Eating is a sacred act, for it represents the natural inclination for sustenance which powers all living bodies and therefore is the life-sustaining force of the Creator.
The Psalmist wrote: “(O Lord) You raise grass for the cattle, and vegetation for men’s use, Producing bread from the earth and wine to gladden men’s hearts, So that their faces gleam with oil, and bread fortifies the hearts of men” (Psalm 104: 14, 15).
In the same passage he continues, “They all look to you to give them food in due time. When you give it to them, they gather it; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.”
Tending the earth
In the earliest section of the Genesis narrative, God the Creator blows life into a shaped lump of earthen clay and from this act of His spirit the human family was born.