A diet you can stick to

Evan Mehlenbacher, a practitioner and teacher of Christian Science, based in Richland, Washington, was the guest on the JSH-Online Web chat “A spiritual diet you can stick to.” The chat has been edited for space considerations and readability. To hear the whole chat, go to sentinel.christianscience.com/spiritual-diet.

Jesus said that it is what comes out of the mouth and not what goes in that is important (see Matthew 15:11 ). Does that mean it’s more important to watch what we think and say?

To me, Jesus’ statement that what comes out of your mouth is what matters most means that what’s going on in our thinking matters most. What comes out of our mouth reflects what’s going on in our thinking. So Jesus is bringing the discussion back to what’s going on in consciousness, because it’s your consciousness that determines your experience.

How can I deal with people around me predicting dire circumstances that will happen to me if I eat this or that? 

You’re not governed by your neighbors’ thought. They do not control your thinking. So, the answer is: Understand your dominion. Understand that it’s the one Mind, God, who governs your life, not so-called “other minds.” You have dominion to go to God and know what’s true and right for you. Acknowledge God to be the only Mind at work in your life.

How can we truly adhere to Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount to take no thought for what we should eat (see Matthew 6:25 ), when we are constantly bombarded with ads, warnings about food, and the opinions of others? 

I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding about Jesus’ statement, “Take no thought.” He’s not saying, “Stick your head in the sand.” To me, what he’s saying is: “Don’t let food rule your life. Don’t let diet rule your life—you have spiritual dominion to exercise over the earth and everything on it.” 

If we’re really listening to God, we’re understanding that what makes us truly happy, content, and satisfied in life comes to us spiritually. It doesn’t come to us through the mouth, but from God in the form of understanding, love, truth, and spiritual-mindedness.

I eat just for pleasure when I relax after a hard day. It doesn’t seem to have to do with hunger. Do you have any insights for a better way to satisfy that need for enjoyment?

I encourage you to redeem your sense of enjoyment from believing it comes from a material stimulation to your tongue, or your tummy, to getting a higher sense of what real enjoyment and contentment are. 

Mary Baker Eddy says in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love” (p. 57 ). I’ve asked myself many times: “Is this food really making me happy? Or is this a sensation of the moment that’s going to be gone shortly?”

Mrs. Eddy talks about “immortal cravings” and writes, “Higher enjoyments alone can satisfy the cravings of immortal man” (Science and Health, pp. 60–61 ) and that’s helped me realize that our real cravings are not for more food, or something sensual, or physical—it’s to know God and our wholeness and completeness as God’s likeness.

Last year I lost a lot of weight through diet and exercise. I had tried praying about it before, and that didn’t work, so I turned to “human steps.” Now I’m afraid not to depend on diet and exercise to stay in shape.

Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32 ). The reason you’re afraid is because you’re not glimpsing the truth about yourself. As you grow in your understanding of what’s really true about you from a spiritual point of view, those fears are going to go away, and you’re not going to have to take all this thought to staying in shape because you will be naturally in shape under God’s harmonious influence. 

There is no, “This is how you do it,” because everybody’s experience is so different on the subject of weight loss. First of all, shedding weight is shedding mental weight—that’s what we’re really shedding. I know it feels like pounds, but that’s really not the issue. The human body is human consciousness. The adjustment needs to happen in consciousness. 

Unfortunately, many people get focused on manipulating the physical pounds up and down. But once thought is in alignment with God—with Truth—you’ll see that God’s already made you beautiful and perfect. That’s the way you are. And when your thinking is under the influence of God, the body will adjust to whatever is just perfect for you.

It seems easy to judge people by the choices they make about what they’re eating, based on their weight. How can we look beyond what our eyes are telling us and see the spiritual man? 

We all have opportunities to judge our neighbor, don’t we? We’re told to love our neighbor—that’s what Jesus said. This is one of the two great commandments. To really be successful in life, we have to have one God and love our neighbor. We can’t just talk about it; we actually have to do it. So don’t beat them up with criticism and negativity. Help them. 

Look at them and see a child of God who’s filled with spiritual dominion to make wise choices and intelligent decisions. See the Christ at work in their being, helping them discover who they really are in God’s image and likeness.

Based on your experience, what would you say are the basic components or ingredients of the “spiritual diet,” and what’s the trick to sticking to it? 

The ultimate truth is, “You are a perfect child of God.” That’s what we’re striving to understand more and more. That’s a big concept, and we do it step by step. Part of that effort is to shed beliefs that would deny our God-given perfection. We have to be honest about what we’re holding in thought about ourselves, and ask, “Is this coming from God, or is this coming from the world?” 

If it’s coming from the world, then you need to let it go, and that’s where prayer comes in. We talk about exercise and workouts. Well, give your thought a good workout. 

Are we thinking thoughts in line with God, with Truth, or are we letting the world control our thinking? Are we under the influence of mortal mind, under the influence of gluttony, or selfishness, or qualities of thought that take us to a bad place? 

And then exercise: “Exercise thyself … unto godliness” (I Timothy 4:7 ). That’s a very vigorous program to be engaged with every day. We don’t become mental couch potatoes in Christian Science, or we won’t get anywhere. We need to be active thinkers, striving to get to a new place mentally every day. 

That’s your exercise program—to get to that new place, to a new vision of who you are as a perfect, complete, healthy, fit child of God, who acts intelligently and wisely, and is under the influence only of the one Mind. 

Don’t let this just be a human mind exercise. You really want to yield to the divine Mind, and be at one with Mind. As you do that, you will be reflecting the intelligence and wisdom of God in everything you do, and that will manifest itself as temperate eating habits, as moderation, as balance and order in your life, including balance and order in the body.