Adem Learns About Pork (And Other Just-so Stories)

There came a point very recently where I bowed my head and I said, "G-d, thank you for this delicious meal You have provided for me. Please let it nourish my body and grant me peace..." Then, as I sank my teeth into the double bacon chicken sandwich on garlic bread with a side of seasoned fries, I felt a little silly. I was reminded of being a teenager in the Christian church and praying for opportunities to fool around with whoever my girlfriend was at the time.

You, reader, may not have this problem of misplaced gratitude but I do and lately it has been glaring at me. I wouldn't bow my head and thank G-d for the opportunity to put a blade into my skin, to find good pornographic images, or any number of other sinful activities so why is it so easy to give G-d credit for this foolish meal selection. Not only had I just purchased a meal that was feeding sickness and helping me to get out of shape, I had spent His money poorly.

I wonder how many times I feign an attitude of humble gratitude, thanking G-d for something He doesn't want me to have. How many times do I act according to my understanding, make my own decisions, find my own solutions and then thank G-d? This is a dangerous activity because when my decisions lead to detruction in my life, when the consequence of sickness finds me, and my solutions lead to more problems... Perhaps I will blame the same G-d to whom I credited my own poor choices.

It is imperative, maybe not to our survival, but certainly to our success that we constantly question our own motives. Growing up in the Church, it is second nature to thank G-d for the greasy double bacon cheeseburger before me but there comes a point where I have to ask if He is truly providing this for me, or if I am stepping out of His will and taking it. We did this once before with a particular tree and as I recall it lead to separation from G-d.

Something like a double cheeseburger may seem like a silly thing to bring G-d into but if I might be so bold... It is a silly thing to think G-d should be absent from anything.

in love and admiration,

adem