Much Ado About Lent

This morning, I was listening to a news podcast. The journalist was saying the latest statistics show that 3 out of 5 Americans say they feel; isolated, misunderstood and lonely. That's over 50 percent! Think about that! That's a lot of people! How many of the people you know, personally, feel that way? Do you know? Are you able to identify them? And what does this have to do with Lent, anyway?... Hold these thoughts and questions, we will come back to them.

How's your Lent going? We've just completed our second week of Lent and I'm willing to bet some of you are struggling, or maybe even feel like you've already failed. Maybe you had decided to give up chocolate or sweets for Lent and someone tempted you with a banana split and you ate the whole thing. Or maybe you tried to give up internet, but you have felt desperate to follow the events in the Ukraine and so you've been accessing the internet... So much struggle, so much suffering and guilt! For what? So many of the people I know see Lent as a time of introspection, a time to be sad or stoic, a time to struggle and suffer. Really! Is it any wonder we "observe" Lent, rather than "celebrate" it?! I wonder where we get these mythical ideas? There really ARE better ways. Lent CAN be celebrated. You really can be as excited and creative in celebrating Lent as you do Christmas. I promise you, it's true. Cheerfully, I hope you will let me challenge these ideas and attitudes surrounding Lent. I hope you will go forward from this message excited and inspired to be creative with the 32 days we have left until Easter. 

First of all, let's take a brief look at what Lent really is supposed to be comprised of. Lent is a church season based on three pillars; prayer, fasting and almsgiving. That's it. That's all. Simple, right?... Maybe. Maybe not. 

If you find yourself bored in prayer, talking and feeling like the words don't go any higher than the ceiling, what can you do?... Find a better way to pray, find a better way to commune with the One who is madly in love with you. How? Some people find reading a holy book or watching a religious movie to be prayer. Others know that the YHWH, name of God, is actually representative of breathing sounds. So, for them, sitting quietly in mediation and observing their breath, being One with the Creator is the best prayer. For still others, their actions are their prayers. So, they walk little old ladies across the street, they serve up food in the soup kitchen, they teach high school drop outs how to read, etc... Prayer isn't about words, it's about a state of giving your heart to the Divine Mystery and immersing yourself in that love. Get creative with it, be curious, have fun - make it something to look forward to.

Fasting... This can be about giving up all food, or just one particular type of food. Some people give up coffee and take the money they would usually spend on that coffee and give the money to the poor. Fasting AND almsgiving in one fell blow. Pretty cool idea, if that's your thing. Personally, I think I might die.. But we can fast from cussing. We can fast from the internet. We can give up all kinds of things. What's the point though? And how do we find a way to celebrate giving up something? Well, let me tell you. There's no way to make giving up anything pleasant, but I learned something this year that astounded me. ASTOUNDED me and excited me. My sufferings, first of all, teach me empathy for those who suffer. I've always known that and I try to stay sensitive for that. But more than that, Christ has told us that our sufferings can FREE others, our sufferings can DELIVER others, HEAL others, REDEEM others. I've heard it all my life, but I never understood that before, it was never real for me before. This year, it sunk in and that is the most amazing thing! We read this in, 

Matthew 17:19 - 21; Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast the demon out?" He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard see, you will say to this mountain 'Move from here to there', and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you'. But this kind (of demon) does not come out except by prayer and fasting." 

and also in,

Colossians 1:24 - I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 

Our sufferings are added to Christ's sufferings and his Cross, and as a result our own sufferings help to free others, deliver others, heal others and redeem others. That is power! We play an active part in creating The Good News and that is astonishing. If you can't get excited about that, do you have a pulse?

Finally, almsgiving... Yes, in the most narrow sense, this means giving to charity. And I'm not going to downplay that. But there is more than one way to invest. We can invest our time, our interest,  our efforts, our hearts. And this year? While money is important, because the whole world seems to be suffering, I can think of something much more important than money to give.

This morning, I was listening to a news podcast. The journalist was saying the latest statistics show that 3 out of 5 Americans say they feel; isolated, misunderstood and lonely. That's over 50 percent! Think about that! That's a lot of people! And when we consider that people can often suffer "failure to thrive" or "broken heart syndrome", that people can literally die of loneliness - then it becomes clear, this is also a real epidemic. How many of the people you know, personally and in your own life, feel that way? Do you know? Are you able to identify them?... It is genuine almsgiving and true healing my friends, to reach out and give of yourself to people. Say "Hello", look them in the eye and give them a smile, offer to eat a meal with them and maybe play a game. Ask them how they're doing and make the effort to be Present, to listen and be interested. This may not seem like it's a sacrifice, in fact often, meeting up with friends is a great joy! But that's the point... The point is not always sacrifice and suffering, the point is to become one with Christ, to be the Life-giving Presence of Christ to everyone you meet. And that is something to celebrate, something to be creative with, have fun with and look forward to, something to be excited about. 

Wishing you the best Lent ever, because we're only 2 weeks in and it's not too late. 
Lorie Jo

 

The Nature of Suffering

The Nature of Suffering

January 13, 2008


My study of Buddhism (and I am not a scholar) has led me to believe that the Prime Directive is; To Relieve Suffering.


Enclosed here is an email I'd written for a friend earlier this evening.


Ali, Hi


When we last exchanged emails, we were talking about suffering... Life was good for me at that moment, and it was easy for me to speak speculatively about it. I'm in some serious mourning right now. And can speak more from inside the lion's jaws now.


