I have not read from The Dust of Rabbi Jesus yet, and am unlikely to do so until after Feb. 24, because of book club, so I will have to wing it for a bit.
I did not write on the evening of Ash Wednesday because I went to see the movie Lincoln and didn't get home until 12:30 a.m.
Perhaps it would be appropriate to begin this journey by contemplating the reason for the season.
Why would anyone find pleasure in a season that requires us to deprive ourselves of things we want or need or enjoy? Stripping bare dredges up images of starkness, like the chill of autumn nights when the bare trees are silhoutted against a full moon and it's easy to imagine all manner of scary things lurking around you, unseen.
Well, yes. And what might those things be? Demons? Possibly.
What demons plague you? Greed? Malice? Selfishness? A desire for power or wealth? Insecurity? Pride? Sloth? Envy? Those are some of the demons that we try to remove from our lives through our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Before you can exorcize any demons, you have to figure out which ones are eating away at you. This requires reflection and frankly, honesty. And it often requires the same kind of stripping bare that we see in church during Lent, cutting to the chase, setting aside some of the complication and baggage that we carry with us through life. Like removing the masks, the makeup and accessories that make us look attractive and seeking a deeper connection.
But where is the pleasure? Perhaps it comes from liberating myself from things that enslave me. Or maybe it's because when you bring those unseen horrors into the light of day, they don't seem as scary anymore. When you take them apart and figure out what makes them tick, they are no longer terrifying.
And so it begins. I distributed ashes at Mass on the morning of Ash Wednesday. And I was overcome at one point by a sense of connections, of community, how we were all gathered there seeking the same thing, such a commonality we shared. And also the sense of stepping off a cliff into Lent, ready or not.
And so, here we go. May your Lenten journey be fruitful and help you along your journey toward your celebration of the Paschal mysteries at Easter.
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