Lent is a time in the Christian year that stirs mixed emotions in me. When I was young, I was deeply moved by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and committed myself to follow him. At that point it all seemed romantic and somehow lovely and loving. Now that I am older and have witnessed other sacrifices and the deaths of other innocent people, I have lost my fascination with sacrifice which seeems violent from all angles.
I resist the notion that Christian faithfulness means “following Jesus to the cross.” Some even see this call to the cross as a call to obedience and unexamined servanthood. I see Jesus crucifixion as a call to end all human sacrifice. As a plea to take up mutual servanthood, ending the violence of victimization in whatever form. Or the violence inherent in leaving behind family, friends, work, all that is dear, for Jesus’ sake.
When Jesus admonishes us to take up our cross and follow him, I think he means the crosses we already bear. Take up your pain, your suffering, and move on. We are called as Christians to healing, to abundant life, not to those things that destroy humanity’s soul.
Maybe I have trouble with Lent because it leads to the crucifixion and having to think about and face death. I know death inevitably comes to all of us. My faith says that we are not meant to seek it, rather, we are called to avoid it when we can. The Christian message goes on to assure us that we do not have to fear death when we cannot sidestep it because Jesus has taken away its power. Through his own death and resurrection, he revealed the permeability of boundaries between the seen and unseen, between heaven and earth. So we celebrate the power of Life in resurrection at Easter.
While we are living, Jesus calls us to use our talents to the full and to the good, in fact, to multiply them. We are invited to love to the full and accept the fulness of God’s love.
Lent is a time for reflection. As I reflect, I see that through the cross, God calls us to abhor violence…against others AND ourselves. There are times when we cannot stop the forces of human destruction or stem the destructive tides of nature,. Then, in faith, we pursue justice and resist evil, we seek reconciliation and peace and minister to and with one another in hope.
We make sacrifices for those we love and the greater good in pursuit of saving and protecting life. It is my deep belief that as we do, we are meant to cling boldly to life itself.
As I await Easter I contemplate the meaning of power and the amazing power of love in a God who has the last word over death, even in the face of human powers coalescing and conspiring to shut out goodness. I pray for that love and affirmation of life and good to have the last word in our hearts and minds…on earth as it is in heaven.
Just some thoughts.