I came across this quote this morning by M F K Fisher, an American food writer, who wrote, “It is a curious fact that no man likes to call himself a glutton, and yet each of us has in him a trace of gluttony, potential or actual. I cannot believe that there exists a single coherent human being who will not confess, at least to himself, that once or twice he has stuffed himself to bursting point on anything from quail financiere to flapjacks, for no other reason than the beastlike satisfaction of his belly.” [1] I had to smile when I read this quote because I know that for myself this is so true. While I have never stuffed myself to the bursting point on quail financiere, nor have I ever had it, I have stuffed myself to that point on lobster in clarified butter, shrimp cocktail, sushi, sashimi, scallops, and a few other items, which just seem to scream more when I am eating them.

So why is it that we have all had our gluttonous moments, but none of us likes to own them? Why it is that we each have those stories of eating our way to this space of beastlike satisfaction of our belly, but we do not feel free to openly talk about it or share those moments, or to even acknowledge the possibility of their existence? Perhaps one of the reasons is because gluttony has been described by many spiritual writers as one of the seven deadly sins. Most people do not like to acknowledge participating in these sins during their daily lives.