The apostle Paul calls us to turn to God with unveiled faces, just as Moses did in our lesson from the Hebrew scriptures, to stand before the Holy One with open minds and hearts, ready to receive the transforming touch of Love prepared for us in the Divine Presence. We’ve all been accumulating self-protective veils all our lives. Whenever fear of any kind has reared its ugly head, we’ve reached for the nearest veil to escape behind, and too often, we fail to ever let them go. Sad to say, we tend to carry them with us in the hope that others, not even the Divine, can see the vulnerable real being underneath.

Lent, the season the Church provides for us to focus on what separates us from God, begins in a few days, on Ash Wednesday. It gives us the opportunity to look at all the veils we have gathered over time to avoid God’s searching eye and to prepare to surrender them to God’s steadfast, merciful love. Our veils are all different—only you can identify what you hide behind. Perhaps busyness is one of your veils—you’re so busy doing good that you don’t have time to pray, to spend time with God. Or you may find that constant talking to God is one of your veils—if you’re always keeping up a running monologue with God, the Holy One may not be able to get a word in edgewise. Could clogged ears that keep you from hearing God’s call be one of your veils, or blind eyes covered by spiritual cataracts that don’t look for God’s hand at work in your life, or that don’t recognize it when they see it be one? What about expectations—expectations of others, expectations of God—and their constant failure to be met in the way you’d like? Does your resulting cynical attitude form one of your veils? Is tiredness—physical, emotional, spiritual—one of your veils? Are you taking care of your body, mind, spirit, getting proper nourishment, appropriate exercise, adequate rest in all aspects of your life? Over the next few weeks of Lent you may want to spend time identifying what you have allowed to separate you from God.

As we all make our way through Lent, may we find what veils we need to surrender in order to stand exposed before God, ready for healing and life-giving grace, for the promised resurrection to new life that we will celebrate come the light of Easter morning.