...how gross I feel when I take a hiatus from Atkins for the holidays? This is just stupid. Tomorrow it is back to Induction for this boy. I just can't stand feeling so sluggish. Why do I allow myself to fall into this trap repeatedly?
It's like sin (note the LIKE, Cwirla, I'm not advocating for dietary law here!), but we know how awful we feel when we succumb to temptations and yet we end up doing it again and again. And each time we do, we realize what a cheat and false promise it delivered. And we knew that before we gave in, but we keep chasing the lie anyway. Sin is like those Red Lobster biscuits - smells so good, and tastes so fine going down, but then there's the matter of paying the piper afterwards. And we swear in the aftermath: that was stupid, and I was stupid, and it's not worth it, not at all. But how faulty is our memory when the sin comes teasing our minds again with false memories and promises.
Lord, make us always remember the yuck and depression of sin so that we learn to grow in resisting its allure - and help ME remember what I feel like AFTER eating Red Lobster biscuits, potato chips, m&ms, pizza and breadsticks!!!
Sign me with my old nickname:
Fat Chance
(William Chancellor Weedon)
Another take on it:
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons I eat wrong over the holidays is peer pressure. It's not only the stupidity of forgetting how I'll feel after I eat all those treats that tickle my tastebuds but make me feel like crud. It's also not wanting to offend the one who prepared the treats. Not wanting to skip the meal when you've been invited for dinner. Not wanting to forego the socialization that occurs over the dinner table. So you eat what's set before you because you don't want to explain your non-participation in the feasting. You don't want to offend those who don't find anything wrong with that food.
The same goes for sin. How often are we afraid to refrain from sin (even when we know it's wrong, even when we know how we'll pay for it later) just because we don't want to stick out and be different? (Gosh, this sounds like a speech for 12-yr-olds. How come we haven't outgrown that by middle-age?)
That was brave, Pastor.
ReplyDeleteSo I'll step up to the plate and reveal a nickname I had in college -- Rollitos.
Spanish, yeah, but I'll give you a hint -- look for the cognate, identify the diminutive, and you're pretty much there.
Red Lobster biscuits....
ReplyDeleteY-U-M-M-Y in the tummy~)
Well perhaps the Christmas season isn't the best time to try self-discipline, although perhaps it ought to be.
ReplyDeletePerhaps we could just hurry Lent along a little sooner. Maybe Jan second? Boy we'd lose those pounds.
"It's like sin (note the LIKE, Cwirla, I'm not advocating for dietary law here!)..."
ReplyDeleteStill sounds like Religion to me, disclaimers notwithstanding.
Just returned from our post-Christmas/pre-anniversary getaway of fine dining, kayaking, hiking, bird watching, gallery shopping, and (new to this year) elephant seal gawking. (Sadly, the spouse is a bubble watcher when it comes to scuba.)
Last night's five-course extravaganza (with matching wines) capped off with caramelized bananas and roasted walnuts with homemade vanilla ice cream on a chocolate truffle brownie sitting in a twin pool of caramel and chocolate sauce left me a bit sluggish, but the 7:30 am hike straight up Black Mountain set things back in order quite nicely.
Feasting for a holy day isn't necessarily a "wrong" thing even if it makes you feel a little sick afterwards. Not being able to survive a good feast without after effects is just part of the fallen nature of our bodies. I say enjoy the feast! Avoid the foods that may cause you a particular problem (for instance, I'm allergic to dairy), but be willing to suffer a little afterwards.
ReplyDeleteIn the U.S., we often find ourselves on the extremes instead of the mean. It's difficult to find a balance between my sinful love for good food and drink and my sinful desire to have the 32" waste that I had when I was young. When I examine myself, I find that both desires are sinful to the core.
Hey, Rollitos, you know I'm going to have fun with that...
ReplyDeletePastor Cwirla, you live in a world I can't even begin to imagine! When I am given two forks at a dinner I start to get nervous. I'm a simple southern redneck, remember.
Erich and Doorman, feasting for the day is one thing, but eating foods that I KNOW make me sick for a whole week - that's not feasting. That's stupidity!
Susan,
ReplyDeleteGood points!