I read the Hunger Games during one of my vacations. Annie had been urging me to read the young adult trilogy for months - I finally gave in. While the books were written on a level that made them a simple and fast read, the author still gave a lot of food for thought. I recommend the books for anyone who might be "hungering" (i.e., searching) for some meaning in personal life. Set in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic earth, the books offer one the possibility to step outside of modern life and evaluate/re-evaluate what is most important.

In the first book, The Hunger Games, the most intriguing part for me was the practice of making "tributes" of the community's children for a game that involved life and death. It made me think, "How do we today practice giving our children to our own causes - causes that often involve life and death.

In the second book, Catching Fire, a major symbol appears that I call the center of the book. During a victory feast, people cannot eat enough of the party spread - there is simply too much food. The guests cannot fathom not eating, they want to sate their hunger. In a scene reminiscent of infamous Roman vomitoria, the people drink a clear liquid that makes them throw up so they can eat more and more. The crowd no doubt follows this cycle over and over until all of the food is consumed. How does modern society do the same thing? Modern people do have insatiable appetites in many ways; how do we sate our voracious desires?

Finally, in the third book, Mockingjay, all seems to be in motion to be put aright in the world. However, a new entity comes to power and seems to follow the same cycle of greed and insatiable hunger. Covered as it is in what seems to be aid for the masses, this new entity may be as evil as the first - or maybe even more so. It begs the question, "How does modern society learn from its past? Do we learn that its ok to allow hunger to some level in our lives - or do we seek all means to satisfy every hunger within?

It seems to me that this trilogy has something to teach all of us, but in light of our conversations in discipleship, it seems especially important in our focus of desires. Where does unbridled desire lead - to bigger and better things, or to death and destruction? Is there an either/or answer, or are the lines grayed in our lives so that you nor I could answer in such a clear cut either/or way?

What are you hungering for? What is the congregation hungering for? To answer these questions would allow us at least a glimpse into the vision God has for us at Zion's, don't you think? I say that because God does deal in desires. God puts desires within us that move us to compassion and discipleship in the name of Jesus. What hungers do you think God has put within us? How could we be better disciples by focusing more intently on those desires?

Peace,
Tim