Today the “Pray, Love, Then Eat” blog tour makes a stop at Day by Day, blog of my friend and Catholic press veteran María de Lourdes Ruiz Scaperlanda. I have to thank María for a fun interview that allowed me to cover some new ground on this topic. Gracias, amiga, for the chance to talk about Cravings on your blog:
María: I’m thrilled to have this chance to visit with you about this great topic, Mary! A million years ago, I read a book called “When Food is Love,” are you familiar with it? What I remember most about the topic was the clarity it provided for me regarding how I learned growing up to “use” food as a way of giving love, as well as a way of FEELING love. Your book impressed in me the same idea. how did we learn this? Once we’re aware of this, how do we change this?
Mary: I’m not familiar with that book, but I’m all too familiar with that feeling! I grew up with that same attitude. My mother loved to cook and was always making cakes and cookies and fabulous dinners for anyone who stopped by. You could pop into our house any day at any hour and she’d have a pot of coffee on and some sort of goodies to eat. Even when my rock band practiced in our basement (back when I was in college), she’d come downstairs with homemade brownies and cake. No wonder the guys wanted to practice at our house!
It can be hard to break that connection – food as a reward, as a comfort, as a way to demonstrate love to others. I think what we need to do is understand that it’s not just the food that demonstrates the love or gives us comfort; it’s the community we build around the kitchen table, the conversations we share over cake and coffee, the comfort we give when someone is hurting and we make them a meal and offer them not just physical sustenance but emotional and spiritual nourishment as well. It makes food less of a focus, and we begin to realize that it was never really about what was on the plate but what was in our hearts.
Continue reading HERE.
