FROM THE EDITORS April 13, 2009 Issue

FREEDOM FROM FOOD FEARS

Editor

WILL IT BE FAST FOOD or slow food tonight? Do we go all-organic or buy the less expensive ordinary varieties? Or of even greater concern these days, is the food we're preparing pure or contaminated?

Granted, because food is a primary human need, there's a measure of wisdom in the counsel, "Watch what you eat." Could there be an even higher wisdom, though, in watching what you think about what you eat? It's entirely possible that far more people suffer from fears associated with their food than from the food itself. If these fears can be alleviated—and we're convinced they can be, through spiritual awakening and the wisdom that comes with spiritual progress—then what are the first steps toward freedom?

Step one might be termed simply "know the truth," as in the well-known counsel Christ Jesus gave: "Ye shall know the truth"—in this case, the truth about the nature of life itself and what sustains life—"and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). In the few words that precede that statement, however, Jesus offered an important precondition to knowing what is true. He said, according to the New English Bible's translation, that "if you dwell within the revelation I have brought," then you truly are Christ's follower, and you'll know the truth—the spiritual fact—of any challenge that confronts you. Fear can't resist the dawning of spiritual discernment, any more than darkness can resist the sun's appearance at daybreak.

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