Ash Wednesday

 Throughout the season of Epiphany we’ve looked at what the 1895 book by Henry Van Dyke can teach us about living in the 21^st Century. The Other Wise Man in his search for the Christ child, the King of the Jews, has many trials and adventures. Artaban sets out from Persia to greet an infant and ends up in Jerusalem in time to hear of a crucifixion. The thirty plus years of travel have aged him and his life-long work of caring for the poorest and least and ill has left him feeling that it was a life wasted. He thinks he has missed the chance to worship the King because he used his gifts of precious gems for other purposes. At the end of his life, Artaban discovers that the way he has lived his life and spent the wealth was service to God.

We are entering the season of Lent. Ash Wednesday is this week. Lent is a season of the church calendar where we look at our spiritual health. We ask ourselves if there are behaviors we need to repent, attitudes we need to change, actions we should stop or start, or spiritual practices we may want to engage in.

Between Ash Wednesday and Easter there are 40 days in which to try out new ways of living and worshipping, whether it’s adding a daily prayer habit or reading a new devotional. Some people give up chocolate or meat or Facebook as a way of reminding themselves that this is a special time of introspection. When we don’t log in to social media or forgo the burger, we are reminded that we are trying to focus more on God’s way of life and God’s love for us and all creation.

Toward the end of his book, Van Dyke asks, “is not love the light of the soul?” The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church is fond of saying “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.” Artaban learned that his life-long actions of compassion and healing were ways of sharing that love and worshipping the One he sought.

It’s easy to think we have to do something grand to serve God. We are encouraged by culture to ‘make a splash’ and outdo each other. What if instead we tried to support each other in our hesitant and hopeful faith journeys? What if we had compassion on the ‘least of these’ and offered a smile or a bottle of water or a compliment instead of looking the other way? What if we sought to encourage someone who is sad or sick? What if we found less reason to argue and more points of agreement? What if we were less competitive toward one another?

All these are ways to serve Christ in each other. All these are ways to show and share the love of God. Jesus told his disciples, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35)

Artaban learned that it was in the spending of his wealth, and his life, that he found the King. He learned to love God in each person he helped.

How will you share God’s love this Lent? Is there something you can take on, or give up, to make it easier to love your neighbor or love yourself?