the church of the
ascension
in the city of
new york
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Ash Wednesday, February 25
Psalm 102 / Hebrews 12: 1-14 / Luke 18: 9-14
Discipline and Habit: These are words to meditate on during the Lenten liturgical season or the Lenten phase of our lives, and they capture the recurring themes for these Ash Wednesday passages.
In the Gospel, pride leaps to the fore in the person of the Pharisee who sees himself as superior to the Tax-Collector. About a year ago I went to see an exhibit of Jamie Wyeth's recent paintings, among them a meditation series on the Seven Deadly Sins depicting sea gulls that frequent the Maine coastline. In the pride frame, at the base of the canvas, there are four birds looking to one of their own who is positioned above them with his bill clutching a whole red lobster. Obviously this haughty Pharisee has no intention of sharing his prize with the others, all looking on with a mixture of envy, hunger, and indifference.
Thinking they are just as worthy to share in this prize catch, the Tax-Collector birds hover about just in case the Pharisee drops the lobster. (Wyeth took artistic license and painted the lobster a brilliant red, which only occurs with a cooked one.) The artist's intent is to "strike at the beat of our 21-century culture" reflecting our moral ambiguities, according to the exhibition catalogue.
What Pharisee-like moral ambiguities have infected your own disciplines and habits? How have they set you apart, one from the other, in your civic and religious communities?
— Janet Fisher
Discipline and Habit: These are words to meditate on during the Lenten liturgical season or the Lenten phase of our lives, and they capture the recurring themes for these Ash Wednesday passages.
In the Gospel, pride leaps to the fore in the person of the Pharisee who sees himself as superior to the Tax-Collector. About a year ago I went to see an exhibit of Jamie Wyeth's recent paintings, among them a meditation series on the Seven Deadly Sins depicting sea gulls that frequent the Maine coastline. In the pride frame, at the base of the canvas, there are four birds looking to one of their own who is positioned above them with his bill clutching a whole red lobster. Obviously this haughty Pharisee has no intention of sharing his prize with the others, all looking on with a mixture of envy, hunger, and indifference.
Thinking they are just as worthy to share in this prize catch, the Tax-Collector birds hover about just in case the Pharisee drops the lobster. (Wyeth took artistic license and painted the lobster a brilliant red, which only occurs with a cooked one.) The artist's intent is to "strike at the beat of our 21-century culture" reflecting our moral ambiguities, according to the exhibition catalogue.
What Pharisee-like moral ambiguities have infected your own disciplines and habits? How have they set you apart, one from the other, in your civic and religious communities?
— Janet Fisher
