Under the layers
Lent is coming. Some would argue it never ended last year! Indeed, we are in a year like never before. It’s a heavy year, there are many frustrating and scary things that have been going on in the world. Yet, amidst the desolation and chaos, God has been present. Good things have happened. Our carbon footprint is smaller because we’re not driving so much - there are even dolphins in the channels of Italy. Our ability to create community without being able to be in the same physical space has been a delight (thank you Zoom). We have been able to create beauty - hello Holy Presence Catholic Community. Sometimes, we have to search for the good, but God promises it will be there. We can trust God. And yet, I ask God, do we really need another Lent? Do we need 40 days to sit in the desert? Aren’t we parched and challenged enough? Is me not eating chocolate necessary for the formation of Love in the world? Luckily, the God I believe in is patient in my whining, and gently nudges me to get over myself. Lent does not have to be a drudgery. Repentence, rebirth, remembering does not have to be drudgery. Lent can be a time of discovery, of freedom, of letting go. Our trip to the proverbial desert can be a time where we spend more time with God - the one who just loves us - as we are. It can be a time of inspiration, of learning new things - about ourselves and about the world. Figuring out who we are, what our place is in the community of Love, what we have to offer, and how to become more Christlike in our actions. I urge us to look at these coming 40 days of Lent as a positive, restorative time of co-creation with our loving God. Let’s discover what beauty and insight God has in store for us.
Here is a story I’ve told before, but still holds such a true image of what Lent is for me, that I will share it once again. In the middle of the thrift store is a table. It’s a sturdy table, a solid table, with plenty of life left. But it’s an ugly table. You can see by the chips in the paint that it’s been at least 3 different colors in it’s lifetime. Some children have left their mark on it with permanent ink and others have carved an important number on the top when they could not find a pen. It’s pretty beat up but you see it’s potential and you bring it home. As you strip the paint layer by layer, the marks begin to disappear and the carvings become less visible. You discover that you have not acquired a piece of junk, you have acquired a treasure - a solid oak table with a beauty you never imagined.
Sometimes I feel like the table in the store - chipped and carved, my beauty long gone, long past any usefulness. I may feel permanently marked by my past, covered with layers of emotions and experiences and I wonder if I even know who I am under all that stuff. But, there is One who knows the beauty that lies beneath and is more than willing to bring me back to my created purpose and glory, that One is God. As I strengthen my relationship with God, spend this time of Lent making extra time to listen to God’s voice, I may begin anew to appreciate the gifts given to me that I’ve let go dormant, I may learn something that will open my heart to a new way to experience God’s love. Maybe, I’ll even learn something new about God. Could it be that I have painted God with my view over and over again, and limited God’s beauty by the colors I have chosen? Who knows?
I’m actually looking forward to Lent this year. It’s going to be different than normal, but all the more beautiful because of it. We’re going to study Ubuntu - and African philosophy that is transformative. I’ll do the work to strip of the old paint and sand down my rough edges, because I’m excited and ready to be transformed so I may help God create a more loving, peaceful, and caring community. So bring it on, I say, ‘cuz Easter is coming and that’s a GREAT day!!
Rev. Joan
