Monday Morning Meditation #100: The Value of Vegetables

Oh, my goodness! As I typed in the title for this post, I realized that it is #100, exactly. It seems pretty amazing that 100 weeks have passed since I have begun writing this column. It is especially amazing because I still have only scratched the surface of all the wonderful information, stories, advice, guidance, direction, etc., that one finds in the Bible. I do apologize for the late posting of this MMM. It is no longer morning. Doah stayed overnight last night, and his hyperactivity kept my attention riveted to matters that do not require quiet concentration.

Now, back to this week's reading. Having completed Ezekiel, last week, I moved on to Daniel. Not that I worked very far through that book...I stopped on the very first chapter on the story of Daniel and his friends choosing to be fed vegetables and water over the royal food and wine offered to them and ended up healthier than their peers at the royal table.

Reading: Daniel 1
Meditation: One could read this story from a literal point of view or from a metaphorical point of view. I read it from both.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Likely in the days of Daniel, medicine was not advanced enoughttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifh to know the value of fruits and vegetables over red meat and more popular foods. So, it is interesting to read that somehow Daniel trusted to plain food associated with a simple life. Today we would not be surprised to find that as a result Daniel and his companions were healthier than those who opted for the foods that were high in fat and cholesterol.

Similarly, one might look at a "simple" life versus a "royal" life. While riches (like royal food) might be "tasty" (attractive), they are not spiritually healthy for us -- as we are frequently told throughout the Bible, especially by Jesus in the gospels; simplicity and poverty (like vegetables), as those who have followed in the path of St. Francis and others like him have learned, are healthier.

So, I guess the take-away is what our mothers have always told us. We need to eat our vegetables!

Contemplation: That is far as I can go with you this Monday morning. I now retire to private prayer to praise God for demonstrating to us and telling us in so many ways throughout history that we should concentrate on eating our vegetables and not on the fancier fare of life. I will thank God for giving us vegetables, and I will ask forgiveness for those times that I have bypassed the vegetables and reached for the cordon bleu. I will also ask God to continue to guide me in the decisions I have to make on a daily basis on how simple or complex I make my life. Then I will move on to contemplation, my favorite part of the day, letting God take over the direction in which my relationship with Him moves.

I will leave you now to your prayer and contemplation. First, though, I would like to bring to your attention a Monday morning prayer post that you might enjoy:

Fr. Austin Fleming, priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and pastor in Concord, Massachusetts, posts a prayer each Monday morning that he calls "Monday Morning Offering." I enjoy his prayers very much. I think you also will find them inspirational. He has graciously given me permission to include a link to his blog on my Monday Morning Meditation posts. (During the week, he also posts great homilies and other thoughtful discussions. I enjoy reading those, too, as do readers of this blog who have taken the stroll over to his blog.)

For additional inspiration throughout the week, I would point out two sets of blogs: (1) the list of devotional blogs on my sidebar and (2) my blogroll, where I am following a number of inspirational priests and writers about spiritual matters. I learn so very much from all these people. I highly recommend them to you.