Food as sacramental

Just dipping into Alexander Schmenmann, For The Life of the World. Stimulating quotable stuff.

"Centuries of secularism have failed to transform eating into something strictly utilitarian. Food is still treated with reverence. A meal is still a rite - the last "natural sacrament" of family and friendship, of life that is more than "eating" and "dinking." To eat is still something more than to maintain bodily functions. People may not understand what that "something more" is, but they nonethless desire to celebrate it. They are still hungry and thirsty for sacramental life." (p16)