Turn the negative to positive

David Jones on how temptation encouraged by a measure of greed can often blind us

DID you manage to resist too many pancakes yesterday? After all, Shrove Tuesday was and is traditionally the day when all those rich and delicious foods lurking in the larder were used up before the fasting and religious obligations associated with the season of Lent.

Today is Ash Wednesday and the mood changes completely: now we are in the 40 days during which reflection and self-sacrifice is the name of the game as the tradition changes from one of excess to taking stock spiritually and resisting more than ever the temptations that life often throws our way.

Temptation can, of course, take many forms, from the frivolous to those influences that can have devastating effects on our lives. I remember in theological college struggling with those Greek exercises so much so that I was tempted to buy the “answer book” which seemed to stare invitingly at me every time I went to the university bookshop.

Little help in the exam, of course, but that’s the nature of just taking the easy way and hoping for the best, and it never really works out.

Temptation encouraged by a measure of greed can often blind us to the fact that in the end our sins will catch us out.

Perhaps, then, the best way to deal with any such temptation is to turn the negative to positive and set our minds on others rather than ourselves.

To get alongside someone who is going through a rough patch, or to befriend someone we know who may be vulnerable or in need. To take time to support some worthy cause rather than satisfying our own self-indulgence.

By doing so this special season may well be the turning point in the life of someone less fortunate, and that’s no bad thing.

For the 40 days which marks the season of Lent, Jesus endured the scorching heat of the day and the chilling cold of the night.

Resisting temptation, his heart and mind set upon the mission of love and compassion that would enable us to know that we too can overcome the selfishness, arrogance and greed which causes so much worldwide injustice and need.

His life was one of love and deep-rooted concern for the lost and lonely, the outcast and the sinner. He came through those 40 days of the extremes of the physical and emotional temptations knowing that even in those darkness hours he was not alone – and neither are we.