You said; "surely not all suffering is bad or to be avoided?"... My answer is all suffering is bad, but sometimes good results come from it anyway. And no, not all suffering is to be avoided. In Buddhism, we have what we call "Bodhisattvas". People who choose not to enter Nirvana, but return to earth and help others to reach Nirvana. People who have vowed to empty all the hells, before they themselves enter Nirvana... I've recently acted as a Bodhisattva for Pawpaw. When I'd reached out to him, to relieve his suffering, I knew that I was setting myself up for a great deal of pain. But I did it anyway.


Here some photos of Pawpaw (see Facebook photo album)... No death, human or animal, has ever left me as desolate as his passing. He was an extraordinary presence and I'm going to miss his funny little face.


As I'd said in one of my previous emails, I've had most of my animals since they were pups or kittens and they are all elderly (except the cocker spaniel). Pawpaw was the exception that proved the rule. He was 15 years old, but I'd just found him about 2 months ago.


2 months ago, I was looking for a dog for a friend -- she wanted an adult english bulldog or adult boxer. Anyway, I was checking a kill-shelter in a nearby county when I stumbled across a listing that stated; blind poodle, 15 years old. The picture wasn't very good - couldn't really see the dog's face for some reason? Anyway I was distressed because I knew that animal was old, heartbroken, stressed and doomed to be euthanized. So, I drove for more than hour to pick him up.


Yes, he was old, heartbroken and stressed. But nothing could have prepared me for the true nature of the horrors that little man was living through. The shelter was a concrete floor, bars and large hard food that the dog could not eat. His teeth were rotten, his skin was eaten up by some kind of bacterial infection, his eyes were glued shut from infected lacerations, his back and hind legs were deformed by arthritis (concrete floor!), he was horribly matted and had kennel cough... So anyway, I get there and you want to know what they said to me? "You don't want this dog, he's 15, he's blind and he's stopped eating." Well, Jesus! I wonder why? I would have stopped eating too!... The dog I picked up was a rag-doll, he was lifeless because he had given up and wanted to die. I would have felt that way too, under the same conditions.


LOL. You know though, I'm a little ashamed to say it, but remember I'd said the ad read; "Blind poodle"? And remember I said, the photo wasn't very good, couldn't really see his face?... The reason we couldn't see his face was because his fur was THAT matted and crusted over from his eye infection. So anyway, I look into his face and see that he is a pekepoo, the first one I've ever seen and I thought; "God, that's one ugly dog!" But I still felt the need to pick him up and be a hospice for him, to make his last days on this earth happy ones. Now, it's that funny little face of his that I will miss the most!


I took him to the vet and got his eyes cleaned out. Then, I got him home and opened a can of wet food. That dog WOLFED it down! Then he slept... It took about 3 days for him to really begin and I do mean just "begin" to come back to life, to really CARE about what was going on around him. My first clue was when I went to put some antibiotic in his eyes and he snapped at me. I laughed. Good for Pawpaw! He was showing some spirit.


Over the last few weeks, I've been unemployed for the most part. Dealing with some physical maladies of my own. So, Pawpaw and I have spent quite a lot of time together. During the day, he would lay in his petbed while i was on the computer, or he was in my lap as I watched tv. At night, he would cuddle up to my abdomen and go to sleep... Either way, he soon became so very attached to me that he suffered serious separation anxiety. I know why, it's not just because he loved me - but because he was so very afraid of being lost and forgotten again, afraid of having to live through those horrors all over again. I HAD to be within eyesight at all times! It became very difficult to even just take a bath. Poor little old man! But I loved him all the more for it because I could understand, and I just wanted him to know that it was "okay" now, he was mine and I was never going to abandon him or forget him.


Then too, we spent quite a lot of time together because Pawpaw was so very frail. He was not able to go up or downstairs, not even up little pet stairs to get on furniture. In the beginning, he wasn't even really strong enough to walk more than few feet... So, I was frequently carrying him down stairs to potty outside. Carrying him up stairs to bed. Picking him up to put him on the couch. Carrying him down the stairs to eat breakfast or dinner.


Mealtime was his absolute favorite time. After he'd put on weight and his spirit came roaring back to life; he would start doing a scampering little happy dance when I'd ask "Pawpaw, are you hungry?" It was a comical little scampering, happy dance that I'd expect to see out of a puppy - not an adult. Then, he'd start throwing his back and bellowing at me so hard that his forepaws would come completely off the ground. He was seriously telling me about it! Yes, he seriously enjoyed his mealtime... His next favorite time was bedtime = Cuddletime. That was my favorite time too. He was so warm and so gentle, so sweet.


I thank Heaven for the mild winter we've had. Those days earlier this month when it was 67 degrees outside? I was able to take Pawpaw outside to enjoy the backyard. And enjoy it he did! He loved the outdoors. I believe, in his younger days, he would have walked for miles. As it was though, he was scampering from one end of the yard to the other and had a good time... I'm so glad he had those warm days.


He was very happy in his last days, he really was. He'd gained weight and more importantly he gained trust - he knew he was never again going to miss a meal. At least, not as long as I was in his eye-sight. He loved his petbed. He loved my lap... When I'd first brought him home, he didn't know me and apparently, had not had any real kind of affection - I mean, I went to kiss him on the head and it freaked him out, he snapped at me. But before long, he not only trusted me, he loved me and let me kiss him on the head and neck whenever I was carrying him around or sitting in front of the tv. I loved him for that.


He died a happy dog, but I am inconsolable. No death, human or animal has ever left me so hurt and lonely. Still, it was worth it. Every minute. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't hesitate a second, yes, I'd do it all over again for him in a heartbeat.


Thanks for listening.