The Gift of Hunger
Hunger, the basic desire or need for food, is not always as “basic” or straightforward as its definition makes it sound. We feel it all the time or maybe hardly at all, we blindly obey it or frequently fight it, we confuse it with other needs, and ultimately, it lets us down. As we enter a season where we invite this feeling of hunger a little more readily (a fasting season), it’s a good time to dig into how we experience this feeling and how we respond to it.
When we obey it
For those of us living with food security, meaning at all times we have physical and economic access to food, we may not be used to hunger. When we feel that little tickle in our stomach and we have the desire for something to eat, we can usually meet that desire, immediately. Our food system boasts an environment where food is widely available for many. If you are at home and feel a tinge of hunger, the pantry is likely stocked with a variety of shelf-stable choices. At work? There’s likely a vending machine or a cafe or a break room with goodies nearby. Out and about? You’ve got numerous quick service restaurant options on either side of you. Or gas stations. Or grocery stores. Or check out aisles. Honestly, maybe we weren’t even hungry to begin with. But the food is there. So, we eat it.
We are no longer used to sitting with our hunger, with this discomfort, because we don’t need to.
When we misinterpret it
Then there is the matter of emotional hunger. We don’t like sitting with that one, either. Now, emotional eating gets a bad rep. Eating for reasons other than hunger is typically viewed as undesirable, something to be avoided at all costs. Yet, as humans, we are emotional beings! Food can be so much more than “gas in the tank.” Enjoying a decadent meal with family to celebrate a special occasion or a feast day, curling up with hot chocolate on a cold night, or diving in to your favorite comfort food when you are particularly stressed in order to invite a little joy into your life that day can all be part of a healthy eating pattern. Pattern, though, is the key word.
The emotional discomforts of stress or anxiety or sadness or even boredom can manifest physically, so we may try to address that discomfort with food. Where emotional eating can become harmful to our health – physically, emotionally, and spiritually – is when it is our only tool in the toolbox for managing that distress. What is our pattern of response? Food satisfies the “hunger” temporarily, but misses the mark in answering the deeper desire of our heart.
When we fight it
When we struggle in some of these ways with hunger, it’s easy to lose trust in our bodies and the cues it whispers to us. Just as our bodies give us clues as to when we need sleep or when we need to go to the bathroom, it lets us know when it may be time to provide our body with some energy in the form of food. We don’t really question the first two, but if we are struggling with our eating, we question our hunger. As a result, I often hear fighting language or resentment surrounding this natural biological cue.
We try to reason it away (“I shouldn’t be hungry, I just ate breakfast two hours ago...”). We are wary of it, and begin not to trust our bodies. Maybe we drink a glass of water to curb it or try to distract ourselves to the next meal that we have budgeted for. We resent it. Before you know it, it has dominated our thoughts, we can’t focus on anything at hand. We feel like our body has betrayed us. When we feel like we are losing the battle, we go in search of reinforcements. Maybe it comes in the form of a formalized diet plan or perhaps a more subtle sketch of self-imposed food rules we have determined we need to follow. Here, our hunger is positioned to work directly against whatever “should” or “should not” eating rules we have set for ourselves. But with this approach, we forget or reject the good that can come from hunger. Our bodies are telling us something, but we choose not to listen.
When we honor it
When we practice listening to our bodies and honoring our hunger, we are more ready to invite Christ into the discomfort of being physically hungry, to seek Him in our times of need, and to work alongside our bodies instead of fighting against its innate wisdom. Our bodies are our helpers in these struggles. One exercise I bring up with my clients, when they are feeling hunger, is to ask themselves, “What am I truly needing at this moment?” It’s a hard question to answer; often, it is unanswerable when we limit our search to our own understanding, for but “one thing is needful” (Luke 10:42). And returning to this question allows us to, instead of dismissing or covering up our discomfort, sit with our discomfort. This is where Christ longs to be.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6).
As we peel away the layers of earthly comforts, we unwrap the gift of an uncomplicated hunger, a desire that leads us back to God. With God, we can move beyond the temporal and fleeting nature of the need “at this moment.” We eat food, we are satisfied, and then, we are hungry again. But the hunger that Christ satisfies lifts us out of the moment and sustains us without end. He knows our hearts’ truest desires. He takes care of our needs, from the simple and daily to the abstract and eternal. Let us seek to understand and honor our true hunger. May it lead us to unlock our purest desire -- to be with God.
Our relationship to food and hunger is can be beautiful, and it can be complex. If you are looking for someone to explore this with you, from an Orthodox Christian perspective, think about working with me 1:1. You can schedule a free discovery call first to see if we’d be a good fit.
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“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
