REAL Happy Meals–an Interview in (at) Christianity Today

Last updated on: March 8, 2013 at 6:00 am by Rachel Marie Stone

REAL Happy Meals–an Interview in (at) Christianity Today 2013-03-08T06:00:27-04:00 Rachel Marie Stone

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The current issue of Christianity Today features an interview with me by the truly lovely LaVonne Neff–who really knows how to ask insightful questions–and it’s online now here.

But to tempt you to make your way on over, here are a few samples:

Eating with joy is great, but lots of us get downright giddy—and our joy eventually becomes diabetes and heart disease. Shouldn’t we worry about that?

Diet-related illness is serious, and it disproportionately affects people who are poor, so it’s something to worry about on multiple fronts. Childhood obesity is a problem, too. But I don’t think joy and that old word temperance (meaning moderation) are mutually exclusive. Joy in food should include awareness of the things God cares about. God cares about those who are hungry, those who suffer the effects of a nutrient-poor but calorie-rich diet, those who must work in farm fields and slaughterhouses at low wages and in unsafe conditions. Thinking about the real people and serious issues involved in food can encourage us in temperance.

Joy isn’t a free-for-all. It’s the deep pleasure that comes by slowing down, recognizing God’s gift, remembering those who don’t have enough, appreciating the labor and resources involved in bringing the food to the table, and purposefully eating with others. If other cultures can blend pleasure in eating with relatively low rates of diet-related disease (as do the French, as do the Italians), so can we.

So what do you do if your kids’ grandparents regularly stuff them with things that aren’t good for them?

{click through for the answer}

Some of LaVonne’s other questions:

Is the evangelical community starting to pay more attention to joy in the created order?

You quote N. T. Wright on the importance of “the small but significant symbolic act.” If a Christian wants to eat joyfully, what’s a good symbolic act to start with?

{and you can read the rest here. If you like what you read, it’s always nice to share. xo}

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