Cavemen ate no bread, so . . . .

Bread has so many positive mentions in the Bible that I want to throw in a word here about a current dietary trend that does not allow bread, the paleolithic diet. Some people's search for optimal health or for relief from various allergies leads them to this diet. It consists of only foods hunter-gatherer, pre-agricultural cave men would have had available to eat: meat and eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, maybe some olive oil or nut oils. That's about it. Glaringly absent from this list is grains (wheat, rice, corn) and legumes (beans, peas, lentils, soy, peanuts). As I understand it, since these foods cannot be eaten raw they are not accepted as something early man would have eaten and therefore not accepted as part of the optimal diet for humans. Paleo-eaters say GOOD-BYE to the 1990s VERSION FOOD PYRAMID

Specific to bone density, I have read in a few places that too much of the fiber found in grains and legumes can interfere with calcium absorption and therefore contribute to weaker bones. I will continue to avoid white flour, which seems to be everywhere in our U.S. diet (pasta, buns, snacks, cookies). But based on the Bible's clear blessing on eating bread (whole grain bread) as a good thing I am deciding now to not worry about cutting out or drastically reducing grain consumption. Jesus blessed bread and that's good enough for me.

"Shameless Audacity" Rewarded

~Luke 11.5-8 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

Another translation says "shameless persistence." So like the widow before the corrupt judge (Luke 18), this is another keep-on-asking-and-never-give-up story.

But what can I learn here about what to eat? Like the hero in this story, sometimes people go to bed with no food in the house. Thankfully I have never done this.

If a late night guest shows up, the staple of bread is appropriate to offer. If there's no bread, go and with shameless audacity ask a neighbor for some.

Daily provision

~Luke 11.3 Give us each day our daily bread. New American Standard
~Luke 11.3 Give us day by day the food we need. Good News Translation
~Luke 11.3 Keep us alive with three square meals. The Message
~Luke 11.3 Our appointed bread be giving us daily. Young's Literal Translation

The Lord's response to disciples asking him to teach them how to pray is short and to the point. It covers the basics, the foundations of our walk with him. One of those bottom line basics is depending on him for our daily provision. Food here, bread, is a picture I think of asking him for everything we need. What food do I need for stronger bones? I should be asking him for it, not just for the food itself, but for the knowledge and will to to choose to eat that.

God, give me today the food my body, your temple, needs for health and strength. And please help me not to put too much other junk in with it.

Priorities, My Dear

Jesus is welcomed into Martha's home as he travels. Here's Kenneth Wuest's translation.
~Luke 10.40-42 Martha was going around in circles, over-occupied with preparing the meal. And bursting in upon Jesus she assumed a stance over Him and said, "Lord, is it not a concern to you that my sister has let me down to be preparing the meal alone? Speak therefore to her at once that she take hold and do her part with me." And answering, the Lord said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and excited about many things, but of few things there is need, or of one, for Mary chose out for herself the good portion, which is of such a nature that it shall not hastily be snatched away from her."

Nothing here specifically about food, but Martha's yikes!-company's-here flurry as she works to prepare this meal is familiar to me. This thought of keeping the higher priority in mind even as we take care of physical needs is also beautifully stated in Matthew 5's Sermon on the Mount. Yes, of course! I know; I know. Still, a peek at that meal Martha was preparing would be fascinating.

Oil and Wine

~Luke 10:30, 33, 34 A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. . . . . But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.

Oil and wine as dressing for a wound seems strange to us, but was probably not uncommon in Jesus' day. My literal translation Bible says "soothing oil" and "disinfecting wine." These substances also have symbolic meaning, the oil of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the wine of joy in God's kingdom. So these substances have other valuable uses besides just consumption. We can apply them liberally to our hurts.

Three Eggs: Prophetic?

In a short Spanish folk story a poor couple who has only five eggs for the day's food argue over which of them gets the extra one after both eat two. (They don't think of splitting it.) By trickery, the hungry woman wins out and gobbles down the third egg before her surprised husband can do anything about it.

In a native American story a lost woman hungry for love eats three Easter eggs offered by a stranger who she then goes off and parties with before wondering off into the dessert to die.

Different authors, different books, different cultural settings. Two women. Three eggs each in one meal. But the other thing these stories have in common is that I happened to read both of them in the same day. One book I stumbled on because Emma had it here for Spanish practice; the other I had picked up at the library. What are the odds that one person would happen to read about a woman eating three eggs in one meal in two unrelated books on the same day. Not high I think. That makes me wonder.

Kids here

Our kids from Mexico are here this week and next. Not only that, but we have other beloved family members coming in to see them. It's "happy chaos" to use Gwynne McQueen's term. I feel blessed and am thankful not to be distracted with lesson plans and essay feedback this summer. Yea! Heat so far has been intermittent and rain abundant. Greens are up in the garden and we're getting a weekly allotment from a "share" we purchased of a local farm. I've been going through fresh produce at an amazing rate, encouraged by the example of Ellen's midwife in January.