“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your father who is in the secret place; and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” [Matthew 6:16–18]
What did you give up for Lent? Just curious; I’m not meaning to guilt you into anything. My men’s group at Trinity recently discussed this passage. Notice that fasting is more of a heart issue than a stomach issue. It’s about humility and prayer, not publicity and spiritual notches in our belt. Like so many other things in the Christian life, fasting is first an internal devotional experience between you and your God.
For your reading accompaniment: “Fakin’ It” by Simon and Garfunkel
Here’s a very pleasant tune with a poignant message about being phony and inauthentic. As you read through this blog, you’ll see why I have selected this one.
Thank you, Katherine
Tuesday Afternoon was in good hands last week. You’ll be hearing from her again, I promise.
Not blogging or doing work of any kind last week and yet still watching the world spin ‘round while having no outlet to express my thoughts was like a form of mental constipation.
At one point, I thought of my Ukrainian pastor friend, Vitaly, who three years ago was hunkered down with church members in the basement of their church while Russian bombs were raining down around them. I recall him saying he was grateful for America. Yikes!
Have you noticed? Both the Dow Jones and S&P have been consistently plummeting! My financial advisor says he’s not worried. Maybe because its not his money. 😊
“They are still the hottest team in the NBA and can certainly win it all,” said no one ever of a LeBron-less Cavs team…except this past week by an ESPN commentator.
Did I really hear an Oscar winner thank “all the sex workers…”? You know that sex trafficking is the primary supply chain of sex work, right?
At least I could tease my mom that perhaps the 250% dairy tariffs on Canada are because cows from Ontario have been stealing jobs from Ohio cows for many years now.
Don’t call me lazybones
One of the things I did while I was on R&R in Palm Springs was sleep! I really did! And without an ounce of guilt! And I dreamed great dreams (in one I even devised a sophisticated building plan for my former church!). Despite the three-hour time change, I slept undisturbedly for eight hours every night. And it felt great! Not only did my body appreciate the rest, but my brain also seemed to be rejuvenated. This TED Talk discusses what I just experienced: Our bodies and our brain get reset in healthy ways when we sleep well. YES!
That’s El Roi with an I, not a Y
Hagar, not the Viking cartoon character but the abandoned wife of Abraham and mother Ishmael, was met by God as she had no clue where to turn. “You are the God who sees me… I have now seen the One who sees me” (Genesis 16:13). The title she gave to the Lord, “The God Who Sees Me,” is translated from the Hebrew “El Roi.”
You know God is still El Roi today. He really sees you with knowing, caring eyes. He numbers the hairs on our heads and keeps track of our every tear. When we call out to El Roi, we are praying to the God who knows our immediate circumstances and everything else about us. He is the God who sees…everything, including me.
Elroy, however? Now that’s different. 😊
(Here’s a short and thoughtful devotional by Paul Tripp on the God who knows me.)
Good words for the kids…and all of us
“Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” (Mr. Rogers, instructing children who might be frightened by something or by worrisome news they hear in the media or on television. Pretty good advice for all of us these days. Just sayin’.)
“‘Pooh, promise you won’t forget about me, ever. Not even when I’m a hundred.’” And, after a bit of stumbling for words, “‘Pooh, whatever happens, you will understand, won’t you?’… So they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.” (A.A. Milne, reminding kids of the value and lifelong need for fun and friendships—even with furry stuffed animals.)
“‘What is REAL?’ asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. ‘Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?’ ‘Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’ ‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.
‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’ ‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’ ‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.’ (Margery Williams in The Velveteen Rabbit, telling children [and all of us] the importance and sometimes pain of being authentic and vulnerable. No fakin’ it, right?)
Did he try Applebee’s salad bar?
I found this one rather funny. French tennis player Ugo Humbert brought his own personal chef to the Indian Wells, California tennis tournament instead of a coach because American foods upset his stomach. “In tournaments, I find it tough to feed myself. I’m talking about quality, what. You go to the restaurant, you have plastic salads, such as, and I have a bad stomach all the time,” Humbert explained. “I am hypersensitive to that; I pay very much care for nutrition.” Plastic salads; wow! To be fair, I have no GI/stomach issues when I eat out in India or Italy (or anywhere in Europe), but I commonly regret eating out here in the States.
Books I am reading or just finished
Fasting by Scot McKnight. A fresh take and accessible book that addresses this significant topic. “Fasting is the body talking what the spirit yearns, what the soul longs for, and what the mind knows to be true.” Not too late for Lent.
Across the River and Into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway. A nice “beach read” set in Venice (gotta love that) about a worn out World War II colonel and a young Italian countess. Hemingway always tells a good story.
Down the Mountain by Jason Kolb. A riveting story that my friend tells of his skiing accident that has left him in a wheelchair. Jason’s subtitle gives his meaningful, spiritual slant: “Skiing, Suffering, and Sufficient Grace.”
Roman Year by André Aciman. This surely brought me back to my childhood and the times I spent in Rome. This literature professor tells a wonderful story with such verbal artistry. Like both a tour guide and an adolescent psychologist, Aciman lets his readers experience the heart of a teenager and the heart of a city where he is an immigrant.
“Look upon us, O Lord,
and let all the darkness of our souls
vanish before the beams of thy brightness.
Fill us with holy love,
and open to us the treasures of thy wisdom.
All our desire is known unto thee,
therefore perfect what thou hast begun,
and what thy Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer.
We seek thy face,
turn thy face unto us and show us thy glory.
Then shall our longing be satisfied,
and our peace shall be perfect.”
[St. Augustine, 354–430]
