A View From The Earth

This is the sermon that I offered at both Ash Wednesday services at St. John's Episcopal Church in Dubuque, Iowa. The scripture readings were Joel 2:1-2,12-17, Psalm 103, 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10, and Matthew 6:1-6,16-21, The late poet Mary Oliver wrote a poem titled,  “The real prayers are not the words, but the attention that comes first.” The poem itself describes the flight of a hawk that is watching, flying, and suddenly diving, coming up with its lunchtime feast. The life of a hawk is one of uncertainty, measured in length by the number of successful lunchtime dives. The details of its life are known to it and to its Creator, but not necessarily to anyone else. I appreciate the detail that Mary Oliver was able to convey in the title of her piece.  It seems to summarize the words of Jesus in regards to the annual spring cleaning known as Lent. It’s not enough to just engage in fasting, or in almsgiving, or in prayer; rather, part of the process is the mental prepa