Lent 2020

Maybe at this difficult time we can admit that this world is not as clear to us as we thought it was.

The Australian summer of 2019-20 was brutal. The worst bush fires in history.

Although, on a trip home I escaped the worse of it, what we did experience was difficult and stressful. However, we agreed at the time that being there during that crisis was somehow important.
It connected us to friends and family in a way that watching it on the news could not have done.
The catastrophic fires promised by scientific study of climate change had arrived.

Returning home to Canada seemed to land us in a different kind of crisis. During January, Canada was in the difficult situation of recognizing ancient land ownership while attempting to manage a modern economy. However, from a distance the negotiations showed restraint and respect, important values.

No sooner was there good news on this item, then it was becoming clear that COVID-19 was a growing threat to people and the economy.

Physical reality has bitten us. No narrative spinning gets you out of a crisis that comes from the planet itself.

For the first time in my life Lent means something real. Lent means giving up on our journey to Easter. Lent this year we are giving up a lot.

We are being forced by reality into a posture of non-self-reliance. Societies stand or fall not as individuals but whether they treat each other with love. We will need to care for everyone and be cared for, by the time this passes.

In the lead up to Easter. Remember the one who imaged what it means to be a human, the one who died for us, the one who has saved and wants to save us’* Justice, peace and order – that is the work of Yahweh. We have been blessed by Yahweh by The Spirit. We have been blessed by modern science and economy and in so far as they value every individual, they reflect Yahweh's values.

How can we love one another in this time of trouble? How can we image our Creator’s character?


* ‘Saviour’ was a well-known political term. There’s a famous inscription which speaks of Caesar Augustus - ‘it seemed good to them Greeks of Asia and in the opinion of the High Priest to say the following - Since Providence which has ordered all things and is deeply interested in our life, has set in most perfect order by giving us Augustus, whom she filled with virtue that he might benefit mankind - sending him a saviour, both for us and for our descendants, that he might end war and arrange all things. Watts, R. (2002) What does it mean to be saved? Working Together: The Magazine of the Australian Evangelical Alliance Inc. 2002 Issue 4.