Big Words and Balance!

Greetings All,


Lately in my quiet time I have been reading the Apocrypha from beginning to end. I have read bits and pieces before, but I have never read it all the way through, so I thought it might be time. It has been a fascinating read as it has given me a real window into Jewish history and thought in that chronological time period between the Old and New Testaments. While all of that is well and good and I would totally encourage y'all to give the Apocrypha a read, that is not what struck me enough to blog.

What did was a word that I encountered in 4 Maccabees 1:27. It belongs to a portion of text where the author is discussing the supremacy of reason over the emotions and he begins to list some of the things that reason can overcome. The verse which had the word that caught my attention reads, "In the soul it is boastfulness, covetousness, thirst for honor, rivalry, and malice; in the body, indiscriminate eating, gluttony, and solitary gormandizing."

So did you read it? The word that caught my attention. A word I have never heard before. A word that I was compelled to look up. Yes, it is the word, "gormandizing!" I have never heard of it and since it is written in the context of eating and I love to eat I decided to look it up. Some of you may have known this word, but I alas did not so I was dependent upon old Mr. Webster and here is what he had to say: gormandize is to eat gluttonously or ravenously. Okay, so I am and have been for some time a gormand, but that confession is not what motivated me to write. What did was the fact that it is a less common form of the word gourmandise which means a love and taste for good food. I clearly have a gourmandise, but what struck me so much was how something that started as a love for good food turned into eating ravenously.

There is a truth in that realization for all of us regarding life. Those good things in our lives when taken to an extreme can suddenly become bad things. Everything in moderation can be good for us, at least that is how Paul puts it, but taken to an extreme anything can become very bad. A glass of wine can be enjoyable with a meal, but for the alcoholic that good thing has become a life altering substance. Catching up with some old friends on Face book can bless our lives, but when our day is suddenly consumed by social networking that good thing has become very bad. The same can be said for church. Participating in Sunday worship and a small group or Wednesday night is necessary for growing a deeper relationship with Christ, but if we suddenly find ourselves at church every time the doors are open that good thing has become bad.

Our lives must be a constant striving for balance in all things. Whether they are physical, spiritual, or emotional things we must constantly be on guard to make sure our taste for good food doesn't turn into ravenous consumption. Are we spending balanced time with family, friends and by ourselves? Is work or church getting a disproportionate amount of time compared to our family? Do we spend more time in front of screen than face to face? Are our lives marked by gourmandise or gormandizing? As we ask ourselves these questions we may discover that we are more gormandish than we realized. The good news is that we are not in this pursuit of balance alone. We have Christ and a Church family to help us on the journey! Let us strive together to have balanced, gourmand lives.
Your brother in Christ,
Faron