As we move deeper into Lent today we get a simple list of 5 things
Three things we need to get rid of:
-oppression
-false accusation
-malicious speech
And two things we should do:
-bestow your bread on the hungry
-satisfy the afflicted
It strikes me, that we may not even be able to get past item number one on the list because of a lie. We often refer to Satan as "the Father of lies." And the best lies for leading people down the wrong path is to tell them a lie that they want to believe.
We hear a word like oppression and we think of slavery. We abolished slavery, and so we tell ourselves the lie that nobody is oppressed in America. Physical slavery, and overt racism are not the only kinds of oppression.
Our faith teaches that every single human being is of equal dignity, and must be treated as such always and everywhere. We still have a long ways to go.
As for false accusation an malicious speech, in American English we call that "news." I could blame the media but they are only feeding us what we want, junk food.
When we are told to get rid of false accusation and malicious speech, it doesn't just mean we shouldn't do it ourselves. It also means we shouldn't listen to it, watch it, or read it.
Perhaps Lent is not only a time to change our food diet, but to clean up our information diet as well. How much of what we take in each day is merely the ramblings of individuals with no real expertise or just partisan political bickering? Junk Food. We may like it, but over time it kills us, from the inside.
