Friday, March 6, 2009

:: the struggle is the same ::

//rant begin

Question: You are having a party and your close friend, Bob, who is a recovering alcoholic is coming to your party. Would you have booze at your party? I would think that out of sensitivity to your friend, you would lean towards not having any booze.

My friend, Derek, is giving up coffee for lent this year. Out of sensitivity towards him, we decided not to serve coffee at an upcoming church retreat because why tempt a fellow brother-in-christ?

And then there's me... a recovering fataholic. I still struggle from serious relapses when it comes to gluttony (like the one a week ago). No special treatment for me though because apparently - i need to exercise my OWN self control and not eat that darn brownie. But all other recovering "X-ics" get special treatment (where X = some other more popular vices).

Well guess what, guys, the struggle is all the same. We're all trying to stay away from things that we need to stay away from for various reasons. For me and Bob, it's pure addiction tendencies. Him for vodka and me for chocolate. ANY addiction is bad. In Derek's case, it's for spiritual reasons and tempting him is not going to do him any good as he focuses on commemorating Jesus.

My good friend Dylan reminded me of this other scenario... Have you ever been to those church-wide potlucks or parties? People bring truckloads of super unhealthy things like cakes, pies and cookies as they show off their great-grandmother's secret recipes. Look around the room - plenty of obese people. But you don't see anyone bringing booze because "it could cause a brother to stumble". Hey listen, gluttony is the one and the same. Funny how nobody wants a hand in tempting the alcoholic while others have no problems in aiding obesity - the fastest growing cause of death and disease in America. Churches are known for hospitality, love, acceptance (Oh we love all you fat peeps!! come to Jesus!!) but yet we think we show love by bringing all sorts of fatty desserts and food when we are ultimately abetting gluttony. Gluttony is probably the most socially acceptable form of sin in the church today. Is that not hypocrisy? We sensitize ourselves to the vices we think are the worst and ignore the one that could ultimately could kill us? Anyways, what I wanted to say is that I'm no different from the recovering alcoholic. Some sensitivity would be nice.

//rant end

On a side note- I am going to a church retreat this weekend and it will be like the white witch waving turkish delight at Edmund (me). Please keep me in your thoughts as I fight through the weekend. Times like these, sheer determination, just ain't enough. (So help me, God)

3 comments:

mikee said...

well said. why is it not OK to encourage alcoholics to drink but it IS OK to give unhealthy overweight people high calorie junk food? i don't get it. i.e. being overweight to obese is accepted but being an alcoholic is not. what gives?

hang in there jo! BE STRONG!

Nici said...

i agree with you. a vice is a vice, they should all be treated the same. Stay strong girl!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for making a really great point. I wonder what some practical steps might be towards (humbly) bringing this to people's attentions? I often don't mind when crap is served at coffee hour at church because the vast majority of our meals ARE healthy. I don't stress the odd times when someone else serves us unhealthy food. Nevertheless, that's just thinking about the issue in terms of me and mine. It's not considering others and their struggles. You've given me a really valuable perspective.

Thanks!

KristenM
(AKA FoodRenegade)