Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska. 2009
(Photo krb)
Ash Wednesday is with us again. It is a heavy day with its emphasis on mortality and death. It ushers in the 40 days of Lent - a time of reflection and penance as we prepare for the pinnacle of the Church year - Holy Week, Good Friday and the great festival of Easter.
I am sure that for most of us the last four years have underlined human weakness and mortality. But for me it has also been a time of discovering again that there is always a balancing factor as we have also seen compassion at its best, amazing acts of self-giving love in the most extraordinary situations as ordinary people have rallied to support their neighbours in need and the discovery and fostering of new communities in the face of terrible shared situations. I hope that we can carry these learnings with us not just through the coming season of Lent but that they will form a basis for a new humanity that will make our society better, more caring, less driven by our differences.
I have said on a number of occasions that the critique that I have offered of the church is because I want the church to be better, less driven by ideology and much more humane. We know that that can be the case, but not only for the church but for all communities to which we belong.
Over the next six weeks we are encouraged to take on a Lenten discipline. I think that this is a good thing to do whatever community we belong to, church or otherwise. Maybe one discipline that could benefit all of us is for us to think about what we have learned from the enormous difficulties that we have faced in recent times and how we can work together constructively to make our communities better, less divided. Lent doesn't need to be a time of great burden. We can enter into it lightly but more reflectively.
Peace, justice and blessings as you set out on your Lenten journey.
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