I would like to share a great quote from one of my favorite
books—East of Eden by John Steinbeck:
I believe that there is one story
in the world, and only one, that has frightened and inspired us, so that we
live in a Pearl White serial of continuing thought and wonder. Humans are caught—in their lives, in
their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty,
and in their kindness and generosity too—in a net of good and evil…There is no
other story. A man, after he has
brushed off the dust and chips of his life will have left only the hard, clean
questions: Was it good or was it evil?
Have I done well—or ill?
I
love this passage (and Steinbeck’s writing in general) because it captures the
essence of humanity in both its beauty and messiness.
The
purpose of Lent is to fight through the messiness of our lives to become
holy. We make sacrifices, ask for
forgiveness and strive to be generous so that our lives may be
transformed. By making many small
choices, we prepare ourselves to make the great choice for good: “I call heaven and earth today to witness
against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the
curse. Choose life, then, that you
and your descendants may live…”
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