Ash Wednesday Reflection: Encountering One’s Self
by GLORY E. DHARMARAJ*
This reflection is part of a series of Lenten reflections from United Methodist Women members and Women’s Division staff to accompany you to Easter. See other reflections.
A journey without being changed is to be a nomad
To change without journeying is to be a chameleon
To journey and to be transformed by the journey is to be a pilgrim.
--Mark Nepo in The Book of AwakeningCreate in me a clean heart, O God, and put a right spirit within me.
--Psalm 51: 10
We are on the threshold of another Lenten Season that begins with Ash Wednesday. According to Christian tradition, Lent is a time to observe spiritual discipline to overcome temptations and confront evil. It encourages us to face our inner-self, and overcome all that hinders us from experiencing “freedom as whole persons in Jesus Christ”:
- Lent is a spring training for Christians who want to be in shape as a whole persons and stay in shape as a disciple.
- Lent is a spiritual practice time.
- Lent is a time for renewal, restoration and restitution in order to eliminate the evil in us and enrich the divinity within us.
- Lent is a call to interrogate oneself.
Not long ago, in my daily commute from Peekskill, N.Y., to Grand Central Station in New York City, a particular advertisement caught my attention. It stalled my stray thoughts and brought me back to the jolting present: “Missing the Stop.”
Recently, a United Methodist Women member from Minneapolis, Minn., sent me a card. On the card there was a picture of a mythical bird, “sankofa,” looking over its shoulder with its head turned around and behind it. Sankofa is from West Africa, specifically the countries of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. This bird is a reminder to reach back and examine your past, before you move forward into the future.
We need to remember to slow down, focus and engage in the essentials in our lives so we “don’t miss the stop.” We need to look back in order to move forward.
Missing stops abound as I look back on my personal journey.
In the book Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, the lead character tells his nephew, Wormwood (a demon) how to tempt people. The advice is that Wormwood need not persuade people to do evil, but make them do nothing at all – apathy, indifference. They do the job of evil.
A few days ago, I visited the Native American Museum in New York City with my colleagues in the Women’s Division as part of a learning assignment. Among the beautiful artifacts, one that held my attention was a mask called “The Chaos Maker.” This depicts Althmako-a, a chaos-maker who brings about destruction. His unruly hair, brooding brow and painted face conveyed his character. A remarkable thing about the native culture is that the owner of this mask must compensate individuals whose property is destroyed by him.
Dr. Visser’t Hooft, the first Secretary General of the World Council of Churches, once said, “The Church which would call the world to order is suddenly called to order itself. The question which it would throw into the world: ‘Do you know that you belong to Christ?’ comes back as an echo.”
Lent is the time for prayerful self-interrogation with the question thrown at us: Do you know that you belong to Christ?
Prayer
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and help me stay connected with you. Amen.
*Glory E. Dharmaraj, Ph.D. is the director of spiritual formation and mission theology for the Women’s Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.
Date posted : Jan. 30, 2008