Fear Not...Become Like Children

Ash Wednesday is next week.  This Lent, I invite you to approach Easter acting like a young child.  Continue to act maturely in your job and in your relationships.  (You can’t cite me as an excuse to hold your breath and pout the next time you have work to do.)  In regards to faith, however, spend Lent with the mindset of a young child.

I should further clarify that I’m not talking about being childlike in giving things up for Lent.  I’m reminded of one Lent, years ago, where our children were naming items they would give up and one of our sons proudly stated that he would give up Candy Canes until Easter.  To this day, I’m not sure if he was genuinely abstaining from one of his favorite sweets in an attempt to unite in suffering and strive for purification as we awaited Jesus’ resurrection.  Or maybe he was simply an evil genius, naming the one snack that was guaranteed NOT to be available to tempt him throughout spring.  I may never know…I don’t think I want to.

But I digress.  A more relevant memory is that of any number of occasions where my children have awakened in the middle of the night, scared from a bad dream or a loud noise.  Whether their fear stemmed from their own imagination, or something legitimate, all it took was a hug, or a statement of “Don’t Worry”, to dissipate their concerns and allow them to quickly return to rest.  This is the example of childlike faith I challenge us to strive to replicate during Lent.

Be not afraid.  Do not fear.  There is debate as to how many times these phrases appear in the bible under various translations, however, it is very clear that we are instructed to FEAR NOT, time and time again throughout the entirety of the Old and New Testament.  So now that you know your instructions, go ahead and follow them.  Fear not.

Let’s take that even a step further.  Do not be anxious about anything.    “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.”  (Philippians 4:6)  There you have it.  Don’t fear, and don’t even worry.  In a nutshell, be like a young child. 

For most of us, that is a pretty tough pill to swallow.  The badge of adulthood generally comes with a continual promotion to greater opportunities for, and levels of, stress.  Stress can more broadly be looked at as coming from responsibility, worry, anxiety, and fear.  We have mortgages, tuition payments, jobs, marriages, ice storms, professional relationships, elderly parents, killer bees, sick loved ones, children growing up in this society, North Korean dictators, car repairs, public speaking, and gluten everywhere.  We cannot give up on our responsibilities.  We have to continue to take care of each of those things.  But can we do so while giving up our worry and our fear?

It all comes down to our faith.  Do we trust in God?  Common answers may be along the lines of, “Of course I trust in God!  I just want to know HOW He’s going to take care of my problem.  And WHEN He’s going to take care of it.  Once I know that, and it makes sense to me, then I’ll be able to stop worrying.” 

But I’m reminded of the youngest of my kids again, coming to me with fear and anxiety.  With a hug and a statement of "Don't Worry," they are satisfied.  Their fear is gone.  They do not ask how, or why, or when?  They just trust.  Take your fear and your worry to God, and then trust that God has heard your request.  The problem may still exist in the morning, the solution may not be the easiest, and the timing may not come according to your schedule, but TRUST that God has heard you and is in charge, and the fear and worry that accompanied your trial can be given over to Him.  “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)

Have a blessed Lent.

Matt Buehrig

Inspired by: My Kids

Appeal more to the Heart than to the Head

Hard to believe, but Lent is right around the corner.  One of the traditions the churches offers during this time to help us move into the right interior space is praying the Stations of the Cross.  As Gary Jansen, author of the book 'Station to Station', states

"The Stations reveal the lowest point in Jesus’ life and, in turn, the Stations resonate with the difficult times we experience in life as well as the tough times that we hold in our memories. In this way, the Stations appeal more to the heart than they do to the head"

Recently Gary was interviewed about his book on Word on Fire, and I share this today so that you may consider walking with Christ through his suffering as part of your Lenten journey.  The interview can be found at the link below...

https://www.wordonfire.org/resources/blog/station-to-station-an-interview-with-gary-jansen/5379/

God Bless -

Jim

Dear Younger Me,

So the Youth Ministry program is preparing for a retreat for the upperclassmen.  One of the activities we are asking the teens to do, is to write a letter to our younger selves.  If now as an upperclassman in high school, you could go back and talk to the 8^thgrade you, what would you say?  What advice would you give?

The more I thought about it, I realized what a good exercise that is.  We are all very willing to give advice to others, but here we must reflect back on our own lives, our own choices, from a new, hopefully wiser perspective.

