Word to the Wise
Saturday, February 16, 2013 - Saturday after Ash Wed.
[Isa 58:9b-14 and Luke 5:27-32]If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.....
Lent is a time for taking stock of life and making necessary changes. One of the difficulties about this is the way in which this observance has become personal and privatized so that we rarely, if ever, think collectively about the way of life our entire society embraces. The words of Isaiah ring loud and clear to the exiled Israelites who are returning to pick up the pieces and try to restore their culture. Do these words ring loud and clear to US? The connection between faith and justice seems to get lost in all the polarized political debate that seems to go on non-stop in our country. No sooner is one election over than the planning and shouting for the next one begins! In the meantime, millions of people suffer homelessness, hunger, sexual abuse and poverty!
Perhaps it is too much to ask ourselves what we can do "nationally." What can we do "locally?" Instead of "giving up" something, can we "give to" our society in some way that will last beyond the 40 days of Lent? We are a land that is blessed with political liberty but we do not seem to be able to use that blessing to overcome our major social problems. Isaiah is calling to us and offering a time of renewal. Are we listening? AMEN