A YOGI, A WISE MAN AND LENT

 A YOGI, A WISE MAN AND LENT

A YOGI

Yogi Berra played for the New York Yankees and was a mighty fine player at that!  Poor Yogi.  Despite the fact that he was named MVP three times, and managed teams that made it to the World Series a couple of times, the thing he is most known for is his misspeaking!  Yogi could turn a phrase!  Here are a few comments attributed to Yogi.

• “You can observe a lot just by watching.”
• “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”
• “If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.”
• “If you can’t imitate him, don’t copy him.”
• “You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.”
• “Baseball is 90% mental — the other half is physical.”
• “It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much.

A WISE MAN

I recently talked with a very wise person who told me, “Ruthie, New Year’s Resolutions come early in the year, so that you can break them in time to think about what you are going to do for Lent.”  I like that kind of thinking…viewing our resolutions as a sort of “dress rehearsal” for Lent.  This year, that is the exact frame of reference I will take into Lent.  I am using this “New Year” period to think about how I will approach the “dangerous” forty days of Lent.

AND LENT

Why dangerous?  Simply because Lent can change the whole way you look at life.  Lent and all of discipleship tends to turn our perspective upside down.  An example might be in order.  It is usual to begin with fire that turns into ashes.  Lent begins with ashes that over a period of time become the fire of Pentecost!  A few of the other upside down curves that discipleship throws our way, include understanding that we have to lose our lives to find it (Luke 17:33); or that we boast of our weakness (2 Cor 12:9); or how about the exalted are humbled and the humbled are exalted? (Matt 23:12).

While these sayings take us a lifetime to understand, it is not because we are trying to understand “just what did Yogi mean?”  It is because we are seeking wisdom in living out our discipleship.  And that kind of reflection on discipleship takes time.

And so, maybe the wise man that told me that New Year’s resolutions come early, so that we can dress rehearse for Lent is right.  Maybe we use this time to contemplate a well spent Lent.  Maybe we use this time to reflect on how best to spend forty days of growing in discipleship.  Yogi said, “it ain’t over till it’s over,” and to that I will add only that “Lent will begin when it starts.”  Amen.