but scarfing down always backfires. I feel worse after every binge.”

Why do we shovel in more, more, more, when we could do the very opposite?

Simply stop.

Slow down.

Subtract.

When we feel overwhelmed this holiday season, might we prayerfully ask, “God, what might You and I subtract?”

“The soul does not grow by addition but by subtraction,” wrote the fourteenth century mystic Meister Eckhart. Similarly, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, author of Gift from the Sea, writes on page 24: “One learns first of all in beach living the art of shedding; how little one can get along with, not how much.”

The wise will pay attention to these words and will grow in learning, and the discerning will receive divine guidance (Proverbs 1:5, VOICE). Might we learn the art of subtraction? “How little I can get along with, not how much.” Might this equation counterbalance our anxious tendency to “pig out”? Even our overstuffed moments can turn into a blessing if we pay attention, if we learn and discern, if we receive divine guidance from God.

Might we face life’s overwhelming challenges with the mindset of Jesus? Although he was in the form of God and equal with God, he did not take advantage of this equality. Instead, he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant, by becoming like other humans, by having a human appearance. He humbled himself… (Philippians 2:6-8a, NOG).

The very act of “pigging out” raises my own red flag. “Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord,” sings the song in my head, “and he will lift you up.” During this Advent season, might I make room for the rising up of Christ’s resurrection power? He must increase, but I must decrease. [He must grow more prominent; I must grow less so.] (John 3:30, AMPC).

Dear Creator of us all, please empower us to subtract, to empty, to grow less prominent.

…Sue…