You are what you eat

I am the bread of life. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6: 48, 51 NRSV)

It’s a very odd thing –

As odd as can be –

That whatever Miss T. eats

Turns into Miss T.

(“Miss T.” Walter de la Mare)

I quite often say (paraphrasing an old, old, old commercial for the American Dairy Association) that “You never outgrow your need for Sunday school.”

Sunday school classes are (or should be) safe places to wrestle with the Bible, read obscure chapters that you might never have ventured into, get to know your fellow worshippers and build a small community within the larger church community. Unlike the worship service, Sunday school allows for questions and discussions, for give and take, for learning from each other, for disagreeing gently and in Christian love, and for personal “A-ha!” moments.

It was into a lively discussion about the importance of daily Bible reading and study (note well that distinction!) that James dropped this line, saying it in a tone of voice that clearly summed up all that had gone before: “You are what you eat.”

I knew right then and there I had a column for this week.

Just as “whatever Miss T. eats turns into Miss T.,” so what we put into our hearts and brains shapes who we are. Junk food and empty calories turn into obesity. Good food in proper amounts turns into a healthy body.

In the same way, as James, the prophet of the Sunday school class, reminded us: junk entertainment, empty relationships, meaningless pastimes turn us into morally and spiritually impoverished scarecrows.

What you put into your mind affects you. It is a truism that you cannot unlearn a word. And if you are a visual learner, like me, you can’t unsee a sight. I learned as a young adult that there are some visual images that my brain really doesn’t need. There was a movie that I saw that was a murder mystery, and it wasn’t gory, but the visual images were so powerful that I couldn’t walk into a dark room for years. That is why I am careful as I choose what books I read, what television shows I watch, what movies I see.

I am not advocating reading nothing but the Bible. But I am saying that to grow strong in faith, you need to feed your soul daily on the word of God. It behooves Jews and Christians to know what the Bible says, to know the entirety, not just a verse here and there, or a story, or a parable. It is important to study the Bible enough to know the full sweep of God’s relationship with humankind, to learn of God’s love and mercy, to know the big picture as well as the great quotes.

“O taste and see that the Lord is good. …” (Psalm 34:8a) Feast on God’s word for you. Grow strong in the word, and in the Word. Because it is true, you are what you eat.