Lent...and Renewal

As I was brought up in a Catholic household, and educated in a Catholic school, it only seems appropriate that I would share my thoughts on the traditions of Lent. Traditions mean different things to different people, as they should. It is through our own personal understanding of the “mysteries”, that we are able to make sense of the world around us. I have never been, nor will I be a fanatic, fundamentalist, dogmatic Christian. For that reason, I call myself a Pagan. It is my belief that our understanding of the world is proportionally related to our experiences in this life. Those experiences mold my understanding of the Creative Life Force, or that which most Christians call God or even Jesus. It is through the lessons of Jesus, Buddha, Mohammad or Mother Earth that we grow in our Enlightment.

The historical references of this essay were taken from an article published by the Catholic Church and with all due respect, I do make references to the quotes in that piece, not as an article of faith, but to guide my readers on my understanding of what this tradition means to me.

Most individuals in America are familiar with the festivities of Mardi – Gras or Fat Tuesday. Consequently, they also know that the following day is Ash Wednesday, a time for most Christians to gather at churches to receive a cross of ashes in their forehead by a priest.  The first question, should be, then, why the use of Ashes? The origin of the custom of using ashes in religious ritual is lost in the mists of pre-history, but we find references to the practice in the Old Testament. The prophet Jeremiah, for example, calls for repentance this way: "O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes" (Jer 6:26)

The prophet Isaiah, on the other hand, critiques the use of sackcloth and ashes as inadequate to please God, but in the process he indicates that this practice was well-known in Israel: "Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance: that a man bow his head like a reed, and lie in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?" (Is 58:5).

The prophet Daniel pleaded for God to rescue Israel with sackcloth and ashes as a sign of Israel's repentance: "I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes" (Dn 9:3).

Perhaps the best known example of repentance in the Old Testament also involves sackcloth and ashes. When the prophet Jonah finally obeyed God's command and preached in Nineveh. The word of his message was carried to the king. "When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes" (Jon 3:6).

In the book of Judith, we find acts of repentance that specify that the ashes were put on people's heads: "And all the Israelite men, women and children who lived in Jerusalem prostrated themselves in front of the temple building, with ashes strewn on their heads, displaying their sackcloth covering before the Lord" (Jdt 4:11; see also 4:15 and 9:1).

Just prior to the New Testament period, the rebels fighting for Jewish independence, the Maccabees, prepared for battle using ashes: "That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their clothes" (1 Mc 3:47; see also 4:39).

In the New Testament, Jesus refers to the use of sackcloth and ashes as signs of repentance: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes" (Mt 11:21, Lk 10:13).”

In the early church, those who had committed serious sins confessed them to the bishop and were assigned a penance that was to be carried out over a period of time. After completing their penance, they were reconciled by the bishop with a prayer of absolution offered in the midst of the community. These individuals were initially marked with ashes in their foreheads.

During the time they worked out their penances, the “penitents” often had special places in church and wore special garments to indicate their status. Like those who were preparing for Baptism, they were often dismissed from Sunday services after the Liturgy of the Word, what we commonly know as the reading of the Gospel.

This whole process was modeled on the conversion journey of those about to be baptized, because the Church saw falling into serious sin after Baptism as an indication that a person had not really been converted. Penance was a second attempt to foster that conversion. Early Church fathers even called Penance a "second Baptism."

Lent developed in the Church as the whole community prayed and fasted for the catechumens, those being prepared for Baptism. At the same time, those members of the community who were already baptized prepared to renew their baptismal promises at Easter, thus joining the catechumens in seeking to deepen their own conversion. It was natural, then, that the Order of Penitents also focused on Lent, with reconciliation often being celebrated on Holy Thursday so that the newly reconciled could share in the liturgies of the Resurrection.

By the Middle Ages, the emphasis was no longer baptismal. Instead, the main emphasis shifted to the passion and death of the Christ. Lent came to be seen as a time to acknowledge guilt for the sins that led to Christ's passion and death. Repentance was then seen as a way to avoid punishment for sin more than as a way to renew our baptismal commitment.

