I have never watched an episode of Doomsday Preppers, although I have seen the promotions for the series.  Whenever I saw the ads for the show I would resolve again never to watch it.  I didn’t want to give my attention to the kind of selfish apocalyptic paranoia that inspires people to stockpile supplies and weapons in their bunkers. 

I realize that there is a large audience for this show and most of them are not captive to paranoia or the kind of rabid selfishness that leads people to make plans for guarding one’s stockpile with a private arsenal.  Some viewers are, no doubt, scornful of the worst excesses of the preppers and a lot of people watch to learn skills and admire the MacGyver-like ingenuity applied to the problems of survival off the grid.

So, I’m not trying to say that watching the show makes you a bad person.  However, being held captive to fear and self-preservation is incompatible with the Gospel.  Let’s not kid ourselves; loving our neighbors impels us to share resources, not hoard them.

But still, we can learn from preppers.  The key is in the name:  preppers.  Being prepared is a good thing.  Ask a Boy Scout!

This whole season of Lent is concerned with preparation.  It was born out of the period of preparation for those who were going to be baptized in the Easter service.  Over time, the season before Easter came to be a time for all Christians to prepare themselves to enter more deeply into the mystery of Christ’s dying and rising.

As you scour the store shelves for sanitizer and are stunned that every loaf of bread is gone, we realize that empty shelves are replenished more readily than empty lives.  In a time of shortages, this is not a bad time to take inventory.  It is a good time to consider how we need to be prepared to face the challenges of living a deeply meaningful life.

Ask yourself, what your heart really needs.  What is lacking in your life?  What could you not live without?  What crucial supplies of love and comfort are being required of you by those who rely on you?  What are you doing to replenish your hope?  How well stocked are you in trust that God will provide?  How are you fixed for love and compassion?

Prayer:  O God, you are sufficient for all our needs.  Give us the gifts of kindness and compassion, hope, and peace that will keep us strong through every trial.  Amen.