Faith Venture

Fat Tuesday is now behind us. I hope you celebrated well. Today, the beginning of Lent, begins a time of fasting and reflection–at least for the more liturgical of Christians. For some evangelical Protestants it is not something emphasized.

I did not grow up in a family or church that emphasized fasting during Lent–or any other time for that matter. We kids made fun of the Lutherans (the majority in my home village) who fasted by giving up a food for Lent. Famous was the guy who gave up watermelon. That is a fruit unavailable in March and April in Ohio.

Giving up something that you couldn’t get anyway is obviously making light of the ritual and not practicing the spiritual discipline of fasting. God warns us many times (Isaiah 58, Jeremiah 14, Joel 2, Zechariah 7 for example) about fasting with the wrong attitude.

That is why Isaiah says this:

“Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them,

and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up quickly;”

Isaiah 58:6-8

Jesus also tells us that if we are fasting, do not go around looking sad and burdened. Appear as normal. But between you and God, you agree to give up some food or drink as a discipline for a period of time.

Tip: It can also be healthy. I had a Catholic friend who gave up desserts, fried foods, and beer for Lent. Lost 10 pounds every year. Then Easter Sunday came and it all went back on. But he had the right attitude any way.

Traveling this week. At the airport yesterday I experienced twice incidents where I (we) could make a judgement drawing a conclusion from the appearance of someone’s story, only to find out the rest of the story and come to a startling different conclusion.

Today is Mardi Gras–in English, Fat Tuesday. It is a final day of eating and drinking before entering Lent. Lent is a time of inward looking, fasting (for some), penitence, preparing our hearts for the victory of resurrection.

So maybe we see someone tonight partying, eating rich foods, perhaps an extra glass of wine. Then tomorrow we see them with ashes on their forehead. If we saw only one or the other would we have their story?

Or perhaps we need the rest of the story. We need the inner discipline to refrain from the rush to judgement about other people. Or even ourselves.

We have to walk that lonesome valley,

We have to walk it by ourselves.

Oh, nobody else can walk it for us.

We have to walk it by ourselves.

–Jesus Walked That Lonesome Valley, American Folk Hymn

What a joy for a child when he can tie his own shoe laces, she can button her own shirt. It’s a sort of freedom.

We grow up. We come to expect others to do for us. A guru bestows truth on us. A doctor gives a magic pill.

We become fit without feeding ourselves nutritious food. We become fit without exercising. We think someone else will do the work.

We expect someone else to do the hard work of spiritual practices and then bestow the truth of enlightenment upon us.

We have to walk it by ourselves.

For most of my life, I have been a Methodist or United Methodist. Dad once told me that I was fourth generation Methodist.

When I was a youth, we were “strongly suggested” to sign a pledge card saying we would never drink an alcoholic beverage. The Methodist Church was historically a temperance church.

Now…we have pastors drinking Jack Daniels…

When I was young, a man who divorced his wife could not remarry in the church nor be in leadership.

Now…men who have divorced wives in order to have the latest model not only are remarried in the church, they are serving in leadership roles…

I’m not saying this is bad. In fact, as a general rule, there is good in this.

This week, a special gathering of the United Methodist Church’s governing group, the General Conference, came together to decide how to work out a way for two diverse groups with tightly held opinions on the role and status of homosexual people to live together.

Looking at history…

Although many use words such as love, forgiveness, and God, they often are like the fish in the ocean. “Pardon me, I am searching for the ocean. Can you help me find it?”

Then one day they awaken. They become aware of God and of love and of forgiveness. Opinions are jettisoned. And they cease to speak. They’ve awakened.

Marie Kondo is all the rage right now. She even has a TV series. Simplify, organize, bring joy.

Similar to the book Make Time that I just reviewed. Instead of scurrying around trying to check off the most items from your todo list, make sure you focus on one important thing every day. Perhaps if you finish that, you might have time for a second.

Another book traveling a similar path is Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Gregory McKeown.

Thinking about these ideas leads to an inescapable conclusion. None of these consist of simple checklists. These are all lifestyles.

Similarly we can think about diets. A “diet” to lose weight works only in the short term. We all know that. I was astonished to learn that people are on keto diets now. When I was introduced to the concept, practitioners were cautioned to do this intermittently. Raising ketone levels (yes, they do burn fat) has many deleterious effects on the body. Diet, rightly considered, consists of a balanced nutritious blend of essential elements for sustaining a fit life–a balance of carbohydrates and fat for energy and protein to build cells. Oh, it’s actually a lifestyle of nutritious eating.

Then I thought more deeply. Take this following Jesus thing. This also does not consist of a checklist of things to do. Nor is it the simple repeating of a mantra–“I believe, I believe.”

Rightly considered, following Jesus is a lifestyle. Like the old folk song “I have decided to follow Jesus…”, we make the decision and then we live the lifestyle.

And like all of these examples, often we get it wrong. But the times we get it right are satisfying and joyful. And the more we practice, the better we get.