Spring Clean

Today is Ash Wednesday, and is the start of the 40 days of Lent, leading up to Easter on24 April.
For many, Lent is a time to try to give up something trivial like chocolate or alcohol. For others, it is a time of serious engagement with the call to holiness.
It is striking that in the Old Testament, when whole communities were used to corporate periods of fasting and repentance, the prophet Isaiah, speaking for God, had to remind people to look below the surface. '‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed?
   We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’

   “I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
   Even while you fast,  you keep oppressing your workers.
 What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarrelling?
   This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.' (Isaiah 58.3-4)
We all know how much easier it is to make surface changes to our lives. Getting to the root of the problem is much more challenging. But that is what the Lord wants from his people. A deep Spring Clean, not just a quick fix.
'“No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
      lighten the burden of those who work for you.
   Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.
Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless.
   Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
      and your wounds will quickly heal.
   Your godliness will lead you forward,
      and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.' (Isaiah 58.6-8)
That is the challenge facing us all. What will you do about it? I am setting out to review my time and commitments, to see what might need to change.
Best wishes,
Richard