Ash Wednesday’s reading from the Daily Office Lectionary is taken from the Gospel of Luke as Jesus begins to lead his disciples towards Jerusalem. “Taking the twelve, he said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise’” (Luke 18:31-33).
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There is a marvellous sequence in one of C. S. Lewis’s books. An old tramp and a younger man named Mark are held captive in a situation fraught with danger. Mark points out that they are in considerable danger. The tramp offers his solution. “Ah,” said the man approvingly, “I got a plan.” “What is it?” “Ah,” said the man, winking at Mark with infinite knowingness and rubbing his belly. “Go on. What is it?” said Mark. “How’d it be,” said the man. . . . “How’d it be if you and I made ourselves a nice bit of toasted cheese?”i Continue reading →