What strikes me as I read through this book a second time is the spiritual connection with food that I often ignore. My attitude toward food is often that it is fuel. I must eat in order to live, and so I choose to eat as quickly and often cheaply as possible. Quite frequently, I have eaten alone.
I think some if not many of my attitudes toward food are cultural (meaning for me a North American white guy), and as the story of my faith comes from another culture, it's fascinating for me to notice Biblical accounts of eating that are so different from my normal routine. What and how one eats in the Bible are often matters of holiness.
Recently, I have attempted to eat in a more holy fashion, and I understand this to mean more than simply "saying grace" before a meal. I seek to eat with others and to enjoy that time of fellowship. I also try to eat more slowly and enjoy what I'm eating as I am thankful to be eating at all.
Perhaps if we simply chew our food and savor this most basic of behaviors, we will reconnect with other basic elements of creation and thus be more inclined to live in a way that expresses thanks to the Creator.
