In line with the whole idea that you are what you eat, it's clear that you are how you eat as well, especially as a lifestyle. A feast that leaves you incapacitated is one thing. The same portions on a daily basis is something else. A diet to loose that weight is one thing. An obsession that never lets you indulge is something else. We become impaired by what's meant to strengthen us.
I see the same in our spiritual diets: obesity, anorexia, etc.
The spiritually obese person consumes studies, books and teachings like they're going out of style, but they don't use as much as they consume. Before very long, they get slow and awkward in their reasoning. And not long after that, they usually resign themselves to it.
The spiritual anorexic suffers a similar end result from the opposite behavior. Whatever causes their aversion to spiritual nourishment (scripture, prayer, etc.), you won't catch them with real food very often. And they look and act like you would expect from someone who's starving all the time.
There could easily be many more parallels and they could go much further.
It takes some work, but I find this train of thought useful to manage my own faith. I think the physical is meant to be a spiritual teaching aid, and would even say that the spiritual angle is the more important one. If you're spiritually unsatisfied, what are you eating? If you're spiritually weak, how are you exercising? And of course they work together. A good attitude is a lot of exercise and doesn't last long without good fuel. But when you combine them, the more you do, the more you can.
I see the same in our spiritual diets: obesity, anorexia, etc.
The spiritually obese person consumes studies, books and teachings like they're going out of style, but they don't use as much as they consume. Before very long, they get slow and awkward in their reasoning. And not long after that, they usually resign themselves to it.
The spiritual anorexic suffers a similar end result from the opposite behavior. Whatever causes their aversion to spiritual nourishment (scripture, prayer, etc.), you won't catch them with real food very often. And they look and act like you would expect from someone who's starving all the time.
There could easily be many more parallels and they could go much further.
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