What God Gives Should Not Afflict

I’m so grateful for Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy’s God-sent message and how they lived their examples for us to follow. One of these examples is praying unceasingly, and particularly praying before our meals.

We hear a lot today about food being an affliction. Mealtimes which should be a time of gratitude and happiness, have become a time of anxiety, and pain afterward for many people. This lie starts by making you afraid of eating something, so you eliminate that, and then the next thing, and then the next thing. Through Christian Science, we see that this is just one more way that mortal mind would keep us slaves, to be afraid of eating. Praying with the Lord’s Prayer when we sit down to eat is one of those simple but preventive steps we can take every time we eat.

In Course in Divinity and General Collectanea, also known as the “Blue Book,” on page 195, Mrs. Eddy gives us something that is very simple but can be used in conjunction, or as an alternative, to using the Lord’s Prayer. It says, “Before each meal, deny the existence of any power or intelligence that can interfere with our conscious oneness with God.” I find that so beautifully said and so very powerful.

I say to anyone who has been tempted with this lie, please use what we have been given. Have faith in it, it works. We do not have to be afraid of food, something so good — nourishment from our Father-Mother. We can stand our ground with the Lord’s Prayer, or the simple prayer in the “Blue Book,” or any other of your choice. We need not live in fear, there is a Father-Mother God, always present, who we can turn to and have our relief.