“Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ” From the Mass
It seems that no matter where we turn today that there is a sense of terrible foreboding as events at home and around the world create a great sense of anxiety. Of course people in every time have gone through such times and Abraham Lincoln once remarked “We live in the midst of alarms; anxiety beclouds the future; we expect some new disaster with each newspaper we read.” Of course in our media age we are reminded by the late journalist Eric Sevareid of a truth about America “The biggest big business in America is not steel, automobiles, or television. It is the manufacture, refinement and distribution of anxiety.” Since Sevareid died before the onslaught of our information overload age which is driven by insatiable need to have information now and is fed by our media conglomerates as well as individuals empowered by technology that puts raw information at their fingertips which is then spread by the same individuals that thrive on creating more anxiety.
I have to admit that with the cacophony of bad news which has enveloped us in the past number of years which seems to have increased in intensity over the past few months and days that people are anxious about tomorrow. I can feel this anxiety in many of those around me and at times myself. It is easy to feel this way. Since Iraq I feel anxiety much more than I once did and I have to fight it in order not to cycle down into depression or outright fear. Such is life with PTSD.
We have been bombarded by terrible news in Japan, a building tragedy in Libya as Muammar Gaddafi takes revenge on those that dared to challenge his rule, distressing economic news, paralysis in all levels of government and a rising hatred of each other by the political right and left in the United States.
This has the feel of the 1920s and 1930s as world economic crises, a massive earthquake in Japan, and the collapse of existing orders and great political division and radicalism. Of course that era included so many events similar to our times and those events coalesced in the rise of dictatorships and finally in a World War. While events do not need to play out in that way it just appears that they might, if not in a World War a series of devastating regional wars.
We live in a world where we are confronted by evil men who through force and violence commit atrocities against others while others impoverish nations while enriching themselves bringing untold suffering on many, a world where men and women who allegedly speak for God commit acts against God’s people that would make the inquisitors tremble.
Yet it is in this world that Christians are told not to be anxious. As Jesus so aptly put it “can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?” In our present time many are very worried about their material security and their possessions. In a materialistic age where the economy has been battered and seems to be teetering on the brink we find that the material and financial security that we have built for ourselves is fleeting. Dietrich Bonhoeffer who lived in similar times noted “Earthly possessions dazzle our eyes and delude us into thinking that they can provide security and freedom from anxiety. Yet all the time they are the very source of anxiety.”
In Lent we are reminded of our mortality but also God’s love, grace and mercy. In fact we are reminded that we are “a new creation” and have been “set free from the law of sin and death.” We are reminded that God also cares about the world which “in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Bonhoeffer put this love for God of his people and creation well:
“God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely, real human beings, the real world, this is for God the ground of unfathomable love.”
During the seven weeks of Lent I am trying to focus more on being less anxious in order that I can be free of worry and maintain a clear and present hope for today and the future even as the cacophony of chaos builds around the world. I hope that during this Lent I will understand this prayer of the Apostle Paul for the Church at Philippi:
“Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:6-7 NRSV)
Peace
Padre Steve+
The Inglorius Padre Steve's World 
I see a tendency which, though it existed in the 1930s, is far more prevalent today. People seem to WANT to be led. Even in the overthrow of North African dictators, the cry leans more towards “We want someone better to lead us” than “we want to make our own way”. Here in this country, the middle shrinks as people line up behind leaders, both rightist and leftist. The Japanese worry most, not about the nuclear power plants or earthquakes or volcanoes, but that their leadership has been found wanting.
The Germans, Italians, Japanese, Russians, and French all threw themselves behind what they viewed as worthy leaders, regardless of ideology or past history. It cost all five horrific destruction, threw the first four into dictatorships (especially the Russians, who lost their freedom for half a century), and set the last up for a traumatic defeat and occupation. Too much of the world teeters on that same brink. We need to demand more of our leaders, both religious and secular, and of ourselves, to seek to live lives defined by the best points of Christian, and most other, religions – peace, love, and mutual respect.
