January 5, 2010

Day 4

Weight: 206*

Weight lost: 4 pounds* 

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (I Corinthians 11:23-26)

I’m four days into the process and when I weighed in this morning I found a surprising result: I’ve lost 4 pounds since Saturday. But… there’s a caveat and an * on the record book: I used a different scale this morning, so the account is highly suspect. Using different standards for any single process just doesn’t work… We could wax philosophical here, but I’m sure you get the point. I’m going to have to decide – which scale will be my benchmark and move from there. I’ll “weigh” my options and report back tomorrow…

For review: I’m trying an experiment… Living on bread and water, turned to wine… It seems we can’t live on food alone, as Jesus said, but on the Words that come from God… Okay, I’m having Bible with my breakfast! 

And just before I went to sleep last night Jill and I shared communion together. Every day for the next six months I’m going to attempt to eat “bread and wine” – the Lord’s Supper – and document what affect this has on my relationship with food and ultimately on my weight. I need to find some workable solution to my dysfunctional relationship with food. I’ve tried diets. Now I’m resorting to prayer and the miracle of the real presence of Jesus in the wine and break of the Eucharist. Bottom line, I need Jesus to invade the very cells of my body, mind, and spirit. He comes, I believe as I metabolize these ordinary pieces of this planet. It’s a mystery, I know. I can’t explain how, but I believe it and I believe it’s a real thing, with real power. We’ll see what happens…

Today’s projections: It’s Tuesday morning and I’ve already had a bowl of granola for breakfast – nothing dangerous there. I’ve had a cup of coffee with cream and sugar at Caribou Coffee, and I’ve packed a reasonable lunch and I’ll have dinner early this evening before going back to the office for meeting tonight. If I stay away from leftover fudge and cookies stashed around, I should be okay.

“God, fill the cravings, not with empty carbs but with something richer, something that will truly ‘stick to my ribs’ and sustain me through this day. In Jesus…”