Gluttony and Temperance
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We should begin with a very radical idea, One most of us don’t believe or have twisted in our minds: God desires our happiness. Most of us don’t believe that deep down. We don’t believe it because we have might have a wrong idea about God, or we are confused and have happiness and pleasure mixed up. We think, most of it subconsciously, that the things God is against are the things that bring me pleasure. Therefore, God doesn’t want me to be happy. This comes from my own brokenness of pursuing and settling for pleasure when God wants to give me happiness. I often settle for pleasure at the expense of my happiness.
Happiness is achieved by striving through virtue to attain the good things we need to flourish in relationship with God. The goods every human person needs to flourish are Physical Well Being, Knowledge, to Experience Beauty, Achievement, Psychological Well-Being, Good Relationships with Other Humans, A Good Relationship with the Supernatural. We ought to be approaching our lives in a truly balanced way by pursuing all of the goods we need to flourish, but this is where our unhappiness comes in: We are often pursuing one of these human goods by attacking or injuring another. This is truly what sin is, pursuing some good while injuring another.
two
One example of this is Gluttony. Food and drink are necessary for our Physical Well-being. They are good things. But, we also want Psychological Well-being. And often we will pursue psychological well-being through food, which ultimately injures our Physical well-being, and never leads to real psychological well-being or happiness. St John Cassian called gluttony “the door of the passions”. (Ladder 14:36) While St Maximus the Confessor calls it “the destroyer of all the fruits of virtue”. (Questions to Thalassius, 65) We tend to think of Gluttony solely as eating too much food, or imbibing too much drink. The Fathers of the Church didn’t see it quite so simply. They saw gluttony as taking food without the aim of nourishment, seeking only the pleasure food provides. This pleasure in food could be sought in quantity, as we usually think about gluttony as eating too much, but they also saw that one could be gluttonous in the quality of the food as well. So much of our eating and drinking is based on our feelings and simply seeking pleasure! So it’s not just eating too much. And whether we realize it or not Gluttony makes our soul
1.Sluggish and Slows its movements
2. Prevents it from engaging in spiritual combat as it should
3. Altering the soul’s ability to discern
4. Sickens or weakens our prayer
three
This is good to talk about during Lent, while we are thinking about fasting. Or maybe by this point you’ve given up? When we fast, we are foregoing one good for a greater or higher good. So it’s appropriate that we talk about gluttony, and the therapy that heals it, which is Temperance. Notice I said Therapy. The Early Church Fathers and the great saints always saw it this way. Our sins and vices were illnesses from which we needed healing. Christ, the Physician. The Church, the Hospital. The Sacraments, Medicine. The virtues and ascetic practice were the therapies. Just as we go to physical or occupational therapy, temperance is the therapy which helps to heal us of gluttony.
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Temperance is the virtue that enables us to keep from doing what’s wrong, even when we have strong feelings for it. In short, Temperance keeps us from sinning, even when we want to! Temperance is about protecting the good. Prudence is how we know the good. Justice is giving others and God the Good that they are due. Fortitude or Courage is the ability to do the Good even amid hardship. So temperance guards the good. But I want to be clear, the goal of the Christian life isn’t to avoid sin. Though if you ask people what a good Christian is, many would start by what they don’t do. We are good Christians because of what we do. By pursuing the human goods we spoke about and promoting Beauty, Truth, Goodness, & Holiness. So our purpose in life isn’t avoiding sin but rather living virtuously and being with God forever in heaven – PERFECT Happiness. But we still need to avoid sin, or else we won’t get there. So even though Temperance isn’t the ultimate goal, it is still a prerequisite for happiness and holiness!
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Remember, gluttony is our delighting in food outside of God because I consider the food in itself and the pleasure it will give me. So how can I heal from Gluttony this Lent and grow in the virtue of Temperance? Here’s how:
1. We have to be people of prayer, so look at What, When, How, & Where you are going to pray
St Barsahuphius says “Whoever searches for the things on High, and meditates on the things on high forgets to eat his bread.” Meaning, when we are people of prayer we are more likely to not seek our peace and pleasure in food
2. Making sure you pray before eating
Most of us do this I’m sure, but eating in a Eucharistic way, giving thanks for our food goes a long way! Maybe consider adding an after meal prayer.
3. Think about WHAT and How much you are eating
St Basil essentially says to eat simply and according to your needs, he and all the Fathers say to avoid being full! Eat to where you are nourished and have some satisfaction, but not Satisfied!
4. Avoid any eating which is solely for pleasure
You see, if you aim for the good, you will still receive pleasure, but if you aim for pleasure, the happiness you deeply desire will elude you.