Eating Anything
Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat, for God has welcomed them. – Romans 14:2-3 (NRSV)
Artemis the Aussiedoodle is among those of God’s children who believe in eating “anything.” She has consumed and digested whole sticks of butter, a box of spicy chicken wings and, one thrilling day, a sixteen-ounce latte. In our long years together, I’ve mostly learned to hide forbidden fruits from her, but I’ve also learned that nothing stops the internal whatsit that keeps her sniffing at counters.
On the last day of summer, we went to visit the ocean. Artemis the Aussiedoodle splashed in and out of the waves, jumped with joy and, from time to time, stuck her tongue out to lick the water. I restrained her as best I could, but I know she got in a few slurps because she looked at me with puzzled concern every time. Her realization that the water was bad did not stop her from trying again, though.
The friend with me asked, “Does she go for salt water because she’s just unable to resist, even knowing it will be bad? Or does she try to drink it because she’s eternally hopeful that the thing that once was bitter will now somehow be sweet?”
Could be either, I guess. Or both. I mean, what is the internal whatsit that sends us back to the same salty wells of false hope? We may never know. But here’s good news! Whatever we are bellying up to today, we are welcomed. We are never despised. And the God who embraces without judgment a certain canine counter cruiser already and always loves us too.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for loving us where we are and loving us too much to let us stay there. Amen.
About the AuthorRev. Jennifer Garrison (formerly Brownell) is a writer, spiritual director and pastor living in the Pacific Northwest. Her published work most recently appeared in the book The Words of Her Mouth: Psalms for the Struggle, available from The Pilgrim Press.