ASH WEDNESDAY, LENT, UKRAINE, AND PERSECUTED HYMN WRITERS

Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Church, Indianapolis, IN

On the 63 Ash Wednesdays I've lived through, I've only been to one (as far as I know). Part of that might be my work schedule; a bigger part could be that I've never regularly attended a church that celebrates Ash Wednesday or Lent. When Becky served as a chaplain at Eskenazi Hospital here in Indianapolis, Becky and I went to a lunch time service at the chapel there, officiated by her supervisor, Father Robert Lyons.

There have been a couple of times I did give up something for Lent, though I'm not sure how kosher my observance was. Once, I gave up creamer in my coffee, and once I gave up condiments/sauces on my sandwiches/entrees (may have been same year). Now, I did continue to use sweetener in my coffee, and I excluded horseradish from the abstinence list. But adding cream to my java or putting BBQ sauce or mustard or some oriental sauce were more luxuries.

But a fair question is what does giving up for Lent accomplish? One of those times, I linked it with praying for someone's salvation for those 40 days. But does merely doing without draw you closer to God? The same with fasting. I remember a blog titled "Fasting or Hunger Strike?" Are we making sacrifices to earn favor from God? Sorry, it doesn't work that way.

I've been taught the primary reason to fast is so you have the time you'd normally be chowing down to pray, and sometimes a fast is for a particular need. This leads me to Ukraine. We definitely need to be praying for that country. The ERLC has an article title "4 Reasons Why Christians Should Care About What's Happening In Ukraine." You can click here to see the whole list in detail, but allow me to give two items that have my attention:

1. Russia's invasion could cause a refugee crisis in Central Europe, and
2. The Ukrainian Church, which faces possible persecution.
   

This is why I pictured Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Church (part of the Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese). Christ is the joy of all who sorrow, and those in Ukraine deserve that joy.

Allow me to conclude with a tie-in with my two previous posts, reviewing biographies of Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley. Both were preachers and both were hymn writers, in both cases writing the words but neither writing original music. Both, however, lived under persecution.

Isaac Watts' father was in jail when he was born. Why? Because the senior Watts was a deacon of a dissenting church. Several years later, while the younger Watts was still a child, his father was removed from his family for two years because of the same issue. Laws changed as the younger Watts grew up, but because he wouldn't join the Church of England, he wasn't eligible to run for office, and he could not attend the elite schools like Oxford and Cambridge. (The irony is later on, these schools and also Yale used the book on Logic Watts wrote.)

Technically, the Methodist movement was part of the Church of England. However, this did not spare Charles Wesley from persecution due to issues including open air preaching. Rioters tried to break in, Charles and others were beaten, and if the local law enforcement did more than watch, they usually assisted the rioters.

I know. Today's blog rambled a bit, didn't it? But let me state that we in the U.S. should not expect to avoid the persecution our brothers and sisters are experiencing around the world. We should also take Hebrews 13:3 to heart: "Remember the prisoners as if chained with them - those who are mistreated - since you yourselves are in the body also." (NKJV). 

Allow me to add Psalm 69:33 (again, NKJV): "For the LORD hears the poor, And does not despise His prisoners."

What are your thoughts on what I covered? How are you reacting to the Ukraine crisis? Are you observing Lent, and how?  

LET'S SEE - SHOULD I MENTION SANCTITY OF LIFE SUNDAY IN MY BLOG?

 I remember a few years back saying that we should make as big a thing about Sanctity of Life Sunday as we do about Earth Day.

But do I make as big a thing about Sanctity of Life Sunday as I do about Earth Day? Which, by the way, is absolutely nothing?

I noticed the lesson title for the January 16, 2021 in the Lifeway Sunday School quarterly "God values all human life." I also figured out that it fell on Sanctity of Life Sunday. And I decided I needed to write a blog for Sanctity of Life Sunday as I do for Reformation Day, All Saints Day, Pentecost, and other important days.

That decision was made January 15, 2021 (aka today).

I had just finished a series on Church Fathers and had a book review scheduled for today: Voice of a Prophet by A.W. Tozer. (It will be reviewed next week.) I had no thought about writing a blog  on Sanctity of Life Sunday prior to today.

No, this day was not really on my radar. But should it be? Rather, should I not realize every day is Sanctity of Life Day? Why focus more on it on one day than not give it equal attention every day?

Well, one reason is too often if we don't give something special attention on one particular day, we're tempted to give much focus on it the rest of the time.

There are some who say that the pro-life movement is too focused on the unborn and not the born. We want to outlaw abortion while we say nothing against racism or domestic violence or human trafficking, while we are silent about refugees. I agree completely with them. Of course, some of those critics are really saying we shouldn't be focused at all on the unborn, and of course they're wrong. 

