Rend Your Hearts

Each Ash Wednesday we hear the Prophet Joel remind us to “rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord your God.” Today, the word “rend” caught my attention. (Rend, meaning “to tear apart (violently); rip in two” according to the Oxford Dictionary). We know that Joel is referencing the traditional Old Testament public display of repentance as tearing ones clothes but here Joel is saying, “no, what God asks is for you to tear your heart in two.” Your heart. Then we move to Psalm 51 where we ask God to “create in me a clean heart” and then to Matthew where we talk about tossing all of the public displays and focusing only on that intimate space where we connect with God. That inner room, where if we stay awhile, there is no way to avoid our hearts being rent.

It’s a lot to ponder. Especially in a time where our hearts are so bruised and tender as we watch the suffering and inhumanity in the world. How would a follower of Christ, a child of God, not feel as though their hearts had been rent? And isn’t this interesting that this Ash Wednesday happens to coincide with Valentine’s Day in the U.S.? I don’t believe in coincidences, I believe in “God-incidences” (a term I heard recently.) It is so interesting to have what can be such a shallow and showy day collide with such a potentially profound and sacred day.

So, What do we do with that? Do we approach it as “business as usual” or do we open ourselves up to the gift of transformation? Do we recognize that it isn’t suppose to be easy?

Rending can feel emotionally violent like a severe thunderstorm that comes out of nowhere and terrifies you for ten minutes only to blow away and leave us with our garden torn up and the gazebo demolished. But those thunderstorms bring a cleansing to the environment and a reminder of our vulnerability with Mother Nature. They are humbling and remind us that nothing lasts forever. If we allow them to, they teach us how to salvage what is worth salvaging and toss what is lost.

Maybe that is what this Lent will be about, recognizing that we live in a violent world, at a violent time and still knowing that we can rise above it but only if we are open and vulnerable and willing to rely solely on his grace. Maybe as we hang out in our “inner room” we will find a way to be a transformational force of Christs love in the world. That’s a whole different kind of Valentine!