As I have been taking this Lenten journey this year, many of my thoughts have revolved around the issue of hunger. Now the hunger I am talking about is not the type I feel because of the Health and Wellness program the church has started, but rather it is the hunger that is deep in our souls and cannot be filled by food alone. It is that hunger that sometimes aches in us, and we long for something, anything, to fill us and give us some hope in what is sometimes a dark world that we live in.
There have been many times in my life when I have felt this hunger - times of loss, confusion, and even fear. It is a hunger that gnaws at my bones and drives me to search for something to fill it.
This Lent I have been reflecting on this spiritual hunger because of a baptism that I did last week. This young man came into my office and was basically begging to be baptized. He was hungry. Hungry for God, hungry for spirituality, hungry to make a change in his life. That Saturday night the congregation lit up as this man stepped forward and was received into the Body of Christ. They lit up not only because there was a new member of the congregation, but also because this man was/is so full of energy and spirit.
And in this event, I was reminded of how our spiritual hunger is satisfied. It is not by the things of this world, but rather it is satisfied by God. It is satisfied by the people who develop spiritual friendships with others and bring the light of Christ into another persons life. It s satisfied by the Word of God coming to roost in the life of a brother or sister and seeing how that new life brings with it an excitement and joy that was lacking before.
So today, may you be filled - filled with the grace, love and forgiveness of God, once again. And may you develop spiritual friendships with others so that their hunger may be filled as well.
