remembering

PS 103
If there is one thing comforting about this idea of reflection and remembering, it’s that it has been around a long time.
Jesus, like any good Jew, would have walked through the Jewish year (not the Christian one). And one thing we know is the Jewish year is designed around remembering! Safe to say—one of the major themes of Bible is forgetfulness of people of Israel! And I think it is safe to say, it carries through to people like us!
Now lest we get sentimental about remembering - Ash Wednesday does something kind of startling for us - it’s not a season designed to remind us of the nostalgia for the good old days.
We are asked to remember we are all sinners in need of a new heart. Leads us into season of Lent that reminds us that the new heart didn’t come cheaply—and, of course, Lent doesn’t come to a close till it’s taken us to the Cross and then finally and thankfully Easter.
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. As I’m sure you know, Ash Wednesday begins the time in the church year known as Lent (I confess there was a time when I thought of Lent and other "seasons" of the church as useless liturgy. I’ve begun to learn they are actually a guide for intentional rhythm and spiritual formation.) approximately 40 days leading up to Easter.
I was in drug store last week – they were taking down all the Valentine’s Day stuff, the clerk was clearing shelves, etc.– I asked, "What’s next?" St. Patrick’s Day! Later, I thought to myself – we don’t have to worry about the commercialization of Ash Wednesday/Lent!
Of course, the day before Ash Wednesday is "Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras" that has been well commercialized and more! I heard the mayor of Rio de Janeiro interviewed: "We want to be known for taking excess to a whole new level." Thanks, Mr. Mayor, that’s what we need . . .
Ash Wednesday, on other hand, calls us to reflection – a season of intentional reflection and repentance. This is not something we are inclined easily to do.
Earlier this week I had the chance to hear Fr. Condelemessa, Chaplain to the Vatican for 27 years – he is now in his late 70s! A Franciscan, quite an amazing and delightful man as you might imagine. He even looks like what you might imagine St. Francis looked like. In his talk of great tragedy of the loss of memory in the church today – the almost cultish way we are captivated by trends and what’s hot in the news – he said, "To live in such times with storms of news, world crises, and information overload, our hearts must be anchored solidly in the person of Christ; if we are anchored, we will remember."
Lately we have been reading the book The Cube and the Cathedral; a very thoughtful challenge to Americans (American Christians) to learn from the forgetfulness of Europe and its loss of Christian identity and inpact on culture. It is a very sobering and wise reflection on cultural identity and the foundational ideals of democracy and the danger of forgetfulness.
A friend of mine, John Van Zytveld, says, "If you lose a generation, it’s very hard to ever recover as a nation and as a people."
Popular game shows have been developed around the remembering of trivia. Perhaps in this season of Lent, we can shift our memory from trivial pursuit to pursuit of things that matter.
One of my favorite writers says it this way,
You alone bring order to the unruly wills and affections of sinners:
May we love what You command, and desire what You promise,
So that, among the swift and varied changes of this world,
Our hearts may be fixed where true joy is to be found.
Venite, Robert Benson, ed.