Mark Kurlansky was the one to say, "Food is a central activity of mankind and one of the single most significant trademarks of a culture." Food is necessary for survival, but often times, we over-exaggerate that necessity. The food we eat defines who we are. Those who can afford it and take the time to prepare healthy meals, are those concerned with what they are putting into their body. Those who eat fast food, do not find it more valuable to spend the money or take the time to prepare something that they will no longer be in their possession just minutes after eating it. There is nothing wrong with either, but our culture and values are expressed through food.
When the assignment of restraining myself from eating fast food for a week was presented, I did not think that it would be a challenge for me. After that week, I came to realize that the most challenging part of this task was keeping myself from something that I knew I could not have. I am one who satifies my Chipotle or Panera craving that happens once a month, maybe, but because I knew that this was no longer an option, I wanted it that much more.
In response to St. Augustine's warning to "Enter again into yourself," John Paul II agreed and said, "Yes, we must enter into ourselves, if we want to find ourselves... One of the meanings of penitential fasting is to help us recover an interior life." This challenge was not a step towards eating more healthy or a way to save money, it was a way to eliminate something that is so easily accessible to today's world. By eliminating unnecessary things in our material lives, we are able to remove the layers that cover our actual life as a human being.
This week was somewhat of a challenge, but I successfully refrained from eating fast food the entire seven days.
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