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I've always considered Hosea to be one of the more peculiar books of our Bible; I wasn't really ecstatic when I was asked to ponder this passage and write a devotional on it.

I understand Hosea's predicament as he articulates a message against Israel's foibles. I also understand his rather dysfunctional family situation; however, I'm not prone to calling my congregation some of the names that Hosea uses.

But I was intrigued, especially in the light of this Lenten season, at some phrases used by the translation of this passage in "The Message," namely, "They worship on the tops of mountains, make a picnic out of religion. … Under the oaks and elms on the hills they stretch out and take it easy."
Make a picnic out of religion? Stretching out and taking it easy?

Those are words that resonate sometimes with some of our churches today.

I am reminded of a story in "Craddock's Stories," a book by Fred Craddock, in which he tells of being asked to speak at a little church, but when the time arrived, there was a horrible rainstorm and the service had to be cancelled. Craddock himself was the last to know and showed up after a rather harrowing drive on muddy roads.

Luckily, some men stayed at the church to meet him when he finally showed up, but they didn't really hear him come in. So as he walked in, there they sat, having pulled the altar table to the middle of the sanctuary to use as their poker table.

Craddock was a bit surprised and questioned their choice of tables for their poker game. One of them replied, "Well, a table's a table's a table."

And Craddock said, "No, it isn't." Not for him.

Sounds a bit like making a picnic out of religion, doesn't it?

Each Lent we are called to re-examine our lives of faith. We might ask ourselves if we are making a picnic out of our religion. Are we stretching out and taking it easy?

Our church is just one of so many things that call upon our lives. Faith is not a priority.

In this election season, we hear from time to time about Christian values, but only in that "picnicky" sense. If our nation took seriously some of the values espoused in advertisements, our pews would be more filled, our shelters would be more well-staffed and financed, and the poor would have health care.

Hosea talked about how his people looked for leadership among the false gods, rather than the one true God. Are we also looking for leadership in the wrong places?

A clergy friend told the story many years ago of picking up a neighborhood child for church on Sunday mornings. One day, since they were a singing family, she asked this young girl if she knew any songs.
The girl said no, she didn't think she did. My friend tried again, asking her if she knew "Jesus Loves Me" or "Do Lord." But still the little girl shook her head.

They drove on several miles, when suddenly, the little girl got excited. She did remember a song, and at the top of her lungs, she began singing, "Wooking for Wove in all the Wong Places."

Like those long ago Israelites, are we looking in the wrong places for those things that are important in our lives? Maybe Hosea got something right.

Rev. Melissa McDade serves the Norrisville Charge in White Hall.