-------- Well, here we are at the most gluttonous holiday in the American calendar. Stop to think about it...it's a holiday to commemorate a feast...or that's what we have let Thanksgiving become. It started out (like many secular holidays) as a spiritual event, giving thanks for the blessing of new life in this amazing country. Having survived a horrendous winter and taxing farming season the Pilgrims held a harvest feast to thank God. Tradition says that they invited the Indians to join them to thank them for their having assisted them in learning the ropes of the neighborhood. Some of the story has become fantasized to add relish to the tradition, but for the most part, it was a sincere act of thanksgiving for survival.
Over the years this holiday has become an excuse for gluttony. It isn't my intent to trash Thanksgiving, as I enjoy it (and the food) just as much as anyone else. But in my new "green" lifestyle (see previous posting) I'm aware of how much damage I (and most of America) will do to our bodies today. Add the phenomenon of televised parades and football, and you have a full day of sedentary (also my previous posting) opportunity for the malicious terrorists to find their way into my already-clogged arteries and settle into my expansive girth.
Gluttony is not restricted to one day of the year. It is a lifestyle. In a world where millions of people are starving, our gluttony is less about Thanksgiving Day and more about the other 364 days of the year. It has to do with excess, and our inability to practice restraint in the face of that excess.
Isn't it amazing how, when choosing a new supermarket, we reject those which have too few options, for example. Recently an Aldi's store opened in the midst of a struggling neighborhood in Providence. Prior to its opening I witnessed residents getting on buses to travel to supermarkets on the perimeter of the city to do their shopping. They were limited in what they could carry back, so the trips were frequent and costly.
Now, with this Aldi's market in the neighborhood there are fresh meat, fresh vegetables and reasonably priced items for healthier meals. And it is right around the corner, not requiring a trip to the other end of the city. People can shop for more economic quantities rather than single items. All around it is a boon to the residents of this neighborhood.
I am embarrassed by my own reaction to shopping there. It is too limited. They have their own brand, but few options. My gluttonous need for more options out-scopes the benefits provided by the company's desire to meet the needs of a struggling neighborhood. I suspect I am not the only one to have come to the same conclusion. I don't have to shop there. I am fortunate enough to have a car (two to be exact) and the benefits of time and a sufficient income to go to another supermarket further away. There, surrounded by obscene quantities of food, I can peruse the options, comparing ingredients, prices and flavors.
That's what I'm saying. Gluttony is not restricted to eating too much turkey, dressing, and pie on Thanksgiving Day. It is a far more subtle, malicious element of life which reflects a way of life which has little regard for the more global issues of poverty and starvation. Hopefully we can become more cognizant of those issues and be willing to do more about them. Global issues require more action than one person's shopping practices, but awareness of the impact of my practices helps me sharpen my vision about a society which practices gluttony more at the check-out counter than at the table.
Photo credit goes to my friend, Joe Rollins, who sent this by e-mail.
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