{"id":377,"date":"2010-02-18T08:36:07","date_gmt":"2010-02-18T08:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/prayerplainandsimple\/2010\/02\/the-eucharist-diet-giving-up-austerity-for-lent.html"},"modified":"2010-02-18T08:36:07","modified_gmt":"2010-02-18T08:36:07","slug":"the-eucharist-diet-giving-up-austerity-for-lent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2010\/02\/the-eucharist-diet-giving-up-austerity-for-lent.html","title":{"rendered":"The Eucharist Diet: Giving Up Austerity for Lent"},"content":{"rendered":"

February 18, 2010<\/font><\/p>\n

Day 48<\/font><\/p>\n

Weight: 197 lbs<\/font><\/p>\n

Weight lost: -9 lbs<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

I’m giving up austerity for Lent. My impulse to beat myself-up in order to win God’s favor seems to die hard.  <\/span>So I’m tackling this with a diet of joy, supplemented by a daily dose the Lord’s Supper. The original Christians didn’t celebrate Eucharist with cardboard wafers and diluted grape juice. They shared communion the midst of a common meal and sometimes inside a genuine feast. I wonder what we’ve lost. So, I’m giving up austerity for Lent. <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

The wonderful film “Babette’s Feast” tenderly and playfully challenges Christendom’s assumption that self-denial cuts a path to spirituality. The story takes place on the desolate coast of Denmark in the late 1700’s. Martina and Philippa are the two beautiful daughters of a devout clergyman who prior to his death preached salvation through austerity. Both girls sacrifice their youthful passions, marriage and family to carry on their father’s legacy. Now years later, they still manage to keep alive his version of faithfulness among the townspeople. <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Then one stormy night Babette, a refugee from France’s civil war finds her way to their doorstep. She is weak and frightened, and the sisters quickly bring her in. For room and board Babette agrees to cook and care for the house. The sisters draw up rules about what they should eat and how it should be prepared – bland fish and potatoes without seasoning. Babette faithfully complies. Years pass. <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Then one day Babette learns that she has won a French lottery. Her winnings would give her full independence. But instead of leaving her new home Babette asks permission to prepare a gift of gratitude for her village – a gourmet French meal! Babette, it turns out, had been one of the most renowned chefs in Paris. <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

In the end her friends accept her gift and come to see, reluctantly perhaps, that God has created all good things for our enjoyment. <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

“Taste and see that the Lord is good!” says the Psalmist (Psalm<\/i> 34). <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

“Lord, at the moment of creation you declared all the things you’d made on earth ‘good,’ and even ‘very good.’ I do the same. In this season of Lent help me to pause and enjoy the wonders of your creation, including the delicacies of food that feed my body and soul. Especially help me to be grateful and to remember that you are the source of all good gifts. I remember this in my celebration of communion today. You are with me, in me, over me, around me. You are my God, my everything, my sustenance and satisfaction. Thank you, Jesus!” <\/strong><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February 18, 2010 Day 48 Weight: 197 lbs Weight lost: -9 lbs   I’m giving up austerity for Lent. My impulse to beat myself-up in order to win God’s favor seems to die hard.  So I’m tackling this with a diet of joy, supplemented by a daily dose the Lord’s Supper. The original Christians didn’t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":200,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-eucharist-diet"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Eucharist Diet: Giving Up Austerity for Lent<\/title>\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.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2010\/02\/the-eucharist-diet-giving-up-austerity-for-lent.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Eucharist Diet: Giving Up Austerity for Lent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"February 18, 2010 Day 48 Weight: 197 lbs Weight lost: -9 lbs   I’m giving up austerity for Lent. 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He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the author of \"Six Prayers God Always Answers: Results May Vary,\" and \"Nine Ways God Always Speaks: Only Available in Certain States,\" both co-written with Jennifer Schuchmann. His third book is \"The Karma of Jesus.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Mark is a native of Santa Cruz, California. He has studied at Azusa Pacific University, The Academy of Performing Arts, Cambridge, Ontario, and Luther Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. from Regent University. Mark and his wife Jill have four children. His true passion is walking with people in the exciting adventure of communicating with God.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/author\/mherringshaw"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}