I remember the movie Shawshank Redemption.  Red was facing the parole board, yet again and was asked if he was rehabilitated.  His reply…

There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here, or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then, a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I wanna talk to him. I wanna try to talk some sense to him -- tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone and this old man is all that's left. I gotta live with that.

So we all have moments in our life where we can look back and contemplate how we’ve grown, or how we’ve changed.  So here is my attempt at the assignment:

Dear Younger Me,

Here you are, 21 years old, full of so much enthusiasm and ambition.  You graduated college early, you have a full time job, the wedding is only a few months away.  Soon you will have everything you’ve ever dreamed of.  Finally, your hard work has paid off and you can be happy.

Well you are 25 now.  This sales racket is a bit tougher than you’d thought.  All your friends make more money than you do.  You have a child now and a mortgage payment.  This was supposed to be your dream come true.  Why does it feel like so much work and struggle?  You're sure you just need to grit your teeth and push.  The finish line is so close you can taste it.

You’re 33 years old.  Man it went quick.  You have four healthy kids, a beautiful wife, your dream vacation home, the luxury car.  Now you have it all.  Finally, it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.  But in that moment, you know deep down that you aren’t happy.  Why?  A friend told me once, “Ben, sometimes you are so busy climbing a ladder, you don’t check to see what building it’s leaning against.“

Son, let me offer you some advice from a man who has a few more years under his belt and knows you well.  At some point you need to realize that your life isn’t about you.  The happiness and relief you are looking for is never going to be found in worldly things.  No matter how much money, power, popularity, or fame you can capture here, it will never satisfy you.  Don’t you notice that once you get what you were striving for, days later you are searching and struggling again?  Saint Augustine put it well when he said, “Our heart is restless until it rests in you.”  The journey you are on is a foolish one.  It revolves around self promotion, pride, and constant competition.  If you envision Jesus on one side and Satan on another, who do you think is smiling and laughing as you constantly rush through your life looking for happiness?

The peace you long for has been there waiting for you, your whole life.  You’ve had glimpses of it.  You’ve experienced it.  But your sinfulness tends to block the graces that come from it.

It’s hard to see you fight and struggle so hard, and come away so empty.  I wish you could here me.  I wish you could realize that it’s not success in your endeavours that you are called to fight for.  It’s faithfulness.  Deep down you know things will be ok.  You don’t have to control everything.  You don’t have to strive for comfort and be terrified of failure or hardship.

Here you are in your 40’s.  The scales have fallen from you eyes.  You see now that the path to happiness is not through work, but through faith.  However, be careful here.  You are going to spend several years believing that material success is bad and holiness is good.  As that belief takes hold, you will find yourself in conflict.  Why did God give me ambition?  Why is it bad to work hard and use my talents?  It will begin to feel like you are two different people.  One who is a selfish, greedy sinner and other who is a dutiful servant of God.

You are getting closer, but there is something you need to understand.  Winning in this world, however you may define it, itsn’t wrong.  Money isn’t bad.  Your longing to be accepted by your friends, or admired by your family isn’t the problem.  Jesus didn’t come into the world to give you more rules.  He came to change your heart.  He is calling you to detachment.   Love your work, but don’t become addicted to it.  Long to be admired, but don’t define yourself by other’s opinion of you.  When you have worldly happiness, God is happy for you, and wants to celebrate with you.  Your faith life isn’t supposed to feel like eating your vegetables.  It’s supposed to feel like the best meal you’ve ever had.

So my advice to you now is to slow down.  Savor the beauty around you.  Be in the moment with the people you love.  You’ve spent a lifetime being there, but not really being present.  You know now that success is not living the American dream and having the matching sweaters in your Christmas photo, but you also know that God isn’t asking you to forget about your responsibilities and spiritually whip yourself for your sinfulness.  Believe it or not, the image of total success is Jesus crucified.  That is true detachment.  Look at him.  He doesn’t have wealth, power, or popularity, but on that cross, he is happier that you have ever been.  He knows he is perfectly doing the will of God.

That’s all you need to do.  Everything else in life will sort itself out.  Trust me.  Step outside tonight, and look up at the stars.   Go watch your daughter’s deep breathing while she sleeps.  Then go to adoration and feel the love that has never left you, even at the times you couldn’t feel it.

It’s time to take your puppet strings off.  It’s time for you to realize who you are, and whose you are.  You’ve carried this for too long.  Let him take it, and for the first time in your life, feel the joy that comes from finally being free.