The Comfort Food Gospel. Is this the mainline church of America?

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List of comfort foods

While any foods or beverages could be considered comfort foods, there are many in the U.S. that might be considered 'universally' accepted comfort foods. Most comfort foods in the U.S. are regional in nature, such as collard greens in the South, or a hotdish in the Upper Midwest. Following is a short list of some common universally accepted American comfort foods. The same rules tend to apply internationally, where nationality, regional history and ethnicity tend to define what foods are considered comfort foods.

Apple Pie

Bagel with Cream Cheese

Bagel with Cream Cheese and Lox

Baked Apples

Baked Potato

BBQ Ribs

Beans

Biscuits

Bread

Bread Pudding

Brownies

Carrot Cake

Cheese Danish

Cheesecake

Chicken Fried Steak

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Pot Pie

Chili

Chinese cuisine

Cinnamon Rolls

Chocolate

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cole Slaw

Collard Greens

Corned Beef on Rye

Cornbread

Corn Chips

Corn (creamed)

Corn Dogs

Corn (on/off the cob)

Crab Cakes

Cupcakes

Étouffée (Crawfish or shrimp)

Fajitas

French Fries

French Toast

Fried Catfish

Fried Chicken

Garlic Bread

Grilled Cheese

Gumbo

Ice Cream

Hamburger

Hamburger with garnishes of that individual's choosing

Hot Dish

Hot Dog

Key Lime Pie

Lasagne

Macaroni and Cheese

Mashed Potatoes

Matzo Ball Soup

Meatloaf

Milk Toast

Noodle Kugel

Oatmeal

Omelette

Onion Rings

Pasta

Pancakes

Peach Cobbler

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Pecan Pie

Philly Cheesesteak

Pizza

Potato Chips

Potato Latkes

Potato Salad

Prunes

Rice

Rice Krispie Treats

Rice Pudding

Roast Beef

Rotisserie Chicken

Scrapple

Shepherd's Pie

Soup (particularly Chicken Noodle Soup)

Spaghetti

Stir Fry

Stuffed Peppers

Turkey and Stuffing with Cranberry Sauce

Waffles

Isaiah 40

Comfort for God's People

1 Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.

2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.

There you have it. We believe we've earned our "comfort" from God.

We go to church to be comforted by indulging in a guilty pleasure. We come for a sweet-treat reward for our week of being "good". We clamor after spiritual candy, happily paying for a banana-split for the soul.

We know the fattening intake of empty calories is bad for us, so we limit our intake. We save God for a once-a-week indulgence ("Sunday morning Happy Hour"), or for "special occasions" likes Christmas, Easter,weddings, christenings, and funerals.

Longing for false childhood memories of "home", we have become spiritual-food junkies. We are loyal to our name-brand religions, addicted to their sugar-coated gospels, deep-fried discipleship, and a creme-filled christ on a wafer.

Where's the meat? We'd gag on the raw meat of Jesus. We need beef-jerky and salt-pork for our long journey, but we pack Snickers and fruit roll-ups (some who take their "religion" seriously take trail mix to keep their bowels regular).

In the Land of Plenty, we load up on Good-N-Plentys. Our bellies distend, our teeth become perforated. We sense a problem, so we switch to Diet Coke as a spiritual discipline during the week.

Enabled by the clerical Ronald McDonald, Jack, and the Burger King, we are going to hell via the drive-through. Will that be cash, credit, or debit?

Did I mention the cost? It's cheap grace.