Forgotten Vices, Forgotten Virtues: Gluttony vs. Temperance
Sean Kelly, LAC continues his series on the Seven Deadly Sins and their virtue counterparts. Catch up on Forgotten Vices, Forgotten Virtues: Reclaiming a Christian Tradition here.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” — Matthew 5:6
Picture the perfect Thanksgiving dinner. As you gaze upon the feast, there is not a square inch of tablecloth visible. The length of the table is covered with thick slices of turkey, mounds of stuffing, steam wafting off mashed potatoes, boats of gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, and plenteous more colorful sides and desserts. But now imagine a lone man sitting down at that table and proceeding to eat the whole meal by himself. Is there not something profoundly sad about this image?
Gluttony: Enslavement to the Appetite
Food is good. Our desire for food is good. And feasts are very good (as we’ll see later).
But when we strip food of its spiritual significance, we begin to develop an unhealthy relationship with food. We can eventually become enslaved to our appetites.
The deadly sin of gluttony is excessive indulgence in food and drink. With gluttony, there are many parallels to the deadly sin of lust. Both vices take what is a natural, God-given desire and seek to fulfill it in a selfish way.
Food and drink are meant to nourish our bodies in order to sustain us and give us strength to do the work that God has called us to do. They are meant to nourish our souls, filling us with gratitude for God’s good gifts and bringing us enjoyment and a sense of refreshment. And they are meant to unite us in a special way with others as we come together to break bread, to share our homes, and to share our lives.
Gluttony perverts these good designs for food and drink. Rather than nourishing our bodies, gluttony injures our bodies by either giving them more than they need or unhealthy foods that they have difficulty processing. Rather than nourishing our souls, gluttony injures our souls by seeking to get the pleasure of food and drink apart from God’s designs. Rather than uniting us with others, gluttony isolates us from others by selfishly seeking to get the most pleasure from food and drink by ourselves rather than waiting to share this pleasure with those whom we love.
Left unaddressed, gluttony leads to bondage where appetite becomes a harsh slave master, and food and drink can no longer provide any real enjoyment.
Temperance: Freedom to Truly Enjoy Food & Drink
Temperance is the healing counterpart to the sickness of gluttony. Temperance is a healthy moderation of food and drink. Temperance seeks to have food and drink in their proper places. In other words, temperance is enjoying the right foods, at the right times, in the right amounts, with the right people.
Temperance is not about denying yourself any pleasure from food and drink. That would be trading one prison cell for another. Rather, by seeking to gain self-control over the bodily desires for food and drink, temperance can lead to true freedom—the freedom to truly enjoy food and drink the way they were meant to be enjoyed.
Embracing the Rhythms of Fasting and Feasting
A way to achieve temperance is by embracing healthy rhythms. God created this world with certain rhythms. We see this with the sun, the moon, the stars, the seasons. He created mankind with rhythms, too. There is a time to be awake, to sleep, to work, and to rest. These rhythms are natural to who God created us to be. When we fight against these rhythms, things start to break down, creating all kinds of problems. But when we embrace and align ourselves with these rhythms, we become the most natural, most complete, most human version of ourselves.
So, too, it is with the rhythms of eating and drinking. There are times for fasting, times for feasting, and there are ordinary times of moderation. In their proper places, fasting, feasting, and ordinary times give deeper meaning to each other. Fasting makes us grateful for the ordinary times. Ordinary times prepare us for the extraordinary times of feasting. And feasting can fill our cups up with gratitude so that we can pour them back out in self-denial in times of fasting. They all work in harmony so that we can participate more fully in the life of Christ and become who God has designed us to be.
7 Practical Ways to Grow in Temperance
With that rationale in mind, let’s look at some ways to grow in temperance.
1. “When you fast…”
Fasting is a complex spiritual practice that can be physically dangerous if done unwisely and spiritually dangerous if done in self-hatred or self-righteousness. Consider discussing with a spiritual mentor to make sure you are approaching fasting in a physically and spiritually healthy way. Nevertheless, Christ expects his followers to fast (“When you fast…” - Mt. 6:16) and led by example as He fasted before beginning His public ministry (Mt. 4:1-11). Throughout the twenty centuries since then, fasting continues to be one of the primary spiritual disciplines for Christians. It gives us a unique chance to participate in the Gospel by dying to ourselves and our appetites, burying them with Christ so that we may participate more fully in the life of His resurrection. We can channel our desire for food during fasting in selfless ways: through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can convert this physical hunger into a spiritual hunger for God and for loving others.
2. Give to the hungry
Many early church fathers spoke about how fasting and almsgiving (giving to the poor) necessarily worked hand in hand—when you abstain from eating, you should give the food to the hungry instead. For example, St. John Chrysostom said, “Do not, then, render the fast futile, because fasting does not ascend to heaven by itself but only when it has almsgiving as its sister and companion.” Feeding the hungry reminds us that hunger and food are gifts from God that are meant to be used selflessly.
3. “When you feast…”
Christ also expects His followers to feast (“When you give a feast…” - Lk 14:13) and led us by example. Soon after His time of fasting, Christ performs His first public miracle by abundantly blessing a wedding feast with the choicest of wines (John 2:1-12). When connected to the healthy rhythms of fasting and moderation, an abundant feast can bring a deep satisfaction to the soul and a mystical bond among those who share in it. A Thanksgiving feast can fill our hearts with love and gratitude so that we can pour this love back out into charity during the season of Advent.
4. Don’t feast alone
There is a commonly traded proverb in our society: “Don’t drink alone.” In a similar way, one should not “feast” alone. The same things that can bring us joy and satisfaction when shared with loved ones will be isolating and soul-deadening when consumed alone. When we delay our gratification until we can enjoy a feast with others, we can enjoy more fully the gift that food and drink can be. Rather than having a Thanksgiving feast alone, which again is quite sad, we can share these feastly pleasures with those whom we love, binding us together and causing gratitude for God and for one another to swell within us.
5. Be mindful while eating
When we stop paying proper attention to food, it loses its spiritual significance. Slow down. Try to avoid multitasking while eating (watching TV, etc.) Pay attention to the taste of the food. Pay attention to your body, and try to notice when you start to feel full. Engaging your mind and heart, rather than just your stomach, is a holistic approach to eating that can help restore wholeness.
6. Be mindful of triggers
It’s also important to pay attention to when you are eating—and overeating. Are there certain times of day when you overindulge? Do you tend to overeat when you’re stressed? Take time to consider what these patterns might be, reflect on why you’re feeling tempted, and make plans to handle these urges in a healthier way.
7. Don’t despise the ordinary
We ought to spend most of our lives in ordinary times of moderation—ordinary foods at ordinary times in ordinary amounts. While this might seem boring, it is absolutely essential in providing the stability needed to benefit from either fasting or feasting. Ordinary foods prepare us to receive richer foods, and ordinary meals prepare us to receive feasts with greater joy and deeper meaning. While a person who eats fast food for every meal would find a Thanksgiving meal bland and unappealing, those who are content to eat ordinary, healthy food for most of their meals will experience a feast for the rich blessing that it is.
A Heavenly Feast Awaits
For those who are part of the Church, the very bride of Christ, we look forward to the “marriage supper of the Lamb” in Heaven (Rev. 19:9). In reclaiming the spiritual power of our appetites, each meal presents us with the opportunity to prepare ourselves for this heavenly banquet. Each fast gives us a chance to hunger for righteousness. Each ordinary meal can help build our anticipation. And each feast celebrated with others may give us a foretaste of the heavenly feast that awaits us in the world to come.
