The Mystery of Wedding and Funerals Foods.
Food, food and food. I love food. Food is the epicenter of life. Food forms the fundamental component of our survival which means that my love for the delicacies is founded on a sound principle. One where the wholeness of humanity converges.
As it does with spiritual matters, the body, soul and spirit finds a way of cancelling their parallels when it comes to food. If you think that is not the case, then take a moment and analyze what the old men of my kinsmen spoke about hunger – the absence of food – in time past.
They said, “Hunger has no respect.” To add to it, “Hunger doesn’t know about even the strong men.” Hunger only knows that we are all but people. This is simply to say that once hunger strikes, even the strongest of men fall at its mercy. We all but bow humbly at it.
Food is a very serious issue. Try attending a wedding ceremony or even a funeral and have food served. That is when men put aside the integrity they always talk of protecting and let the animal instincts in them take charge. In most of these embargoes, there is no difference between women and men or even boys and girls.
At the point of serving meals, mannerisms get shelved and appetite becomes king. I once saw an individual I held up in high standing disregard the code of conduct for such a penitent honor I (we) held for him and behaved in utter disbelief of the stature that society had bestowed upon him. The cause of all that was food.
Of all the wedding receptions I have attended, of course where numbers determine the success of the ceremony, food matters never end with the mood of the special day. People throw words at each, others batter their friends and even family bonds break up. I once saw a husband bitterly abuse his wife because she gave him the plate without a piece of meat.
In another instance, a pastor ranted and chanted almost to the level of reading the ushers the riot act that he was the pastor. He needed to have been served with the juiciest and tastiest food first. Then he went ahead and remarked that sometimes pastors ought to put aside the ‘cloth.’
But then, what is it with wedding and funeral foods? Have you ever asked yourself why people behave the way they do in wedding receptions and funerals when food gets served? It has something to do with the people. Where people are many, some part of our brains gets unlocked.
Sometimes the food that gets served is not even the best, but because we see every other person munching, it makes us have the inclination of eating and taste is often part of the bargain we ask for. And by the virtue that often the food is scrambled for, it makes the whole escapade adventurous.
I am reminded of the food we used eat when we were in high school. It wasn’t the best of the foods, but we often looked forward to the next meal. For fact, it was a taboo for the food to remain once it was cooked. That is where most of us borrowed the mantra of we eat food to finish and not be satisfied.
The same instincts that played the game back in our schools often come to play in funerals and weddings. Sometimes things gets worse when those who contributed want to eat so badly because they feel that there is every need for them to get value for their contribution.
Innovation often comes to play. For the pregnant, the physically challenged as well those with children, they enjoy the walk all the way to the front and get served to their fill often adding that they are serving for two for those with children and pregnant. As your guess suggests, for every three spoonful of food taken by the adult, the young ones take a half spoon. Need I say more?
Others get greedy and want to eat not because they don’t eat that kind of a food as often as possible, but because the whole intention of the eating is ill intended. Someone remarked in my ears that he was eating a lot in this funeral because the deceased owed him some money which he knew wasn’t going to be repaid. So he was repaying himself at least not to lose all the debt in vain.
Another one was eating a lot in a wedding reception because she ‘believed’ this was the only time she was going to eat ‘their’ food. Otherwise as she saw this bride, her attitude seemed not to welcome visitors to her home in future. To her, this was an insurance.
Well, people eat food gluttonously in weddings and funeral with such a zeal for various reasons. For some, it is genuinely out of hunger and for others it is out of their own intentions some of which are good and others bad. The latter is often the source of all the evil we see in the ceremonies.
Appetite and mob psychology are a huge challenge a lot of people have to contend with. It is not easy to overcome. And it is primarily the reason people behave the way they do in funerals and receptions as well as parties. Intemperance can be overcome then by continuous practice, working daily to keep our appetites under check. A lot of people work hard to manage their appetites.
The sweetness of foods often served where people are many can only be felt on managed appetites and temperance, otherwise people eat badly and end up sleeping in toilets as well as buying all manner of drugs or herbs to help turn tables round.
Manage your appetite and you will live to be happy all your life. You will retain your dignity and save your stomach from unnecessary running since there is never any medal at the end of the race.
End.
Copyright @ 2020.
