Friday in the First Week of Lent

I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument while the song I came to sing remains unsung. -- Rabindranath Tagore

Sound familiar? Ring a bell? The quote reminds us that we get so tied up in the mundane we forget the important. I make a list, and then I do the easy things first putting off the hardest for another day. Or even worse, I spend all day making the list, so I don't have time to accomplish anything. What if Santa Claus really did make a list and check it twice? No toys would be built or delivered.

During Lent we focus so much on what we are giving up or sacrificing, we forget to pray and meditate. We also fail to use these fourty days to truly prepare for Holy Week. This Lenten season we have so many opportunities to "sing." In these difficult times there are so many opportunities to help others. We can use Lent as a time to replace chocolate or wine with a helping hand or an extension of friendship.

Our quotation today also reminds me of myself. I sing so off-key; I often don't sing. I fail to take a positive step out of self-imposed thoughts that my actions will be unwanted. ( I think I have to be properly strung; to make music.) When in reality I need to give voice to my song not worried about how it will be heard or received.

This Lenten season I pray that I can after 40 days sing without hesitation and with a booming voice -- "Welcome Happy Morning."

What song did you come to sing?

Thursday in the First Week of Lent

When Thoreau was told late in life it was time for him to make peace with the Lord. Thoreau responded, " I did not know we had ever quarreled."

Have you ever quarreled with God? There are several books out about Jacob wrestling with God. We ask at times, “Why is this happening to me.” Why is there so much suffering in the world? These are not questions to which we have answers, despite the story of Job. Yet we still ask and think an answer may be forthcoming. Yet is it a quarrel?

I think not. Much like children we ask our parent, “Why?” Our parent responds, “What do you think?” We walk away frustrated but thinking.

No one has satisfactorily answered the ultimate question in my mind, but perhaps that is because it is not meant to be answered. What I do know and believe is that by engaging in this conversation with God it means I believe there is an answer. More importantly, I am asking the one person who knows the answer.

During Lent we engage through meditation, prayer, and fasting in a dialogue with God. It is not a quarrel. It is an act of ultimate respect and love.

Wednesday in the First Week of Lent

Edith Cavell was a nurse in Belgium during World War I and she helped Allied soldiers escape from behind enemy lines. The Germans captured her, and in a court-martial sentenced her to death. As she was led to a firing squad, she said, " I realize patriotism is not enough; I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone."

A Catholic Bishop tells his story. He was tortured and barely survived Dachau. Many years later he spied the meanest and worst guard at the prison camp. He went up to the former guard and said, " I was an inmate at Dachau, and I remember you." The former guard was clearly upset and frightned, but the priest said, " I want you to know I forgive you."

The Bishop says now at the moment he uttered those words he was free of all the horrors of Dachau. He goes on to explain that each and everyone of us has a personal Dachau. It may not be as horrible as the prison camp, but eats at us just the same. If we can forgive it leaves us, forever.

This Lent find that personal Dachau and forgive. It may be a friend, a former spouse, a betrayal, or whatever. We all have one. But the Edith Cavell and the Catholic priest have given us a path to allow us to leave it behind.

Tuesday in the First Week of Lent

In the course of his 16 year career with the Yankees, Joe DiMaggio hit 361 home runs, had a lifetime batting average of .325 , and hit safely in 56 consecutive games, a record he still holds today. Which of these accomplishments qualifies him as an authority on coffee makers? -- MAD Magazine.

Celebrity endorsements gain their currency because of a mystique we allow. We allow a sports figure, movie star, or war hero to tell us what we want to eat, drink, purchase, and yes, even who we should vote for or against. We forsake all objectivity and cease to question their action, we even cut them slack we would not give to someone we truly love -- a son, a daughter, or a spouse. Under their spell we are persuaded to acquiesce in our own indignity.

Celebrities themselves are not immune to the siren song of some other celebrities' mystique. Who seems to be swooning more -- a senior public official or the movie star testifying or going out to dinner or a ball game with each other. They each seem to seek to bolster their own status by keeping the company of each other.

Christ took a different approach. He sought the company of sinners, tax collectors and the poor. Maybe this Lenten season we should seek the company of the least and not the most. I suspect if we all did, we would be surprised how profoundly our lives change for the better.

First Sunday in Lent

Joy is not in things, it is in us. -- Richard Wagner

Above is a lesson we discover time and time again. It is easy to focus during these difficult times on the first part of Wagner’s quote. We all find ourselves with less — less money, less in a retirement plan, less travel, or for so many less food and less or no shelter. So we tell ourselves we can do with less, reciting a mantra, “that things don’t make us happy.” But then our focus is right back on “things.” We will work harder and/or longer to replace the money and pleasures lost. Worse we become so self-absorbed about our own “things” that have disappeared, we we turn a blinder eye to other’s suffering.

Now, I am as guilty as anyone, and maybe more, than others in falling into this trap. It is also not wrong to try to restore our personal financial security by working harder, saving more, or eating less. However, the key is to not forget the second part of Wagner’s quote — "Joy... is in us."

If we go about restoration without Joy we lose the essence of life. Just as much as suffering exists, Joy exists. It is found when we laugh when we want to cry, we sing when we are off key, or we seek it out in the beauty of God’s creation. This Lenten season take a minute to petition God to help you find that joy that is in each and everyone of us. When you find it you will feel God’s pleasure.

Saturday After Ash Wednesday

Don't forget to swing hard, in case you hit the ball. -- Woodie Held

Woodie Held was an undistiquished baseball player whose advise survived. (Webb, are you going off message this early during Lent?). Woodie's advise to young ballplayers applies to more than baseball. How about in your work? Remember that line in The American President, “ I was so busy keeping my job, I forgot about doing my job.”

How about with your friends and family? Maybe during Lent, it is time to mend a relationship that has been put on the back burner or causes you to be cautious. Out of fear of striking out, you are so fearful that you bunt every time you come to the plate.

What about with God? Do you swing for the fences or simply try to put the bat on the ball? Perhaps it is not a coincidence that Baseball’s spring training is usually about the same time as Lent. God calls us during the Lenten season to develop a relationship with him where we give God everything we have. If we do we will not just hit .300. God guarantees a 100 percent.