Broken Bread: how to stop using food and dew to fill spiritual hunger is a very approachable book and not just for those who have particular struggles with food. As I write this BBQ season is getting going so this might be of particular interest.
As a teen/young woman Tilly had a real struggle with food, she found herself fasting for multiple weeks in a desperate attempt to get weight under control. She fought bulimia, self-control issues, and persistent challenges in how to consider, honour and trust her body. She is far from alone in this.
Today she is a young mother and her body has, again, gone through some substantial changes.
This book was of interest to me because I believe some of our ill-health has to do with food consumption and some of our eating often has to do with deep psychological and spiritual realities in our lives and I wanted to better understand this for my own sake (I am always up for re-considering how important relationships in my life work, like food) and also as a pastor.
Likely thanks to her personal past, and also because of the grace infused in her by God, Tilly is an amiable and sensitive guide. She knows of what she speaks when she talks of the desires we are trying to fulfill and the pains we can face along the way.
This book covers a an array of topics and eventually gets to where it must, C. S. Lewis’s claim that the desires in us that cannot be fulfilled this side of the river teach us that there is another side, a feast to come; and also to the table of the Lamb, the bread and wine, body and blood of Jesus. She does this well, you always feel like you are in good hands and she is getting somewhere and if you need to follow her there you can do so with confidence.
This book is imminently practical, with questions to reflect upon along or with a friend after each chapter, practices one might consider if a particular chapter struck you, and further readings that include everything from theology to fiction in case reading is more your thing.
I recommend this book to anyone who eats food on a regular basis:)
Maranatha
Christian Spirituality 