Rot

~John 6.26-27 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

Because we are so fundamentally attached to our physical selves, this is a hard verse. It's difficult, for me anyway, to keep my eyes on the spiritual, invisible, eternal, the "food" that doesn't spoil. I'm so present with my body and the world as I perceive it through my senses. To disconnect a bit in prayer and meditation is, well, as the verse above says, it's work.

The other principle to be noted here is simply that food spoils. It makes me think of one of Michael Pollan's rules: Don't eat anything that doesn't rot. He has a two-year old Twinkie that has yet to show any sign of decomposing. This return to the soil is a natural part of the physical cycle of life.