Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and Porn

As I finished up what was probably my fifth Krispy Kreme doughnut of the day last Thursday, it occurred to me how much warm (7 seconds in the microwave) Krispy Kreme doughnuts are like pornography. Yeah, I know I’m weird.

The most obvious parallel to me is that they are both addictive. The more doughnuts I eat, the more I want. . Whether I’ve eaten one or four, it’s rare that I feel satisfied. The momentary good feeling from consuming one just makes me selfish for more. It reminds me of my buddy who was looking at internet porn up to ten times a day. Despite the sexual release that came with the first viewing of the day, he wasn’t satisfied by it. In fact, he really wasn’t satisfied by the tenth viewing either. The bottom line is that scratching the itch doesn’t make it go away. In fact, it often just makes it itch more. I guess that’s the tolerance effect of addiction (or sin as the case may be). I wish I could eat a doughnut and think “man that was good. I won’t need another dessert for at least week.” Unfortunately I’m not wired that way.

The funny thing about Krispy Kremes is that sometimes eating five or six leads to both good and bad feelings (although the knowledge of the bad feelings is rarely enough to help me refrain:). I feel overly full and gross afterwards (although sometimes I don’t, and the consumption is just like a drop in the bucket). I know that some people who view internet porn have the same conflicted feeling.

I do not know the scientific expressions to describe how KKs make me feel, but when I eat one I feel differently—happy chemicals course through my body; it’s much more than just a good taste. I imagine looking at pornographic images has the same effect on some people (remember the Grey’s Anatomy episode when the patient watched porn to relieve pain?). Hormones or chemicals or something are released upon viewing the images.

Another way these two are similar is shame. Both gluttony and porn can result in feelings of shame. It’s a feeling of hating what you’re doing—yet not hating it quite enough to stop or actually being unable to stop on your own—even if it means you end up losing your job (because you were caught downloading porn at work).

So now you know what’s bouncing around in my head these days. Oh, when I shared my thoughts with Carter, he suggested I listen to a sermon entitled “The Gospel According to Krispy Kreme” and draw some different parallels....which reminds me that I’m either enslaved to sin (which can be so addictive like KKs and porn) or enslaved to God (which breaks that cycle of shame, pleasure, etc.).

p.s. I’m thankful for a fantastic weekend with my family. Jumping on the trampoline with my nieces and Carter, visiting with my Aunt Rene, games with my sister and Billy Bob, spending time with my mom and dad, and an awesome drive back Sunday morning with sunshine and great music and prayer made for a lovely time.