Ten-Finger Exercises

A good discipline for anyone

Lent is more than giving up chocolate.

Everyone, religious or not, could benefit from the discipline of Lent. With that in mind, I want to tell you about it, leaving out some of the religious focus. That's probably some kind of heresy, but I'll risk it. Why would I leave out the most important part of the season, you Christians will ask? Because I want non-Christians to see that some of the things that we believe are things they too could subscribe to.

First, though, I'll describe the ritual I've just come from, the Ash Wednesday service. People come forward to the altar rail and kneel or stand. The priest or deacon makes, with a thumb dipped in ashes, the sign of the cross on each person's brow. Ashes are a symbol of penitence. The words that are said to each person are, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return." During Lent we are to remember our mortality, and reflect on our lives, where we've been and where we are going. It's a time for introspection, forgiveness and re-direction. Wouldn't that be helpful for anyone?

In the litany we pray for the strength to love God, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We pray to serve others in our world.

We confess "the pride, hypocracy and impatience of our lives;" "our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people."

We confess "our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves."

We confess "our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work."

We repent "for the wrongs we have done; for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty."

"For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt for those who differ from us."

"For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us."

Aren't those worthy goals, to recognize in ourselves attitudes and actions that need to be corrected, and to vow to try to do so?

Wouldn't that be worthwhile for anyone?