What Is Lent (Anyway)? - Part 5

Lent is not a time to do something you would not do at other times of the year.  Instead, it is a time to focus on certain activities with renewed vigor in commemoration (remembrance) of the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert.

In Church tradition, Christians take up three practices during Lent - and they all relate to justice.  The first practice is prayer, which relates to justice towards God.  The second practice is fasting, which relates to justice to one's self.  The third practice is almsgiving (giving to those in need), which relates to justice to our neighbors.

The fasting does not necessarily have to be food.  It could be anything at all that tends to distract us from our focus on God and spiritual matters.  For those who choose a food fast, it could be a fast from certain kinds of foods or beverages.  It could be a fast from in between meal snacks, or from a meal each day.  Some fast from sunrise to sunset.  For those who give up something, they sometimes give the money they would have otherwise spent to the needy.

The point here is there is a whole range of options and freedom of what to do during Lent.  However, if you give up something, it should be something that helps you to focus on God and spiritual matters, not something  that turns your focus on what you have given up.

Another way to think about Lent is identifying with the suffering of Christ, which Philippians 3 encourages us to do.  As you remember that Christ gave up eating for 40 days for our sake, you can ask yourself what am I willing to give up for 40 days to identify with that and to help me remember what He did.  It can help you better understand this episode in the life of Christ.

Lent is a rich tradition to draw from in the Church - and I hope and pray you can grow in Christ and be renewed during it.

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What Is Lent (Anyway)? - Part 4

Since Lent commemorates Jesus fasting in the desert for 40 days, it leaves us with the question, why did Jesus do this?  Matthew (4) tells us that immediately following His baptism, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  Before starting his public ministry, Jesus went to face a spiritual battle with our great adversary, Satan – a sort of clash of the titans.  (The wilderness location hearkens back to the 40 years Israel spent in the wilderness being prepared to enter the promised land.)

Often in Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments, in critical moments, often in the midst of spiritual warfare, men of God, the people of God, and sometimes even pagans, fast to overcome their enemies, to avert judgment, or to bring about God’s will.  Fasting can help clear the mind to better focus on spiritual matters.

Matthew tells us the devil came to Jesus on the last day of the fast, when Jesus was hungry.  Perhaps Lucifer thought Jesus was at his weakest.  However, Jesus was strong and resisted each temptation presented.  While Matthew simply says the devil left Him, Luke records the devil left Him until an opportune time, meaning Satan would return another day.  Upon overcoming this initial battle, Jesus then entered into his public ministry.

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What Is Lent (anyway)? - Part 3

The first practice most Christian traditions observe during lent is Ash Wednesday, where a priest or minister marks the forehead of the participant with black ashes in the sign of the cross.  The worshiper traditionally retains the mark until it wears off.  Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent in most Christian traditions.  (For example, the Eastern Orthodox tradition starts Lent on Clean Monday.)  While applying the ash mark, the priest or minister usually quote a portion of Genesis 3:19 - Remember that dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return.  (KJV) (Some quote Mark 1:15 - Turn away from sin, and be faithful to God.)

In Church tradition, Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance.  Ashes appear several times in the Bible as sign of mourning over sin.  Some passages combine sackcloth and ashes, while others combine dust and ashes, all as ways of expressing sorrow over sin.  So most traditions focus on repentance of sins on Ash Wednesday.  Some Christian traditions observe fasting or abstinence from meat on Ash Wednesday, while other traditions make this optional.  Psalm 51 is often read on Ash Wednesday and the mass or service often calls for the corporate confession of sin.  In some traditions, small cards are handed out where people are invited to write their sins.  The cards are then brought up front, where they are burned.

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What Is Lent (anyway)? - Part 2

Most people associate Lent with 40 days, even though from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before  Easter actually takes 46 days.  However, in most Western traditions, the six Sundays during this period of time are not counted as part of Lent, so that the 46 days then results to 40 days.  In Church tradition, each of the Sundays represent a mini-Easter, and so are not counted as part of Lent.  (Since some traditions consider Holy Thursday, or Maudy Thursday, as the end of Lent - those traditions technically have 38 days of Lent if you exclude the Sundays, or 44 days if you include them, though they still emphasize 40 days of observing Lent.)  (Other Christian traditions start Lent on a different day than Ash Wednesday, and exclude or include different days, but they all focus on observing 40 days of Lent.)

