Eat Dirt

Orea's note:  I always start by singing a couple of songs.  Usually, it is the songs I was taught in my first shamanism class.  It helps my mind enter the altered state of consciousness that improves my connection with the unseen world.  Today, the second song was a new song that welled up and included the occasional word, "tomato," perhaps because I just wrote that on my grocery list.  I don't usually mention this, but today it is relevant.  Here we go:

What would you like to talk about  today?

Tomatoes. Actually, food in general.  This is going to sound controversial, but we are going to say it anyway.  Whether you believe it or not, it doesn't matter what you eat.

Orea: I'm having trouble with this.  Big trouble.  Please explain.

Food is a concept.  Food is a symbol.  You live in a world of illusion, therefore food is an illusion, as well.

Orea: That's all very nice, but I know my body reacts differently to different kinds of foods.

This is true.  Your body has developed...an attitude.  Your response, and everyone else's,  is based on your experiences and your belief system.  With the right attitude, you could eat dirt and be perfectly nourished.

Orea: Right. (sarcastically)  And I'd enjoy it, too!

Yes, in fact, you would.

Orea: I don't get this.

It's all God, remember? God's Love.

Orea: Okay.

So, God's Love can become anything it wants to be, anything you need it to be.  Dirt can become ambrosia...or manna.

Orea: But you don't see most of us going out and eating dirt. 

Babies do.  And what do adults teach little ones? "Don't eat that, it's dirty!"  What's the message, then?

Orea: Dirt is bad and not to be put in the mouth.

Right. So, you are living with a host of ingrained beliefs about the relative worth of different foods and ways of eating.  And we are saying that, if you approached it with a clean slate, you really could thrive eating anything.  Anything you could chew, that is.

Orea: You know, somehow I don't see this happening.

No, and it isn't likely to.

Orea: So what am I supposed to get out of this conversation?

To be flexible, not just about food and dietary issues, but many things that you make judgments about.  Most of it is based on worthless information and faulty attitudes.  The more you think you know, the less you probably do.  We want you to be aware of this, especially relating to the times you find yourself making a reflexive, knee-jerk type of value judgment.  Be very suspicious of those.

As for your food, do the best you can according to what you think you know.  You cannot erase all of your framework for thinking about and experiencing it.  If you can make fewer judgments about how others eat, while doing your best for your own body as you see fit, this would be progress.  Just remember that your knowledge is incomplete and at best, imperfect.

Bless your food.  Offer it to God - ask that it serve you and your body (and your loved ones if you are feeding them) in the highest and best way possible.  Offer your gratitude and hold the knowing in your heart that this is so, that the food will nourish you and heal you no matter what it is,

Twinkies included.

We said that just to see you recoil!

Even the evil Twinkie is God.  Remember that next time you pass a box of them in the grocery store, and look at it say, "Hi, God!" and laugh to yourself at the utter absurdity of life.

We love and bless you and hope you enjoy your meals, whatever they may be.

Namaste.


Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net