Lenten Meditation: March 13, 2024
Daily Scripture Passage: Mark 8: 11-26
Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? — Mark 8:17b
There is an inherent danger in the season of Lent. The danger of Lent lies in the focus on all of the things that I am doing to draw near to God: my fasting, my prayer life, and my piety over and above Christ, who so often draws us near to him through such methods. This is one of the reasons why throughout the Gospels, Jesus heals people in different ways: a word, a touch, and yes, even a walk outside the village with a little spit in the eyes.
Jesus knew if he healed only one way we would have a tendency, like with our Lenten disciplines, to focus on the method of the miracle, as opposed to Jesus, the one behind the miracle. When the method, or our discipline, is the focus like the blind man we tend to see only dimly. We lack clarity and any spiritual practice can quickly become a chore. However, fear not, for Christ is ever present with you, often at work despite yourself, to clear up your haziness, and often blindness, to see Jesus clearly through the gift of our often "my focused" Lenten disciplines. This understanding that the one behind the discipline, the one behind the method, is Christ for you, no matter what, is the beginning of all true spiritual sight, where we shall see as we have been seen and know as we have been known.