focus question : There are many instances in the Bible where food is shared and distributed evenly. What does it mean in terms of group identity to share food and how does this ritual of the sharing of food manifest today?
“This is my body, which is for you.”
1 Corinthians 11:24
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Mildly terrifying images never fail to surface upon reading this Bible verse.
The notion that food consumption is a spiritual aspect of human nature caught my interest. Food is nothing but comfort to me, but within my individual worldview – a context where food has never been scarce or precious – I confess that I never actively sought more meaning in food than taste. In contrast, Jesus offers the ultimate form of love to his disciples, because sharing food when food is scarce becomes essentially equal to sharing ones own flesh – a sentiment I felt removed from.
Catherine Manton writes, “This sort of societal self-definition establishes who are the insiders or outsiders to that group…a medium by which society establishes its special identity.”(1)
So if one who shared wine and broke bread (communion) with Jesus Christ could claim genuine Christian identity, is the “special identity” theory applicable to myself and my food buddies in 2019?
Perhaps I am guilty of being isolated from the spirituality of food, being removed from numerous processes by which it came to be plated, reducing its significance to simple sustenance. Regardless, the implications of sharing are largely the same. Food is capable of creating connection between lives because of its centrality to life, thus is capable of catering to our spiritual wellbeing.
I am not the Son of God and neither are my friends to the extent of my knowledge. However, our snacks share qualities of the holiest of Last Suppers, because they are processes of sharing who we are and making spiritual connections.
references
1 Fed Up: Women and Food in America (Westport, Conn.: Bergin and Garvey, 1999)
I think this post holds very valid points about spirituality. The connotations of spirituality have always been profoundly related to religion and being someone who isn’t religious the concept of spirituality is something that I have been disconnected with. I agree with the disconnection of the scarcity of food, which I believe many of us can relate to. In a religious context it may be hard for those who don’t hold these beliefs to understand the spirituality of food. But through your self-reflection it allows us to realise that spirituality is interpretive. This post made me do my own self-reflection of the times I ate out with friends. It made me see that our food adventures do hold more significance then I initially thought. It allows a moment of connection with each other and this in itself can be seen as spiritual.