Onward and Upward into the Light

I have come full circle. It is time once again for me to pursue my staff and coax from them a yearly evaluation and begin the process of turning toward a new fiscal year. I am a few weeks into my annual turning from the descent into the middle of winter and darkness, the sluggishness of hibernation, and the spent energy of the seasons of Christmas and of Epiphany. I have made some tentative steps toward and with the increasing light. I am walking or riding my bike most days, slowly gaining new fitness lost. Epiphany, though historically is considered a season in which we celebrate the birth of Christ the Savior, for me is really a journey through the night and then on toward a slow awakening. In each cycle of 24 hours after the winter solstice  my body senses movement as the daylight increases. Between January and February the daylight increases by almost an hour for each 24 hour cycle. Even though, I know Christ has been born, it is as though He has been hidden away in the month of January, to be revealed to me at some other time.

Yesterday was Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. In New Orleans there was a big party, the last day of celebration, the end of the season of Epiphany. It marked an end of the celebration of Christ's birth and a turning of all attention toward and our participation in Christ's last days before his death. I ate my pancakes and contemplated the journey ahead through Lent.

Lent, with its conjugation with the increasing light, has become a longed for season in my life of cycles. I know and look forward to the time of turning from what was and toward what will be. I am not afraid to repent. I am grateful for the continual call to look intently and thoroughly at myself, knowing that I may strip off these filthy clothes through this process and that my naked. raw self will be clothed in Christ's blood stain garment. The light will purify me in the end. Lent and it's 40 days of desert dwelling is not to be dreaded because I know the know of the end of the story.

I know that the evaluation process is a good thing. It is a time to put off with the goal to put on the new. I will call my staff to look and examine with the goal being new growth. The light will increase with each new day. I will increase my walks and bike rides in distance and intensity. Christ will turn his face toward Jerusalem and I will follow once again. I know his death and mine with Him is a goal and a doorway. I do rejoice. Christ was born to die and be raised again. I am a part of his creative order. I will keep turning and the light will increase and we will cycle through from life to death to life. Upward and onward into the Light.

Preparation for Receiving Ashes

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

Psalm 32:1

Silence is not golden. But, without the inspiration of the Spirit to confess our sins, we think it is. We think that if we cover ourselves with silence and hide in our fear driven lack of understanding that we won’t be seen as a sinner. Instinctively, we take on the mindset of Adam and Eve and think we can protect ourselves through silence and denial. But, that’s not how it works. The psalmist discovered this.

“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away…my strength was sapped.” Be it conscious or unconscious, a deliberate act or an uncontrolled reaction, a crooked choice or a simple misdirection, sin is a fact of our lives. We are all sinners. We have all fallen short. (Romans 3:3). Denial of this reality does not make it cease to be true. Placing our hands over our eyes in God’s presence does not mean we cease to be sinners. Sin is radical and pervasive and in the end it buries us. It is a fact. “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)

But, heaven has come down. Christ has come and stood in our stead. He took on the sins of the world. He bore the consequences and he went to that grave of all graves carrying all sin. After He made amends for us he was raised to new life and opened the door for us to freedom through his resurrection. We, on this side of His resurrection, know to an even greater depth what the psalmist discovered. There is a cure for the sin sick soul. Forgiveness and the love that inspires it are more pervasive than sin. When God covers our sins they cease to be. We, who acknowledge Christ as God’s antidote for our deceit, can know the blessing of His forgiveness.

During the Lenten season we are encouraged as the psalmist did to acknowledge who we are as sinners. The psalmist learned from experience that sin that is not confessed buries you, but, sin acknowledged leads us into the reality of God’s merciful forgiveness that makes a new life possible. We, on this side of the resurrection know by faith that God has covered us with the life of His Son. We can now respond in faith to who Christ is and boldly approach His throne of grace. We are blessed by divinely inspired faith and its response of discipline. Our new life has been made possible by Christ’s sacrifice. Confession is our act of faith and trust. In confessing we acknowledge that we need a Savior who can bring us out of our small dark grave of sin and into the light of life. As we practice our God given freedom to confess and acknowledge our sin we also are declaring the work of God in Christ as complete. Confession is God’s means for us to discover the blessings of His love for us.

“Heaven came down and glory filled my soul. When at the cross the Savior made me whole. My sins were washed away and my night was turned to day.” 

Thank you, Father, for sending your Son to bring me out, to cover my sins, and set me free.