Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
What Emerges When We Stop Feeding Our Distractions? {Reflections}
Wilderness journeys reveal what's hidden in the depths of our hearts. During this Lent season, we're exploring how temporary discomfort creates space for profound spiritual growth.
The 40-day period of Lent mirrors powerful biblical wilderness experiences – from Israel's desert wandering to Jesus facing temptation alone. These weren't punishments but revelatory moments that exposed what truly lived within. When life strips away our comforts, our authentic spiritual condition emerges.
Fasting stands at the center of Lenten practice, yet its purpose is widely misunderstood. Far from being a religious performance or manipulation tactic, true fasting creates space for our deeper spiritual needs to surface. By temporarily silencing the superficial noise of our lives – whether food, social media, or entertainment – we begin hearing the quiet longings of our soul typically drowned out by constant stimulation. These deeper aches can only truly be satisfied through union with God.
Our attachments reveal volumes about our spiritual condition. Like the prodigal son seeking life in "wild living," we develop dependencies on things that cannot ultimately satisfy. Some addictions announce themselves boldly, while others hide in acceptable behaviors: perfectionism, busyness, religious performance, or the endless pursuit of approval. The strength of these attachments becomes apparent only when we attempt to stop – making Lent a powerful diagnostic tool for spiritual health.
Consider both removing what distracts and adding practices that connect you with God's presence. This combination creates a rhythm of letting go and embracing that transforms this season into more than just 40 days of chocolate abstinence. Ready to discover what emerges when you stop feeding your distractions?
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Hey, what is up everybody? Hey, this is Ryan, and welcome to our Reflections podcast. And we are in the middle. In case you hadn't noticed, we're in the middle of Lent, and Lent is this 40 days leading up to Easter, not including the Sundays, so it's like 46, including Sundays, but 40 days, which is a symbolic number.
Speaker 1:You know, in the Israel story they're out in the wilderness for 40 days and Jesus' story when he goes to the wilderness for 40 days, and times in the desert or wilderness are oftentimes trial and testing and suffering. And whenever you know, like when you're in middle school or elementary I guess any level of school really when you're given a test, a test really reveals what's deep in you. And so when the people of Israel are out in the wilderness, or when Jesus is in the wilderness, what's down in deep inside of them begins to come out. And so that's what happens in times of trials and testing and wilderness and desert experiences. The stuff in us comes out of us, and so it's good to kind of have those moments of trial and testing and the desert. And that's what Lent really is. It's a time to kind of like think and reflect and contemplate like what's down in there, and most times we try to like buzz right by this. But Lent you take a minute like hey, what's down in there? And one of the ways we do this is this practice called fasting. Now, if you're like me, you might like Ryan I don't want to fast. I don't want to. Fasting is this idea of like letting something go or stopping doing something. Now, in the Bible it mostly is around food, so you stop eating for a length of time, but you can really fast anything, I suppose, and so during Lent, traditionally Christians will fast, they'll give up something for Lent. And here's the deal, though Many times it can be easy to just kind of fall into this ritual or rhythm or this rote experience of just picking something easy like chocolate or fasting video games and those are fine, I'm not saying they're bad. But I want to give you three thoughts on fasting that maybe will help you think about why you're fasting or, if you're not, maybe encourage you to fast, because I genuinely love this practice of fasting and I have friends who are getting nervous around the whole idea of fasting because fasting can turn into a work Like, oh, I'm going to do this to earn God's favor or to make God answer your prayers. It's not how fasting works, but okay. So here's my first thought on fasting.
Speaker 1:Fasting is a way to eliminate, maybe a superficial need or desire in your life in order to let the deeper needs or desires, or like the cries of our soul, come to life or to be heard more directly. So things that are at the surface level I mean food is one of them. Obviously food is a very substantial need. We have to have it to survive. But in many ways, hunger and thirst, it's sort of transient. It's here and it's gone and it's always going to need to be replaced and replenished.
