LENT: IT IS OUT INTO THE DESERT!

             

 

Lent begins March 2. We have to ask why does this season have such a strong hold on our religious imagination and our spiritual practices? 

 

In the midst of a very hard-working world (we work a lot harder than we think) we are being offered an opportunity to move out into the wilderness to be attentive to God.

 

The life of everyone needs  seasons set aside for special purposes. When you lose a loved one you will need a time to grieve and share your sorrow over your loss. But the grieving season also is meant to be a means to recover yourself and your place in the world. We are meant to cry, wail and moan our loss; but not forever! 

 

We are not inventing the wheel when we are given the forty days of Lent. There is great wisdom here from countless ancestors of our past who recognized the need to block  some time to focus on their God. We go back to our ancestors in the Bible to recognize that people went out into the physical desert (and the desert of time) to be attentive to the movements of God. They were too busy and distracted in their city life to pay sufficient attention to God.

 

We know that Jesus moved into the wilderness to be attentive to God. He blocked off space to encounter the plan and the will of God for his life. 

 

One of the first things that we need to do during this Lent (2022) is prayer. Maybe we have grown slack in our attentiveness to the Spirit of God. We want to structure into our day time to be very attentive to the Spirit of God.

 

This prayer need not take the form of many words. Rather it needs to be more a time to just sitting and  being with the Spirit of God, living and present within us. It is a time of intensese listening. There is a beautiful example of the older gentleman who would always drop by the parish church on his way home from work (in the days when it was safe to have our church buildings open all day) and spend a few moments in quiet prayer.

 

Someone asked him, knowing that this man knows how to pray: How do you pray? The quiet workman simply said, “God’s here. I’m here. That’s good!” So simple and so powerful. 

 

Do not embark on a prayer-project that you cannot fulfill. Even if it is only a few moments every day, give your focus to the movement of God’s Spirit in your life. Also, bring your concerns for your family, your parish church, your country and the world to the Lord. Share your pain and frustration with God in your prayer. 

 

Many people will use the little book of daily meditations that is located at the back of the church building and pray over the daily Lenten Scriptural readings. It is not important how much area they cover. It is attentiveness to God is the energy here.

 

As we launch into Lent this year move into the wilderness (with no distractions) to simply be present to the Spirit of God. We are not here to ‘do’ anything. We are here in our daily prayer to simply ‘be’ with our God.

 

RESPONSIBILITY:IT IS AS IMPORTABT AS BREATHING

 

What has happened to any mention of responsibility in our public discourse?

 

Every human being has personal rights just by the fact that they are born on this earth. We all have the right to food, shelter, clothing, safety, education and medical care.  But there can never be a right without a corresponding responsibility. 

 

You have a right to have safe roads and I have the responsibility to drive safely to protect your children. When I studied ethics as an academic subject we were given a little ditty that summarized it is all very well. “I have the right to swing my arm wherever and whenever I want. I have the responsibility to never swing my arm where your nose begins!” No more need  be said. 

 

All this talk today about “my rights” is unmasked selfishness and is saying to my fellow human being, ‘I don’t care about your welfare.’ Rights and responsibilities are to human life as the two sides of your hand are to your body. You can never have one without the other. 

 

As a human being I need you to survive. We can only make it through the day because we are interconnected and respond to the needs of one another. 

 

I want to celebrate the power of responsibility that each of us can have in our lives and in our society and country.

 

I want to pay my taxes so that your granddaughters can go to school and be well trained women in this world. I want to make my contribution to the thriving of your granddaughters.

 

I want to follow all the rules of the road to ensure that you can drive safely from one end of the country to the other. I want to be responsible to stop at every stop sign and red light to make the crossing of your elderly father safe. I want to stop my vehicle in such a responsible manner that your elderly father is safe every step of the way.  I want to pull over when the ambulance comes rushing by my vehicle because it may be your child who is being rushed to the hospital. Contributing to your well-being is at the same time protecting my own health. 

 

I want to be grateful to our ancestors who worked hard to create a society that is safe to live in. Thank you for the taxes you paid, the support and guidance that you gave to our police departments. I can live in my house and feel secure that no one will break in and hold my family hostage. I am every so grateful that my children can play in the backyard and feel safe. The atmosphere of safety did not just happen. Your ancestors and my ancestors worked hard and responsibly to give us a system of safety and protection. Safety is worth so much to our society.

 

I am so grateful that I live in a society where I can go into any public space (malls, hospitals, restaurants) and not feel threatened that “there might be someone in there carrying a gun and they could start shooting!” Which one of our ancestors worked hard to have enforceable gun control? What a sense of responsibility!

 

And for you the reader: thank you for your sense of responsibility to work to promote the well-being of your own children and all the other children that go to school with them. Thank you for your responsible safe-driving, your paying taxes to help educate my grandchildren and providing needed medical services for our family as they age. Your practice of responsibility must be recognized We are all healthy because you have been a responsible citizen. Responsibility makes you a great human being. 

