Does what you eat affect your spirit, or just your physical body? There’s so much advice about food, it can be quite complicated and confusing. In the Bible, we read that Solomon feasted on oxen and fine flour, while Daniel denied the King of Babylon’s meat and wine and thrived on vegetables and water. Scripture don’t say that one was more righteous than the other. One morning, at a park bench under a maple tree, I got a very different answer about what actually matters when you eat.
Conversation with a Maple Tree About the Body
8:34am, Van der veer Park. I stand under a beautiful maple tree, say a prayer, and declare my intention as a disciple of Christ to gather a story to share.
The tree beings with a phrase I have heard before. “I stand, and I wait, I sit at the gate, waiting for someone to let me through.” It’s from a deceased person who is in spirit prison, waiting for someone to perform their baptism.
The tree continues, You know, Jen, there are many more stories like that that are waiting for you. Why do you not get up early to receive them?
Normally I wake at 3am to receive these stories. But I've been tired, and out of my routine, and now recently I've been sick.
The Body As a Vehicle for Spiritual Growth
Ahhhh, the physical body, says the wise tree. Let's talk about that.
The physical body that you receive is different from all others. Each body, each individual's body, is made up of a different composition of the elements, and of exactly what it needs to learn and to grow.
The vast majority of people simply give their body the things that it desires from them. Food, wine, drink, sleep, sex, drugs, relaxation, ease. The body likes these things because it is in darkness and a fallen world.
However, the spirit is here to grow, and the spirit is here to grow through the body. You have been placed in this physical realm so that you can learn how to manage physical reality and the physical level of your being. This is why you have agency and agency comes into play.
Those of us that are here, like myself, who lack agency, are simply here to support you in your growth. There is nothing that I, as a tree, need to learn or to choose from. Or even to experience.
You, however, as a human, have much you need to learn from and to experience. All things that are on the earth serve the purpose of supporting you in your growth. They give you things from which to choose. The more you choose the things that you need, the more you will grow.
Choosing Food That Brings More Light
This is how you gather the light. When a seed is planted, and when it grows toward the light, it is growing toward that which it needs. That which will bring life. What brings life to the spirit, child?
That’s an easy answer. Jesus and the gospel.
Yes, replies the tree. The more you choose these things, the more light you will have and the more you will grow. Does your body need food?
Well, the body needs food to be continually regenerated so that it does not die. However, if I understood it better, I think that I could get to a point where I do not need food. Jesus told his disciples that he had meat that they knew not of, and that meat was his father in heaven. So I believe that the consuming of food can be unnecessary at some point.
Yes, very well, the tree agrees. For now, as you realize, you are dependent upon food. Use the food that brings more light to your being, not that brings more death or heaviness to your being. Do you know how to discern the difference?
I feel like it shouldn't matter what I eat, honestly. I know that processed and fried foods are not good, because they don’t have much or any light and life in them. And there are other things that I have been instructed to stop eating, that are not helpful for me.
However, if I received it correctly, the spirit also told me, in the same breath, to eat whatever I want and remember that I am Jesus's. And I would assume that there is the truth, that, if my beliefs are in alignment with Christ and his teachings, then no matter what I eat, it will not affect my body in a negative way.
Eating in Community Matters
Ah, yes, this is true, the tree begins, but it requires much more light and much stronger spirit than you currently have. In the meantime, the guidance you have been given is accurate and correct. However, you have also received other guidance about food. Do you remember what it is?
I remember that it is important to eat things that bring joy to the heart, that it is important to eat with others, and to have laughter and lightheartedness around food, to eat in community.
The tree confirms this. Yes. Child? All things are better done in community when you want to grow and to have more light. A community that supports that light and that goodness. Embrace that idea. Create that for yourself in your own home.
The Mediterranean Diet: How We Eat Matters
Was this a surprising message for you about food? Did you realize that how we eat matters so much? What we hear over and over is that there is one specific diet that is the best for all people. And yet, humans don’t agree on what that is! However, the Mediterranean diet is often embraced as an excellent way to eat for health and longevity. What I think is missing, though, is the culture that goes with this diet. These people are eating fresh foods, in community, in a sunny, temperate climate.
A study on the Mediterranean diet listed these other factors not directly related to nutrition:
• Connection and respect for nature
• Moderate portions
• Moderate physical activity daily
• Prepare and consume meals in the company of other people (e.g., family and friends)
• Have adequate rest (sufficient and quality sleep at night; possibly short periods of rest during the day (“siesta” = nap)
• Preference for fresh, locally produced foods that have minimal industrial processes
• Cuisine pleasant to the palate
Matthew 15:11 is quite relevant here. It reads, "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man."
I invite you to consider the how surrounding your food more than the what. What are your thoughts as you shop, prepare, cook, and eat a meal? What is the environment you’re eating in? Who are you eating with, and how are you feeling when you eat? I know that as we infuse our foods with community and the light of Christ, we will truly nourish ourselves.
