And now it’s Lent. A quick reading of the newspaper tells us that there are actually people who hunt small animals with assault weapons, and that when a prominent hunter protests he is assaulted and ostracized by gun lobbies; prosecutors appointed by the Bush administration are instructed to prosecute people, or not, as political punishment or support – and then fired if they don’t do what they’re told. Recently we have read about prisoners being placed in solitary cells with the windows blocked for more than three years and then considered sane and able to help with their own defense! The deadly emissions to the environment will remain the same for the next 10 years we are told, even as sugar Maples in the North are threatened and honey bees have gone a little crazy and are somewhere unknown, lost. The first prosecution of someone at Guantanamo is announced after four years. And yes, we are still at war in Iraq. Yes, we are still there.
It is Lent and we wander in the desert. Of course, there is hope - the anti-war voice is being heard, the outrage over violations to our own sense of human decency and to our Constitution is being more widely expressed. There are good people everywhere doing good things and winning some “battles” – (we will have a monument in Philly that acknowledges Washington’s salves!) Jesus wanders in the desert with the wild beasts, and the angels look after him. Will they look after us?
Jeff Draine | 15-Mar-07 at 7:26 am | Permalink
Interesting that you wrote Washington’s salves instead of Washington’s slaves. Somtimes a transposition is just a transposition. Jesus’ time in the wilderness included facing temptations–what are our temptations as progressive Christians in the wilderness you describe?