A Note on Grace and Nourishment

I can eat with gratitude and reverence, or I can thoughtlessly shovel it in. Either way, how I eat is how I live. If I eat thoughtlessly, my body will respond accordingly; we two will become coarse and crude, and be both cause and mirror of hunger and strife in the world. If I eat mindfully, and consume only what I need, the good food I eat will bring joy to every cell, and my body will be lit from within. If I am ungrateful, this earth’s bounty is wasted on me. It would be better to survive on sunlight and air, until they cleanse me of my arrogance. The same can be said of words and images — those I speak, and those I seek. May they be of grace and nourishment.

“Grace and Nourishment,” Poems, Notes, and Drawings, Page 1312, December 12, 2021.

One person eating unhurriedly, with gratitude and reverence, can positively change an entire gathering, just as can a person who eats with haste and anger, not even tasting his food. Haste is a form of anger. Eat with haste, and those around you will unconsciously pick up their pace, take larger bites, chew fewer times, and swallow without realizing their good fortune. Eat and speak with care, and those in your company are more likely to join you in a state of grace and nourishment. And if they don’t, you will still see them more clearly, and appreciate them in ways you might not have before.

[ 2029 ]