June 30

Daniel’s Diet

            But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the royal rations of food and wine; so he asked the palace master to allow him not to defile himself.  Now God allowed Daniel to receive favor and compassion from the palace master. The palace master said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king; he has appointed your food and your drink. If he should see you in poorer condition than the other young men of your own age, you would endanger my head with the king.”  Then Daniel asked the guard whom the palace master had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: “Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. You can then compare our appearance with the appearance of the young men who eat the royal rations, and deal with your servants according to what you observe.” So he agreed to this proposal and tested them for ten days.  At the end of ten days it was observed that they appeared better and fatter than all the young men who had been eating the royal rations.  So the guard continued to withdraw their royal rations and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.  To these four young men God gave knowledge and skill in every aspect of literature and wisdom; Daniel also had insight into all visions and dreams.

Daniel 1:8-17

             The Children of God had just been conquered by the Babylonian Empire.  The people were scattered across the known world and a group of their brightest young men were brought to the Babylonian capitol to enter the higher education program of their captors.  As relocation assignments went, this was not bad.  There were good accommodations, excellent food and drink, access to influence and power and a life of academia instead of forced labor.  Daniel and his friends could easily have chosen to become Babylonian.  They would never see their homeland again and this new life offered worldviews and beliefs beyond anything that they had ever experienced before.

            However, Daniel wanted to stay grounded in what had forged his identity.  He wanted to remember that he was God’s and no matter what the circumstances were that surrounded him, that would never change.  So he asked to be placed on a different diet:  Water and Vegetables.  No fancy meats.  No fine wine.  None of the succulent desserts of the palace.  He even wagered his supervisor that this diet would result in the Jewish men looking more fit and healthy than the others who partook of the rich foods.

            Now I am no dietician, but here are a couple of things that I know about food.  Vegetables and water do not make you fatter than rich food and drink.  They may improve your health, but they do not build muscle.  And yet at the end of the 10 day trial, Daniel and his friends were healthier and fatter than their counterparts.  The Hand of God was on the young men as they strove to maintain their allegiance to Him.

            This is not a post that rails against Higher Education.  I am a big fan of applied knowledge.  This is not a post against meat and alcohol.  I am a big fan of food.  This is another post against fitting in. 

            So much of what we have done as parents has been driven by where we will fit in, where we will stand out, and how much discomfort we are willing to endure through those places.  The desire to fit in and not be disruptive often drives where we go to church and where we sit in church.  It often drives the school situations that we choose.  It often drives the public events that we attend or skip.  What parties we go to, what movies we see, what camps our kids can go to, what our summers look like.  In every decision about where to go and what to do with our kids, we often think about how much our children will stand out and how much discomfort that will bring upon them (and us) and whether the cost outweighs the benefit or not.

            Daniel chose to not fit in and trusted that God would take care of him when he did.  We are not going to fit in.  In big ways or small ways, if people spend time around our children, they are going to realize that there is something…different about them.  Their responses will vary, but they will notice.  We can either try to hide and shush and fit in and get frustrated or we can own the fact that we are different.  We can embrace the fact that things are going to be slower and louder and more complicated than they would be if our children were different.  We can stop being surprised that it takes us so long to get out of the house and plan accordingly.  We can stop being surprised that our kids cannot sit through an entire service or concert or movie and plan accordingly.

            Daniel’s differences served to keep him deeply connected to God.  We have the opportunity to choose whether our differences keep us anchored to Jesus or whether they make us angry and bitter and afraid and drive us away.

A moment to reflect:

How is your life different than your peers?  What parts of that are not okay with you?