Lent is a time for us to ponder our mortality and to consider not only what it means to die, but also what it means to live a full life, a life of grace and fruitfulness. Jesus invites us to consider our death and rebirth in the image of the grain of wheat, which must die to itself in order to become fruitful.
By using the image of the grain of wheat producing much fruit and asking us to die to ourself for a greater good, Jesus is calling us to a greater self-investment in our communities–the communities of family, colleagues, friends, then nation and world, and maybe even one day some planet far away from earth. The grain of wheat is not just about ourself. It’s about us. Alone we are limited. Our strength and our fruitfulness comes from uniting with others; producing fruit by living as Jesus asks us to–denying ourself to promote and support others.
During this season of Lent we are invited to see a world broken by sin, but also redeemed by Jesus; a world which invites us to die to ourself, so that we might produce much fruit and come to share in the glory of a new life, a new creation.
Today’s images are from the Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA. The many monuments and statues there are reminders of the good qualities we seek to embody during our time on earth and of the faith that sustains us. The peace and beauty of the place is assurance that in the next life all will be well.
“Amen, amen I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” (John 12:24)
spiritphoto 