what is it in us that wants to devour, that would swallow up empires? what drives that lust for satisfaction, and why does that so quickly prevent us from getting any good out of the things we ingest?
i need a good theology of consumption. not only because i eat a lot, but because i'm always wanting things. in other words, not only because i have the appetite of a horse, but because i have the appetite of a man. more appropriately, i can be said to have all the appetites of man. i don't know whether or not men of the west have strayed further into sins of gluttony than people in other cultures, but i'm beginning to identify some excuses my western worldview makes for personal excess.
in case you're worried, i'm not saying i'm about to start eating less meat or wearing natural fibers. (although who knows?) i just find some things shallow and wrong-headed about the way i've been living. one is the exclusive connection of consumption with pleasure. if something is pleasant, i want to consume it. if i am going to consume something, i want it to please me. maximizing pleasure begins to drive both the way i see the world and the way i make choices.
just seems kinda backwards.
Posted by nickles at September 10, 2007 02:20 PM | TrackBackMaybe it's just the American in me talking, but it may be that consuming, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. God gave us desires in order to motivate us to fulfill them, and going overboard with those desires, and getting bad when they do not fulfill us or please us, is the problem.
I do know that I get a great deal of pleasure from my relationship with my husband. It shines light on the imperative to love and serve God wholeheartedly, and that his commands lead to true pleasure.
Posted by: Krista at September 21, 2007 09:55 AM