February 2024
Dear Church Family,
This year, Ash Wednesday coincides with Valentine’s Day. There is something rather moving about this - that a day dedicated to celebrating love commercially is also the day we recognize and name the holy ache the world has for love. Every human heart longs to be deeply known and deeply loved. While Valentine’s Day is truly a ‘Hallmark Holiday’ it can become more of a burden than a joy (unless you are in elementary school and are eager to get your fill of candy and stickers - still a burden for parents!). It may remind us of our singleness, the acute pain of loved ones who are no longer with us, and perhaps of the pain of divorce. The last time these dates converged was in 1945 with a world at war - likely many were worried for their spouses, sons, and lovers serving overseas, wondering if they’d ever see them again. But larger still was the ache within, saying, things are not what they ought to be.
I realized a couple years ago what feels so grounding about Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. It is a time when we in the church name the deep ache that the world also feels. The world isn’t as it should be! Look at the news - people are being cheated, countries are at war, innocent lives are being lost, something is terribly broken. Our Christian tradition beckons us to see with clear eyes - to see the ways sin has caused us to stumble, as well as the way sin has infected our communities and world. Often the temptation exists to love and care for ourselves over and against our love for neighbor. We easily become short sighted as it is easier to operate out of what we know and have experienced, than be curious to explore the world from someone else’s eyes (particularly those we vote differently from).
The fragmenting of our society has been a trickling reality for a while now, and one we likely blame all sorts of people for, because that is always easier than being a part of the solution. But our faith invites us to look inside as much as outside. We ask God to show us where we have fallen short, how we may have contributed pain to our neighbor or community. I love the prayer of confession that has the line “Lord forgive us for what we have done, and for what we have left undone.” No one is immune to inadvertently hurting another, it comes easiest with those we love the most!
I think this humility, and this willingness to sit in the reality of the ache is one of the best ways we have to connect with others - whether religious or not. A teacher I appreciate, James Choung, has a compelling way of discussing the gospel simply by starting with the line, ‘tell me what the world is like - when you turn on the news, what do you see?’ This easily escalates into other questions, like ‘is the world as you think it should be?’ ‘Where do we get the sense things should be different?’ I’m sure each of us could have dynamic conversations with friends or strangers beginning with this simple exploration.
This Lent, I’m inviting our church community to read together the book ‘Start With Hello’ by Shannan Martin. It is a relatively easy read, exploring the realities of what it means to establish connection and relationship with the people in our neighborhoods and communities. To lean in toward one another when our mode of operation may be to isolate. Our society is fractured because we have lost the practice of caring for one another - of knowing one another. It’s easier to cut people off who don’t agree with us, or to distance ourselves from difficult conversations. I heard a definition of multiculturalism recently that was beautiful: “Multiculturalism is the ability to see yourself in the person most unlike you.” (Sandra Cisnero)
Jesus always leaned into these spaces, for the purposes of healing, and for people to know the true and deep love of God. When we become better neighbors, we get to know God’s love for us more dearly, and God’s power more readily. May you know God deeper as you engage more readily with His Creation - one another!
