Like her, we wouldn’t be here in the
first place
If we didn’t know how hungry and
thirsty we were for a fix.
We have tried a hundred ways to fix
ourselves:
Grapefruit juice chased down with
shot of vinegar,
Special sponges to wipe away
cellulite,
And magic pillows to shrink us while
we sleep.
But we wake up alone, full of
self loathing
With an aching empty hole in the
middle
That we stuff with donuts we don’t
even taste
Gagging, hidden in the closet
Thinking no one will know what we
eat in secret
But we wear in public.
We sense the shunning, the staring
The people who look at us and
say
Loudly but without needing words:
You’re ugly and you’re fat and it’s
all your own fault—
You don’t deserve to belong with us.
Jesus tells us, you must worship in
spirit
And in truth.
And the truth is you are beautiful
and free.
Just come to me for living
water.
There is no other water
There is no other food
That can satisfy.
I know about the donuts in the
closet.
I know about the bite you
didn’t write down.
I know about the five diets you
tried
And the one you’re on now you’re not
sticking to.
I’m calling you to a lifestyle
of grace—just one day at a time..
Forgive yourself. Accept yourself.
Know that I love you as you are
And call you forth as you shall be.
We say, give me some of that living
water.
And we run to tell all the
fat-headed-skinny people
He told me everything I have
done—
And he still has love in his eyes.
Come and see!
Surely, this is the fixer who will
mend our bodies
And our lives.
Margalea Warner writes from Coralville IA where she is part of a Mennonite congregation.