Lewd conduct, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, arguments,

Transcription

1 Gluttony Galatians 5:1, Lewd conduct, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, arguments, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and so forth. Wow, that s quite a list of sins isn t it! I have to admit that I usually avoid this type of scripture passage like the plague. Who wants to listen to a list of sins, even if they are followed by a list of virtues? Not me! Especially since I don t always agree with Paul, the writer of this particular letter to the people of Galatia. Paul tends to look at things in a dualistic kind of way: black or white, right or wrong, flesh or Spirit. He writes, Since our flesh is at odds with the Spirit and the Spirit with our flesh the two are so opposed that you cannot do whatever you feel like doing. I believe that, in fact, our flesh, our bodies are part of God s creation and are therefore sacred. They are not totally at odds with the Spirit. The desires of the flesh are God-given and therefore should be enjoyed. There s nothing wrong with indulging in the five senses that we have been given: seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling. That being said, I do agree with Paul that you can t always do whatever you feel like doing, that there is such a thing as over indulgence. This idea of overindulgence then leads us to today s deadly sin of gluttony. The word, gluttony, 1

2 is often used in the context of eating. In fact, when I searched on the Internet this week I found many grotesque pictures of people over indulging in food. But the definition of gluttony goes far beyond food. Gluttony relates to over indulgence or over consumption of anything. The Enneagram Personality Type that has gluttony as its root sin or passion describes people whose basic need is to be happy and who believe that happiness or joy comes from more more stuff, more experiences, more options, more everything. Those of us with this personality type believe that more is always better. There are good things about this personality type. We tend to be people who are extroverted, spontaneous, playful and fun to be with. We re always trying new things, planning new adventures, we re versatile, and optimistic. Consider: Benjamin Franklin, Amelia Earhart, John F. Kennedy, Richard Branson, Elton John, or Steven Spielberg - people who we associate with change and new opportunities. But let s think about what happens when we let our need for more take over our lives. Those of us with this personality type can become adrenaline addicts. We re always looking for the next high and this can even lead to serious addiction issues. Also, when we re constantly looking for the next great thing, it s hard to deeply commit to what we have right now. Commitment of all types can be an issue. 2

3 This week, I found an article on the Internet that was written in 1955 by an economist called Victor Lebow. In this article he suggested that in order to fuel the economy of that day we all had to become gluttons. This is what he wrote: Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfactions, our ego satisfactions, in consumption. The measure of social status, of social acceptance, of prestige, is now to be found in our consumptive patterns. The very meaning and significance of our lives today expressed in consumptive terms. As we look around in our western world and see the throw-away culture that we have created, it s easy to recognize how Victor s prediction has come true and it s scary to think how our society as a whole has become a gluttonous civilization. But it would be too easy to just blame capitalism or advertising or other external influences. What we need to do is to look within ourselves. What is it that motivates us to over-consume or over-indulge? If our root passion is gluttony then typically what we desire is freedom - the freedom to try every new thing that comes along. But what if we were able to find joy and satisfaction in the 3

4 present? What if freedom came from being grateful for what we are experiencing right now? Mary Jo Leddy calls this radical gratitude. She argues that the liberation of gratitude begins when we stop taking life for granted (Radical Gratitude, page 40). When we see life itself as enough then joy and gratitude follow naturally. When we are able to find happiness in the quality rather than the quantity of our experiences then our need for more diminishes. What this requires is that we actually be present in each moment. For instance, when we are eating one of those joys of the flesh. we could try chewing each morsel of food deliberately. tasting and smelling and feeling the texture of each bite. Or when we are walking in nature another joy of the flesh we could try feeling the ground beneath each step, smelling each flower that we pass, hearing each bird song, enjoying every little breeze. It is possible to find joy and gratitude without over-consumption and even in difficult times. Mary Jo Leddy shares the story of Etty Hillesum, a young Jewish woman in Holland in the midst of the Holocaust. Etty knows the fate that awaits her and yet she still notices a jasmine plant outside her window. She writes, How exotic the jasmine looks, so delicate and dazzling against the mudbrown walls. I can t take in how beautiful this jasmine is. But there is no need to. It is simply enough to believe in miracles in the twentieth century. 4

5 And I do, even though the lice will be eating me up in Poland before long (Radical Gratitude, page 48). Joy and gratitude even the midst of evil and terror. When we recognize that what we have is enough, when we feel gratitude for God s gift of life itself, when we are present in every moment that we are given, then we can experience the joy and the freedom that gratitude brings. 5