I was born Catholic, and have always been Catholic. I’ve gone to church every Saturday or Sunday for as long as I can remember. As a young kid in preschool, I didn’t entirely understand what was going on during mass and may have had a few misconceptions about the church. It’s not like I was paying any attention during the hour that I was told to sit still while grown-ups around me chanted prayers that I did not understand. Besides, I had a handful of legos to play with, a stuffed animal to nap on, a picture book to look through, and a small bag of Cheerios to keep me entertained and quiet during mass. My dad quoted that giving a small child a bag of Cheerios to eat to keep them quiet as the best idea he’s ever had because “You can’t be cryin' if you’re munchin'”.
As a side effect of this distraction in church, I may have missed a few key details about the main characters in the Christian faith. I say this because I remember as a preschooler asking the priest after mass, “If you created the world, then who created you?” Confused, but secretly flattered, the priest replied, “Well, my mom and dad of course!”. Trying to not hold up the line of dutiful parishioners waiting to shake Father’s hand, my parents carried me off and I spent the next few masses believing that the priest was God, and the deacon was Jesus.
Well, eventually I grew up. My parents refused to let me snack on Cheerios in church any longer so I had to find new ways of occupying myself during mass. Whether it be counting the number of lights on the ceiling, reading all of the advertisements in the bulletin, poking at my sister, or asking my mother arbitrary questions like, “where are we going for dinner?” right smack in the middle of communion, throughout my Elementary and Middle School years I was a master of distracting myself at mass. Needless to say, I was lost, this was when my faith was the weakest. The worst part was that I didn't even know what I had been missing! Now since I’ve become an avid church-goer who rarely misses mass, become involved with Life Teen, where youth ministers Chris, Kelly, and Ryan have set me straight and have taught me to have a whole new appreciation for church and God in my life, I’m proud to say that I’ve been Cheerio free for twelve years!
However, I feel that many of us can testify that we have Cheerios in our everyday lives that keep us from God. These distractions may include our friend group, stress from school work, and the buzzing of your phone. This Summer, after a series of untimely and seemingly unfortunate events, a two week trip at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico that I had been preparing for with my troop for eighteen months was canceled a week and a half before our flight when wildfires consumed a third of the camp. This was incredibly disappointing at first, but with God’s guidance and the hard work of the adults on the trip to plan a whole new itinerary, I had the chance go on a trip where we toured various sites throughout the West, also known as “God’s Country”.
Indeed, it was God’s Country, we spent a night in the Painted Desert and bore witness to the most stunning sunset and sunrise I had ever seen. Throughout our journey, we spent hours gazing into the Grand Canyon, hiked through mountain ranges resembling the hills of Switzerland, and spent a few nights in one of the most remote camps of the Rocky Mountains. The beauty of God’s creation defied all description. It was in these places, in God’s presence, that I was able to truly get away from the chaos and Cheerios of everyday life.
In our society, we’ve put up so many walls and distractions that keep us from recognizing God. We allow the media, our culture, the internet, school, hatred, and substances to build up this artificial world where our hearts, minds, and morals are controlled by foreign forces, while we ignore the opportunity for a life that is free from our artificial troubles which was created by our Awesome God. Allow yourself to be open for God’s creation, turn away from the powers that keep us away from admiring God’s universe, and quit eating Cheerios.
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