Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. For the first time in several years I wasn't able to get to church to have ashes placed on my forehead in the shape of a cross and being reminded that I came from dust and to dust I will return.
I like ritual. And I like going deep into myself during Lent. For me it's very much a time of introspection.
My calendar page for this morning shows Duccio di Buoniinsegna's painting, "The Healing of the Blind Man." He painted this sometime between 1278 and 1318. That was a while back.
Introspection means taking a deep dive inside ourselves.
Scary.
What I know about myself is that I am left brained. I'm comfortable being analytical and orderly. I don't like surprises. I like to know what's happening. I don't do well with high emotion or magical thinking.
I think this is why I love the story of the blind man in the book of John, chapter nine. It's all about the facts. When his neighbors asked "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?' He said "I am the man."
When the Pharisees tried to trip up Jesus by asking the blind man what, how and why Jesus had done, he didn't embellish. He said, "He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see."
This guy would make a great witness on Law and Order.
When they asked the man's parents what happened they replied, "We know he is our son and we know he was born blind. But how can he see now, or who opened his eyes, we don't know. Ask him."
It's pretty analytical but contemplating on what this scripture means to me personally makes me go deep.
Six more weeks of introspection then.....Easter!
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