Amen John, Amen.
Good Morning Padre:
In a previous post, “Grace and Freedom-Lent 2011”, you mentioned that Lent hasn’t always been a favorite part of your liturgical year. I can understand that! Being a Baptist since I was a child, Easter (Lent was something “… those Cath0lics did.”) meant having to get up at 5am and watching a Sunrise Service in the middle of the local cemetery, half freezing to death. while numerous local preachers droned on for an hour and a half. Then breakfast at the church, a hurried run at the Easter basket, then back to Sunday School and Sunday service. Easter was a season I enjoyed more for secular than spiritual reasons because it hopped in like a bunny, wiggled its ears and then was gone. Christmas was a lot more fun. There was all those colored lights, you could sit in Santa’s lap, everybody swapped presents and the world was full of toys!
Besides, we celebrated the birth of Baby Jesus which was much more joyous than a figure nailed to a cross! It took a lot of time and a lot of miles but I did ature enough to change that impression.
The year after my father died we returned to my hometown, partly to be closer to my mother but most of all because we were tired of big city life in the South. Except for the reality of the whiskey, Southern Comfort turned out to be an elusive myth for us. We eagerly anticipated returning to our home church and was surprised by a very icy reception. A close family friend confided that during our absence the church had been fiercely anti-Vietnam War because one of the members was a US Senator and had been influential in cutting off funds to “… this useless conflict.” Therefore it became painfully obvious that my service in Nam was a dis-service to the church.
Thus began 20 years of wandering in the wilderness of no church affiliation. In ’90 after much soul searching and a lot of prayer I answered the call to a small Southern Baptist congregation as choir and drama director. During my ten year tenure we produced a musical drama about the last days and the crucifixion of Christ. It became a community project and ran five performances every Easter season for six years. As well as being one of four directors I became quite notorious in the role of Pontius Pilate. Over the years I researched Ponte constantly; even carefully assessing the role as played by others from Richard Burton to Telly Savalas to Michael Palin (“Monty Python’s Life of Brian”). I became Pilate. I lived the Easter story. Sadly, the play lost its funding and we closed it down.
A short while later, for several reasons not connected with the play, we began visiting other churches and discussing a change of membership. One day an old friend from our home church (who was dying of cancer) told us that her one desire before she died was that we would rejoin the congregation. We also learned during several visits that in our absence the church had evolved from legalistic to moderate and we were welcomed with “open arms.” (Six months after we joined the church our friend died and as per her request I sang at her funeral.)
Our first Easter “back home” I was pleasantly surprised to discover that (in a special Baptist sort of way} the church celebrated Lent! It was different from what I had imagined it because it was more about what we have gained as Children of God than going through the anguish of giving up something, or deciding on somethng of importance to give up. It began to occur to me as the season progressed that year that I had finally found what I was seeking. Like when I was in the play, I was living Easter.
Last week we celebrated Ash Wednesday and as Pastor Ed sketched the figure of the cross in ash on my forehead, I began to feel the tension and anticipation build in my soul. Now I am reaching in prayer toward Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Anxiously awaiting the pain, the sorrow and the joy each special day brings as Lent moves to Easter Sunday and the glorious celebration of the Resurrection. Even Saturday, a day of fasting and prayer is a pleasure because you enter Sunday with a clearer vision and sharper mind to revel in the joyous worship experience.
I’m sorry to have posted at such length, Padre, but I wanted you especially to know what this season means to me. Like you, throughout the gamut of feelings and even the terror and woe that surrounds us, this is our special time of peace. A time when we reach out and touch the hand of God as He too recalls the death and Resurrection of His Son the Living Christ. May the peace and joy of “living Easter ” be with you Padre.
Your Brother in Christ – Bill
Bill
Thank you for your thoughts. I find it interesting to read about the spiritual journey of others. I find that God likes to surprise us and take us out of our comfort zone. Your story is really neat and it is cool to see Lent now being celebrated in Baptist and other churches that it is not traditional a part.
Blessings my friend,
Peace,
Steve+