Ash Wednesday

William Blake the eighteenth century mystic, poet and artist, most famous for penning the words of the poem and hymn Jerusalem claims that:

‘We are put on earth a little space that we might learn to bear the beams of love’.

In many ways that telling remark sums up the whole purpose of Christian discipleship and the Christian way of life.

We are put here to learn to know the love of God and to live in the light of that love:- to bear the bright beams of love. That is our whole purpose as human beings and that is what the Christian way of life and Christian discipleship are meant to achieve for us. Why is it then that our persistent response as human beings and indeed as Christians is to do the opposite? Far from learning to bear the beams of God’s love for us we seem so often intent on casting off those beans and living rather in the shadow of sin and waywardness and forgetfulness of God. We are strange set of contradictions. We know where our true good lies – with God and life lived in the light of his presence and his love. And yet we avoid him, hide from him and seek a life without him.

For the most of its history Lent has been a time when Christians have tried to grow closer to  God and to know therefore more of his love by a fuller and closer Christian discipleship. It’s a time to take stock and to ask ourselves a fundamental question and it is this: Is the pattern of my life helping to grow closer to God or not?

A supplementary question might be: Is my discipleship helping me know more of God’s love or not?

In other words: If I am put on earth a little space that I may learn to bear the beams of love’ how am I doing?

The name that we give to this process of renewing our discipleship and growing in our experience and knowledge of God’s love is repentance. And integral to that repentance is prayer. Both prayer and repentance should be part of our Lenten observance so that we can find again our true selves and bear the bright beams of love. Repentance is a word we often misunderstand. We take it  mean being sorry. Well that is not altogether incorrect but it doesn’t go far enough. The word really means to change direction. Or it can mean to change your mind and both of these meanings are important for us.

Lent is a time to ask ourselves some searching questions about the direction of our lives. Are we on course for God and his love or are we steering away from him and his love? Are there aspects of our lives that are causing us to lose sight of God? Sinful habits or ways of thinking,  speaking,  or behaving? Attitudes and behaviour towards other people, towards ourselves towards God. Have we lulled ourselves into a mindset of complacency about ourselves? Have we grown in love for God and in obedience to his loving purposes for us? Have we grown in our knowledge of God’s love for us?

Repentance isn’t just about what we do or don’t do. It is also about how we think. It can mean change your mind not just your direction. Indeed we will not change or alter the direction of our lives unless and until there is the more radical change of our minds.  And our hearts.

‘Do not be conformed to this world with all its attractions and its frailty says St Paul, but is rather be transformed by the renewal of your minds.

The renewal of your minds.

Think differently. Think of the love and the beauty and the wonder of the eternal love of God. Think of the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ who loves us with such great love that he gives us of himself in his Son to live and love and die in order to capture our love for him. And to forgive us when we fail to love him as we should. Think of the unparalleled attraction of living our lives your life your little space on earth bearing the beams of love.

When the Psalmist speaks of repentance and a change of heart and mind he uses these famous and important words from Psalm 51 – a psalm for long associated with Lent.

‘Create in me a clean heart Oh God and renew a right sprit within me’.

Notice that this new heart and mind within us is God’s works not ours. We have a part to play of course – we have to co-operate with God and allow him to change us. The way that we do that is by prayer. When I say prayer I don’t mean saying prayers. I don’t even mean the prayers we use in the worship of the church. Though I am not for a minute suggesting that you give up saying prayers and worship for Lent – that would be a novel idea. ‘What have you given up for Lent?’ ‘I’ve given up going to Church!’

No I’m talking about a kind of prayer, very ancient, in which God does all the work. True prayer is our response to Gods call to be loved by him – all that we have to do is to be with him in silence and solitude for a few minutes each day. God our loving Father delights to reveal himself and his love to us and for us in that still small voice in the silence of our hearts. It is the voice of love and it changes us from within.

As Cardinal Newman would have it: ‘in this encounter heart speaks to heart.’

In her book ‘the Essence of Prayer the Carmelite Sister Ruth Burrows writes this: ‘We have to be there before God as we really are, maybe upset, angry, hurt, worried, aware of our frailty and our sin, emotionally at sixes and sevens.  This is the self that I set in Gods loving gaze; this is the little creature he loves and has to deal with’.

‘Give me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me.

Rather than give up something for Lent why not find a few minutes each day to sit in silence with God and make that your prayer.

‘Renew a right spirit within me’

That is the beginning of repentance of learning how to bear the bright beams of love.