Hunger

I've been stuck in bed for the last five days with the worst cold I've had in an awfully long time.

Between a raging fever, body aches, chills, a stinging throat, and Nyquil hallucinations, I've been miserable.

Yesterday I noticed white spots my tonsils. I sat in the doctor's office, shivering, as they swabbed the back of my throat and drew blood. They sent me on my way with a bottle of penicillin and a handful of pain killers and fever reducers.

I crawled in bed, my overly-dramatic self certain that I was on the brink of death.

Then today I felt a strange sensation that I had not experienced in days.

Hunger.


I was simply hungry.
There was still life in me. My body was still functioning, functioning so much so that it needed to be replenished.

Hunger is an interesting case. It can only be satisfied by one thing: food. Sure, other things can dull the pains for a while, but we will surely die if food does not enter our bodies. Carbohydrates, proteins, fats - all what my body needed and craved. A steamy bowl of chicken noodle soup was the only thing that would solve my problem (and be swallowed by my swollen throat).

Yet this single bowl of soup would not suffice for the rest of my life. We are constantly on the prowl for food, eating several times a day. We are so incredibly fragile and needy.

Hunger reminds us that we are alive. It reminds us that we have needs, that we are mortal humans, that there is something out there greater than ourselves and that we cannot survive alone.

Yet Jesus says that man does not live on bread (or soup) alone.

We have another hunger, one that is greater than a craving for macaroni and cheese or berry smoothies. We are created with eternity set in all of our hearts, and we are hungry for it. We crave a Christ that we may or may not know. It is an innate desire that is central to our existence; a pain that can be temporarily soothed by other forces, yet only one can truly satisfy.

It is a hungry that is constantly needed to be refilled, lest we become starved and malnourished. Like a hungry child, we become angry and bitter when we have not eaten from the table of the Lord for too long. We listen, read, pray, watch, serve, and sing all in attempts to create a balanced diet that will leave us full - yet the more we experience, the more hungry we become the next time. It is a strange paradigm. The nutrition we consume is too good to miss, to satisfying to pass on. Our stomachs grow and we become able to consume more, complex foods.

Our separation from Christ leaves us hungry, a pain that can only be soothed by the presence of Him; it is a pain that reminds us that we cannot survive on our own.

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Matthew 4:4