Refocused

Time just flies by, doesn't it? It seems like my life gets more busy with each passing day. I'm not complaining. I would rather be busy than bored. But, I couldn't believe it the other day when I realized that we are already at the halfway mark for this Lenten season!

There are tons of great resources to reflect on the purpose and meaning of Lent (My friend Jonathan wrote a great reflection on Lent that you should really check out), so I don't think I need to add anything to what has already been said. But, I think something weird happens around this halfway point. I don't know if you are anything like me, but I usually try to fire myself up for the start of Lent; and, for the first couple of weeks, things go decently well. The fasting and abstaining are difficult, but I manage to get through it and it usually makes me feel closer to God (which is the point, right?). But I've started to realize that around this time I get somewhat comfortable with my fasting and sacrifices and I get into a "Lenten routine". I still manage to practice my fast but soon it is more mechanical than prayerful, and that closeness to God begins to fade away.

No meat on Fridays? Not a problem, I'll get a cheese pizza.
Gave up candy? I'll just eat an apple, it's healthier anyway.
Not watching TV? I don't even miss it anymore.

I'm not saying there is anything bad with eating cheese pizza in place of meat on a Friday, or having an energy drink to substitue for a coffee when you need a pick-me-up. However, I think there is a tendency to fall into a complacency where we begin to focus more on keeping our sacrifices than on the true purpose behind them. It reminds me a bit of the story of Martha and Mary from the Gospel of Luke.

As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary (who) sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her." Luke 10: 38-42.

Easter is just a few short weeks away and, to be honest, there are days when I am just counting down until I can go back to drinking that sweet, sweet nectar called Starbucks Coffee. But we need to keep in mind the purpose of Lent and the goal of our sacrifice. At this point, are you more of a Martha or more of a Mary? Are you more focused on the sacrifice, or are you sitting and drawing nearer to Christ? I hope and pray that we can find the grace to be like Mary for the remainder of this Lenten season.

Peace

Set Apart

You ever have one of those moments or thoughts that really just sends your head spinning? I had one of those moments the other night. I was laying in my bed thinking back on my day as I was waiting to fall a sleep.

Did I pray? Yep.
Read the Bible? Check.
Did I live as a Christian? Sure.

Pretty routine, nothing too unusual. But as I was laying there I had to ask myself about that last question. If I switched up the question a bit and asked other people to answer for me, I don't know if I would get the same answer. Laying there that night it felt like I got punched in the soul. You see, it is really easy for me to say I live my day out as a Christian, but the question I need to ask myself should be whether or not the people who I encounter throughout my day would agree with me? Some days, I am not too sure.

I typically try not care about what people think or say of me; however, this is a little different. I don't care so much if a person in the grocery store or at the post office recognizes and labels me as a Christian, but I do want to look at my life and think, "there is something different with him". I want the love and peace and joy I experience from my relationship with Christ to penetrate my whole life. Not just when I am at church or in a Christian environment. My entire life! My every thought. Every interaction. Every conversation. Everything! And isn't that what we are called to as Christians?

Well, here is a little knowledge that may melt your face off. We are meant to be holy...that shouldn't be huge news for any of you. 1 Peter 1:15-16 states, "but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, 'Be holy because I (am) holy'." What you may not know is that if you trace the word "holy" back to it's Greek root, which is "hagios", it can be translated to mean "set apart".

Set apart? To be holy means to be set apart! I learned about the whole "hagios" thing a couple years ago when I was in school. I thought it was a cool fact, but the reality of this truth is effecting my life in a new way. I don't want to live an average life. I don't want to live like everyone else. I want my life to be meaningful, intentional, and set apart from the rest of the world; I want my life to only be explainable by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So the question I leave you with today is, "How do you want to live your life?"

Jesus, MD

I just got back from Michigan where my twin brother got married. It was a beautiful wedding and fun weekend, but somehow I managed to catch a pretty bad head cold. No one enjoys having a cold. With all the sneezing, coughing, fever, the runny nose, and sore throat, it can make life pretty miserable. Throw in a couple long flights back to Florida that moved the congestion and sinus pressure into my ears and it quickly becomes the perfect storm of colds. Needless to say I am home sick today.

I don't know if you have ever experienced a cold like the one I am currently experiencing. I know it could be a lot worse. It is only a cold, and in a couple days I will be back to my old self, but it is just really annoying not being able to breathe, or smell, or hear. With the congestion and pressure in my ears it has really been difficult to communicate. It is not only difficult to hear others, but it's hard to hear myself which makes talking a struggle as well. It almost feels like I have ear plugs in and I can't tell how loud I am speaking. We have all experienced that person who yells to their friend sitting next to them because they have their music cranked up on their iPod, or the kid on the airplane who is trying to talk to his parents but is yelling because his ears haven't popped from the flight. Well, that is me right now. Since coming down with this cold, I've relied on my wife to tell me when to speak up or to lower my voice, so I don't look like a fool yelling or whispering to people. She is so good to me.

But today, lying in my bed, coughing and sneezing, congested and plugged up, I started to think about how this cold reflects my spiritual life at times. There are times in my life where I am so weighed down by my sin it is almost like having this cold. The Catholic Church says that "sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it" (CCC 1850). And if our sins turns us from God's love, how are we to communicate with God, know God and love God? Our sin becomes like my cold that just plugs us up. We can't breathe. We can't hear. It is even difficult to speak.

Lucky for us, Christ did not come for the perfect and healthy but for the lowly and the sick. Jesus himself said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mt 9:12-13). Our God is a healer. He comes to us in our sickness and sin and reaches out to us with mercy and compassion. And no matter how sick or sinful we are we need to remember that God's medicine is greater than our disease.

So if you are reading this, take a minute and ask yourself, "In what ways do I turn a deaf ear or a blind eye towards Christ?" If you don't know the answer to that question, keep thinking about it. When you find the answer, let Christ into that place. And if you already know the answer but don't know what to do with it, all you have to do is bring it to Jesus. It may not be a quick and easy fix but He does bring restoration.

Jesus took [the deaf and dumb man] aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly...They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak” (Mk 7: 31-37).