But Catholic speaker and acclaimed musician Chris Bray says that although we are justified to be thankful for these pastimes, as the COVID-19 pandemic presses on they are insufficient and leave us searching for something more to fill the longing in our hearts.
It was this realization that led him to offer encouragement to the homebound in a recent video posted to his Facebook page.
鈥淚 think what what we tend to do is we turn to things like Netflix and for the first week or two, that鱿鱼视频app exciting,鈥� Bray said in a five-minute video recorded at his home in Aylmer, Ont. 鈥淭hen we try and look for something else when we realize that Netflix isn鈥檛 going to save us from these feelings of emptiness.
鈥淲e turn to something else like the best banana bread recipe and it鱿鱼视频app so good that we make it again and again. We鈥檙e making banana bread like four times a day and we don鈥檛 know what to do with it. Our freezer鱿鱼视频app full of it. After a while, that banana bread that was so good, it鱿鱼视频app starting to taste a little old and bland and we need something else to fill that hunger.鈥�
He also points out the even the best fitness programs leave an emptiness, a void that only God can truly fill.
鈥淲e鈥檙e feeling empty, we鈥檙e feeling hungry like we have a thirst for something more and we can鈥檛 really articulate it,鈥� said the husband and father of five daughters. 鈥淲e make the mistake of almost enslaving ourselves to things like social media or Netflix or making banana bread or fitness or whatever it is, but here鱿鱼视频app the thing, none of those things can save us. Only God can save us.鈥�
The guitarist and vocalist has close to 40,000 followers on Facebook. He spends a lot of time touring the country, but now he is thankful for the time at home to bond with his daughters, who range in age from three to 11.
He says his motivation for recording the video came from a place of gratefulness and a deep reflection on a void he has been feeling that has kept him up at night.
鈥淚 was thinking, at the end of the day, maybe God wants to use this circumstance to kind of wake us up to what He has for us,鈥� said Bray in a phone interview. 鈥淚t was a recognition that no matter how fit we are, no matter how much dinner rolls we make or whatever it鱿鱼视频app never going to fulfill us. We鈥檙e looking for something that鱿鱼视频app eternal and that鱿鱼视频app Jesus.鈥�
Bray has been using this down time to record new music. He released his latest single 鈥� 鈥淐loser and Closer鈥� 鈥� in June. He says it reflects the journey he and many others have been taking with God throughout this quarantine.
鈥淚 wrote it being inspired by this whole situation,鈥� said Bray. 鈥淕od wants to use this season of trial to draw us closer and closer to Him.鈥