“On the cusp of Lent”
This Lent, Let it GO!
by Kendall Marie Buechler
In the early morning hours of Ash Wednesday, 2017, a tornado blew through Ireland, Indiana, destroying the roof and back walls of my Grandma’s house. This experience harrowed me. I remember sitting in my middle school’s cafeteria crying, thinking of all the Christmases and Easters I spent at that house. Of course, being twelve, I also thought about the extra special Barbie dolls I kept there. Whenever my mom told me, “Things can be replaced, but people can’t,” I ignored her because those things were very important to me.
I am sure we’ve all had a moment when something was suddenly ripped away from us. Maybe you had an experience like mine with a natural disaster, or perhaps you experienced the sudden death of a loved one. Thankfully, we can turn to scripture to understand how we can best respond to these inevitable moments in life. About mid-way through the Old Testament, we meet Job, who, in a test from God, lost all of his children in a great gust of wind (among other tragedies). I know it sounds terrible, but Job is here to teach us a lesson about our own lives. Thankfully, Job had his priorities in order, and while grieving the loss of his children, he remembered the greatness of God, saying,
“Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21).
Do you have your priorities in order? I know I don’t. If God came and took away my friends, family, and possessions, I probably wouldn’t be blessing His name. I certainly wasn’t after the tornado. Are we, like Job, putting God above Everything? I know that’s a hard ask, and that’s okay! Through the church, God gives us an opportunity to check in and get our priorities back in order. On Wednesday, we will put ashes on our forehead, remembering that life, and everything in it, is finite “Remember you are dust.” Then, as we keep those ashes on and see our brothers and sisters with them, we are reminded to let go of the things that bring us away from God. It’s a hard ask, I know, but don’t worry, you have forty days and forty nights to get there, and next year, we’ll do it all again.
Originally published in Marian Universities’ Mission and Ministry Newsletter
