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The world has become a strange place where
more than 1 billion people are overweight, whilst 170 million
starve for lack of food. In Britain, the figures show that
one in three children are now overweight, in some cases to
the point where doctors fear they will die before their parents.
At the other extreme is a growing epidemic of eating disorders,
affecting an estimated 1.15 million people in the UK. Identity
has become mixed up with dress size - or collar width, for
males now count for one in ten calls to the Eating Disorder
Association in Britain.
Celebrities only feed the obsession. Despite the fact that
millions face famine-induced starvation in sub-Saharan Africa,
a study published in October revealed that Zulu women are
using laxatives in an effort to look thinner.
Surely there is a balance between all these extremes, but
what determines a person's relationship with food?
On one level, regulating one's eating is often a last bid
to impose order when every other aspect of life seems out
of control.
"I must try harder not to eat," writes a bulimic
teenage girl in the recent novel Massive, by Julia Bell (Picador
ISBN 0-330-41547-6)
Whether it is by starving themselves, binge eating and purging,
or compulsively over-eating, those suffering from eating disorders
are seeking a single, manageable focus to their problems.
By contrast, Doreen Williams, founder of Anorexia and Bulimia
Care UK, a Christian organisation, believes that by viewing
eating disorders as part of a wider problem, we may help to
address the unmet spiritual need that often lies beneath.
John is typical of those who try to cope with a difficult
home life by controlling their eating. The teenager, 5' 10"
tall, was rushed to hospital when at his weighed dropped to
five and a half stone. After four months in with no improvement
a doctor, frustrated with his lack of progress, asked if he
wanted to spend the rest of his life in bed.
"This challenged me and proved to be a turning point
as I decided I wanted to go on living and so I made every
effort to put on weight", recalls John. Two years after
leaving hospital, largely recovered but still aware something
was missing, he wandered into a church while a meeting was
in progress. "I quickly realised that the people there
had something I didn't have. I knew that I wanted what they
had - a relationship with Jesus," he recalls. "Two
weeks later I finally spoke to God and told Him I'd had enough
of struggling on my own and asked him to take charge of my
life and deal with my insecurities. Immediately I had a deep
assurance of God's love for me and a knowledge that he would
help me with all of life's hurdles."
This sense of divine, unconditional love which can follow
conversion - not dependent on image, food intake or waist
size - is obviously crucial in beginning to deal with the
underlying lack of self-image and devastating effects of eating
disorders.
But while food is an integral part of life here on earth,
we cannot allow it to define our identity, which resides in
the image and unconditional love of God. As Jesus rebuked
Satan during his 40 days of fasting and temptation: "Man
does not live on bread alone" (Matt 4 v 4). Throughout
the Bible there are many examples of this balanced relationship
with food. Jesus' prayer with his disciples - a prayer we
still pray more than two thousand years later - puts our physical
need for sustenance right at the heart of life.
What is clear, however, is that faith and food go hand in
hand. Jesus often combined the two in his language, telling
his disciples: "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes
to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will
never be thirsty"(John 6 v 35). He recognised the basic
human needs of food and drink and used these to illustrate
our equally desperate need for everlasting life in Christ.
When we gather as Christian believers to partake in the Eucharist
we celebrate Jesus' transcendence of the everyday with the
divine - using bread and wine to remember his life, death
and resurrection. It was the last supper - a shared meal,
not a meeting.
As Peter discovered when he saw a vision of 'unclean' animals
coming down from the heavens on a sheet, Christ has released
us both from a legalistic relationship with food and a legalistic
relationship with him.
In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul urges the believers to consider not
eating meat when with people who assume that meat must be
offered to idols before consumption.
The issues surrounding those particular Christians were food
and idols. Today we are more likely to find that our friends
struggle with food and image as a problem. It might be best
not to offer pudding if we know our friend struggles with
his or her weight.
As we consider food and our relationship with it, let us take
an abundant view of life as Christ can give us. Food is here
to be eaten, and celebrated with joy and fellowship at times
such as Christmas. But food is not what defines as human beings.
This Christmas remember those who do not have enough food
to survive - and take whatever action we can, be it prayer,
political action or giving - to help them enjoy life on this
earth.
Claire Shelley is news editor at the Church
of England Newspaper and managing editor of CounterCulture.
email: claireshelley76@hotmail.com
A fuller version of this article will appear in the Christmas
edition of Third Way magazine.
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