In “Ash Wednesday,” T. S. Eliot turns the despair of “Hollow Men” on its head, seeing it not as the end of hope but as the beginning of faith.
Tag Archives: Lent
Learning to Love the Desert
the dance of Jesus music holds the air
These Lucille Clifton poems usher us from Lent into Easter.
“Jane Eyre” as Lenten Meditation
In Jane’s battle with St. John Rivers, we have material that helps us understand the true meaning of Lent.
How to Keep a True Lent
For Robert Herrick, Lent is not about fasting but about starving sin.
The Cleanness of Sweet Abstinence
Herbert paradoxically describes Lent as a “dear Feast” in which we can revel.
Mix and Match: Mysticism American Style
There was an interesting Lenten column in the New York Times Monday. Ross Douthat, a conservative in the best sense, draws on a Commonweal article by theologian Luke Timothy Johnson criticizing contemporary spiritual practice in this country. From the way Douthat quotes him, it sounds as though Johnson might take exception with my criticism of harsh […]
On Lent, Faustus, and the 7 Deadly Sins
Dr. Faustus, Rembrandt etching Here we are in the midst of Lent with less than a month to go until Easter. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight describes the season as follows: After Christmas there came the cold cheer of Lent, When with fish and plainer fare our flesh we reprove . . . The […]

