“The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” – from the Gospel according to Luke
Tomorrow marks the beginning of the holy season of Lent. Throughout the Christian community, members of the Church will receive the imposition of ashes to mark their acceptance of their mortality and to be reminded that death awaits all of us – whether we would like to be reminded or not.
I, however, subscribe to a slightly different interpretation of the beginning of this holy season and what it means for those of us who follow the Christ hoping to discover the Realm of God. I believe that we are supposed to be reminded not of death but of life! Particularly, we are called in Lent to remember our life in the Realm as differentiated from our life in the mundane, secular world which surrounds us.
To focus on death inevitably leads us to penance, the taking on of disciplines of sacrifice, and atonement. These all, of course, have their proper place in our spiritual lives. But too much focus on these things keeps us focused on ourselves rather than on God. And they can cause us to operate from a place of spiritual pride and self-satisfaction at our successful “laying down” of something we enjoy for the sake of Lenten discipline.
As Christ-followers, we would do better to remember life, particularly our life in the Realm which is already among us. What does it mean to look at your life and your daily experience through the lens of ALREADY living in the Realm of God – that place in which all are welcome; in which every thing we have is a gift to be used for the building of the Realm; and where action we take in the course of a day or a moment is intended to lead to an opportunity to work with God in the healing of the world?
We religious brothers and sisters have an expression – to be “in the world, but not of the world.” It signifies our recognition that, as baptized people living out our promises in witness to God, we are already living in the Realm of God and our actions, choices, motives, and thankfulness should be oriented to that fact.
And, so – as we enter into this period of Lenten reflection – I encourage you to pick up rather than put down. I encourage you to replace sacrifice with gift. I encourage you to choose a focus on immortality rather than our mortality. Each day in Lent, ask yourself the following:
How shall I serve the Realm of God today?
What will I do differently today, knowing that it is already here and I am called, as a follower of Christ, to make it manifest?
Who am I unintentionally excluding from God’s Realm and how can I invite them to sit at the banquet table?
What parts of my life have I unintentionally kept separate from the Kingdom and how can I see them as a part of the Realm of God?
None of us can live in two worlds at once. So, the question is – can Lent be an opportunity to step completely into the fully realized Realm of God and let it change the way we live?
I bid you peace from that place where all is a gift to be used to the building up of God’s purpose, and to the fulfillment of God’s holy reign on earth; from that place where no one is excluded and each person has a unique contribution to make to the healing of the world.
A Lenten Strategy
“The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” – from the Gospel according to Luke
Tomorrow marks the beginning of the holy season of Lent. Throughout the Christian community, members of the Church will receive the imposition of ashes to mark their acceptance of their mortality and to be reminded that death awaits all of us – whether we would like to be reminded or not.
I, however, subscribe to a slightly different interpretation of the beginning of this holy season and what it means for those of us who follow the Christ hoping to discover the Realm of God. I believe that we are supposed to be reminded not of death but of life! Particularly, we are called in Lent to remember our life in the Realm as differentiated from our life in the mundane, secular world which surrounds us.
To focus on death inevitably leads us to penance, the taking on of disciplines of sacrifice, and atonement. These all, of course, have their proper place in our spiritual lives. But too much focus on these things keeps us focused on ourselves rather than on God. And they can cause us to operate from a place of spiritual pride and self-satisfaction at our successful “laying down” of something we enjoy for the sake of Lenten discipline.
As Christ-followers, we would do better to remember life, particularly our life in the Realm which is already among us. What does it mean to look at your life and your daily experience through the lens of ALREADY living in the Realm of God – that place in which all are welcome; in which every thing we have is a gift to be used for the building of the Realm; and where action we take in the course of a day or a moment is intended to lead to an opportunity to work with God in the healing of the world?
We religious brothers and sisters have an expression – to be “in the world, but not of the world.” It signifies our recognition that, as baptized people living out our promises in witness to God, we are already living in the Realm of God and our actions, choices, motives, and thankfulness should be oriented to that fact.
And, so – as we enter into this period of Lenten reflection – I encourage you to pick up rather than put down. I encourage you to replace sacrifice with gift. I encourage you to choose a focus on immortality rather than our mortality. Each day in Lent, ask yourself the following:
How shall I serve the Realm of God today?
What will I do differently today, knowing that it is already here and I am called, as a follower of Christ, to make it manifest?
Who am I unintentionally excluding from God’s Realm and how can I invite them to sit at the banquet table?
What parts of my life have I unintentionally kept separate from the Kingdom and how can I see them as a part of the Realm of God?
None of us can live in two worlds at once. So, the question is – can Lent be an opportunity to step completely into the fully realized Realm of God and let it change the way we live?
I bid you peace from that place where all is a gift to be used to the building up of God’s purpose, and to the fulfillment of God’s holy reign on earth; from that place where no one is excluded and each person has a unique contribution to make to the healing of the world.
Blessed be the One
Br. K