The Parable of the Picnic

Before you read, please understand that I do not think any of this has any bearing on one’s eternal salvation. The thing that troubles and saddens me is the negative impact it has on the daily life of the believer and the stresses (and judgments towards others) a self-imposed prison brings into a person’s life. I see it as a tool Satan uses to rob us of the joy and freedom that Jesus wants to give us on a daily basis. He said himself He came to set the prisoner free. Luke 4:18

The Parable of the Picnic

Heather is into health foods. After all, this has been presented to her since childhood as indisputable truth, from all of her friends, media sources, church, and advertisements. She spends a great deal of time (and money, actually) making sure that the products she buys for her kids are chemical free, unprocessed as much as possible, and of the nutrients she currently believes are essential for the well-being of her children (depending on what she has most recently been reading in her efforts to stay up on what things are harmful or good for her children). She worries that they still get sick at times, (after all, they are eating “healthy, “) still get hyper at times (of course, this is the fault of the sugar, when she occasionally lapses in her diligence) and one of her friend’s children has actually come down with leukemia (but that is probably because of the water she takes baths in, because it surely could not have happened due to the bottled water she is so conscientious to use).

Amber, on the other hand, has chosen not to embrace health foods for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is financial. She is not convinced her health bills are going to be less if her kids eat “healthy.” She does not indulge them in excessive snacks, for that is a character building issue, promoting self-indulgence, which she does not want her children to embrace. She allows them to occasionally eat chips or cake, but not on a regular basis. Again, self-indulgence. To her, fruit juices and “healthy snacks” can still come into the self-indulgence arena. They drink an occasional soda pop but usually have tap water. She does this because, again, self-indulgence. She wants them to be content with what is put before them. And, bottled water is expensive. She is trusting God to keep them from any chemicals that the world has said are going to harm them, partly based on the fact that there are labs and government agencies that regularly test her drinking water and that reassure her they are not harmful. Partly because she knows there is debate even within the health food industry about bottled water, so she goes with what her instinct tells her. And partly because she simply doesn’t see anything in scripture that says she should worry about what she or her kids eat. She would rather spend her money on other things the family needs.

The 2 moms have a picnic together. Somehow Heather’s basket got left at home and now she has 2 small children without food. However, Amber packed a large bag of “regular” chips, a 2 liter of pop (after all, it is a fun picnic), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (regular, not organic) and egg salad sandwiches, both on white bread because that is what was on sale this week. (When wheat bread is on sale, she buys it.) Now Heather is worrying internally about what all this junk stuff is going to do to her kids. She is stressed (though maybe mildly) and worries about both what her kids ate as well as the example put before them of what others do.

It puts a pall over the entire event and neither she nor the kids are as carefree as a picnic should be. (This is probably all very subconscious and she might even deny it. And maybe she truly can detach and not care. But most moms I know DO care. And worry. And blame the picnic if unruly behavior emerges over the next several hours, even though unruly behavior is not an uncommon occurrence normally.)

Amber, on the other hand, doesn’t give food a second thought, she is glad they are having some “treats” they don’t usually get, and they have a fun carefree day. It never enters her mind that she has done anything to harm her children. And if her kids get unruly later in the day, she simply disciplines them as needed, and then gets on with life.