With Ash Wednesday we begin the season of Lent. I recently listened to the song Ashes. We rise again from ashes. This is a wonderful image of repentance and is fitting for the season of Lent. However, as I contemplated the older meaning of the word “Lent” as springtime, a different image came to mind. I imagined seeds and bulbs waiting beneath the dirt, waiting to struggle up from that dirt and into the light. I imagined seeds having something magical happening to them that causes their shells or skins to burst open and new life to push its way out, reaching up, somehow knowing how to reach for the light above. I have decided that this image is welcome as I think about what I want Lent to be for us this year.
As the disciples of Christ, we are called to live a new life, to become a new creation, to choose life and not death, to not only follow the light of Christ, but to become the light of Christ. I am constantly reminded of the shadow of sin that lies over our country and over the world. It is persistent darkness. This shadow of sin seeks to suffocate hope, divide communities, and threaten the dignity of all humanity. I want to imagine myself as being buried in this muddy darkness and then here comes Lent, and something happens that causes me to allow old skins to burst open and allow new life to push its way up into the light.
God’s kingdom is here now in our world. “Change your hearts and minds, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” shouts Jesus. Jesus specialized in bringing light to the fringes of society, to those dwelling in the land of gloom. We are living in turbulent times, times of chaos and distress. I think all of us have this urge to do something. But God’s call upon our life is first to be something; to be the children of God and remember that God values, cherishes, and loves us. Before God asks us to do anything, God calls us to be God’s own beloved children. We need to grow into this reality.
When we take in the reality that we are God’s beloved children we will find all kinds of things to do. There is a direct connection between who we are and what we do. Being comes before doing. As children of God we become, like Jesus, the light for our world. The light of Christ is still shining, right here, right now in the followers of Jesus. As his followers we no longer walk in darkness.
If we let that grace-filled identity seep into the deepest part of ourselves, the things we are called to do will become clear. So, let us take it in – we are the beloved children of God. Then we will be light bearers. Then we can stand between the world and the most vulnerable. Let us love, seek justice, forgive, show compassion, live with integrity, and serve others.
Let this Lent be our springtime, a time of new growth, new life, new direction. Let us shed old skins, old shells, and leave behind our failures and create ourselves anew.
Bishop Kedda
Bishop Kedda 