Keith and I invited our neighbor to watch the Super Bowl with us last night and to consume the sheet pan nachos I made: tortilla chips, seasoned ground beef with onions, pinto beans, and cheese baked then topped with minced red onion, pickled jalapeno slices, diced avocado, sour cream, and fresh chopped cilantro then served with salsa and lime wedges. Consume: to eat and drink. And watch not only the game but also the commercials: buy, buy, buy! A far cry from last week’s post about not wasting but rather using it up. 

Consume: Eat and Drink

Nachos are high in salt, so Keith didn’t have to reach for the salt shaker last night. His blood tests consistently indicate that he’s low in sodium. I’m not, so with salty food I make sure to drink more water.

For years, health experts have been saying that salt is bad for you. But recent research indicates that might be wrong, especially for people on blood pressure medication. Three years ago, when Keith was experiencing dizziness and muscle cramps, his doctor cut his blood pressure medication in half and told him to add more salt to his diet.

Salt sensitivity varies. For some, likely me, blood pressure spikes with salt consumption. For others, it plummets or doesn’t respond at all. Only a small portion of the population who lower their salt intake also lower their blood pressure, and only by a few points. In focusing solely on lowering salt consumption, we ignore the greater risks associated with the lack of salt or additives that are used to replace it, usually sugar.

Consume: Buy, buy, buy

There’s a particular kind of tension about eating and drinking, especially after the holidays. Much of that tension comes from those who want you to buy their diet programs or gym memberships. But for the Super Bowl, it was all eat, drink, and buy, buy, buy: Doritos, Budweiser, BMW and Kia, Uber Eats, Dunkin’ Donuts, State Farm Insurance and more, more, more.

Consume: Use it up

“Use it up” frugality and good stewardship of resources is one way to consume. But in the Bible, the word is often associated with disaster: feast then famine. 

²⁹ There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, ³⁰ but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, Genesis 41:29-30 (ESV)

As I watched the Super Bowl—the game and the ads—munched on the nachos and drank red wine poured into a glass filled with ice, I was reminded of what’s coming this week: Ash Wednesday. Every year on that day, we wear a cross in ash on our foreheads, symbolizing our mortality: we are dust and to dust we shall return. We know we will be used up in this earthly life; the Super Bowl, commercials, nachos, drinks—all things of this world will pass away. 

So, instead of focusing on what we consume, during Lent, we remember the love of God poured out through His Son on the cross, Jesus’ death and defeat of sin, and Christ’s resurrection that brings eternal life. Amen.

Linkup with Five Minute Friday: https://fiveminutefriday.com/2024/02/08/fmf-writing-prompt-link-up-consume/