Oh, My Soul Hungered

Oh, my soul hungered

I have spent a great deal of time studying salt.  I cannot even begin to explain the amazing things I have learned about the properties of salt, let alone the historical ramifications that salt has played throughout the ages.  But one thing that has really been interesting to learn is how processed salt changes the flavor of our food. 

If you have ever eaten salted peanuts, you know what it is like to feel the need to eat more and more.  It’s not the peanut that you crave; it is the salt on the peanut.  Your body is seeking to have more water that can go through the cell, and processed salt builds a wall that will not allow the water to flow.  That doesn’t sound so good.  Don’t we need water?  Don’t we want the Living Water?

Today doctors say salt is bad for you.  They are half correct.  Processed salt is very bad for you.  It is literally poison.  And all processed food, unless otherwise labeled, is processed with salt that has lost its savor.  It has lost the ability to give the flavors in the food.  The necessary electrical signals that are provided by natural salt to the brain have been hampered with. They cannot tell you that this food is profitable.  In fact, the most you will get is a small amount of satisfaction.

Do this little experiment. If you take processed salt, the darling little Morton girl type will suffice, and you put it next to a sample of Himalayan or other natural rock salt, and sample them, you can get a much better idea how the one is actually quite delightful, while the processed salt is bitter.

Now, what does any of this have to do with fasting?

When you eat processed food, it may fill up the cavity in your stomach, but it will not give you the joy and delight of eating fruits in their season or the deliciousness of food that has not been processed. Think about the tomatoes you grow in your summer garden. They are delicious and sweet.  Then think about those hydroponic tomatoes at the grocery store. They are light years away from tasting like real tomatoes.  That is because they are missing several critical ingredients:  The sweetness of the Sun and the natural salts or the minerals of the earth.

When we desire to commune directly with God, we cease to settle for those things that are processed.  We want all, and only all, the Savior can offer. When I realized that all I wanted was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, I realized that I could receive this through fasting.  I would fast from the world and worldly philosophy. I would feast upon the word, which will give me the meat and even the mysteries. 

There is ample information everywhere that demonstrates that processed food is inadequate to fill your body with nourishment.  Starvation of some kind sets in which shows up as illness.  The same may be said about believing that partaking of processed information will be sufficient to fill you with the Spirit.  It won’t. It never can and it never will.  It leaves you wanting for more.

Feasting upon the spirit, calling out to the Lord through a fast, whether we decide to dispense with the eating of food entirely or eat with a mind set to keep Him foremost in our thoughts and in our heart, will provide an experience the likes of which you will find has and will never be equaled. 

Let your soul cry out to the Lord.  Cry unto the Lord for everything, Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save. Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him. Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks. Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening. Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies. Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness. Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase. But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness. Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you. (Alma 36:18-27).

Seek the Lord early and often through your fast.  You will find yourself feasting at a table the likes of which you had not imagined.