temptation

After 9/11, the U.S. government installed a color-coded alarm system to alert us to the threat of enemy attack—from red for severe risk, down to green for low. They knew that there are seasons when we need to be particularly diligent related to our security, but our responses should be based on solid evidence. It is foolish and wasteful to be on red alert all the time.

Jonathan Safran Foer, a Jewish New Yorker in his twenties, collected memories of his family—photos, cards, false teeth, handfuls of dirt—all sealed in individual plastic bags and mounted on a wall. Eager to know more about his family roots after the death of his grandparents, Jonathan embarks on an elusive quest to Ukraine, specifically to explore what happened to them during World War II.

As we move through the story of Christ and his body, we come to the forty-day season of Lent. It is a time of fasting and prayer to prepare for Easter, the most joyous and victorious day of the Christian year.

Lent represents the forty days Christ withdrew and fasted as he prepared for his earthly ministry. During this time, waiting for that point when Christ would be his weakest, Satan threw his full forces at Christ: you don't have to do this, Satan said. There's an easier way.