Later on, the focus on personal penance and the Sacrament of Penance continued in Lent, but the connection to Baptism was no longer obvious to most people. This is reflected in the formula that came to be associated with the distribution of ashes: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return." This text focuses on our mortality, as an incentive to take seriously the call to repentance, but there is little hint here of any baptismal meaning. This emphasis on mortality fit well with the medieval experience of life, when the threat of death was always at hand. Many people died very young, and the societal devastation of the plague made death even more prevalent.

When a Christian receives ashes on his/her forehead, s/he is to remember who s/he is: a creature of the earth ("Remember that you are dust"), a mortal being ("and to dust you will return”), a person on a journey of conversion ("Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel"). It is a statement of renewal.

Through the dark months of winter, natures withdraws into itself and we humans should do the same.  Our purpose should be to review and reorganize the potential of our lives.  Metaphysically speaking, one should have a plan of action for the days when the light returns and we can see clearly who we truly are. This should be a time for us to rest and regain our strength. We must open our hearts and ears to the world. This “conversion” should take place within ourselves...in search of enlightment and wisdom. Gone (or they should be gone) are the days when the established church dictates that we must repent, but I dare say that we must reflect and meditate on the selfish, inappropriate actions we have engaged in...and set goals...and move forth in the world, with a clear and renewed sense of self.  Life renews itself at Springtime. So should we.  We must rise from the ahes of our past endeavors and begin life anew.  As the symbol above, this is a process that continues for the rest of our lives:  it has no beginning and no end, for knowledge and wisdom are infinite and one should never stop learning.  To refuse such process, is to die.

I may not feel the need to go to a church and have ashes placed on my forehead to be reminded of what I must do and who I am. Although I may not do so, I honor my heritage and the traditions of the church I was once such an integral part of. We humans forget often the importance of ritual. It is through ritual that we discover who we really are.  You may be like me and not feel the need to display what you are about to do, but you must always find a way to renew yourself, for this is a proclamation of faith in itself. Faith in yourself.  Rest assured…

Karen Armstrong, Creativity and the Golden Rule

As a former catholic nun, author Karen Armstrong became increasingly disillusioned with the church, which prompted her departure from the convent in 1969. Like many of us, Ms. Armstrong had become fed up with the catholic establishment and wanted to pursue more secular interests. As I felt in my late twenties, she felt that “God” had died for her. Though her faith did not waiver, she realized that the god we had been taught to obey out of fear as children was not the god she wanted in her life. That led to a journey that continues to this day.

I discovered Karen Armstrong’s writing through her book A History of God, in which she addresses the historical impact of the god concept through the first three main belief systems of the world; those being Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Reading that book confirmed many of my beliefs: mainly that the concept of god had been manipulated by humanity to fit its own experience of the divine and expectations of the world, and that such manipulations had led to intolerance and domination of the lower classes by the powerful.

The first civilizations experienced the divine in completely different fashions. Through myth and ritual, these ancient peoples created a mythology by which they tried to make sense of the world that surrounded them. It was through such rituals that they gained a sense of themselves and how to cope with their environment. The myths they created were programs of action. A myth was enacted as ritual so that answers could be found to man’s queries about his existence. This way, mankind learned how to address their concerns about the world. To this day, ritual is an important component of all major religious traditions, including those lesser known ones, such as Wicca, which I tend to address in another entry.

Story-telling was integral part of the mystical experience. As man tried to make sense of what was happening to him, civilization developed creation myths, gods and theologies. With time, these stories were recorded and evolved into complex literary works and traditions. Each major ancient culture, from the Babylonians to the Egyptians developed such works. Eventually, so did the Jews with the Torah. These works are considered by many as direct revelations from God. Even the Koran does not discard the Jewish and Christian Scriptures as fallacy, but as the precursors of the revelation given to the prophet Mohammad by Allah. However, these writings cannot be taken literally.

