Archives: March 2006

Rector's Reflections

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

The ashes on Ash Wednesday are imposed with the chilling words, “Remember, that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” In recent years I have wanted to add from the Burial Office: “all we go down to the dust, yet even at the grave we make our song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.” My temptation is not grounded in some inner need to make everyone feel good, but the reality that as much as I want to stay grounded in Lent; I really want to tell the whole story, which of course includes the story of Easter – the story of the resurrection. But wisely the church knows we need to pause and experience Lent as fully and as completely as we can. While it might be tempting to leap frog over Lent in much the same way we want to leap frog over Advent, we must pause and walk through Lent hand in hand with Jesus.

There are many great Biblical images we can use during the season of Lent to help us on our journey such as the forty days Jesus spent in the Wilderness. The one image that seems to resonate with me is the image of the Great Forty Hours. We know that each year as many of the apostles as could came to Jerusalem and gathered together and prayed and fasted and remembered those terrible hours from the time when they heard that Jesus was dead until they heard about and later witnessed His mighty resurrection. They remembered what life was like when they thought they had to live without Jesus. They did not run away from those hours of grief but instead embraced those hours and let those moments inform their hearts and their souls.

Their time together was also done in thanksgiving for the one they loved and followed who came back to life after defeating death forever. The great forty hours was a time during which they recommitted themselves to be disciples of Christ. They knew full well what sacrifices would be required of them!

When we make a decision to sacrifice something as part of our Lenten discipline, such as desserts, candy bars, or cookies, what are we hoping to achieve by our sacrifices? Are we doing so because it is what we always have done in the past, or because it is something you are “supposed to do,” or are we remembering with thanksgiving the one who died for us on the hard wood of the cross? Every time during Lent when you start to crave a Snickers or an Oreo, are you remembering to think about what life would be like without Jesus? Let your craving for something sweet in this life lead you to thinking in thanksgiving about the sweet eternal life God promised you. Then take the money you might have spent on the sweets and place it in the alms basin or write a check to the Rector's Discretionary Fund.

Lent helps us remember who we are today and who we can be with Christ in Paradise . Lent is that time we need to make sacrifices in thanksgiving for Emmanuel –“God with us.”

 

Fr. Ken †