However, this raises the question, why 40 days?  Church tradition identifies the 40 days of Lent as a commemoration of the 40 days our Lord spent in the desert fasting and facing temptation from Satan before the start of his public ministry, as recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  40 days is a significant number in Scripture from other events - rain fell on the earth for 40 days and nights in Genesis 7; Moses spent 40 days with God on Mount Sanai in Exodus 24 (fasting); Elijah spent 40 days and nights walking to Mount Horeb (the old name for Mount Sanai) in 1 Kings 19; Jonah gave the people of Ninevah 40 days to repent or be destroyed by God in Jonah 3; though much longer - the children of Israel spent 40 years wandering in the desert in their travel to the Promised Land in Numbers 14.  There is something special about the number 40 in the Bible.

In the next part, I will discuss how Christians in Church tradition have commemorated the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert fasting and facing temptation.
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What is Lent (anyway)? - Part 1

Lent - Springtime

Lent is a Middle/Old English word that means Springtime, or simply Spring.  It derives from a German word for Spring - which itself derives from a German word for long - since as Spring approaches, the days get longer.

In Latin (the early language of the Church - besides Greek), Lent was called "qudragesima," which basically means forty.  So, in many languages, lent is called by some derivation of forty.  For example, in Spanish, it is called cuaresma, which roughly means forty (cuarenta).

In some languages (usually Slavic languages), Lent is called by a name which refers to fasting.  So in Russian it is called vyeliki post (great fast) or in Czech postní doba (fasting time).

I will have more to say about why it is often called forty in many languages in my next post.  Go to Part 2

Sholem Aleichem

I recently have been reading and enjoying some short stories by Sholem Aleichem - after watching the DVD of Fiddler On The Roof (which mentioned them).

Sholem Aleichem was the pen name for Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich, who lived from 1859-1916 (57 years).  Though he grew up in Russia, he resettled in New York in 1905 after a pogrom (a violent mob attack against Jews) in his home country.

His pen neam is based on the traditional Hebrew greeting - sholem aleichem. which means "peace be upon you."  The traditional Hebrew response is Aleichem shalom - which means "upon you be peace."

He became a central figure in Yiddish literature,  (Yiddish is a Jewish type of German spoken by many Jews in central and eastern Europe.)  He not only extensively wrote in Yiddish - he used his personal fortune to encourage other Yiddish writers.

He became known as the "Jewish Mark Twain."  (When Mark Twain heard about this - he said, "Please let him know I am the American Sholem Aleichem.}

Many of his writings revolved around the shtetl (small towns in central and eastern Europe with large Jewish populations) and the many unique characters found there.  Since Shalom Aleichem grew up in a shtetl - he was very familiar with those characters.  One of the characters he wrote about was Tevye - in a collection of stories found in two books - one called Tevye The Dairyman and another called Tevye's Daughters.

These collection of short stories became the foundation for the Broadway musical called "Fiddler On The Roof" (with music by Jerry Bock - lyrics by Sheldon Harnick - and book by Joseph Stein.

His stories were noted for the naturalness of the character's speech as well as the accuracy of the description of shtetl live.  Also, many saw the cheerfulness of of the characters as a natural way of coping with adversity - though later - many saw a tragic side to his writings.

When he died - his funeral turned out to be one of the largest one's in New York City history.

Patton

Since I first saw the film Patton when I was in Jr. High, I have always liked it.  But I recently saw it on DVD, and was reminded that Francis Ford Coppola mostly wrote the screenplay (with Edmund North), hardly someone I would associate with such a film.  Francis wound up giving the commentary on the DVD.

He explained how he wrote the screenplay early in his career, and tried to bring out the real Patton's mystical side after reading several biographies about him - so he could make the film appeal to both a conservative military audience, as well as a youthful anti-war audience.  He says this midway approach got him fired as the screenwriter (as well as his opening with Patton in full dress in front of a huge American flag).  Other screenwriters were hired, but they turned out unsatisfactory.  Finally, someone remembered that "the kid" had written a screenplay.  They found it mostly satisfactory, and sent it to Edmund North to clean it up, though he mostly kept a large portion of what Coppola had originally written.

Since Francis is a director, but not on this film, he describes how he didn't know how the filming of the film actually occurred.  However, what is better, he describes what he was thinking as the various scenes in the film pass by (except for those he didn't write).  He obviously found the real person of Patton deeply fascinating, and this comes across in the film.

Anyway, I highly recommend watching the film on DVD and hearing his commentary.

The Confession - Book XIII

St. Augustine - Tiffany Window - Lightner Museum

It's taken me over 7 months to both read and finally write this post on Book XIII.  It's the most prayerful and praising book in the entire Confessions, so sometimes it is hard to focus on the line of argument.  However, for Augustine, prayer and praise is part and parcel of a confession.  So he begins Book I this way, and ends Book XIII, the last book, this way.

