[The woman Folly calls out:] "Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!" But little do [those who lack judgment] know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave (Proverbs 9:17-18).

Lady Folly's outlandish invitations in Proverbs chapter 9 are almost certainly symbolic and metaphorical.  The "woman" herself is clearly not a real person or a real voice.  And her enticements are not limited to the literal areas of geographic guidance or physical consumption patterns.  But at the same time, there is something pertinent to the ways that we abuse food and drink and the ways that these expressions of folly affect our relationship with wisdom and with God Himself.

I know several women who have struggled with eating disorders, at some point in their lives.  In a lot of ways, it seems almost like the female equivalent of the classic masculine struggle with por nography (where the vast majority of people struggle with some level of idolatry with this particular object -- i.e. food or sexual fantasy -- and where a significant minority struggle with it on deeper levels of addiction and dependency).  And as such, I feel like I have a good feel for some of the deeper issues involved with eating disorders, even though it's never really been a personal struggle for me.

At their core, eating disorders (like por nography) seem to be primarily related to issues of control and coping with difficulty.  When problems come along, we often turn to these "idols" as our source of hope and salvation.  If we're feeling bad, we believe that food or sex (or fill-in-the-blank) can comfort us and medicate the pain.  The truth, of course, is that giving our worship to anything other than God is short-sighted and problematic -- destined to trap us in a downward spiral of sin and self-destruction (as described in Proverbs 18:3).  But in the moment, when we're looking for escape and pain-management, we're ripe for deception -- and when someone or something calls out to us, "Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!" we so often fall for it, hook, line, and sinker.  We grasp at the immediate opportunity for self-gratification and a sense of control over our circumstances... without ever realizing that such a course of action is actually leading us to the place of the dead, the depths of the grave.

In order to break free from the cycles of sin and self-destruction -- particularly in regards to eating disorders or por nography -- we need to call it what it is:  folly.  And then we need to deliberately repent and turn to wisdom and God instead.