Over the past couple of years, the idea of a “full body cleanse” has become a popular topic in the media. The idea is that a person will stop eating altogether or severely restrict their diet for a period of time in order to allow their digestive system to expel the accumulated “gunk” in their system from years of eating less healthy foods. I have listened to these pitches with a fair amount of skepticism over the years. However, as much as I have no desire to spend a month eating the edible equivalent of wood chips, I must admit there is a certain appeal to this “cleansing” idea.
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I always feel more comfortable and confident driving my car after an oil change and car wash. There is simply something good about knowing that I have just washed away (or had someone else wash away) the grime and waste left over from my daily driving for the past three months. Somehow, my car feels fresher, and I feel that my engine is healthier than it was before the oil change.
It is this positive feeling that I have after getting my car’s oil changed that makes a “full body cleanse” an intriguing idea. If I were to eat a certain way for a month, would my body feel renewed and fresh? Would I be able to wash away the effects of eating cheeseburgers for the past several years? Well, probably not. But just as an oil change helps mitigate the effects of my daily driving, I can imagine a body cleanse would help refresh the body.
As we enter into the Lenten season, I found a similar line of thought occurring with regard to fasting and the health of my soul. Fasting is a good thing, and a well-established spiritual discipline, for many reasons. For example, fasting provides us with an opportunity to rely on and seek God when we remove those things from our lives we otherwise rely on in lieu of God.
I also think that fasting can have a cleansing effect. Every day, I engage in activities that are not particularly bad, and sometimes are even good, but that leave their traces on my soul. Everything from listening to the radio and surfing the internet to watching television and looking at magazines in the checkout aisle, my mind is being constantly barraged with messages that affect my thoughts and my soul. These messages are varied and numerous: I am the most important person; my desires and pleasures matter most; winning is all that matters; looking good makes me a better person; rich people matter more; and on and on the list goes.
If I stop to think about it, I know that these messages are false or dangerous or both. I don’t always stop to think about it. As a result, these messages creep into my mind and color my thoughts. They affect my perception of the world, and they begin to change my behavior. Before I realize it, these messages have made their way into my habits, like a splinter under a thumb nail.
I have developed habits and thought patterns based upon these messages. I have become numb to real beauty and true heartache because of the accumulated “gunk” left behind by the messages telling me what I should have or deserve. The constant appeal to my desires and pleasures has blurred my vision of God, of those hurting or in need, and of my own brokenness and salvation.
As I enter into Lent this year, I have decided to “cleanse” my soul by finding ways to limit the barrage of soul-numbing messages from various mediums. I am going to leave my radio off. I will severely limit my use of the internet (check email; pay bills; update this blog). I will use the space left by those things to focus on and rely on God and His messages for me.
One more thing – a “full body cleanse” or an oil change are allowed by and limited in their effects by the laws of the physical universe and the shortcomings of the physical vessels which are involved. The renewal of the soul is a spiritual matter, and it is therefore essential that it be done with an open heart to God. If you go through the motions of performing an oil change, you can expect that the oil will be refreshed because you are dealing with physical matters in a physical way. However, just going through the motions of a fast does not guarantee a particular result, because you are dealing spiritual matters that require more than just physical actions (though our physical actions matter). In fasting, we must ask God to renew our souls, we must seek His Truth to show us the way, and we must rely on His Goodness to refresh us and draw us closer to Him.
Will you join me? Is there anything you will give up for Lent as an invitation and request to God to refresh your soul?