What is important to realize is that these works are allegories. Scripture must be opened to interpretation. In order to achieve an understanding of ourselves, we need to be able to move from the literal to the mystical. Revelation is an ongoing process. It is different for every human being. It is in the stillness of silence and meditation and in the sparks of creativity that we can experience the divine.

What we call God, I like to refer to as the Creative Life Force. It is no surprise that the experience of the divine has such a close link to the arts. Throughout history, music, painting and literary works have been created to the grace of “God.” What we fail to realize is that all creation has a spark of the divine.  We humans fail to relize is the "We are but a thought in the mind of the creator."   The arts are forms of meditation for it is inspiration that moves us through will and concentration to create. To many of us who create, it is that moment of inspiration where we find “God.” It is the experience of elation and “otherworldliness” that makes us give of ourselves. Personally, I have experienced moments when I have felt that it is another power propelling me to give birth to an idea. I never know what the journey will be like. I have a goal and I allow myself to be guided: in perfect love and perfect trust.

Take the myth of Creation in which Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden. It is by giving a part of himself, that Adam assists in the creation of Eve. I don’t intend to discuss theology, but you see my point. The divine is achieved by giving of ourselves without selfishness. It is illustrated beautifully in that allegory. Theology should be something that lifts our hearts and engages us to be better human beings, not something that tries to define God literally.  That domesticates that which we cannot see, touch or even understand.

It has been said that we were created in the image of God, and if such is true, then there is no need for us to bow to a deity. We must, therefore look within ourselves to find the true meaning of the divine within us. The divine voice should speak to the reality of the human condition, not work against it. By taking the biblical allegories literally, mankind has fallen into a dangerous fundamentalism that does not allow others to have different perspectives on how to approach the subject of the divine. It goes without saying that wars and oppressive behavior has been engaged to by humanity due to this fundamentalism. However, the test of any faith is compassion, something that our world lacks in great measure. It is the selfishness of nations and the religious establishment has, that has kept us away from the divine, by preaching that their views are the only ones worth pursuing.

In the age of enlightenment, science was put on a collision course with God. The Christian Church did not want to accept that the universe does not revolve around the Earth and Man. Such an egocentric though did not allow for creativity and independent thought to thrive. However, we must realize that religion does not contradict science. To me, the principle of Accommodation, that which indicates that God has chosen to reveal aspects of himself to mankind in a way in which mankind is able to understand has everything to do with science. Therefore Man cannot sit still and believe that he knows everything there is to know, for it is through the journeys of discovery, in whichever form it takes, from the scientific to the secular, that he can understand revelation. There is a reason that “God help those who help themselves.” A wise man seeks wisdom because he knows he does not have it. Therefore, we must be able to accept other’s revelation and share on its merits. Someone said “I believe so that I can understand.” You don’t have to blindly believe in anything. It is your involvement and commitment that helps you achieve a goal. The same applies to achieving that which the Hindus call “Nirvana” and that I call the sparks of the divine.

The world we live in is full of danger because of the intolerance of many to allow others to express their views on such revelations. Our generation has created such an environment in which the powerful have struggled to impose their views on others. Nations and peoples have forgotten that kindness is the true virtue and will not cease until the opposing party is humiliated. They delight in the misfortune of others. You don’t have to look far. These behaviors are even experienced in our daily lives: in the office, on the road, in schools, within families… Man needs to realize that quarrelling about scripture negates scripture itself. Scripture should be a vehicle to reach the divine. Not the end of the road.

One of Ms. Armstrong’s favorite stories, is also one of mine. It goes something like this: One day a pagan approached Rabbi Hillel and told him that he would convert to Judaism if he could recite the whole of the Torah, while standing in one leg, to which the great Rabbi replied “Do not do unto others as you would not have done unto you. That is the whole of the Torah: go and learn it.” This is what is commonly known as “The Golden Rule.” That illustrates that the goal of any religion is COMPASSION, that which is essential to human existence and peace, both inner and outer. To me, that is the whole point of religion and scripture and why we need to strive to reach the divine. I echo the message from Karen Armstrong when I say: do not be blinded by doctrine and scripture. It is all just commentary on the Golden Rule. Rest assured.