I had been having difficulty finding inspiration in the previous readings, delineating foods for fast, rituals for the Temple, etc. On Fat Tuesday, though, I had a bit of a revelation: all those rules and rituals were probably outdated and irrelevant to me (I am not required to sacrifice a goat for my sins...) but I was, at that very moment, in deep preparation for the fastings and rituals that ARE relevant to me! And that this preparation is itself a meditation and its own form of sacrifice (after all, I was preparing our carnivorous household's pantry for the vegan rigors of the Ruthenian Ash Wednesday Fast...!). Devoting my time and energy to ensuring not the slightest acquiescence to hidden dairy ingredients or the chicken broth sneaking into the chili, was my form of making devotion and worship, in my vocation as wife and mother (and keeper of the pantry!). I never thought I'd feel such a basic kinship to the (rarely mentioned) women of Leviticus. :)
SO. Now that I've grappled with that deep theological quandary, let's move on to today:
Leviticus 23:1-25-23
Chapter 24, verse 15 "And thou shalt speak to the children of Israel: the man that curseth his God, shall bear his sin:" The next verse talks about how the punishment is death by stoning, of course, but applying this to our times and culture is something I can't help doing. As our world turns from God and towards "idols" (money, success, fame, possessions), the decline in community, compassion, support for those in need, in everything that gives us our humanity, that parallels these strengthening attractions is not easy to dismiss as coincidence. Lord, have mercy.
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