Wednesday, May 27, 2020
“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.” (1 John 3: 18 – 20, New Living Translation) 

                OK, it’s time to fess up. What gastronomical guilty pleasures have you been indulging in during these last too many weeks?  What have you bitten into and chewed with utter bliss and satisfaction? What food have you made excuses about as you delightfully crammed them into your mouth? What rationale do you come up with as the deliciousness hits your palette?  Has it been ice cream? Pie? Chocolates. Fast food? Potato chips? Cheezies? Donuts? Handfuls of chocolate chips straight from the bag? A half a box of Lucky Charms?

What food has given you a lift, a boost and a moment or two of thinking that the world is not as bad as your feared?

My guilty pleasure – for this week anyway – was a bag of Pork Rinds. Mmmm, good! How could you not love pork rinds? They are  wonderfully simple and totally un-doctored by additives and chemicals. It says so right on the package: pork rinds, lard and salt. That’s it! Let me repeat. This is a righteous snack made up of bacon and pork bits, deep fried in fat until they are a crunchy goodness and then well-salted to perfection. How can all that tasty scrumptiousness not be good for a person?

I won’t judge your guilty pleasure if you don’t judge mine.

As noted in our text our actions tell a lot about us as individuals. The old adage is that you are what you eat.  But this is not about at the foods that we occasionally  indulge in. It would be highly hypocritical of me to counsel about good diets for others.

This is more about certain types of guilty pleasures which become problematic and get in the way of healthy living and break down our relationships with others.  It is when certain worthless things constantly and continuously take over our lives and become personal habits that ignore the lives of others. I am not necessarily talking about a big slab of chocolate cake here, obviously.

This corona virus has been quite the test for humankind. Far too many have indulged in the (not-so) guilty pleasure of ignoring any or all saftety precautions. Selfishly, they go out in groups, protest, play by the thousands in parks and on beaches; some who apparently are going to go berserk if they don’t get a hair cut right today or go to a mall or throw a frisbee around.  Bad enough that they thoughtlessly put themselves at risk, it is the rest of us whom they have so selfishly endangered. It is one thing to wolf down a half gallon of cookies-and-cream ice cream but it is another matter of inconsiderate respect for others to flout social distancing.

I hate this period of social distancing with all my heart.  But I do not want to risk the health of my loved ones by indulging in visits and get-togethers with family and friends. It is killing me not to be able to hug my grandkids, but neither would I want to be the cause of them getting sick. So, I endure forgoing the not-so-guilty pleasure of their company and love.

“Let us practice real love” (The Message Bible.) Then we don’t have to feel guilty or compromised or regretful. I will look forward to sharing a bag of Pork Rinds with my grandchildren once this is all over. (Who am I kidding? Their respective moms will do a body search as soon as I show up.) It can’t come soon enough, I admit. But I need to trust God that he is still at work through this and that God will lead a way forward. Now is not the time to indulge  and satisfy my yearnings.

And I don’t have an iota of guilt in having that faith!

Dale