Drop the Stones

a lenten series

Friends.

Over the years that I’ve been friends with Alexander John Shaia, he has shared something with me (click the link if you want to know more after reading this post) …

Each.

And.

Every.

… Lent that never ceases to shake me and break open my imagination.

And that’s this:

Kicking off Lent with ashes (on what has become known as Ash Wednesday) didn’t come into the picture until the 5th and 6th centuries. Before that, in the earliest centuries of Christianity, the focus of Lent wasn’t on remorse, penance, etc.

Instead.

The focus was on a “Spirituality of Theosis” - the idea that everyone is conceived in the image of God; and although we all forget who we are, we are all gradually waking up and transforming more fully into who we have been created to be.

We all forget.

BUT.

We are all on a journey of remembering.

Beautiful, right?

And so rather than opening Lent with some sort of fear of God’s wrath or feeling lousy about ourselves or being consumed with all the ways we don’t measure up to some holy standard (all things I’ve experienced during my time in the church!), Theosis invites us to open Lent focused on how each and every one of us is made in the image of God - (1) loved fully by God and, therefore, (2) created to love fully … just like God.

And so as we enter into the season of Lent at the What If Project, I’m asking myself a different set of questions than I have in the past, and those questions sound like this:

What if these next 40 days (and beyond!) don’t have to be focused on how much I mess up, but on how loved I am?

AND.

What if these next 40 days (and beyond!) I could focus less on how much I think other people mess up and work to loosen my grip on the stones and judgment-laced-words I am so quick to throw at people who are living or believing or acting or voting in ways that I THINK are harmful, evil, shameful, etc.?

Hm.

There’s a story in the Bible about a crowd that was ready to throw stones.

Do you remember it?

A woman who was caught in adultery was dragged before Jesus. “The Law”, the people argued, “says that this woman should be stoned for the evil she has committed and the vile way she has broken the Law!” and they wanted to know what Jesus thought.

Would Jesus maintain “tribal loyalty”, submit to the Law, and throw the first stone?

OR.

Would he break the Law and tell the woman to go home?

Now - let’s pause here for a moment because things aren’t much different today, are they?

Because.

Honestly?

This crowd.

This mob.

It wasn’t really much different than the crowd or mob you might find in a Facebook comment section today where a …

Certain.

Righteous.

Justified.

… group of Conservative and/or Liberal commenters is heaping piles of shame, ridicule, judgment, and hate on 1 or 2 people who hold an opinion that they think is wrong, evil, twisted, unbiblical, or in opposition to the group or tribe they are loyal to.

These groups, you’ve seen them - right? Maybe you’ve even been part of them?

(I have).

They come storming into the comment section wielding stones and words crafted to wound, shame, and prove wrong - all while demanding tribal loyalty from their side.

Back to the story.

So Jesus looks to the angry mob and says, “let the one without sin throw the first stone.”

In other words - let the one person who has never done something they’ve regretted or done something wrong or done something against the Law … let that perfect and saintly person hurl the first stone at this woman.

I imagine crickets in the crowd, right?

Maybe everyone looked at each other.

Maybe they mumbled something to one another?

Perhaps they hung around for a few minutes to see if anyone would actually do it?

And then after a few minutes came the “thuds” …

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

… as one by one, the stones that the angry mob were holding dropped to the ground while everyone walked away.

Why? Why did they drop the stones? Why did they walk away?

Not because the truth of what the woman did didn’t matter.

Not because adultery was OK.

Not because everyone just turned a blind eye to wrongdoing.

No.

But because (after hearing Jesus’ words) for a moment the people in the crowd saw themselves in the woman they were judging and shaming and about to stone - realizing that they (just like her) had done things in their lives that they wish they hadn’t.

They were her.

AND.

She was them.

Look, friends - it’s no secret that we live in loud, divided times where everyone has a stone that they’re ready to hurl at someone who holds an opinion different than theirs, adheres to a belief that they feel is dangerous, or supports a political candidate that their side insists is evil.

The times are different, but the …

Outrage.

Certainty.

Superiority.

Tribal loyalty.

… the energy is all. the. same.

So here’s a small weekly practice for the next 6 weeks of Lent that I’m putting together for myself … and I’m inviting you into it if you feel it might be helpful for you.

(Note: this is MY practice and I’m inviting YOU into it IF you so desire. Whether you feel you need this practice or not is irrelevant to me. I need it and so I’m doing it … and you’re welcome to join me if you feel it might be beneficial for you.)

I’m calling it “Drop the Stones”.

Every Sunday during Lent (starting next Sunday) I’ll share one short post where I’ll encourage us to drop a different stone (some of these may change between now and then) and recommend a book that has helped me with that particular stone:

Week 1: The Stone of Certainty

Week 2: The Stone of Othering

Week 3: The Stone of Canceling

Week 4: The Stone of Negative Energy

Week 5: The Stone of Labeling

Week 6 (Easter Sunday): The Stone Was Rolled Away

Why?

Please know:

This is not a call to abandon our truth.

This is not a call to ignore harm.

This is not a call to pretend that everything is fine.

This is not a call to put our heads in the sand while the world burns.

Instead.

It’s a call to loosen our grip on the stones we hold long enough for love to interrupt us and help us see ourselves in the lives of those we find it all to easy to judge, shame, and stone with our words.

Because.

In divisively charged moments like this, the “thud” created by the dropping of our stones is a radical noise to make when the pressure to throw stones is so great.

This isn’t a call for us to change our values or change our beliefs.

No.

Instead, it’s a call for us to loosen our grip on the stones we feel justified to throw so that we can look deeply into the souls of our intended targets and see that (deep down) …

They are no different than we are.

They are on the same journey that we’re on.

They are more than the beliefs they hold.

They are more than the person they chose to vote for.

… and they slowly, but surely, are becoming more and more of who they have been created to be.

And then?

After the pause.

After the thud of our stones hitting the ground.

Maybe (just maybe) we can open our mouths to speak:

Not to wound.

Not to humiliate.

Not to win.

But to love.

Yes.

Perhaps THEN we can reply in the comment sections we frequent or the discussions we are involved in or the protests we take part in not with words meant to wound the human being, but carefully crafted words laced with love and respect that are meant to demolish strongholds, values, and ideas that work against the unity that we so desperately desire to have in our world.

This, I think, is the art of “speaking the truth in love” that the writer of Ephesians spoke of - something I certainly need to work on in my own life.

Are you with me?

This Lent, may we rememeber that we are all loved (regardless of what we believe or who we voted for) and we have all been created to demonstrate that love to one another in both word and deed.

Let’s drop the stones, friends.

Much love

• Glenn || SUPPORT / ART STUDIO

PS - my new book, “Letters From My Soul” might make a great Lenten companion as it’s filled with stories and ideas just like this.