Ash Wednesday 2010

Ash Wednesday 2010

A digression from my ruminations on Luke in honor of the occasion.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. I have spent a little time this morning thinking and reading about Lent. What do I know about it? Not much actually. I know it begins with a solemn ritual – Ash Wednesday – reminding us of our mortality. I wonder how that tradition got started? I know it is 40 days long and ends at the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday), not at Easter. I know the church tells us we should “Fast, Pray and Give Alms” during Lent. Why that, why now I wonder?

The 40 days of Lent represent the days running up to Christ’s crucifixion. I think he used those days to prepare himself for his ordeal. Perhaps he wanted to pare down, to focus on what was important – his relationship with his father. From reading the bible I know that Christ fasted and prayed often. As far as giving alms, I don’t believe Christ had many material possessions – he traveled light, trusting that God would provide and indeed he did. I do know Jesus cared deeply for the people who came to him.

The other thing I think I know about Lent is that it is supposed to be a journey. A journey that begins with a somber reminder that “Ashes we are and to ashes we will return”. A journey of paring down, simplifying, going within, doing with less, sharing what I have with others. A journey that is long enough that I want it to be over, that I want it to end. And it does, during Holy Week, in the depths of the Triduum. After that solemn three day event there is the rejoicing of Easter and hopefully, spring!

As usual I plan to give up reading fiction for Lent. This is my way of “fasting” and is a true sacrifice for me as reading is something I do a lot, to relax, escape, to fill my free time in the evening. I hope this will help wean me off something on which I waste many hours a week, and give my reading habit a healthier balance. (As I reread this I can clearly see the irony that I am giving up reading fiction AGAIN this year. Somehow, I never get beyond this. Somehow after Lent, I backslide. Maybe I should think of Lent as giving me an annual opportunity to rebalance my life! Or maybe that’s just me rationalizing. Praise God for his patience.) I read another thing about fasting that resonated with me this morning. I looked fasting up in a book I have by Richard Foster called “Celebration of Disciple”. The author said, “fasting reveals what controls us. We cover up what is inside us with food (or in my case reading), but in fasting (there is time and space for) things (to) surface - anger, bitterness, pride, jealousy, strife, fear – if I choose to let them. Maybe ultimately Lent is a time of facing up to the real me, even the parts I don’t want to recognize, the parts that need changing.

So I will head out to the library today to browse through the new non-fiction section and the spiritual section to look for something interesting, perhaps improving. But I know myself – I cannot devote all the time I normally read to non-fiction or even spiritual reading. I don’t have the will to do it. That’s where the time and space and facing up part comes in. I’m a little anxious about that. Forty days beginning today, but not on my own . . .