Metaphysical meaning of eating (rw)
eating--Eating is symbolical of mental appropriation of thoughts of substance. "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy words were unto me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart" (Jer. 15:16).
Supplying the physical needs does not solve the whole problem of hunger for man, for his hungers are as varied as his interests and desires. They include his thoughts and feelings as well as his physical needs. When Jesus said, "He that eateth me, he also shall live because of me" (John 6:57), He referred to the appropriation of spiritual substance by man, and not to his eating of material food. We "eat" spiritual things when we affirm that we are strengthened and sustained by spiritual substance.
When in the holy silence you nourish your consciousness on God's word, you are eating of the "hidden manna" (Rev. 2:17), the bread that gives everlasting life. The Lord's Supper (Matt. 26:26-31) is a mental feast.
eating of the tree of good and evil--Appropriating the consciousness of both good and evil.
To "eat" is to appropriate the substance of ideas through thinking about them. "Evil" represents error-thought combinations; that part of consciousness which has lost sight of true principles and through sensation becomes enamored of the thing formed. Form has its place in creation, but it is subject to the creative idea that begets it. The activity of an idea in man's mind produces sensation. To become involved in the sensation of an idea to the exclusion of control is to eat of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" and to die to all consciousness of the original idea.
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Preceding Entry: eat
Following Entry: ecclesia
