RISE UP

I want you to take a thought walk with me for a minute and consider some of the major causes of our current societal suffering.  It’s time to RISE UP!

Fast food or processed food has the addition of salt, sugar, oils, and preservatives.  When we eat these foods we are excited BUT NOT NOURISHED!  In addition these foods are calorie dense.  Where as salad has 100 calories per pound, chocolate has 2500 calories per pound.  So not only do you crave more and more of what stimulates you but does not nourish you, but you gain lots of weight and develop various diseases.  Your ability to think clearly is compromised.

We receive dopamine hits from lying in our bed clicking on our phones and tablets.  Sometimes it’s the games with their endless levels.  Sometimes it’s the seemingly endless content available to us on social media.  But in order to keep our attention in this highly competitive environment we are bombarded with drama-nudity, sex, violence, the extreme, the shocking and the emotional, in order to hook us.  The content with the most stimulation usually gets our focus.

A few years back I was writing a musical and got professional counsel on how to make it better.  My two takeaways were: your message is to complicated and it needs to be more entertaining.  All of the movies and programming you are getting are competing for your attention just like the food is.  The more vivid the colors, the more stunning the special effects, the more exciting the plot, the more emotional the engagement, the more graphic the violence, the more seductive the sex; the more all of the above the more likely it will win your choice.

Over 70% of people in the United States are overweight or obese.  74% of the food in the grocery stores is laced with sugar.  When the 700 million obese people of the world look at themselves (me included) we see the result of all of the above physically.  But what about the result of all of the above spiritually and socially? Is it any wonder our kids can’t concentrate in school?  Is it any wonder it’s so hard to have a successful marriage?  Is it any wonder we see more mentally unstable people killing masses of people?

If there were ever a time to pray and fast it’s NOW!  We are seeing the perfect storm of human demise.  By making pleasure our god we are destroying our ability to hear from God.  And the road to recovery ISN’T EASY!  So that’s why we need to pray.  We need to study.  We need to inspire one another to take action!  We need to make regular calls for action.  We need to daily invite people to start a new way of living, to make a change!  We have to create safe environments not only for our children and for the weak among us but also for ourselves.
It is only when I immerse myself in the presence of my Creator.  When I read about his character in the bible, when I meditate on the insights I find as I study and as I pray, it is only then I find hope and strength and peace. It’s time to RISE UP!  It’s time to leave Babylonian entertainment and eating!