"He had no doubt that there were joys awaiting him in Paradise for all his grief on earth, but he'd lived so long in pain and penitence I feared that when his time for bliss came round at last, he'd find he'd lost the art...He looked so sour even as he sang, it was if the sound of all those merry revels hurt his ears."
Today is Ash Wednesday, a day when many Christians begin the season of Lent. You'll see some of the more Catholic of us, walking around with ashes on our foreheads. A sign of our mortality and penance.
It is also the day when the Gospel reading has Jesus reminding us that we are not supposed to look dismal, while fasting so that others can see us.
While there are some ascetic practices that might bring on some pained looks, there are also folks who spend most of their lives looking angry, maybe because they are. I find it really sad when these same sour pusses talk about how much they love Jesus.
I'm not sure how it is possible to live in the hear and now with that much vinegar running through your system. As a person who believes that the good things we experience while on our earthly pilgrimage are just a foretaste of the great things that are to come.
I try to carry myself with a countenance that says, I actually am glad to be alive, and glad to be here. I'm not happy all the time, that would be denial. But I won't spend every waking moment of my life being miserable, looking miserable and making everyone I come in contact with miserable as well. Boasting of one's misery is still boasting and to be avoided at all costs.
Blessings,
Ed
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