Saturday, December 24, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
2011 Christmas Program
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| Christmas Program (click to view) |
The December 8, 2011 choir practice is available online: download the audio.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Wellness Wednesday - Gluttony
It's that wonderful time of the year again as Christmas day rapidly approaches. With it comes many an opportunity to feast with family and snack at parties. With so much food around, it is easy to fall into the sin of gluttony.
Gluttony arises from the fear of not having something we could easily have. It's not so much that we are afraid we will not have enough (greed) or that we believe that one extra cookie is going fulfill our longings (lust). Nor is it that we are afraid someone else will have it and we will miss out (envy). With gluttony, it's the sheer abundance of something that leads us to consume it. It's easy to obtain, and taking it won't deprive anyone else, so there is seemingly no harm to consuming it. It is simply waiting to be consumed, so we take it without any thought to the consequence.
Gluttony is easiest to identify when it comes to food. We know when we are full that an extra piece of pie may taste good but will leave us feeling overstuffed and uncomfortable. It is harder to recognize gluttony with other things in our lives. Just a few years ago, gas prices were so low that there was very little reason to consider carpooling, combining errands into a single trip, or refraining from a weekend trip a couple hundred miles away. Only when gas prices doubled and then tripled did we recognize the true waste of our gluttonous use of gas that gave no thought to tomorrow.
Likewise, we may buy something in a store that we can easily afford even when we already have several like it. During this season, we often come across a beautiful Christmas decoration that seems so perfect for that spot on the end table in the living room. Why not go ahead and buy it? We have the money, and it won't hurt anyone. We buy on impulse without a thought to tomorrow. We do not care where we will store it the rest of the year or how we might better use that money another day.
That is gluttony - consuming something merely because it is there waiting to be taken without giving a thought to tomorrow.
Thoughts to ponder: What is it that you are tempted to have more of when you have enough? What is abundant around you? What would it feel like to refrain from having more of that when you could easily have it?
Gluttony arises from the fear of not having something we could easily have. It's not so much that we are afraid we will not have enough (greed) or that we believe that one extra cookie is going fulfill our longings (lust). Nor is it that we are afraid someone else will have it and we will miss out (envy). With gluttony, it's the sheer abundance of something that leads us to consume it. It's easy to obtain, and taking it won't deprive anyone else, so there is seemingly no harm to consuming it. It is simply waiting to be consumed, so we take it without any thought to the consequence.
Gluttony is easiest to identify when it comes to food. We know when we are full that an extra piece of pie may taste good but will leave us feeling overstuffed and uncomfortable. It is harder to recognize gluttony with other things in our lives. Just a few years ago, gas prices were so low that there was very little reason to consider carpooling, combining errands into a single trip, or refraining from a weekend trip a couple hundred miles away. Only when gas prices doubled and then tripled did we recognize the true waste of our gluttonous use of gas that gave no thought to tomorrow.
Likewise, we may buy something in a store that we can easily afford even when we already have several like it. During this season, we often come across a beautiful Christmas decoration that seems so perfect for that spot on the end table in the living room. Why not go ahead and buy it? We have the money, and it won't hurt anyone. We buy on impulse without a thought to tomorrow. We do not care where we will store it the rest of the year or how we might better use that money another day.
That is gluttony - consuming something merely because it is there waiting to be taken without giving a thought to tomorrow.
Thoughts to ponder: What is it that you are tempted to have more of when you have enough? What is abundant around you? What would it feel like to refrain from having more of that when you could easily have it?
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