OUR DEEPEST HUNGER

      I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I’ve been told that, if I eat something and no one sees me eat it, then it’s entirely calorie-free. I call this the “no evidence” rule, but there’s more. For instance, the “cancellation” rule dictates that diet drinks cancel out calories consumed at the same time, which is why I always drink diet Pepsi with my chili cheese fries. The “medicinal” rule notes that food taken for medicinal reasons can not be fattening, and the “entertainment: rule reveals that food consumed at an entertainment event (like popcorn and hot dogs) is more or less calorie-free. Oh, the rationalizations I have embraced and the diets that I have been on (and off) through the years. There have been scores of them and my closet has been home to pants with waist sizes ranging from 34 to 46. I have struggled to control my weight all of my days… but food is NOT my deepest hunger! 

      Growing up in a troubled home, I remember lying in bed and covering both of my ears in an effort to drown out the sounds of violence, and worse yet, getting out of bed in a foolish and futile attempt to referee the fight. I was starving- that’s for sure- but I was starving for peace. I was hungering for a “ceasefire,” and of real peace (shalom) I knew nothing at all. Troubled and shell-shocked, I longed for attention and order, and I developed a desperate hunger to be SOMEBODY. Somebody worth listening to, somebody worth respecting, somebody worth loving. Many people hunger for food… and I know that it is a serious matter. Bread IS grace to a starving man, and the Bible says that King David took “holy bread” right off of the altar to feed his soldiers. In our abundance we should not minimize the hunger for bread that many people experience- however, my greatest hunger was for love. Like a Rhesus monkey, I hungered for a loved one’s touch. Maybe you hunger for love and respect too. Maybe you hunger for freedom. Maybe you hunger for another chance. 

      We all hunger, it seems, for purpose and forgiveness, and we all hunger for life… which brings me to Christ… because he can fill all of our needs and have leftovers besides! In fact, satisfying deep hunger is His specialty. He confronted deep hunger in the demoniac’s madness. He saw deep hunger in the tax collector’s eyes. He heard deep hunger in the lepers’ cries, and when asked if he really was “the Christ,” Jesus pointed to the hunger he had satisfied. He noted that those who hungered for sight… could see; those who hungered for community were restored; those who hungered to walk… were running laps; and those who hungered for life itself were being fed by the only One who could fill their plates to overflowing!