Let your soul delight in fatness...

I absolutely LOVE a local restaurant's delectable dessert called "The Magic Mountain."

And it is magical!

Home-made caramelly praline and gooey dark chocolate brownie topped with french vanilla ice cream and drizzled with more caramel, fudge, and whipped cream in a waffle cone.  Ahhhhh....

It. is. D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S!!!!

I'm salivating just thinking about all that rich, chewy, scrumptious goodness.

And, yet... I feel a bit of melancholy, knowing that if I choose to drive down to that restaurant, order that dessert, and savor every bite of that oh-so-yummy delight... I will be in pain a few hours later.  It might just be a little pain: a bit of bloating, a bit of fulness in my gut, a bit of cramping in my lower abdomen.  Enough to make me hurt but not enough to make me never think about ordering it again.

Or it could be severely painful: cramping so badly that I'm writhing around on the bed either curled up in the fetal position or laying prostrate trying to stretch out my torso area enough to accommodate what feels like a giant hot air balloon filling my abdomen.  So painful that I'm willing to give up some of my favorite foods... FOREVER... just so I don't have to experience that kind of hurting again.

I never know which it will be.  I've had intestinal problems for years.  I haven't been able to totally figure out the cause or the triggers because they seem to be so inconsistent.  And no amount of doctors and their tests or experiments of my own have been able to find a cure or a cause... so far.  Sometimes I'll go through long stretches of painful episodes that occur daily for weeks and I begin to wish I didn't have to eat at all... just so that I wouldn't hurt anymore.  I begin to worry about every little thing I eat, unsure what the consequences of eating that particular food might be, hoping to spend just one night without pain.

I guess that's why this scripture resonates so soundly with me:
"Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy.  Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness."    ~ 2 Nephi 9:15

So many phrases in this passage are meaningful to me, but I want to focus on just those highlighted: "feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted."  Perhaps it's due to my chronic digestive irritability, but the thought conveyed by feasting upon something that would bring satisfaction, comfort and joy without ANY worry of it bringing future distress or upset is particularly appealing to me.

I can scarcely imagine what that would be like.

No worry.  No pain.  No suffering.  No regret.

I (we) can feast upon the gospel without ANY of those things.
We can feast as much as we like.
In fact, we are counseled to let our souls "delight in [the] fatness" of it.

Think of that.  Delighting in the fatness of it.  As women in today's society I think we have NEVER let ourselves delight in the fatness of anything!

And yet, I really like the sentiment the phrase "delight in fatness" conveys when applied to those things that ARE of worth and that CAN satisfy.  To me, the fatness is the richness, the fulness, the absolute soul-filling joy that only worthwhile pursuits and experiences can bring.

I try to remind myself of that phrase in those moments when I feel touched by the Spirit or feel my testimony growing or feel loved by my Heavenly Father or am enjoying a wonderful moment with my husband, children, siblings, or parents.  To drink in the fulness of those moments and to savor them, to delight in the fatness of them is indeed VERY satisfying to the soul!

No worry.
No regret.

Just delight.