Whenever we pray The Lord's Prayer - we always ask to be delivered from evil. Just the fact that we are constantly surrounded - tempted by evil - should be enough to make anyone live an honest - honorable - holy - life. That is not how it happens. For many - evil is the food that they thrive on - being evil - doing evil - enjoying evil. That fact makes one ask - why? Why is evil so attractive - so seductive - even when the majority shun - go to extreme ends to avoid. The answer - it is easier to do evil - be evil - than be good - holy. That is what Lent asks us to focus on - not on how many sins we commit - rather that we sin in the first place. In Lent we need to re-evaluate our lives - what we do that is good - what is bad and why. In these forty days we reflect - take spiritual inventory of ourselves - leave others to themselves. The life we ought to focus on - ours alone - it is not our responsibility to focus on others - that belongs to them alone.
Jesus has told us - your sins are forgiven - go and sin no more - yet we do. Avoiding sin - harder than losing weight. Unfortunately in the world that we live - it is so easy to mess up - do - say - the wrong things - not necessarily evil - still wrong. One exercise now - ask why we slip - allow these to be a part of our life. Identify the fault - why it happens - correct whatever it is that makes it so easy to do - then - concentrate on eliminating it from your life. It takes time - very possible. Then when you have solved that one - move on to the next - yes - we all have more than one fault to correct. In these forty days - Jesus - always at our side - working with us - to seek - holiness.
Deacon Dale
