“Three Wars, Charlie Sheen and Lent”

Lent is a time of self reflection and self evaluation. It is quiet time, when we stop the hectic pace of our lives, we take notice of life regenerating in the beginning of spring time, and we discern the next paths our lives will take. We dust off the coldness and gray of winter and look forward to new life. Lent is a joyous time of renewal but it can also be a time to face reality.

During this time of self reflection it is not always fun. Some discoveries are freeing, others are a reminder God is still adjusting and creating the person He wants me to be. I believe we all crave some token of God’s presence in what often seems a very messed up world. Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Libya it is easy to loss focus on God. With economic struggles, earthquakes in Japan, and Charlie Sheen, we all may question our sanity when we try to look only on God’s will for our life. The world in which we live, navigate, and trek through can steal the joy and peace we so desperately desire. If you are like me, when I lay down at night, my deepest desire is peace. A sense that I know I had done my best, that my life has meaning, and that I am loved by many. My reality reminds me that I have made many mistakes, hurt the ones I love, and not have always chosen Gods’ will over mine. It is in those dark times, the seed of darkness, guilt, and doubt creep in. I begin to feel I am not loveable, not good enough, not worthy of all the blessings God has placed in my life. It is here I realize a hunger.

There is a hunger deep within every heart, a deep craving for forgiveness and hope, a sense that our best days are not all behind us, and that God has not given up on us even if we have in some way given up on ourselves. Christ passion displayed in his life and ministry as a teacher, his horrendous horrifying death on the cross, and then the promise found in his resurrection, reminds me it is not over. If we can focus more on satisfying our hunger for forgiveness and hope than on the world around us, we begin to find clarity. How Jesus loves us, not how much he loves us, helps us feed our hunger. I am not suggesting we forget about the world around us. No just the opposite. We look at our reality with forgiveness and hope. In war, we search and locate those stories of sacrifice, heroism, and peace. In times of uncertainty, we listen not to gossip but to words of comfort, hope, and forgiveness. In times of doubt, we speak words of love, peace, and self worth. And together, we can change our life and the lives of those around us. ( Maybe even Tiger Blood Sheen) It allows us all to sleep well at night with our hunger satisfied.

Continue your journey through Lent, see ya in church, but until then take care of yourself and one another.
Shalom,
Tommy