For years athletes have used "eye black," a dark substance placed under their eyes, to reduce glare and improve their vision. Earliest forms of this practice included smearing burnt cork ash beneath the eyes. As Christians prepare to be marked with burnt palm ashes this Wednesday to begin the season of Lent, we can think of those ashes as the "eye black" of the soul.
As disciples we yearn to leave the darkness of sin and follow the light of Christ--illustrated by the service of light we will celebrate at the Easter Vigil. Yet the more deeply entrenched we are in the darkness of sin, the more blinding the light of Christ can be. Just as when we turn on a light in the middle of the night and have to squint because our eyes are used to the darkness, so it is when we truly turn from sin and accept the light of Christ; there can be a painful period of adjustment. (St. Paul experienced this when he was initially blinded by the light of Christ on the road to Damascus.)
Ashes represent our desire to be blinded by the penetrating light of Christ, the light that blinds us to sin so our vision can be focused on what is holy. The light of Christ reveals what is hidden so that anything hindering us from being the image of God can be removed.
Since that light can be initially blinding, may the ashes we receive on Wednesday represent the "eye black" that will reduce the glare and focus our vision only on what is true and good.
A very blessed Lenten season to all.
No comments:
Post a Comment