So we sit at the end of Ordinary Time with Lent starting tomorrow. It was the shortest period of Ordinary Time in most of our lives - The last time lent started this early was in 1918 when Easter was also on March 23, but lent started February 4th - it starts the 5th this year because it is a leap year (ref). Easter (and thus Lent) won’t be this early again until 2160.
With the end of Ordinary Time, I take stock of my blogging and note the sparsity of posts. I think that while I would like my posts to be more frequent, I have decided to only post when I have something that I feel compelled to write rather than trying to find something to ensure a steady stream of posts. I suspect that means I will continue with my meager readership, but I am not doing this to generate a following after all. I suppose I do it to touch anyone who would be touched by what I do write.
I have been meaning to write a series of connected articles and I find the coming of Lent to be a fine opportunity to begin this task. This fits lent not because it is penitential, but because the articles will have to do with remembering, taking stock, and evaluating my life. I will title the series “What Sticks.” This overly pretentious title comes from when I was doing direct marketing. We often talked about testing things as throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. What stuck was worth doing again. By looking backwards in our lives, we can see that much has been said to us, many have tried to teach us. For usCatholics, our priests in particular have taught us, preached to us, pled with us, extolled us, and threw all sorts of ideas at us in countless sermons and talks. Many of these faded into the woodwork or bounced off the walls of our lives. Recalling these sermons would be difficult because their impacts were subtle or small.
Other sermons, teachings, preachings, or talks did and do stick. They cling to the walls of our minds, our lives, indeed our very souls and they shaped us and continue to shape us over the years. They do not blend into our life - they change it.
I hope to share some of what was handed to me by my priests that sticks to the walls of my life. Through this endeavor I hope to renew the impact of these teaching moments in my life. Should this endeavor stir something in you or bring such moments in your own life to the surface of your consciousness, then we can all be grateful for the opportunity for grace.
