Ash Wednesday

In Greek mythology the sirens are creatures with the heads of beautiful women and the bodies of attractive birds. They lived on an island and with the irresistible charm of their song they lured mariners to their destruction on the rocks surrounding their island. 

They sang so sweetly that all who sailed near their home in the sea were fascinated and drawn to the shore only to be destroyed. When Odysseus, the hero in the Odyssey, passed that enchanted spot he tied himself to the mast and put wax in the ears of his comrades, so that they might not hear the luring and bewitching strains. But King Tharsius chose a better way. He took the great Greek singer and lyrist Orpheus along with him. Orpheus took out his lyre and sang a song so clear and ringing that it drowned the sound of those lovely, fatal voices of sirens. The best way to break the charm of this world’s alluring voices during 

Lent is not trying to shut out the music by plugging our ears, but to have our hearts and lives filled with the sweeter music of prayer, devotion, reading God’s word, Holy Spirit inspired self control, and outward acts of charity. Then temptations will have no power over us.

In the Gospel of John, we find Jesus pointedly says to his Jewish hearers 'If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.'  John 8.31 

He stresses the importance of keeping his word. Doing this shows that we are  his followers. It means having the truth – or seeing things like God. This also means being free – from all dark deceptions. There is much to ponder over in this.

Jesus’ hearers were puzzled about becoming free, since they thought that they never were slaves. It was William Barclay, the well known Scottish Theologian who said, “Christian freedom does not mean being free to do as we like; it means being free to do as we ought.”

Holy God,

Whose glory touches and transfigures the mind and the material,

Whose intimate, gentle Spirit embraces our vulnerability

and fills our empty spaces with hope,

may we know the deep calm that only You can give.

Through the mystery of absence and presence,

come, fill us with Your emptiness, Your eternal silence.  Amen