gourmet and gourmand

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In French -- and I guess English too -- a gourmet is someone devoted to fine and refined eating. A gourmand is an over-eater ... a pig, in short.

Gourmet spiritual adventure -- all the fillips and furbelows that make for a mighty repast ... delicacies spread out and savored and digested with the fine wine of logic and praise. Not a crumb overlooked or unappreciated. No wine glass lifted without the obligatory pinkie erection.

Gourmand spiritual adventure -- cram it all in, from soup to nuts and back to soup. Barbecue sauce up to the elbows. Never mind, I'll wash my shirt later ... oh look, over there, isn't that baby-back ribs?! It's all good and what is made good can be made better with more and more and more. This is God's territory! The beer comes in kegs and there are bushes providing a convenient place to puke when the occasion arises.

Everyone's got to eat. It's just a fact. Is there some reason to make much of it? Nourishment is important ... so, eat. Eat first, call it spiritual adventure later.
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