I dislike diets, as I have come to understand them. At least, up until two weeks ago. Diets never seem to work; they help one lose weight for a short period of time and then the practice goes away when said ‘goal’ is reached. Or I’ll get busy and fast-food is the only way I remember to eat. On the way up again, Mr. Scale, party of 200 coming your way. I have fluctuated in weight in a crazy way over the last five years, never seeming to be able to find homeostasis at a comfortable number. But I also like Eischen’s, brownies, and everything June Howard leaves on my desk.
I realized two weeks ago (yes, I’m a little slow on the uptake) that I needed help, so I called a friend who looks like an extra from the movie 300 and pled for aid. He set me up with a path of what to eat and how much to exercise, and also said, “This isn’t a diet, it’s a life change.” Turns out, ‘diet’ is the way we eat, not a period of time in which I have to say no to donuts.
Faith can be like this, too, regarding my previous understanding of diets. Sometimes our faith can be one of momentary need until a goal is reached, or until we get really busy and have to hurry through life and cut something out. Poof, there goes our practices that keep our faith strong, being cut out to make room for other things. I don’t think it’s ever intentional, but I do think that we tend to talk to God when we need favors more than we do when we’re in need of nothing at all. This isn’t completely true for everyone all the time, but I imagine that it is a little true for everyone at least some of the time.
Yet, our faith isn’t a momentary tenet of our lives. It’s an everyday sense of being. When I feel stretched, I will look for someone who lives like they walked straight out of the Ten Commandments; I’ll ask them for guidance, and pretty soon I’m back on the right track. But it takes work, and perseverance in the face of life’s busy seasons, to make time to put God first and everything else, second. When our faith is alive and well, our lives are better; this isn’t even an opinion, it’s just my observed truth. I’ve seen the difference in some of you when you’ve been down, and when you’ve been down but held your faith practices tightly. You are two different people at those points. I am much the same.
Our faith is a life-long diet of scripture, worship, fellowship, fun, and service to others. If we do all of those things, even in the slightest, every day? We will be at home in our own skin, even when things seemingly fall apart. If you’re down, and faith seems impossible to reach, give me a call, give a friend a call, or give someone a call. God will answer through them, to get you back to where you want to be.
…and where God is calling us to live.
Faithfully,
Fr. Sean+