As I noted in a post earlier this week, whether your church tradition participates in Ash Wednesday or not, there is still benefit to remembering what this is supposed to be all about.

Consider a few thoughts:

• Pausing to repent of sin, purify our lives, and seek God is always a good thing
• Most Christians find it all too easy to let weeks and months go by between periods of serious repentance and confession
• Most Christians find it all too easy to let months and years go by between observing a fast before God - something we are commanded to practice

Whether you participate in Ash Wednesday observances or not this is a good time to reflect on your spiritual state, pray, and consider fasting.

I realize that, while Catholic and many liturgical Protestant denominations celebrate Lent and the liturgical calendar, there are also many Christians, particularly from conservative evangelical backgrounds, who do not observe the liturgical calendar. Regardless of your persuasion concerning the liturgical calendar (read Romans 14), I think there is something here for all of us.

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Too often we end up acting the same way - only without the joy. We spend far too much time and effort attempting to placate and please those around us rather than the One we should be concerned with pleasing.

Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10

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My waking thoughts this morning centered around a parallel between changing seasons in nature and in life. I’m not sure whether the Spirit was moving or if I ate too much of my homemade salsa sauce last night. (OK, we won’t go there. Some things are better left alone!) In any event, I awoke to thoughts of seasons and rhythms in life.

We westerners have a habit of largely ignoring things like seasons and rhythms. We are so accustomed to an industrialized, mechanized, always-on lifestyle that we don’t even notice when the winds of change are blowing around us.

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I just took the quiz and discovered that my closest theological match is with Anselm, the famous twelfth century theologian/scholar/archbishop. Anselm is perhaps best-known for his ontological argument for the existence of God. He is also the archbishop who opposed the crusades.

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Almost two weeks ago I wrote about the new Bureau of Prisons policy that is removing all religious books except for a government-approved list (original story here). I could say something smarmy and passive-aggressive like, “Boy, I am so glad we elected a true religious conservative to the White House.” Or possibly I could ask, “How did someone so publicly aligned with the One who spoke against fear come to be ruled by fear?” But I will avoid those thoughts as they might cause controversy.

Will Samson

Apparently prisoners will still be allowed to maintain five books of their own choosing though. Will then ponders which books he would bring to prison while religious liberties were being eviscerated.

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It did not take me long to realize a parallel. There is an old saying that I have heard my grandfather (a baptist pastor) repeat many times: “Your life is the only Bible that many people will ever read.” How true that is. Now, before you respond that there are printed Bibles available everywhere, remember a few things.

• Many countries do not have printed Bibles available
• Printed Bibles, readily available to the masses, is a fairly new situation
• We are called to live out our faith - not to tell everyone to go buy a Bible

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“Ironically, industrialization, fostered by a Protestant spirit of capitalism, is driving globalization across the globe, leading to an increased pluralization, both of cultural and religious expressions, in America. This could be leading the Church to a time of thoughtful consideration as to what it means to claim the name “Christian” when there exists such a wide array of religious and cultural choices.

Yet this is also the kind of thoughtful reflection we may not find from those most captive to the industrial model of Church that has dominated American Protestantism in the late 20th and early 21st Century. This may be due in part to the paradigmatic adherence required of one who earns income from a particular model. Or, the lack of reflection may be as innocent as the blindness that comes from spending so much time thinking about a structure or idea in one particular way…”

Will Samson

The entire post is worth checking out. Will always brings an interesting sociological perspective to his observations on the church.

Unfortunately, anyone who has ever read a theology book understands the suggestion of theology as a sleep aid. Theological writing tends to be dry, dull, and unimaginative. This is not because of the content, however. The content is (or should be) thrilling.

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Have you ever compared Christianity to an Internet connection? That may sound like an odd pairing but there is a connection. My Internet connection kept dropping this morning and, needless to say, I was a bit frustrated. As I was lamenting the fact that I could not stay connected to the network I realized that there was a spiritual parallel. My thoughts turned to the words of Jesus recorded in John 15:

“Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15 - NRSV

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