No Diet Day - reprinted from CoH Daily Devotion

I get this daily email from the Cathedral of Hope, Dallas...one of my favorite places. Reproduced in its entirety here...the word I needed so much, from Jo Hudson, one of my favorite people.

Come, let us sing to the LORD!

Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Psalm 95.1

Today is "No Diet Day!" Now, I don’t know who decides these things, but this is a day I can celebrate. "No Diet Day!" Can you imagine? As someone who has a love/hate relationship with food, I have spent much of my life dieting or planning to be on a diet. I’ve tried them all: Weight Watchers, Nutri-Systems, Low-Carb, and Low-Fat. Well, now that I think of it, I probably haven’t tried every diet, especially when you consider the number of diets that are advertised each evening on television. Still, I’ve tried enough diets to be able to say that I can truly celebrate "No Diet Day!"

Then I got to thinking: I wonder what makes us so obsessed about food. Yes, weight is important in so far as it can impact our health and our quality of life, but why is it that we, as a people, are so utterly obsessed with food. Could it be that we are trying to meet our spiritual needs by filling ourselves up with food? Are we obsessed with dieting because we have put so much emphasis on youth and glamour instead of honoring who we are as children of God, loved for who we are, as we are?

So, I wonder what would happen if we went on a "God-diet." Instead of trying to starve ourselves or take a pill or have surgery in order to have the "perfect" body, what if we spent time thanking God for the life we have, the body that houses our soul, the food that nourishes us and gives us life? What if instead of spending time obsessing about food, our weight and our looks we spent it in praise to God?

The Psalmist invites us to sing and shout joyfully to God. Maybe that is the diet we need: Praising God. Can you imagine what would happen if we turned our desperate obsession with our physiques into an obsession for praising God, being in relationship with God, and thanking God for all our blessings? I think it would change everything about us and how we feel about our bodies and our lives.

So, on this "No Diet Day" I’m going to let go of all the diets and obsession with food and calories and spend my day on a "God diet." Won’t you join me?

Holy One, just for today, remind me that I am precious in your sight, just as I am, and I will give you the praise and thanksgiving.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Jo Hudson

Rector & Senior Pastor

Cathedral of Hope, Dallas