Craving a Fast

Lent is a time where you give up something as an act to honor God. This might have been productive in the Old Testament times but since Jesus came, isn’t this how we are supposed to live every day?

I gave up soda once. By the end of that month, I craved soda more than anything else and I wasn’t even thinking of why I did it. Same when I gave up Facebook. Why do we try to give up something for 40 days when at the end of it we are craving it even more than before? Do we really know the reasons why we do things like this?

I am a Christian who does not celebrate Lent. My family never prompted me to do so. The family that I babysit for introduced me to the idea of Lent and when my little girl asked me what I gave up; I didn’t know what to say.

She gave up ice cream and her brother gave up soda. They told me over and over these were the things they gave up. They made sure I knew. They were so proud.

It was almost like a competition. People flaunt what they have given up. Doesn’t God tell us that when we fast, we should remain the same?

In Matthew 6:17-18 Jesus said “But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and you Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Think about what you are giving up and why you are doing.

As Christians, I think that this is the life we should live every day. If there is something we are willing to give up for 40 days, shouldn’t we be able to give it up for life? That’s a hard question and I don’t want to justify. But I think that things like these should be given up in moderation.

Over the years, loop holes have been created to make Lent “easier”. You can do this this day and this this day. In the end, we are twisting this season to fit our American wants and needs.

This is the way we should live every day to honor God. Not make a craving worse but take time to understand what our marvelous Lord did for us. That was his lifestyle.

A Flower Crown of Youth

Flower crowns. Princess dresses. Epic sword fights. Not a faerie tale, just childhood.

            Those magical days when Pluto was a planet. My favorite movies were on VHS tapes. Mismatched clothes were acceptable even at church. Wild tangled hair was not a big deal.

            What happened to the days when I begged to go outside? It was a privilege to get to run around barefoot with the grass below cushioning my every step. The freedom to do a cartwheel without caring what another person thought as I fell.

            At some point in my life, I lost what it meant to be a kid. As I walked around my yard the other day, I took off my shoes to feel the cool grass under my feet. I looked at a tree that was perfect for climbing but I thought better of it because I was in nice clothes. I wanted to throw myself into a cartwheel but quickly changed my mind in case someone was watching.

            When I was a kid, I longed to be always just a little bit older. I wanted to turn 10 to be in the double digits. Thirteen, so I could be a teenager. Sixteen, so I could drive. Eighteen, so I could vote and be considered an adult. Every birthday never seemed to be quite enough.

            Here I am at 21, begging to be five again. When a kiss on a scrape made everything better. When someone was always there to take care of you. When coloring was considered homework.

            At times it feels as if the world has told me to leave my childhood behind. What’s so fun about being an adult? I began to search Scripture to see what it had to say about my childhood dilemma.

             There are two Biblical truths that resonate with me in this issue. I am a child of God. I am allowed to have the heart of a child. In Matthew 18:3 Jesus says, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”.

            Children are dependent in nature. As the blossom into adults, they become more prideful and believe they can do everything on their own. Jesus calls us to humble ourselves. I recognize that I could not be the person I am today without Him.

Naturally, at times I try to do things on my own but ultimately realize I am going to fail. Jesus loves to hear from us. He wants to hear the inner workings of our hearts and He wants us to need Him.

There is another truth that is just as powerful. Like I said, when I was nine, I wanted to be ten, then thirteen and so on. Now is not enough.

I struggle to be content in where I am. Reflecting on the things I wanted so badly, like to be just another year older, have I ever craved so badly to be that much closer to Jesus? How often do I think of mundane wants and not what is truly going impact my life for eternity?

I need to learn how to depend on Jesus and be content with where He has me. It’s a powerful thing.

Take a second out of the day and let your hair down. Take your shoes off. Do a little dance. 

Land of Hope and Dreams

As a young girl, my father always told me there was nothing better than Bruce. One day on our way to a wedding, my dad blared Bruce on the speakers and in his drunken voice wailed the words to Thunder Road. He sang and sang. There is nothing better than Bruce.

            If you ask this current generation about Bruce Springsteen they would simply ask back “Who?”. Bruce is a musical icon that has impacted many of the generations before ours. Even out of this declining economy, he still manages to put out an album that brings hope to our generation. In his song Land of Hope and Dreams from his new album Wrecking Ball, he hits on the truth that we are coming out of this rut and are heading to the land of hope and dreams.

            The title of his album Wrecking Ball is a statement in itself. When a construction company is getting ready to take down something old or deteriorated, they use a wrecking ball.  This is what Bruce’s album is leading to. We are getting ready to knock down the wall that is blocking us from reaching our dreams. Each song that is on the album is encouraging the power that we have as people.

            While singing he has so much soul behind it. He believes what he is saying and he knows it is true. He knows that there is something better waiting ahead. The last words of the song are “I said this train… dreams will not be thwarted… This train… faith will be rewarded.”

            Bruce is talking about a day where something greater is going to come not only for the rich but for everyone.  We need to remain faithful through the thick and the thin and in the end we will receive the ultimate reward. I feel that he is alluding to the idea that we can be forgiven and rewarded if we are faithful. This train is not discriminative. It carries the “saints and sinners…losers and winners…whores and gamblers…lost souls.” The train carries us all.

            In the beginning of the song, he says, “we’ll take what we can carry. Yeah, and we’ll leave the rest.”  I feel like there is two ways to interpret this line. First, the Bible tells us to limit our possessions, to store our treasures in heaven. I don’t know how many people, including myself, could just take what I could carry. Throughout history, many communities have had to do this, to pick up and move. I find it interesting that Bruce would sing this in a song at a time like this. We are in such a selfish generation that is constantly begging for more and more.      

So he is asking us to limit our materialistic items. But then he could be asking us to let go of what excess emotional baggage we are carrying and just take the memories that are important. Then in the second part of the journey he says, “for this part of the ride leave behind you sorrows.”

Bruce knows we are all ready for “where the sunlight streams.” Our society has reached a place where there is darkness and we are just lost. We are ready for any hope and encouragement that can be pushed our way. He knows we are ready for this.

Wrecking Ball recognizes the changing of times and the new phase the world is going into. It is a sense of hope that we aren’t the only ones who recognize our need for hope. It inspires that we can still dream and we can still achieve whatever we want.