There is an opposite kind of learning that is equally important and valid, especially during this rich and fecund season of Lent. Let's call this second way of knowing "inside-out" kind of learning. Our Ash Wednesday liturgy captures this with the timeless invitation, "…in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word, to make a right beginning…" (p.265). Those are rich, thoughtful words, words that speak with clarity into and out of the fabric of our lives.

Recently I read an article entitled, "How I Met Lincoln." Referring to Abraham Lincoln, the author shared these words:

Like Sir Thomas More, another man I admire deeply, Lincoln was extraordinarily talented, did extraordinary things, was mostly high-minded, but also profoundly imperfect (emphasis added). Both men were subject to all the frailties, with which the rest of us suffer. Without those imperfections they would seem more like statues, difficult to embrace them. But they are human, which allows me to relate to them. Lincoln suggests that imperfect people can make important contributions.

Profoundly imperfect—doesn't that describe each of us? And wouldn't we all like that to be different? Too often we end up creating for ourselves masks of perfection. Those masks both kill the soul and wound the world. We would desire that perfection not only for ourselves, but also for our relationships, our Church, our social institutions, indeed our world. Because that is not so, we tend to blame others; pointing outside ourselves, we tend to blame outward. Not that we should blame inward, it is that we are invited to accept responsibility for our mistakes and misdeeds, confess them and then with open arms receive God's abundant grace. Having looked from the "inside-ou," we begin to see each other anew—flawed, imperfect, sinful. But equally important, we must not forget that imperfect people and institutions can and do make very important life-saving contributions.

Faithfully, In Christ
LaRue Downing