Chocolate
I gave up chocolate for Lent..
No big deal to my friend Ann. She really doesn’t like chocolate. I am the quintessential Chocohollic. I like my coffee mocha. I like my ice cream either Jamocha almond fudge or Rocky Road or just plain Blue Bell chocolate. With chocolate syrup on it. Blizzards with Heath bars in them. And I love chocolate candy in any form.
As nurses, we remind each other while eating the forbidden fruit that it really is beneficial to our health, providing some essential nutrients, I am quite sure. High up there on the food pyramid. I usually medicate myself frequently during the day, at least at work, with the various forms of chocolate readily available on the secretary’s desk. She and other chocolate loving staff members keep her supplied with those enormous bags available at Sams. The peanut M&M’s run a close second to the bite sized Snickers as my favorites. I can’t remember the last time I actually bought a real Snickers bar. That’s way too forbidden. But I am sure I eat the equivalent of a full sized bar in bite-size pieces on a daily basis.
The Russell Stover outlet is way too close to my house. I can easily swing in there as I exit the loop to come home from the south side of town. They even have a large selection of what I call "fake chocolate", the kind that either says "low carb" or "no sugar added". It is not as satisfying as the real deal, though. Probably lacks those essential medicinal properties.
I attended an Ash Wednesday service at Highland a week ago. Not a traditional Ash Wednesday service complete with ashes on the forehead, but a service explaining what it is all about, and the period of Lent and it’s significance in our lives. I was truly convicted. This happens to also be a period of introspection for me, as I am preparing a talk for a Walk to Emmaus which will take place just after Easter.
So I gave up chocolate for Lent. Not as a ritual that was taught to me from childhood. Not as an assignment from anyone. Not because I felt obligated to, but because I wanted this period of time to bring me closer to God. An exercise in self denial that I hope will have many benefits.
As the days have progressed, I have longed for the object of my addiction more than I thought I would. The self-imposed deprivation is already giving me many opportunities every day to remember why I am doing this. That candy jar is right there where I pass by many times every day. I decided that during Lent I would train myself to automatically think of Jesus each time I wanted chocolate.
My brief thoughts each time I deny myself of this pleasure consist of the sweetness of the chocolate compared with the sweetness of Heaven. Jesus willingly gave up the richness and sweetness of Heaven in order to make my life in Him possible. He must have been able to still taste that sweetness while he dwelt here on Earth. He was constantly in communion with his Father, and how sweet that must have been. If I have a longing for Heaven as a human with no real concept of its Glory, how he must have longed for his home. But he gave it up. For me.
Jesus quite willingly allowed himself to be slaughtered for my salvation. He did not resist. I wonder if, while he was dying, he could taste that sweetness that was soon to be his again. Life in a mortal body must have been so very hard, knowing what immortality felt like. His blood was poured out as a gift to me.
When I took communion Sunday and tasted the sweetness of the grape juice, these thoughts overwhelmed me. I sat and savored that sweetness, thought of Jesus, his sacrifice, his humanity, his longing for home and my longing for home. I thought of my crude and simplistic attempt to sacrifice something in order to come a little closer to Jesus and relate slightly in my human way to what it must have been like for him. Already I love him more.
No big deal to my friend Ann. She really doesn’t like chocolate. I am the quintessential Chocohollic. I like my coffee mocha. I like my ice cream either Jamocha almond fudge or Rocky Road or just plain Blue Bell chocolate. With chocolate syrup on it. Blizzards with Heath bars in them. And I love chocolate candy in any form.
As nurses, we remind each other while eating the forbidden fruit that it really is beneficial to our health, providing some essential nutrients, I am quite sure. High up there on the food pyramid. I usually medicate myself frequently during the day, at least at work, with the various forms of chocolate readily available on the secretary’s desk. She and other chocolate loving staff members keep her supplied with those enormous bags available at Sams. The peanut M&M’s run a close second to the bite sized Snickers as my favorites. I can’t remember the last time I actually bought a real Snickers bar. That’s way too forbidden. But I am sure I eat the equivalent of a full sized bar in bite-size pieces on a daily basis.
The Russell Stover outlet is way too close to my house. I can easily swing in there as I exit the loop to come home from the south side of town. They even have a large selection of what I call "fake chocolate", the kind that either says "low carb" or "no sugar added". It is not as satisfying as the real deal, though. Probably lacks those essential medicinal properties.
I attended an Ash Wednesday service at Highland a week ago. Not a traditional Ash Wednesday service complete with ashes on the forehead, but a service explaining what it is all about, and the period of Lent and it’s significance in our lives. I was truly convicted. This happens to also be a period of introspection for me, as I am preparing a talk for a Walk to Emmaus which will take place just after Easter.
So I gave up chocolate for Lent. Not as a ritual that was taught to me from childhood. Not as an assignment from anyone. Not because I felt obligated to, but because I wanted this period of time to bring me closer to God. An exercise in self denial that I hope will have many benefits.
As the days have progressed, I have longed for the object of my addiction more than I thought I would. The self-imposed deprivation is already giving me many opportunities every day to remember why I am doing this. That candy jar is right there where I pass by many times every day. I decided that during Lent I would train myself to automatically think of Jesus each time I wanted chocolate.
My brief thoughts each time I deny myself of this pleasure consist of the sweetness of the chocolate compared with the sweetness of Heaven. Jesus willingly gave up the richness and sweetness of Heaven in order to make my life in Him possible. He must have been able to still taste that sweetness while he dwelt here on Earth. He was constantly in communion with his Father, and how sweet that must have been. If I have a longing for Heaven as a human with no real concept of its Glory, how he must have longed for his home. But he gave it up. For me.
Jesus quite willingly allowed himself to be slaughtered for my salvation. He did not resist. I wonder if, while he was dying, he could taste that sweetness that was soon to be his again. Life in a mortal body must have been so very hard, knowing what immortality felt like. His blood was poured out as a gift to me.
When I took communion Sunday and tasted the sweetness of the grape juice, these thoughts overwhelmed me. I sat and savored that sweetness, thought of Jesus, his sacrifice, his humanity, his longing for home and my longing for home. I thought of my crude and simplistic attempt to sacrifice something in order to come a little closer to Jesus and relate slightly in my human way to what it must have been like for him. Already I love him more.
posted by mezzonurse @ 6:16 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home