“O God, you are my God, and I long for you. My whole being desires you; like a dry, worn-out, and waterless land, my soul is thirsty for you.” (Psalm 63:1, Good News Bible)
The other day I was putting together activities and a lesson for our church youth group. Since it was the Sunday before Lent, I decided to do some things that help drive home the meaning of Lent. So, of course, I made them play a game in which they had to dab their noses with vaseline and then take cotton balls – on their nose – to the other side of the room, without using their hands.
Sounds like Lent to me.
Well, at least it sounds like youth ministry.
At the end of the evening, we gathered around a table for a devotion. There were baskets of rocks, rice, and sponges on the table, and a bowl of water. We talked about how our hearts feel right now, as we enter the season of Lent. Maybe our hearts are excited about God, and they want to soak up as much of God as they can (sponge). Maybe our hearts are weighed down with troubles or worries (rock). Maybe our hearts are spiritually dry, parched (rice). I encouraged the youth to pick up one or more of the items on the table that reflect what’s going on in their hearts, and put it/them in the bowl of water. The water, of course, represented Jesus – the spring of living water.
During that little devotional exercise, I realized something: I am thirsty. Thirsty for God. As the deer longs for streams of water, so does my soul long for God, the living God (Psalm 42:1). My soul is thirsty for God (Psalm 63:1).
It got me to thinking, what makes a person thirsty? I have some empirical (but definitely not scientifically-proven) ideas about what makes a person thirsty. Sometimes it’s exercise, or over-exertion. After I have exercised, or after I have put in a long day of manual labor, I’m thirsty. I feel like there’s not enough water to quench my thirst.
Sometimes we get thirsty from what we eat. Salty things make me thirsty. When I eat pizza or popcorn, I inevitably wake up in the middle of the night with cotton mouth, parched.
And then, there’s just not getting enough to drink. That will make you thirsty, every time.
So, what does this have to do with Lent? Well, for me, it means that I want to take the next 40 days (not including Sundays) to address this thirst I have discovered within me.
I want to take care not to take on more than is healthy to take on, at least not without making sure I address my thirst along the way. So I’m going to try (key word: TRY) to manage my time a little better.
I’m also going to adjust my spiritual diet. If eating certain foods make me thirsty, then on the spiritual side it just makes sense that I’m doing things that drain the life-giving water out of me. So I’m going to cut back on social media – Facebook and Instagram, to be precise. And I’m going to cut out my mindless evening TV time.
And in their place, I’m going to spend more time drinking in what is important – reading, studying, praying, taking walks, spending quality time with Carol.
All this to say, I’m not going to post 40 different things on this blog this year. While I love sharing my faith and photography, this year I need to make my Lenten journey a quiet, personal one.
I’m thirsty, so I’m going to use my Lenten observance to take a water break.
Shalom.
