Eat, Pray, Love?
We have been hearing it often, of late – eat, pray, love. This slogan is the title of author Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling book. Now it is the title of a recent movie release staring Julia Roberts and other big names. The 2006 book is a memoir chronicling the author’s trip around the world and what she discovered through the process of these travels.
The story is that of 32 year old, Elizabeth Gilbert who was educated and had a home, a husband, and a successful career as a writer. However, she was unhappy in her marriage and often spent the night crying on her bathroom floor. In the midst of an affair, she separated from her husband and initiated a divorce, which he contested. The affair continued for some time but did not work out, leaving her devastated and alone. While writing an article on yoga vacations in Bali, she met a ninth-generation medicine man who told her she would come back and study with him. After finalizing her difficult divorce, she spent the next year traveling around the world. She spent four months in Italy, eating and enjoying life (Eat). She spent four months in India, finding her spirituality (Pray). She ended the year in Bali, Indonesia, looking for ‘balance’ of the two and found (Love) in the form of a dashing Brazilian factory owner. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat,_Pray,_Love)
It certainly does not take a genius to see that this story was a movie in the making. By movie standards this is a very calm and charming story of one woman’s journey to self discovery and pivotal points in her search for happiness. At face value hardly anyone could argue. However how does this account measure up next to the Christian experience?
Many components of this book seem to parallel the average Christian’s testimony of God’s work in his/her life. Eating and drinking are much more than representative of the basic necessities of life. We are not talking about bread and water here! Eating and drinking have become an indulgence for most people of the world, certainly in our nation. Life is about more than food or drink. In fact, scripture warns us about reducing it to such a minimalistic understanding. Eating and drinking are even representative of the “pride” of life.
In the book Gilbert relays that finding her spirituality (pray) was the next step for her in this journey. The concept of “spirituality” is very generic. “Spirituality” is a broad concept which covers almost everything, it would seem. Being spiritual, in and of itself, means little to nothing, in much the same way, the concept of “faith” is too general to do anyone any good. It is only when faith is in the right thing that something positive is accomplished. The book points the reader to the popular, yet inaccurate, notion that everyone needs to find their own path. That there is no absolute truth, that one way is as good as another. Any Christian understands that faith must be in Christ alone to be of any real value.
The final piece in Gilbert’s tri-fecta is “love.” There is mystique and romance, without a doubt, in that she had to travel the world to find real love. There is a perpetuation to the idea that love is something that weakens the knees, melts the heart, and brings tears to the eyes. Well, it has been known to do those things, however there are other sides to love which are far less romantic. In fact, all too often “love” and “lust” are used interchangeably when they are anything but interchangeable. Love is real and love is wonderful, however love is what God called it in His Word. I Corinthians 13 is known as the great love chapter of the Bible. Compare popular concepts and notions of love these days with how the Apostle Paul described it in this letter.
At every point, the world has a substitute for God, His ways, and His Word. Books like “Eat, Pray, Love,” can bring joy to the reader or movie watcher, however we need to be reminded that our mission field, as Christians, are the very people who watch this movie and believe that this is the best life has to offer. There is more to life than this. Life holds no greater reward and joy than in knowing Jesus Christ as one’s personal Lord and Savior. No book, no movie can hold a candle to what God has given!
In Christ,
Pastor Allen Raynor