Mary Magdalene, Seven Daily Demons, and Seven Antidotes

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Gluttony. But wait- if gluttony has to do with overindulgence, why the image of the scale and fruit? Everyone knows that overindulgence is a form of gluttony, am I suggesting under-indulgence can be a form of it too? I think it can. For those unfortunate persons who suffer from some form of eating disorder, I pray they are relieved of their affliction. If that’s you, I’m sorry for your suffering. I think whatever helps you arrive at more wholesome eating should be the focus, not questions of guilt and sin. Where consent is impaired, reestablishing freedom is prior to directing that freedom into repentance and virtue. But for the rest of us? As a temptation this sin is found in the attraction of an inordinate commitment to the care of the body, and the urge to give food (or any bodily good) an inordinate place among our daily concerns. As a sin this would be deliberate consent to or endorsement of this desire for excess and any action based thereon. That could be over-eating, but it could be excessive dieting, or  really any undue preoccupation with the care or neglect of the body. To escape this vice one needs not more or less restraint (although one might need that) but a balance that withdraws us from the concerns of the body and this world and allows us to live integrated lives. In a word. . .