2018 has some strange calendar events. January gave us blue super moons with a total eclipse during the second one. Then the church and secular calendars give us Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday on the same day. Later April Fools Day and Easter fall on the same day. And that is just the first hundred days.
Before human beings understood much about the earth and the universe beyond it, these kinds of coincidences would be seen as omens. Some people will still see them that way. Realistically, however, they are just intersections of human calendars (except for the eclipse during a super moon).
We can easily forget that we make our own calendars and schedules for the most part. We complain that we are just super busy, as if we had not made the choices that produced our own business. Our calendars and choices are our own creations. If we act as if they now control us, then we are choosing to become victims of our own creations. By our own power to choose we make ourselves powerless.
This month, February 14, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent. It is a traditional spiritual practice among Christians to give up something during Lent. I have always found that giving something up without proactively replacing it with something that is good produces unnecessary suffering.
Lent actually was meant to be a season of spiritual growth. Growth is an unleashing of power that has been latent previously. When it comes to spiritual growth we have the power to grow. We need to claim that power instead of acting like we are victims of our own creations. We can actualize love, compassion and acceptance. We have that power within us. We can choose to grow in these ways.
The universe and human calendars can create some strange occurrences. It would be a greater marvel if our human choices created a more loving and just society.
Choose wisely this Lent.
Pastor Phil Konz