Lent a time for spiritual detox

What does a spiritual retreat look like for the modern person? Lent is a spiritual detox. It is an opportunity to step back and re-orient our lives. That sounds nice and pious, but what does it really mean for the average American?

Lent is often associated with the story of Jesus Christ in the desert. He fasted for forty days and nights, and was then tempted by the devil: “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” You can imagine what the devil was thinking. Like Don Corleone in the Godfather, he was playing with a full deck, and was used to winning. “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” At face value this does not seem that profound, but in reality, it’s the challenge we all have to face.

Jesus was not supplementing with vitamins or protein shakes. He was hungry and nothing would relieve the empty gnawing in His stomach more than a fresh loaf of bread. However, Satan’s offer cut deeper than that. Have you ever asked yourself, ‘Why couldn’t Jesus have just made a little bread?’ He did, after all, have that power. So why not turn every stone into bread? Why not end hunger and starvation once and for all? In this light, the devil sounds like a true humanist. ‘Can you cut out all this religion, and just feed the poor?’

Is not this the spirit of our times? The American Humanist Association has the mission “to advance humanism, an ethical and life-affirming philosophy free of belief in any gods and other supernatural forces. Advocating for equality…to alleviate poverty, increase access to healthcare, empower women, promote education, ensure environmental sustainability and advance human rights.” The Richard Dawkins Foundation believes it has found the solution to hunger. Google is endeavoring to end death itself. “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread,” the devil tempted. Christ did not fall for it: “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

What is it that makes life worth living? Hunger, poverty, inequality – no one can deny that these are real problems. In our own lives, we have all kinds of needs. Some of us are searching for gainful employment or struggling financially. Others are lonely, or depressed, or exhausted. Society is haunted by an epidemic of drugs, pornography and school shootings. Yet, we have food and education in plenty. In fact, we live in one of the most prosperous societies in history. So what is lacking? Perhaps Christ was right after all. There is more to life than bread.

This is what Lent is all about. In our gospel, the devil hoped to substitute God with a loaf of bread. What, in your life, threatens to replace God? Your career, self-image, newest iPhone, or perhaps your over-packed schedule? Soren Kierkegaard once said, “If I were a physician, and if I were allowed to prescribe just one remedy for all the ills of the modern world, I would prescribe silence. For even if the Word of God were proclaimed in the modern world, how could one hear it with so much noise?” Do you think he is right? 

If you are looking for good Lenten reading, you should consider Arthur Boers’ Living into Focus: Choosing What Matters in an Age of Distractions. This short book takes an honest look at our modern lifestyle. We have reached a standard of living far greater than anything fathomed in past generations. Yet, we are not all happy or fulfilled. “I meet a lot of folks,” he writes, “who are unhappy, stressed, and depressed…our lives are marked by ‘pathological busyness, distraction, and restlessness…” According to statistics, North Americans are working more and more hours. The modern life feels like a frenzied rat race. Every culture has as a spiritual challenge. Could ours be our busyness, or perhaps, our unrestrained addiction to technology?

Is there a solution? Boers suggests we re-examine our focal points. That is a fancy way of saying: be deliberate about your priorities and focuses. In the past, the fireplace was a focal point of every home. It was a place to gather and interact by playing games, or talking, or just sitting together in peaceful silence. Today, the fireplace has been replaced by a television set. Conversation is an anomaly. Ten years ago, going on a walk meant watching the sunset or the birds in the trees. Today, it means playing Pokémon Go. Instead of using technology, we are used by technology.

There is an old fashioned word called ‘idolatry.’ Nowadays, we usually think of figurines of Zeus or Baal. However, idolatry simply means loving anything more than God. “Idolatry,” Boers suggests, “is a problem of directing reverence and regard in the wrong direction…We easily spend too long looking the wrong way at the wrong things…Our lives are shaped by our focus.” What are your habits? What is the first thing you do when you wake up or go to sleep? Do your values determine your schedule, or does your schedule dictate your values? Have we let modernity free us to spend more time with the people we love in the environments we cherish, or has it entangled us in endless distraction and constant noise?

This is what Lent is about. In order to achieve this freedom from idolatry, we do not necessarily have to go out into the desert or meditate in a cave. Perhaps, we simply need to shut off the television set or disable Facebook for a little and go on a walk. One wonders sometimes if the world needs more medication, or simply a little more silence and wonder.  

Father Peter Kavanaugh is the priest at St. Benedict Orthodox Church.