Ash Wednesday

My neighbourhood has a facebook group that encourages us all to give freely, letting go of the things that clutter our lives.  It is amazing how much and how often people have things they no longer need cluttering their lives.

This kind of decluttering is in a sense a metaphor of our Lenten journey.  Our inner lives develop all kinds of attachments to habits and things that eventually hold us back.  During this time of intentional inner reflection, our eyes can be opened to these things and our hearts emboldened to let them go.

It is here, in the Season of Lent, that the two great commandments of Jesus can be vividly expressed - an active inner life that is focussed on spiritual decluttering, as an expression of our love of God; and an active outer life that is focussed on letting go of the stuff we have gathered around us (goods and money) by passing these on to op shops and our favourite charities.  Our contemplation becomes action in very special ways.

​John Clapton