As Christians, we need to realize that mankind is created in the image of God. Likewise, we need to not only see that of mankind as a whole but of each and every individual in that whole. 

How should we live in that light? Let me give some suggestions.

• We can smile and greet others, and thank them when they do something.
• We can be faithful to the Great Commission. 
• We can stand up for others when we see them bullied, oppressed, insulted or otherwise mistreated.
• We can listen to those we disagree with and treat them with respect as we want to be treated.
• We can make it clear that every human life, including the unborn, is valuable and protect them.  
• We can also speak out loud and strong against any sin that minimizes the life of others.

In closing: I usually am not one to protest. I oppose abortion, but I think more effort should be put in supporting abortion alternatives. In Eric Shansberg's excellent book Turn Neither To The Right Nor To The Left, he mentions that a lady who set up a table in front of an abortion clinic with balloons and a list of people who are looking to adopt. I loved that story. 

ARE MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS AS INTERESTED IN REFUGEE MINISTRY AS I AM?

 

 

Remember being introduced to my 20 favorite characters last year? I thought about doing an update and if there are any changes to the line-up. I'll probably wait at least two years before tweaking this line-up. (If you want a reminder who they are, you can put your cursor over the photo and it will remind you.)

One ministry that fascinated me since I first learned of it was ministry to refugees. By the way, I read just yesterday the difference between a refugee and a displaced person - the latter has to move but still remains in his home country, while the refugee relocates to a new country. 

Well, one of the most reminders of this interest was skimming through a bio about an author and finding out that one character was actually a refugee. 

So I looked at my collection of characters, asking myself if the characters I like reflect my interest in refugees. How many of these characters either aided/worked with a refugee, married a refugee, or was either temporarily or permanently a refugee?

Would you believe six? That's 30%. Considering that refugees were not a major theme in most stories I read, I'd consider that a notable number.

Let me list those six, starting with the back-row and going left to right.

1. Brennen Caldwell (second from left, back row), from the Firebird novels by Kathy Tyers. His wife, Lady Firebird, willingly became a refugee from her home world Netaia. On that planet, rulers were allowed two heirs, and following children were called wastelings, who were obligated to die and were assigned to suicide missions for that purpose. Lady Firebird was the third-born. Having failed on her suicide mission, she became a refugee.
2. Fightmaster Loretus (sixth from left, back row), from Tales of the Infinite by R.J. Larson. Kien Lantec, normally a diplomat, was exiled from his homeland, and Loretus was assigned to help him in his fighting skills. 
3. Crusader (first from right, back row), from Numb by John Otte. Crusader was a hit-man who became expendable and by the end of the story he relocated to another planet.
4. Arvandus the griffin (first from left, front row), from The Firebrand Chronicles by J.M. Hackman and
5. Dorann the tracker (fourth from left, front row), from Tales of Faeraven by Janalyn Voigt had similar experiences. Their home countries were captured by the bad guys and found themselves as refugees in other territories until the good guys reclaimed their territory.
6. ...No, I'll wait to reveal the final one.

I will add that other characters, while currently not involved in refugee work, would be quick to help. Suppose someone came to the dinner where my twenty favorite characters were and told them a batch of refugees were arriving and were in need. Father Antony (back row, fifth from left, from Donna Fletcher Crow's Monastery Murders) would immediately be heading out the door to aid them. Felix McClintock the Zealot and Arianna Sloan (front row, seventh and eighth from left, respectively from The Merely Mortal by J.P. Leck and the Teen Mission series by Jill Williamson) would be right behind him. Vythian Blix (back row, fourth from left from Paul Regnier's Space Drifters trilogy), after learning what they were doing, would desire to join them, but was discouraged from going because they didn't want Blix to scare the refugees (Arvandus probably was the most effective in discouraging Blix). Meanwhile, Drew Farthering (front row, second from left, from the Drew Farthering Mysteries by Julianna Deering), Duke of Marshington Ryland Montgomery (back row, fourth from right, from An Honorable Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter) and Agatha Christie's world famous detective Hercule Poirot (front row, sixth from left) would be making sure that any funding needs were fully covered. 

By the way, here's a fact you might not know. Post WWI England had refugees from other countries, including Belgium. Ah, the light comes on. Yes, Agatha Christie was aware of those refugees. Yes, when she created a detective for her first novel, that detective was a Belgian refugee. 

So maybe Hercule might be encouraging me to consider working with refugees, with assistance from the others. (And if Loretus gets involved, I'll make haste.)