And yet, in the midst of all this prayer and praise, Augustine addresses some of the most important doctrines in Christianity in Book XIII.  For example, he addresses The Trinity; the utter dependency of all mankind, both individually and corporately, upon God, including faith (and any inclination toward faith); the importance and sacredness of the Sabbath.  He reviews the opening chapters of Genesis which deal with the creation, and allows for a broad range of interpretation from its language (showing the influence of Ambrose upon him), so that he uses much of the language as a metaphor for the sinfulness of man as well as a metaphor for the Church.

Augustine also briefly reviews the story of his own conversion (told elsewhere in The Confessions in more detail) in order to emphasize his point of man's tendency to turn away from God, but also of how God can draw even the most perverse person to himself - so that even while the weight of inappropriate sexual desire can can keep a soul down in material things, God can transform it into love which, like a flame, reaches upwards closer to God.

I will list here all (with links) of my postings on the Books within The Confessions:

• Introduction
• Book I
• Book II
• Book III
• Book IV
• Book V
• Book VI
• Book VII
• Book VIII
• Book IX
• Book X
• Book XI
• Book XII

I hope you have enjoyed my summary of Augustine's Confessions.

To Kill A Mockingbird

I finished reading To Kill A Mockingbird (1960) by Nelle Harper Lee (better known as Harper Lee), though I watched the film several times.  (I almost always find it better to read a book after I watched a film adapted from it.  When I read a book first, I am usually disappointed by the film adaptation.)

I most enjoyed the outstanding writing this book displays.  Harper Lee constructed every line, every paragraph, every chapter very carefully.  She not only renders wonderful descriptions, she carefully structures a story that keeps you entertained, attentive, and eager to learn the lessons the story offers through its characters.

By using the perspective of the children, and especially Scout (Jean Louise Finch), the main character, it reminds you of your childhood.  However, Lee tempers this perspective because Scout narrates the story as an adult woman, reflecting back on her childhood.

(Nelle) Harper Lee

Harper Lee never wrote another book, and this became her only book.  Her one book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961.  It still remains a bestseller, with 30 million copies in print.  In 1999, a poll conducted by the Library Journal voted it "Best Novel of the Century."  For this one book, President George W. Bush awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007.

Harper Lee got to write the book because friends she knew gave her a Christmas present in 1956 of a full year's wages along with a note, "You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas."  It shows the power of believing in someone you recognize has talent and supporting them.

Presidential Medal of Freedom

The story reflects many aspects of Harper Lee's childhood growing up in the South in the 1930s, including the racial prejudice of that time in that place.  However, a major theme Lee promotes in the story involves the moral education of Scout, and her brother, Jem, by their father, Atticus.  Atticus teaches not only by telling his children - he shows what he teaches by what he does - by providing an example by how he lives his life.


Atticus tells Scout, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.  He later demonstrates this by not reacting when someone spits in his face and calls him terrible names, daring him to fight.  He later explains to Jem, troubled by his father's lack of reaction, that he understood this man was frustrated and had to take it out on someone - and that he would rather have him take it out on himself rather than that man take it out on his own children.  Later in the story, Scout learns to look at the world from the perspective of Boo Radley, someone she was scared of earlier in the story.


If you have not read this book before, I encourage you to do so.  If you have not read it in awhile (many read it as a school assignment), I suggest you reread it.  You may find you have a different perspective on it now.

Handel's Messiah

I recently re-listened to Handel's work of genius, Messiah (some call it The Messiah, but the title is simply Messiah).  George Frederick Handel composed this superb work in 1741 in a mere 24 days.  However, he worked from a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jenning, whom he had worked together on a previous composition.

Messiah tells the story of Christ in uplifting music.  Handel organized it in 3 parts - Part 1: The Nativity; Part 2: The Resurrection and the Spread of the Gospel; and Part 3: Eternal Life.  The Jenning's text is all from the King James Bible (a beautiful poetic translation), and passages are repeated often in song, so the effect is like a lectio devina (a traditional Catholic practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's Word).  So listening to it can be a meditative and spiritual experience.

However, Messiah is an oratoria, which is similar to an opera.  For many modern hearers unused to this, it can be hard to understand the words being sung.  So this time, I used Messiah: The Wordbook for the Oratorio, which has all the words carefully laid out in equisite font, as well as beautiful illustrative paintings by Barry Moser.  I highly recommend getting this book (your local library probably carries it) if you listen to Messiah, as it will immensely help you in understanding it.


Messiah transcends Christians, its music enjoyed by all. Though Handel wrote it for Lent, it is most often performed at Christmas.  We usually do not hear the original, more simple, composition, since many composers modified it over time, including Mozart.  Still, the basic composition touches the spirit and the heart in ways that few compositions can.  I hope you will take the time to enjoy this work soon if you never have, or to listen to it again.