How's Your Appetite?

by Mazzy Adams

My doctor recently prescribed a new painkiller for me; it’s a nerve blocker. She warned me one possible side effect is weight gain. Oh great, I thought. That’s all I need. The first couple of days I wasn’t hungry but I did have a constant urge to chomp and chew.

To make matters worse, the lettuce in the crisper was floppy and we were fresh out of celery. It was time for a distraction—something to occupy my mind and my hands, rather than my mouth.

Something like …

A book to read! Perfect!

Fortunately, my iBooks and Kindle App, bookshelves (the photo below is one of the smaller ones which happens to be filled with children's books for when the grandchildren visit), and my bedside to-be-read stash provide a literary smorgasbord from which to choose.

Lately, I’ve been adding the zesty appetiser of romantic humour from Meredith Resce’s Luella Linley novels to my plate, followed by a main meal of metaphysical poetry from A Poem a Day devotional by Philip Comfort and Daniel Partner (which takes some chewing and savouring).

Whether it's food for the body or food for the soul, some things just go together.

Fish and chips.

Bacon and eggs.

Readers and writers. 

Metaphysical poets might include thoughts and emotions, metaphors and similes, the physical and the spiritual in that list.

Now, when it comes to eating, I’m neither a foodie nor a culinary connoisseur. I don’t get hangry (angry when I’m hungry). I’m not a fussy or finicky eater (though in recent years I’ve had to avoid certain foods for health reasons). And I’m not terribly adventurous; the most ‘out there’ food I’ve ever consumed (discounting the incidental accidental Aussie fly) is a sausage made with minced Kudu meat (antelope) when I visited South Africa. I passed over the bowl of roasted Mopane Worms.

I am—as my daughter-in-law describes my delightful granddaughters—a fruit bat. I love fruit. All kinds of fruit. It’s my first choice, go-to food.

To put things in perspective, my house has one fridge, one freezer, one pantry …

And eight bookcases. Plus the to-be-read bedside stash (for midnight snacks). When it comes to selecting from a book menu, I'm much more adventurous.

Just as food sustains my body, books sustain … well, a lot of things; my brain, my heart, my spirit, my imagination, my connectedness to the world and to my tribe; you know, those crazy paper sniffers, stationery store stalkers, pen-pushers and keyboard crushers who love nothing more than a bubbling, creative mixing pot to cook their quixotic story ideas and/or piquant research into highly palatable text.

Yep, some things just go together. Like authors and bookworms. A casual exploration of Goodreads confirms this fact. It’s just one place where book foodies, literary connoisseurs, story gluttons, curious nibblers, and wild and wacky text eaters hang out, hoping to find their next new favourite bookish consumable and, hopefully, chat to its celebrity chef. (Got you there, didn’t I? You thought I was going to say celebrity author. Well, if the title fits…)

Yep. Readers and writers go together. We need each other to survive and thrive. 

And I love being both. Sometimes, reading or writing the right words is better than smelling the delectable aromas of culinary perfection. It’s as satisfying as banqueting at the grandest feast. Like the very act of breathing, it keeps me going, keeps me alive.

When I was seventeen, I read the following words for the first time:

And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. Ezekiel 3:1-3 NIV*

Those words filled me up with curious wonder and piqued my appetite to taste more of what Ezekiel was having. Both Jeremiah the prophet (15:16) and the Apostle John (Rev 10:19-10) knew what it was to eat a scroll from the Lord (and I’m not talking Sticky Buns or Cinnamon Scrolls). 

In John’s gospel, (Chapter 1:1-3) we learn who the Word is, and in John 6:35 we learn who the Bread of Life is. What joyous satisfaction that meal brings.

Psalm 19:10, Psalm 119:103, and Job 23:12 are Bible verses for connoisseurs and sweet-tooths. And let's not forget Galatians 5:22-23 which is all about the FRUIT of the Spirit. 

Within the Bible's pages there are stories and parables, history and eye-witness accounts, poems and visions and glorious descriptive pictures galore; a veritable feast fit for … everyone. God invites all to come and dine at his banqueting table.

As readers and writers, whatever literary dish we prefer to prepare or eat—and both the fiction genre smorgasbord and the non-fiction banquet offer vast, superlative choices—it’s good to know that the tastiest, healthiest, most nourishing and satisfying meals are served at the table of the Lord.

What kinds of literary nourishment have you been cooking up or consuming lately?

* Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Mazzy Adams is a published author of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. She has a passion for words, pictures, and the positive potential in people. 

Website: www.mazzyadams.com

Email: maz@mazzyadams.com