Gluttony, Alcohol, and Weed (plus bonus content)

Gluttony

We were made for joy. Joy is the response to something experienced as good and it invites us to rest in that good.

We can have real joy and pleasure (for this discussion they mean the same thing) by experiencing a real good such as the joy of a job well done, a good conversation with a friend or sitting on the beach watching the sun set and the tide roll in.

Or we can replace it with fake joy – some pleasure that takes the place of the real thing. One temptation is to choose fake joy that comes from gluttony, drunkenness and drug use. A fake joy comes from experiencing the pleasure without possessing the true good.

Gluttony refers to eating, drinking and drug use for the sake of

1.  Pleasure alone

2.  Or to escape the reality we find

a.  too hard,

b.  too painful,

c.   too boring

d.  or we think real joy is unattainable.

3.  Temperance helps us experience real joy.

It’s possible to be gluttonous by eating too much

1.  either because it’s unhealthy

2.  because someone else is entitled to the food

3.  or by eating to alleviate stress, anxiety, fear or loneliness

We can also be gluttonous by being

1.  too picky,

2.  too attached to a certain kind of food

3.  too health minded

4.  too controlled by food

Any time we put our eating preferences above love of God and neighbor we are sinning through food and that is gluttony. 

C.S. Lewis points out, every time a person is grumpy, impatient, uncharitable, or self-concerned because of their stomach, it’s a case of gluttony.

Gluttony also refers to Drunkenness 

Alcohol is not evil, in fact the Bible says: Sirach 31:27 Wine is life for man if drunk in moderation. What is life worth without wine? It was created to make men happy. Drunk at the right time and the right amount, wine makes for a glad heart and a cheerful mind.

Drunkenness is to willfully, that is by your own choice, handicap your intellect and will.

The intellect and will is what make us in the image of God and these two powers make us capable of union with God, engaging with God because the intellect is made for truth and God is pure truth. But to the extent that we make ourselves stupid, to the extent that we disable our intellect, to that extent we are preventing the possible full engagement with God.

Our will is made for goodness and God is pure goodness. But to the extent that we hinder our will, that we reduce our freedom chemically, to that extent we are deliberately making ourselves less capable of engaging with God.

Therefore, drunkenness is directly opposed to the fulfillment of the purpose of our life, union with God. That is what makes drunkenness a grave sin.

Drug use

Joy or Pleasure is meant to be a byproduct of attaining a real good. In a sense, joy and pleasure are designed to be a secondary side effect. It’s kind of like praise. If we make being praised our goal, we’ll be governed by vanity, but if we make excellence our goal, then there’s nothing wrong in enjoying other people’s appreciation and gratitude for the good things we do.

So too with emotional joy and pleasure. It’s supposed to be the result of knowing the truth, appreciating beauty, and living a life of virtue. But when we make emotional or mental pleasure the goal then we are tempted to manipulate the brain to feel good through drug use, like pot.

People use Weed to manipulate the emotions

Unlike alcohol, Pot is immoral, even if legal because, it disconnects the Emotions from reality, usually because the world is overwhelming, painful or (displeasing).

This goes against the purpose of the Mind and Emotions. The emotions need to be nourished by reality in the form of goodness and beauty.  Weed Disconnects the emotions from reality – starving the emotions from what they need – reality in the form of goodness and beauty

Even when life gets hard or painful or boring and real joy seems impossible. Don’t give up on real joy and turn to fake pleasures in the form of entertainment, food, alcohol or weed. Don’t substitute fake joy for the experience of things that are truly good. Because God is very good. And even if this life is hard, or painful or not what you wanted this life is still really good. Don’t escape life. Embrace the world and be happy.