Taste and See

We made it to church yesterday, believe it or not. I was really able to enjoy the service since we left W in such a good humor in the nursery. In honor of Earth Day, one of the hymns was "For the Beauty of the Earth", which is one of my all-time favorites. The pastor's message was thought-provoking (as usual) and both Mike and I were able to extract good stuff from it. The pastor's sermon was titled "Taste and See" and was based on 1 Peter 2:2-10, which is pretty chock-full of illustrative stuff (tasting the goodness of God, Jesus as the cornerstone of the Church, the community of believers, etc). The pastor hit on all those points, but the part that really hit home for me was the first part. It had to do with consumption (again, appropriate considering that Earth Day is Tuesday). He spoke of one of the so-called "Seven Deadly Sins", gluttony. When I think of gluttony, I think of over-indulgence in something, usually food. The pastor pointed out that gluttony is not necessarily over-indulging in, say, food. Rather, it is putting too much importance on food--either over- or under-consumption.
Huh.
Okay, so this made sense to me, as a person who sometimes (still) struggles with the desire to under-consume. I know that when I was deep into my eating disorder, food (avoiding it) was the center of my life. Most of my thoughts revolved around food--how to avoid eating it, how to lie about what I had or had not eaten, how hungry I was, how "proud" I was of myself for avoiding food... You get the idea. Anyway, food had taken over my life. I had a spiritual and psychological hunger. At that point in my life, I was a glutton. I turned away from everything that had previously made me happy and content. I needed nourishment (spiritual and physical, really) but didn't see how to get it since my mind and soul were focused elsewhere.
So where does that take us with 1 Peter? Well, God gives us gifts (food, family, friends, the earth, etc) to enjoy. Our job, as humans, is to taste/experience these gifts and enjoy them. We are to take care of them, be good stewards. The pastor asked, "Would we really need as much if we really tasted (enjoyed) what we had?" Good question. I don't think so. I look at W's toy box and see it overflowing with toys he rarely plays with. His favorites are near the top and stacked to the side, but the majority of the stuff in there is ignored. Whose fault is that? Mine. A lot of times, I buy him a new toy not because he is bored with his current selection, but because I am bored with his current selection. I kind of think that's how society at large operates, though. Maybe it's just human nature.
Which brings us back to the pastor's message and God's desire for us to turn to Him. The last verse in the passage mentions the people's reception of God's mercy, something all of us have a shot at. Shouldn't that be enough?