This sombre season

O wearisome condition of humanity!
Born under one law, to another bound;
Vainly begot and yet forbidden vanity;
Created sick, commanded to be sound.
What meaneth nature by these diverse laws?

This time of year one is tempted to lapse into the weary frustration of the poet Fulke Greville (1554- 1628) who penned these lines in a tragedy called Mustapha. They are wintry lines, appropriate for the end of a long, cold season, and the doleful introspection of Lent.

The poet is frustrated with Nature’s contradictions:“Tyrant to others, to herself unjust, / Only commands things difficult and hard…. / Makes easy pains, unpossible reward.”
Why does life have to be so difficult?

Greville’s own life demonstrates the fickleness of nature that he lamented. Heir to privilege, he was a friend of Edmund Spenser and Philip Sidney, poets whose fame continues to shine brightly while Greville has been largely forgotten. He was knighted and given the historic Warwick Castle, but his life ended in ignominy when a discontented servant murdered him. His legacy was passed on to an adopted son.

Greville sounds a lot like the preacher of Ecclesiastes, another man who found life contradictory and tiresome: “All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living... The more words, the more vanity, and what is man the better? For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life...” (Ecclesiastes 6:7-12).

In keeping with this sombre season, we offer a review of the two Jesus movies being hotly debated in the public press these days, particularly the controversial The Passion of the Christ, which opened in theatres on Ash Wednesday (see page 9). Opinion on this movie has ranged from fervent endorsement by Christians (“God made this movie,” said one Canadian cleric) to howls of disgust at its excessive violence and narrow focus (“fundamentalist pornography,” declared one reviewer; “the greatest gory ever told,” said another). Added to that clash of opinion is the intense debate over whether the movie is anti-semitic.

The review in this issue will hopefully provide us with some guidelines as we make our way through this noisy clamour of extremes. Regardless of one’s reaction to this movie, director Mel Gibson can be credited with one of the most brilliant marketing schemes ever seen in the industry. Everyone is talking about the passion of Christ this Lenten season. It’s a good chance for us to explore more deeply what all that suffering means.

To cheer us up during this sombre season, we offer a summer preview, complete with vacation suggestions, summer events and recipes. See the Focus on Summer section on pages 21-25. As you begin to plan your summer, don’t forget the Mennonite Church Canada assembly to be held July 7-11 in Winkler, Manitoba.

Another inspiring feature in this issue is a look at creative retirement. The meditation by Leona Dueck Penner (page 6) approaches retirement as a journey, linking it to the journey through Lent. Accompanying this meditation are stories about people who are doing unusual and creative things during their retirement years (pages 4-5). Look for more of these stories in the next issue.
—Margaret Loewen Reimer