Clean Eating

Lent is certainly a season for less, a time for letting go, of cleaning heart, soul and body.  Clean Week ushers in a week of beautiful services, that our heart and soul may begin to prepare the way for the journey to Pascha.  Hearts are light, having been cleansed through the rite of forgiveness, as we let go of the hurt, resentment and anger we hold towards others, and humbly receive forgiveness.  Now the body must also be made light, since "the body which is burdened with meat is afflicted with diseases.  A moderate way of living makes the body healthier and stronger and cuts off the root of evil.  The stream of meat meals darkens the light of the spirit.  One can hardly have virtue if one enjoys meat meals and feasts." (St. Basil the Great.)   So, the kitchen is cleaned and the counters are cleared of clutter.  Sunday evening the girls and I made a trip to the grocery store, filling our cart with fruits, nuts, fresh vegetables and breads.  We will not cook this week.  We will eat simple foods, with simple preparation, that our hearts and minds may be on God, not on cooking or scrubbing of pots.  We will eat less, that we may pray more.  We will consume less that we may turn to God and recognize our dependence upon Him to provide for us.  We will let go of fleshly wants that we may embrace heavenly ones.  And we will give thanks for the bounty of less that is before us, realizing that even our less is so much more than many who live always with less.