Lent....

This past week we held a service at church as it was "Ash Wednesday"...the beginning of the season of Lent. We talked about what this day meant to us as Christians, especially with our varying backgrounds...Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, United.....now all Covenanters. And with these various backgrounds came varied ways of expressing the season of Lent.

After we spoke of the meaning of Lent, we had a time of "receiving the mark" (as I like to call it), of the pastor smearing the mark of the cross on our forehead with ashes. It was a sign to myself and to others. Had the service taken place that morning, I would have walked around that day with dirt on my face. I would have had "the mark". It represented the sin of my life being displayed for everyone to see and for me to acknowledge that sin and begin a time of repenting and asking for forgiveness for the unrighteousness of my life. A humbling thing to acknowledge my sin to God but it seems we have a much more difficult time of admitting our sin to our neighbors, our family, our friends. Sin has a way of making itself look actually appealing, of making us want to entertain it and for it to become a part of us with our total approval. But the mark of the cross reminds us of the sacrifice that was a part of God's humiliation as he experienced crucifixion on a cross....in front of the whole city....his friends, enemies, disciples and family.

Why do I find it so uncomfortable? Why would someone put their life on the line and give it up......for me? Seems like when I realize the totality of this sacrificial death....I am humbled, beyond what I can express here....

But when we begin to search our hearts and see sin for what it is....something that takes us from the presence of God....... whether it's gossiping, excessive drinking, kicking the cat, obsessive sex, yelling in anger, gambling, stealing, always wanting more (rather than being satisfied with what we have been given), or not being hospitable or giving or loving or kind to others......then, we can move away from that sin towards a more healthy life. That is the job of the Spirit of God...to allow our conscience to be made more aware of our wrong-ness.

So the beginning of Lent sets me on a path towards wholeness and new life...one which I walk every single year.

Ya, I know. I'm a very slow learner.

Oh, by the way, that "cross experience" Jesus had????....it was for you too, my friend.