Another Lent approaches

In the midst of a recent online row, one of the squabbling
parties tweeted, ‘Lord help me to
remember that not all my views need to
be shared.’
It’s easy to understand the
frustration that lay behind that particular
prayer. The ubiquity of social media
with its insatiable appetite for content
means people can feel pressured to
broadcast every aspect of their lives
instantly to the whole universe. We are
in danger of becoming entirely public
human beings. The radio programme,
“Talk to Joe” ensures that even the most inane thoughts are given the
oxygen of publicity. It reminds me of what one of his many critics
said of the famous theologian, Hans Kung, some twenty years ago:
“That man doesn’t have an unpublished thought.”
Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the
season of Lent. Too often we Christians approach Lent from a
negative perspective. While ‘fast and abstinence’ have their valid
place in Christian tradition, this is not the whole story. On Ash
Wednesday, one of the Bible readings that Christians will hear read
suggests a very different way of managing our lives.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of the need to give alms
to the poor, but tells his followers to do so in secret so that, in that
famous phrase, ‘their left hand
does not know what their right
hand is doing.’ He instructs them
to pray but to do so unseen, in a
private place. He asks them to
fast, but to do so discretely so that
nobody else would even know
that they are fasting. . Rather than
broadcasting every virtue or posting a selfie of every good deed, he
invites them to build up the inner life in a secret place.
Doubtless, as he spoke those words, Jesus was reflecting on
his own experience for forty days in the desert, when he confronted
his inner demons and rejected the blandishments of Satan. The forty
days of Lent obviously echo the time that he spent in the privacy of
the wilderness. That’s why, during this season, many Christians will
seek to create what the English writer, Harry Williams, called ‘a
wilderness of the heart’ as they live to a personal rule: fasting, giving
alms, praying, and confessing. The idea is to make a secret space for
quiet, intentional growth in Christian character and commitment.
Perhaps though it’s not just people of faith who can benefit
from this ancient practice. In ‘that secret space’ there is a chance to
escape for a while from the public gaze. There is space to focus
honestly on one’s own growth and development as a human being.
And it seems to me that almost anyone can benefit from that.
Moments of frank self-reflection can change behaviour and
build up relationships. Acts of kindness which no one except the
donor will ever know about can foster an ever richer generosity.
Quietly letting go for a while of needless luxuries can undermine a
lazy sense of entitlement. All these things can slowly serve to build
up the interior life and foster character for the benefit of others.
But this requires space. The secret place does not create
itself. It need to be fashioned. Nor is it a physical room. Rather it is
an attitude of the heart.. But within that private space, the best of
humanity can flourish. –Dick Lyng OSA Ballyboden