When John Boopalan gave a 90-second pitch of his upcoming course, Eat, Love, Reflect, at the annual course launch forum back in April, I knew right away that it would be the only possible option for me to wrap up my Biblical and Theological Studies requirements at CMU. It was just too good to pass up (a thought many other people also had—the course apparently filled up within several hours of registration opening).
In the course description of Eat, Love, Reflect John asks, “What would it mean to engage head, heart, and taste buds in the pursuit of spiritual and social transformation?” Paired with this is a notion that is central to the course: balancing love of God, love of self, and love of others through the act of eating. These two main ideas are emphasized every single week. The readings typically consist of New Testament passages featuring Jesus eating with others, theological writings exploring these events, and articles that are not explicitly religious looking at topics such as food insecurity, Indigenous understandings of bodily nourishment, and general reflections on the act of eating.
Eat, Love, Reflect is very much a discussion-based class. There is always a lively lecture component delivered by John (and occasionally other guests), but a good deal of time in class is devoted to talking with classmates, either in pairs, small groups, or all together. This is where a lot of the reflection in the “Reflect” part of the title comes into play.
Of course, it would be complete nonsense to have a course about food and not eat, and we’ve made sure to get our fair share of eating in. We took a trip to a downtown McDonald’s to consider the convenience of food and the intentionality of eating. We ate saskatoon and rhubarb platz on the front lawn of another professor to ponder hospitality. And, most excitingly, we took a field trip to Silverwinds Colony southeast of Carman to share a meal with the Hutterites there, where we thought about the importance of eating as part of a community on a regular basis.
As someone who grew up on a farm with both crops and cattle, I’ve always been very aware of where my food comes from—helping in the garden was always a mandatory summertime chore, and butchering beef and pork at my grandparents’ place has been an extended family affair for my entire life. Historically, I have had a good understanding of and relationship with the food I eat. This class has taken this to another level, however. The philosophy and theology of eating have permeated my mealtimes, with readings and lectures now often coming to mind when I eat. Particularly, I’ve become much more conscious of the love involved in preparing, sharing, and eating food together. Eat, Love, Reflect has been a true joy to be part of, and I am looking forward to the final four weeks, during which there will be even more learning, eating, and loving.
Mike Thiessen is a fourth-year Bachelor of Arts student, majoring in English.
I have lived on a farm my whole life, and have observed the lives of many creatures. Having worked with sheep, the illustrations in Scripture highlighting the relationship between sheep and their shepherd, have come to life.
My communication did not take the form that people typically think of when they hear the words “communications and media.” There were no blog or social media posts. Instead, I engaged with people face-to-face on a daily basis on behalf of MPI. Though at first glance our job was to state the rules of the road and making presentations, it became obvious that interacting and connecting with communities across Manitoba was far more important.
I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of the CMU community as well. I’ve had the chance to learn from great professors, great staff members that will drop anything that they are doing to talk to you and to see how your day is going, and my fellow classmates who turn what could be a regular old university class into a fun-loving environment that you can immediately feel comfortable in. I don’t know if there is a better community than CMU.