Squealing and Grunting

By Jeannette Paulson

When I was about 10, one of my best friends lived on the farm next to our school. Before we could build forts out of bales or make mud pies with real eggs (yes, we got in trouble for that), she had to do chores. So I would gather and pack eggs with her, and sometimes we would feed the pigs. Now, we always tried to pour the slop into the trough before the pigs could get there. They would come squealing and grunting, pushing one another to get there first. If you didn’t hurry, you’d be pouring the remainder on their heads. It was all noisy and messy.

I couldn’t help but think back on those chores when I read the questions that Puritan Joseph Alleine would ask himself at the end of the day about eating:

Did I not sit down with a higher end than a beast, merely to please my appetite? Did I eat and drink for the glory of God?

Seriously, I have at times, especially if I am very hungry, sat down and scarfed my food like a pig without one thought to glorifying God.

Was not mine appetite too hard for me?

That is, did I eat too much? This is especially true for me when I have had no thought to glorifying God. When we think like a pig, we act like one too.

Did not I arise from the table without dropping anything of God there?

Especially when I am the only adult at the table, I am responsible for directing the conversation. I have often failed to do that and the gap, I say with shame, has at times been filled with gossip or self-righteous criticism of others.

Did not I mock with God when I pretended to crave a blessing and return thanks?

Jesus modeled praying before eating. This is a good discipline because it reminds us that we are in the presence of God, who sustains us for his glory. Of course, it is possible to simply go through the motions without the reverence we owe our Father. When Alleine asks whether he did not “mock with God,” he is talking about taking the name of the Lord in vain.

I love Alleine’s questions because they powerfully bring us into the presence of the Holy God, reminding us that we are never alone. They deal with the heart. They give us specifics for confession to Him who is keen to forgive. They can be useful tools for forming us more into Christ’s image for God’s glory.

They bring us up short when we are squealing and grunting like pigs rather than properly reflecting that image.