Eating is so much more than nourishment in this culture (and every culture, as far as I'm able to determine). I think historically over thousands of years it's always been a huge uncertainty whether or not there will ever be a *next* meal, that we've developed our major celebratory behavior around food. To be ousted from that takes a bigger toll on the soul than one might have expected. . . . To rejoin the fellowship, a greater gift than one knew. . . .