LENT IS MEANT TO HEAL WOUNDS

One does not have to accept the story of Adam and Eve literally in order to see that the biblical writer is telling us that way back in the dawn of time, a man and a woman had ego problems. They wanted to be like God.

This is a problem that has dogged their descendants ever since. It has pitted brother against brother, parents against children, family against family, neighbor against neighbor, race against race, nation against nation. Somebody's ego is always needing more attention, more power, more wealth, more influence, more control. The Bible gives us a wealth of examples.

The Bible also tells us of prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others, whom God raised up at various times to cut individual and national egos down to size. And in the fullness of time he also sent Jesus to teach us about the ego in the divine scheme of things.

The season of Lent reminds us of that. On Ash Wednesday Christians are called to reflect that we are dust and into dust we shall return. A century ago, most of us were not here and no one noticed our absence. A century from now, few, if any, will miss us. Maybe the only evidence that we once lived will be a faded picture in a family album.

For the 40 days of Lent we are encouraged to focus on the life of Jesus, who lived and died in circumstances so humble that his ego could hardly be inflated. He was born in a stable. He lived most of his life in Nazareth, a town whose inhabitants were ridiculed and despised. He worked as a carpenter for many years. He did not attend a rabbinical school or teacher education institution, nor did he earn a Ph.D. Personnel directors would not have been impressed by his resumé.

When he began his public life, no public relations firm announced that he was on the scene. Nor did he hire headhunters to recruit followers from the best and brightest families and the most prestigious schools. He personally chose 12 uneducated fishermen as apostles. And his ego did not prevent him from "hanging out" with the dregs of the society of his day.

Jesus did not tell people how to get ahead and be No. 1. Rather he urged his followers to take the last place and to shun places of honor at banquet tables. He told them not to lay up for themselves treasures on earth but treasures in heaven. He did not instruct people how to avenge those who wronged them or bruised their fragile egos. On the contrary, he talked about forgiving an erring brother, not just once, but as many times as "seventy times seven."

At banquets he did not try to become the life of the party by telling racist jokes or making sexist remarks. In fact, on one occasion he enraged his host and guests by saying that prostitutes would have an easier time getting into heaven than many of the guests who suffered not from a communicable disease but one far worse—inflated ego.

He pointed out people who had sound and healthy egos—a man named John the Baptizer, little children, a Roman centurion who begged a cure for his son, an indigent widow who gave alms that she could ill afford—and told his followers to be like them.

Receiving ashes on the first Wednesday in Lent won't provide a permanent cure for oversized egos, but the three Lenten practices—prayer, fasting and alms giving—will start the healing process. The biblical writers remind us that the diseased ego is like a cancer that will stay in remission only if we pray, fast and give alms—not just for Lent but throughout our lives. The prophet Isaiah says that only then will our light break forth like the dawn and we will grow healthy like a wound newly healed (Is. 58:10).

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