Ash Wednesday - Worth a Shot?

As I'm camped out at my usual studying spot at McDonalds this morning, I notice a group of seniors who have gathered at tables next to me.  It's not a group that I have seen here before, but they all have one thing in common - a dusting of ash on their foreheads.

My earliest memory of Ash Wednesday was when a friend of mine in middle school came to class with ash on his forehead.  My observation?  "Hey, you have some stuff on your forehead."  Cue the theological explanation and the subsequently awkward "ohhhhh, right."

Since then, I have slowly grown to appreciate Lent.  That is, from a distance.  Since I have many Catholic friends, I appreciate the dedication and anticipation for Easter.  But when it comes to observing, listening to conversations of what others are giving up and saying, "thats cool" is as close as I've come.  But just last year I learned of a couple in our church that had begun practicing Lent and that it was a very meaningful spiritual practice.  I had often wondered if I should give Lent a shot in my own walk with Christ.  Now I have a good excuse.  My parishioners have inspired me.

So this year it begins.  The original purpose of lent - a practice that dates back to the 8th century - is to prepare your heart to focus on the sacrifice of Christ by sacrificing something yourself.  When checking out www.whattogiveupforlent.com the phrase "a controlling factor of your life" stuck out. What am I giving up?  Eating after 8pm.  I usually eat one to two snacks at night despite warnings from my wife such as, "Don't do it" and "You don't need it."  Seems like this would be a good place to start.

As with any spiritual practice, the original purpose and design can be lost.  Consequently, the practice becomes an empty ritual.  This was the case for the Pharisees in New Testament.  Even something as simple as keeping the Sabbath had become rigid and legalistic.  As Jesus so adamantly pointed out time and again to the Pharisees, they were missing the point.

But as the prophet Isaiah so aptly described in verses 5-7 of chapter 58, its not about "going through the motions."  Every spiritual practice on the outside should correspond with our thoughts, feelings and actions.  Giving something up must start and end with us offering something up from our hearts.  In other words, as I give lent a shot, I need to worry more about what will change in my heart rather than what will change in my stomach.  And so it begins.

Getting the Glory for Giving the Glory

If one year ago I told you that the two most talked about and tweeted sports figures for the 2011-12 seasons were Jeremy Lin of the NY Knicks and Tim Tebow of the Denver Broncos, you would say I'd eaten too many pepto flavored Valentines hearts.  Let's face it - nobody saw this coming.  Tim Tebow, the guy that every sports analyst wrote off as a NFL quarterback, set the football world on its head with win after last second win.  By season's end, everyone was "Tebowing" and talking Tebow.  He set a twitter record and was one of the few athletes to ever stake the claim as the most talked about person in a given week.  And every time he was in front of a camera or mic, he gave glory first to his Savior and then to his teammates.  


Then there is Jeremy Lin (see my youtube video bar). He is an unsigned free agent from Harvard that has spent most of the NBA in the development league or the end of the bench. He is also the guy who everybody looked past and now everybody is wishing they hadn't.  The last GM that cut Lin said this week, "I have egg on my face."  And the former coach of the San Francisco University Basketball Team said, "maybe if I would have offered Jeremy a scholarship, I'd still have a job."  From out of nowhere, Jeremy Lin has taken the NBA by storm.  He scored more points in his first five games than any other player in history - including Michael Jordan.  After his latest triumph - a last second three to beat Toronto - he stepped up to the mic and thanked his teammates for bailing him out (after turning it over 8 times).  Then, he tweeted this: "Gutsy win...5 in a row! This team is so unselfish and has so much heart. Love playing with them! God is good!"  So much for the egotistical superstar.  


What's so surprising in all of this is not the unlikely rise to stardom for these two guys. Its that people are surprised that so many people are attracted to their selfless, gracious and humble attitudes.  People love to love on these guys because they love God and their team more than themselves.  Unfortunately, the biggest stars in sports often have it the other way around.  Who wants to cheer for that?  Best of all, their thanks to God is genuine.  They give him glory when they speak AND the way they play and live.  


Frankly, I'm not surprised that two underdogs with humble personalities and extraordinary faiths are dominating the attention of so many.  I think it's exactly what people are longing for in a hero.  And God found two faithful, obedient and talented men who were ready to get the glory for giving the glory.  I guess all I'm wondering is, "who's next?"

The Plane is Going Down! Oh wait...

Practically everyone has considered the question, "What would you do if you knew you were going to die?"  Unfortunately, for passengers of a British Airways Flight from Miami to London, that question became very real.  A flight assistant accidentally pressed the button that announced that the plane would be making an emergency landing at sea.  Now that will make you put down your package of peanuts.  As the passengers began to panic, a stewardess announced that the message was a mistake.

My first thought after reading this article was, "where is this button located?"  If it's next to the pilot's "fasten seatbelt" button, it should probably be moved.  Something that serious should have one of those button flip cases like you see in films about nuclear missiles.  Because a whoops like that is going to stick with people for quite a while.

My next thought was, "what would go through my mind for the first few moments following an announcement like that?"  It's hard to imagine and even more difficult to predict, but if I were to guess, I would think, "I don't want to die." I mean, who wouldn't?  A close second would be my wife and kids.  Whether they were with me or not, I would gravitate to thinking about them.  I would hate the thought of my kids growing up without a father and also not being able to live out my days with my wife.

After these two sure things, I would venture to say that some serious prayer would be in order.  I'd definitely be praying for a Captain Sully type landing.  And with it, I would surely pray the "if I get out of this thing alive" prayer.  We all have the list of things we want to accomplish and experience, and for whatever reason, we have put them off or have just been too lazy to see these things through.  I know that I would come up with a small yet significant list for things that I would change or follow through with.  I would love to hear from this group of passengers and whether or not it changed the way they lived.

The sad thing is, it shouldn't really take experiences like this to motivate us to maximize our opportunities.  We all know that "life is short" and that tomorrow is not guaranteed for anyone.  But do we live like it?  I love what the Apostle Paul says in the book of Ephesians, chapter 5 - "Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days."  If we follow this word from Paul and make the most of every minute, hour and day, then we don't need any accidental recordings to get us thinking.  Sure it takes discipline, courage and strength from God to make the most of our days here on earth, but God never promised that it would be easy.  So don't put it off.  Spend some quality time with your family, go the extra mile for someone today and see what happens next!