No matter how much I want to hide from pain or to pretend I can have a trouble free life, the reality is I live in a fallen world.
All around me are people who are struggling for various reasons. Illness, relationship problems, abuse, the causes are endless. But the symptoms are real and everywhere. Our world is suffering as we wait for the coming of Jesus.
One example of this falleness in our society is anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia nervosa is the third most common illness for adolescent girls in Australia (after obesity and asthma.)
Melinda Hutchings battled with anorexia for three years. In her book Why can't I look the way I want? Overcoming eating issues, she weaves together information about anorexia and bulimia with her own experiences and the experiences of many others to present a realistic and deeply personal view of eating disorders.
Melinda's book is well formatted and easy to read. It is full of real people and helps you gain an appreciation for the pain and loss that anorexia and bulimia can cause. In this way it is helpful for those in danger of becoming sufferers or for those longing to help someone who is suffering. You are taken inside the thoughts of many who have battled to deal with eating issues, while also being offered lots of practical advice on how to help.
Those dealing with eating issues, will read that they are not alone in their experience, and that there are people who have been there and come out the other side and now are living beyond eating issues.
While this book is an easy read the topic itself is quite heavy. Reading this book with a friend and being able to discuss and process the issues it brings up would be an ideal thing to do.
The challenge for Christian readers is to read this book with a biblical framework in the back of our mind. We cannot join with Melinda in proclaiming that I am the most important person in my life or that I have the power to help and change myself. We will need to identify the things that are missing from this book; God, his control over my life and his willingness to save me.
Interestingly, the way Melinda describes the eating disorder could be used to describe sin.
"The eating disorder itself is the supreme trick. Because the truth is that the eating disorder will trick you into believing that controlling and losing weight will bring you everything you want " and then it sets about destroying your body, your mind, your relationships and ultimately, your life."
Melinda summarises her message as this "
"Watch the ones you love closely. If you sense they are having trouble coping with life or struggling from day to day, reach out to them and get to the heart of the matter. You could be saving them from enduring the destructive path of anorexia or bulimia."
This is an important message that we need to hear.
