Ash Wednesday

The winds of grace blow all the time. All we need to do is set our sails. -- Ramakrishna

Sometimes during Lent we meditate, fast, and pray simply because we are taught to believe that is what we are expected and should do. We give up for 40 days chocolate or wine, thinking that we will become closer to God by making a modest and brief change in our eating habits. Although I do believe that fasting is an important discipline during Lent, the Lenten season can be much more meaningful experience than a chocolate craving.

I am not belittling how difficult it is to give up something for Lent. In fact, I have broken my Lenten discipline more than “Carter has pills.” My failures remind me of what Mark Twain wrote — He (Adam) did not want the apple for the apple’s sake; he wanted it only because it was forbidden. The mistake was in not forbidding the serpent — then he would have eaten the serpent.”

I am also not a sailor, but I know that to set the sails it takes work. I have been out sailing enough to respect and admire the preparation and effort it takes to set the sails. I also know the pleasure that comes, when properly set, the wind takes over and one flies across the water. This Lent we know what it takes to set our own sails right. It involves work, but there is no greater experience than to catch the winds of God’s grace.