“Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come. Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.” – Joel 2:1-2, 12-13
The old eastern proverb suggests… ‘may you live in interesting times!’ That would suggest… if so… then one’s life should also be interesting… and I think that’s true for me… at least for the last week or so… trying to make sense of what is going on in the world as I look outside my windows and also what I find myself pondering over inside the window of my heart… faith matters… always!
As I sit at my laptop, I’m reeling from a long weekend in San Antonio accompanying my wife and the Pearland HS Academic Decathlon Team… who placed 4th in the state… while not a state title… a success nonetheless and in the background across the globe the Russians have invaded Ukraine… the improbability most people on the planet are discouraged by… but remembering Jesus once said… “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed…” so I will try not to be… alarmed that is… not to say anything about our daughter Rachel’s birthday (2/29) not showing up on the calendar again… or missing early voting… maybe… and after living in New Orleans for almost a decade back in the 20th century, I know today is called Mardi Gras, Carnival’, or Fat Tuesday… a day famous for parades, revelry and edgy encounters to which all I can say is … ‘been there… done that’ … being glad Ash Wednesday arrives with this week’s issue of the Reporter News… interesting times indeed!
The older I get the more I like Lent. Whether one believes Lent is a good, practical, biblical thing or not or whether one can actually manage to give up something for 40 days or even find value in doing so is not what I find worthy to write about… but rather… it’s what Lent forces me to do when I’m spending too much time on me and less time in conversation with God… insisting I rend my heart… making it open to embrace the rest of my life no matter how many days I have left… as Lent has one destination… leading me to the cross of Jesus and what that means for me, you and the rest of the world…
Jesus was lifted up as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins… the sins of the world… yes… the world’s sins which cause us to be angry and afraid… and what kind is that you might ask…???
Sins like being angry at our parents for forcing us out into the world after taking care of our every need for almost two decades… sins like betrayal by close friends… or being misunderstood by the people you’ve grown up with… sins like being taken advantage of by elected officials… knowing some people get away with their bad behavior or sins like some lumping you in with a band of hoodlums… or sins like living one’s life as if it will never end or worse… living one’s life denying that anyone else’s life even matters… the list can go on… your list… my list… the world’s list…
So, today I’m going to ‘rend my heart’ and be open to Jesus’ words on that cross… “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do…” trusting in the God who is always slow to anger, gracious and merciful, and abounding in steadfast love… Lent is here… again… at such an interesting time!
The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Gigee is a long-time resident of Pearland, having pastored four churches over the last four decades in Texas and Louisiana. Read more following Brian’s blog ‘murmurings’ at https://briangigee.wordpress.com/.
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