"Piled On"
Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 7:50PM It’s Lent and the scripture selections are intended to make us squirm a little in our seats. It’s an uncomfortable season, as a wilderness adventure is ought to be, and we’re out here letting our soul loose in the wild without the comforts of home. Out here in the dessert of a Lenten journey, not even the scriptures give us much comfort, nothing here about a soothing God, or Jesus as a great comforter, or even angels who will wipe you brow and feed you honey.
Since Lent, as a season, is designed to make us remember that all of us are dependent on God and God alone to get us through our life, the scriptures leave us with little else for the imagination to chew on. It’s one thing to attribute the good things that happen in our lives to God, like when the traffic lights all turn green on our way to an important meeting, or the bills somehow all are miraculously paid even in a tight fiscal year. But when things turn south, is that God’s doing too? What about the bad stuff? Is our discomfort now because of God? Is our suffering some sort of divine punishment? If we had been better behaved before, would things be better now?
It’s a good question, even a theological one, because it admits that there are consequences to our actions. If I had eaten better when I was younger, would I have a heart condition now, if I had stayed in better shape, would I have to...



