As someone who is directionally impaired and constantly lost, I’ve appreciated a story that has been told a number of times and in different variations. There was a man traveling in a part of the country that he had never been. He was looking for a particular little town and had been driving around the area for quite some time before he finally stopped to ask directions. He pulled up in front of a country store where several old timers were sitting out front watching the world go by. He stuck his head out of the car window and asked for directions to the little town. One of the old-timers said, “If you keep going in the same direction you are going, it’s another 25,000 miles. But if you turn around, you can be there in five minutes.”
Turning Around! In simplistic terms, this is one of the major themes of Lent. In theological language, it’s called repentance. For the driver, it was either keep going along the current direction and in 25,000 miles might arrive at his destination or turn around and get there quickly. In reality, that was a polite way of saying you won’t arrive if you keep going along your current route. However, if you turn around, you can get there in a few minutes.
For most of us, the same can be said of our spiritual life. If we keep living like were living, if we keep thinking like we’re thinking, if we keep acting like we are acting, we are not going to arrive at the destination our hearts yearn for – the center of our Creator’s heart. If we keep doing the same actions and neglecting the same opportunities we will never arrive at our goal of being conformed to the image of Christ.
The Ash Wednesday passage from Joel emphasizes the importance of turning around. Joel rightly perceives that the people of Israel had turned away from God and became idolatrous. Along with this, they had become so focused on the accumulation of wealth and the consumption of the fine things in life, that they had forgotten God’s call to compassion and social justice. Joel proclaims a difficult message: If the people continue down the road of their current practice of denying God and rejecting their duty to their neighbors in need, they would face severe consequences. Though they were might have said they were pursuing God’s will, Joel tells them if they continue down this road, they wouldn’t find it in another 25,000 miles or 25,000 years. However, if they turned around, they would discover God’s mercy and kindness along with a new way of living. Like the people of Israel, we all need to turn around and make some course corrections in the pathways of our lives.
The key to turning around is knowing that we are lost or on the wrong path. Thus, the Lenten journey starts with acknowledging those things in our lives which lead us away from God. This move of repentance starts with confession. Confession is good for the soul – for it allows us to acknowledge where we are broken and in need of healing, where we are guilty and in need of pardon, where we are weak and in need of strengthening. Unfortunately, for most of us, we keep confession pretty general. We acknowledge that we do some “things” that are not good or could do “things” that would be better. However, these generalities rarely help us turn around and go in a new direction.
Continuing with the metaphor of directions, to make a general confession is like stating that to get to a destination we will take an interstate, drive on some county roads and then make some turns on a variety of city streets. While none of that is false, it isn’t particularly helpful in getting to where we want to go. At some point, we need to get specific in identifying which interstate, county roads and city streets. In personal confession, we need to get specific about which sins burden our conscience, lead to guilt and drive us away from God due to fear. We also need to name particular practices that would enhance our spiritual life and strengthen our faith.
I pray that during this season of Lent, you will hear the voice of Jesus inviting you to turn around. May God reveal the pathways of grace that will bring wholeness and holiness to your life. May the Spirit offer course corrections that will lead you to new destinations of grace and fulfillment.
