Ashes and the current world conflicts

The purpose is to make sure that there is nothing interfering between us and God. Some time ago I read Tzvi Freeman's meditation on the two angels facing each other on the ark of the covenant that I think is a wonderful illustration of what Lent is about. He writes: God "so much despises anything we might place between Himself and us. And that is idolatry—the acknowledgment of anything or anybody else in our relationship. So that the image of these two figurines, in effect, are the opposite of idolatry. They are un-idols. With them, He (God) is saying to us,

“If you have a problem, if you want to talk, whenever you are wrestling with your world—

don't come to anyone but Me.” “Not to the moon, not to the sun, not to an angel, not even to the CEO of your corporation."

Lent is a time of self-introspection to see if there is anything in our heart that has come in between God and us. God wants to embrace us, and just us. And he wants

us to embrace Him just Him.

One of the symbols of Lent is ashes.  Many people wear them on their faces when on Ash Wednesday a  minister draws a cross on their forhead saying: "remember that you are dust and to dust you shal return."  Ashes and sackcloth have been symbols of repentance and of intense intercession in the Old and New Testament (Gen 3:19; Job 42:6; Daniel 9:3; Esther 14:1-3). They accompanied the practice of prayer and fasting. Jesus himself talks about the practices of praying, giving to the poor, and fasting (Mat 6:1-6, 16-21). Jesus himself followed the Spirit to the desert for 40 days of fasting and praying. In the desert Jesus resisted the temptations that Adam and Israel failed in: the temptations of pleasure, passions, and pride (Mat 4:1-11). Jesus was the new Adam, who undid the rebellion that the first Adam started against God. Unlike Adam and Israel Jesus remained faithful to God and to God alone, embracing the Father only even when he was utterly weak physically and emotionally after 40 days of solitude and fasting.

If you are unfamiliar with the spiritual practices during Lent, I invite you to choose one practice that you can hold for 40 days (except on Sundays when we get a Sabbath/a break). I once heard of a gentleman who gave up coffee during Lent. He redirected the money he spent on his daily Starbucks to a fund that he later donated to an organization that supported poor coffee growers in developing countries. His 'giving up' did not remain a personal piety practice, but led him to also learn more, to pray, and to financially support the poor. 

In this time of armed and economic conflicts, like the war in Ukraine, in the middle East (to name two), and the economic sanctions on Canadian goods that came in place a day ago, are signs that there are so many, many things that have become replacements for God in our individual and collective lives. 

It seems that the most immediate thing we can do individually and collectively as faith communities is to pray for all these conflicts, for the leadership of countries and for the millions of people affected. Practically we can donate and serve towards humanitarian outreaches 

May you, like Jesus, follow the Holy Spirit through this 40-day journey of focused connection with God. "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting."

-Psalm 139:23-24

How may God be inviting you to journey more closely with Him this Lent?