You are what you eat...so choose wisely<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I was reminded last night, at Georges Seafood and BBQ, that I become irrational when I'm too hungry. \u00a0I order something that will bring immediate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/13\/you-are-what-you-eat-so-choose-wisely\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You are what you eat...so choose wisely\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was reminded last night, at Georges Seafood and BBQ, that I become irrational when I'm too hungry. \u00a0I order something that will bring immediate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/13\/you-are-what-you-eat-so-choose-wisely\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-13T20:15:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/24.media.tumblr.com\/tumblr_livwyc4WzS1qdis2oo1_500.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard Dahlstrom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard Dahlstrom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/13\/you-are-what-you-eat-so-choose-wisely\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/13\/you-are-what-you-eat-so-choose-wisely\/\",\"name\":\"You are what you eat...so choose wisely\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-08-13T20:15:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-08-13T20:15:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728\"},\"description\":\"I was reminded last night, at Georges Seafood and BBQ, that I become irrational when I'm too hungry. \u00a0I order something that will bring immediate\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/13\/you-are-what-you-eat-so-choose-wisely\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/13\/you-are-what-you-eat-so-choose-wisely\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/13\/you-are-what-you-eat-so-choose-wisely\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"You are what you eat…so choose wisely\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/\",\"name\":\"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Richard Dahlstrom\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728\",\"name\":\"Richard Dahlstrom\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Richard Dahlstrom\"},\"description\":\"As Pastor of Bethany Community Church in Seattle, Richard teaches with vision of \\\"making the invisible God visible\\\" by calling people to acts of service and blessing. 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{"id":1545,"date":"2011-08-13T13:15:27","date_gmt":"2011-08-13T20:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richarddahlstrom.com\/?p=1545"},"modified":"2011-08-13T13:15:27","modified_gmt":"2011-08-13T20:15:27","slug":"you-are-what-you-eat-so-choose-wisely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/13\/you-are-what-you-eat-so-choose-wisely\/","title":{"rendered":"You are what you eat…so choose wisely"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I was reminded last night, at Georges Seafood and BBQ<\/a>, that I become irrational when I\u2019m too hungry. \u00a0I order something that will bring immediate pleasure, and certain delayed pain. \u00a0Last night is was the Seafood Threesom<\/em><\/strong>e<\/strong><\/em>: scallops, haddock, and shrimp, all fried, and served up with a tiny green salad, and some beans and rice. \u00a0I won\u2019t mention that, in need of even more immediate gratification, I\u2019d also ordered a fried calamari appetizer. \u00a0It was all good while going down \u2013 satisfying, pleasurable, filling.<\/p>\n

It was only later that I regretted it, when I started tasting the whole thing again and again around 11 PM. \u00a0I lay awake, muttering something about \u201cnever again\u201d until finally drifting off to sleep. \u00a0I did a penance run this morning, but even as I sit here writing, I\u2019m hungry again, and the thought of sitting down to a nice big salad is somehow not satisfying. \u00a0When I\u2019m traveling, there are times when I fill myself with stuff that I know isn\u2019t going to be good for me. \u00a0I enjoy it in the moment, but feel the poverty of it later.<\/p>\n

This has me thinking about the other food in my life, the food for my mind\/spirit\/soul. \u00a0This realm bears some analogy to my relationship with food:<\/p>\n

1. What you feed your mind\/spirit matters<\/strong>. \u00a0The equivalent of Seafood Threesome is always waiting for us: stupid TV shows, celebrity gossip, violence, gratuitous sex \u2013 the particular ingredients vary slightly from person to person, but if you\u2019ve a shred of discernment in your soul and you stop to ask the question you know: \u00a0this is deep fried garbage. \u00a0Contrast that with Psalm 1,<\/a> which is the picture of someone drawing on the resources of life by exposing themselves to revelation that\u2019s life giving. \u00a0Instead of heartburn, and the feeling that your blood has turned to sludge, the life giving revelation creates a vibrancy.<\/p>\n

2. Junk Food feels good in the moment. <\/strong> Our house at home is basically cleansed of the foods that don\u2019t work well for my wife and I. \u00a0Grains, Cereals, Breads, Margarin, Ice-Cream, highly processed meats, pasteurized this, and hydrogenated that \u2013 we\u2019ve tossed all these things out the window. \u00a0It\u2019s part of the Paleo<\/a> plan that works for us. \u00a0But, in spite of the many good things on the Paleo shopping list, when I\u2019m either tired or on the road, the path of least resistance is usually \u2018fast food\u2019 and that spells trouble.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same song with our mind\/spirit. \u00a0When we\u2019re weary, discouraged, alone, disrupted, the comfort foods of the mind are those places we run to feel good, and what we feast on there is usually not the best. \u00a0What\u2019s tricky, though, is that we feel great in the moment. \u00a0I\u2019m not judging what constitutes fast food for the your mind or spirit.<\/p>\n

3. Learning what\u2019s junk and what\u2019s good requires training<\/strong> because, frankly, most of us have grown addicted to too much junk, and it\u2019s become the new normal. I watched children, this past week, rush past the salad bar in order to pile cake on their plates, sometimes as many 3 large pieces. \u00a0This kind of eating is bad news, because it will train the senses to long for more insulin inducing carbs, creating even deeper longings for carbs the next time. \u00a0Parents need to put some salad and meat on that plate!!<\/p>\n

The same thing, though, happens to our spirits. \u00a0We feast on stuff that doesn\u2019t really nourish, even though it feels good in the moment. \u00a0As a result, we don\u2019t know our Bibles, our attention span has shortened, we have a hard time with silence and solitude, and all of this contributes to a loss of discernment, which furthers the downward spiral as it becomes easier choose spirit junk food more and more consistently.<\/p>\n

The way to break the cycle, in either case, is to choose wisely! \u00a0Read your Bibles. \u00a0Watch movies, but do so with an eye towards growing in discernment, (here\u2019s a resource that can help). \u00a0Listen to all kinds of music, but listen to what the songwriters are saying about the world. \u00a0Pray. \u00a0Journal. \u00a0Sit under the stars. \u00a0Cook a healthful meal and taste the food. \u00a0Stay sober.<\/p>\n

This is basic stuff, but it requires a recognition that our moment by moment choices have consequences<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0Here\u2019s the liberating reality: \u00a0We get to choose the revelation that feeds us. \u00a0Even more than food for the body, which is limited by location, season, menu, food for the spirit is always available. \u00a0What\u2019s more, that which I eat today, become part of me, and available to feast upon tomorrow. \u00a0Bonhoeffer comforted himself by singing great hymns in prison, hymns learned as a child, when the family wasn\u2019t sitting around the TV watching American Idol, but around the piano.<\/p>\n

What do you think? \u00a0Am I a dreamer, as I dare to believe that people can learn to feast on good things? \u00a0And what makes a good thing \u201cgood\u201d rather than destructive? \u00a0Maybe watching American idol can be a good thing?<\/p>\n

I welcome your thoughts! \u00a0\u2013 so please share them\u2026<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"