Speaker 1:But there are these things in our lives that are kind of surface level needs, desires. Maybe they're more carnal, they're not super meaningful. I mean you can eat anything for food and it can sustain you I mean assuming it's nutritious. But what I'm saying is like there are deeper needs in us and in our soul and things that we long for maybe an ache you might call it that are down in there, that we often don't listen to or we miss them because we're constantly doing these other superficial things. So when we fast we're actually like dialing back those superficial things, whether it's, I don't know, eating or drinking alcohol or maybe it's, you know, spending too much time with certain people or going out or being busy. Whatever these things are, they tend to numb out the deeper ache in our life and which, I would argue, can only be filled with union with God. And we have those aches down in there somewhere, and fasting somehow it allows those things deep within us to come to the surface. So many folks will fast these superficial things and it allows those deeper needs to be felt.
Speaker 1:The second thing I would say is kind of related is that many of us, I think, live our lives attached to certain things that we think will give us life but that don't and actually can't, and maybe even they rob us of life. So this is I mean these are easy examples to think about, like what are the things that you do in your life that you might go to again and again and again to get life, but they can't? I think one of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of the lost son, or they call it the prodigal son. He goes to foreign places, we're told, and he spends all of his money on wild living. Why? Because he thinks it will somehow satisfy him and it doesn't. And so he comes back, you know, broke and covered in pig mess.
Speaker 1:And anyway, we're no different. We have all these things in our lives we attach ourselves to that we think will give us life, and these are what many folks call attachments or addictions. And so we all have addictions. You know, some are more obvious than others. Some are pretty glaring and you can see them, like alcoholism, drug addiction. Those are pretty glaring and you can see them, like alcoholism, drug addiction. Those are obvious ones to spot, but there are less obvious or more subtle ones.
Speaker 1:Some folks are addicted to gossip. They might be addicted to or attached to, exercising all the time. Some people overeat and they're eating to sort of fill a void. Some people are trying to look beautiful or put together all the time, and it's this attachment to try to get life and look, I don't blame them, but it's a misguided attempt at filling that void. And so if you notice these things about you, one of the best ways to see how these things like, how attached you are to them, or maybe how this thing has its claws in you and how deeply, is to try to stop doing it. And so if you're like, oh man, I know, I know what Ryan's talking about. I have these things that I maybe it's Facebook or social media or whatever I've listed here Try giving it up for 40 days during Lent and watch what happens and if you feel like at first you're like, oh, I'm drowning, that's how you know you probably have this unhealthy attachment to it and you need to reevaluate it.
Speaker 1:The third thing I would say about fasting is this Most of us will give up something for Lent and to fast. Fasting generally means to give up something, but I have some other friends, some Christian friends, who actually add something to their life during Lent. Now, I'm not a big fan of adding things. I think that most great spirituality is about letting go of things but I love this idea. Maybe for Lent, you want to pick up the practice of forgiveness and make a list of folks that you want to forgive or ask for forgiveness from. Or maybe you want to add to your Lenten practice the practice of buying the coffee for the person behind you, or saying hi first, or sending a letter to a person every single day, or giving some money to a charitable organization, or donating some clothes, or something like this, so you can add all kinds of practices to your life to actually, I think, deepen your experience of Lent. So there you go.
Speaker 1:I love fasting because it does. It allows the deeper things in my life to come to the surface and quiets those more superficial noises and things in my life. It also reveals the ways I've attached myself to certain addictions or things that I'm trying to get life from them, that I can't give life, things I've put on the throne of my life as opposed to God. And lastly, sometimes I'll add things like a practice of prayer or giving or something like that, to kind of maybe live more in tune, intentionally, with the ways of Jesus. So, okay, let me know if any of these are helpful or what you do for Lent. So I love you guys, peace. Hey, if you enjoy this show, I'd love to have you share it with some friends. And don't forget, you are always welcome to join us in person at Central in Elk River at 830, which is our lit gathering, or at 10 o'clock, our modern gathering, or you can check us out online at clcelkriverorg. Peace.