 

 

 

 

ASK THE TOUGH QUESTIONS.

                        

 

 

Last week there was an interesting item about Jeff Bezos, the third richest man in the world (or is he the richest?), who has built a superyacht in the port of Rotterdam in Holland. The ship has been identified as the largest among the superyachts of the world. It is the largest yacht in its category in the world. The ship is so large and so tall that it cannot sail out of the port until a very historic bridge (Kenningshave Bridge) is taken apart. The local government is willing to take apart this historic bridge at Bezos’ expense. 

 

We shake our head at this oversight. A grade ten student with his calculator could have figured this out before construction was even begun. 

 

The question that must be asked: what gives this one human being the right to use so much of the world’s resources to build a pleasure craft that is first and foremost an extension of his ego? Where does any human being have the right to use so much of the steel, wood and fabrics of this earth? 

 

How is humanity better off because this extremely wealthy man has built this superyacht? And how often will it ever be used? These very rich people work very, very hard to maintain their wealth and corporations. Will he actually use this boat?

 

This same question must be asked of the top fifth of the world’s population. Are you using and claiming more than your fair share of the resources of the world?

 

Is it just a matter that those who have the money can do with it whatever they want? Or are there deeper issues here?

 

Many people will fear to even raise this question because they would want to be in the position of the very rich and the powerful. You do not question another is you want to be as rich as they are.

 

The goods of the earth are not for any one person or nation alone. The bounty of the earth is given for the good of all. It is never right that a very small group of people own almost all the resources and the majority of people live in dirt poverty. 

 

What if Jeff Bezos uses his wealth as an opportunity to make the world a better place? How does his wealth benefit and help the struggling families in Africa and Bangladesh who try to get some of their children to go to school?

 

What would happen if Jeff Bezos had used all that money to support primary schools in Africa, India and South America? What would happen to human beings and their families if there was an opportunity for their little daughters to go to school?

 

What would happen if the money that was invested in propping up one man’s ego was used to build and service clinics and health care services throughout the Third World?  

 

My Christian faith challenges me to ask the tough questions. What is money for? What are the resources of the world to be used? 

 

Has Jeff Bezos missed an incredible opportunity to better the human race, or has he invested selfishly in his own ego?

 

 

 

 

 

WHO DO YOU TRUST TODAY?

                 

We live in a very big world. We are drowning in information. There are big fights over false information about vaccines, government, health restrictions, personal freedom; the list could go on.

 

Now, whose voice do you listen to? Whose voice do you trust?

 

Trust has become a number one concern in this society. 

 

From the moment of our first breath into this world, life is built on trust. We learnt immediately that we could trust our mother to feed us, keep us warm, clean and dry. We learnt that the world was good, secure and helped us to thrive. 

 

When you grew up in a small community your parents knew to what degree they could trust people. If you were raised on a farm your father knew that he could loan his equipment to this farmer because he took such good care of the machine. He would not lend it to this other farmer who was reckless and returned the equipment in less that workable state. He never explained the social dynamics with the other farmers, but you picked up which ones you felt comfortable with and which ones you needed to be cautious.

 

When you live in a large urban environment you are connected with few people. We try with all sorts of government qualifications to have proof that this person is competent and in good standing. We use bureaucratic instruments to establish trustworthiness.  Is this mechanic reliable to keep my vehicle in good shape or will he take advantage of me?

 

We need to ask one another, who can you trust? If someone from the fire department comes to your door and asks you to clean up at the back of your property, do you trust that request?

Unfortunately for our very large society, people place the media at the bottom of the list as trustworthy agents of information. This is a very serious issue for a democracy. 

 

Now you have to ask when you hear a report on the national (big business) media: is that true? Has that been exaggerated? What slant am I receiving? 

 

In my personal interactions I am cautiously saying to some people, ‘Maybe that is not true?”

 

This hesitation to trust in the words of another has implications to the way we live our faith. People may say they believe, but there is hesitation in their voice.

 

Our faith comes from the direct revelation of God. God breaks into our world. It can happen in events like the burning bush in the story of Moses, in the quiet revelation to the young girl named Mary. Or in the quiet moments of your own prayer when the presence of God is keenly felt. Revelation was never meant to be a once-for-all event that happened in the ancient past. God continues to break into our lives, even when it is most inconvenient. 

 

Now, each person has to ask: in a world where there is much doubt and distrust of others, can I believe that the Word of God is true and should be followed? Can I give my commitment to God as preached and taught in the faith community ? 

 

In the past we had little difficulty with this one but today we must ask: Should I trust the Word of revelation? Should I trust the message of Jesus? 

 

It may be more difficult times but it will call forth a stronger faith in the Word of revelation.