The 35 word in my Lent lexicon is: GRUMBLING. Throughout the Rule St Benedict warns the community of the dangers of grumbling. It’s not to be tolerated in any circumstances. He even tells us that obeying with grumbling is no better than disobeying.
At first glance this can seem a bit excessive, but a few moments honest reflection helps us to see his point. We can all see how undermining grumbling can be in our lives and our relationships
On their journey through the desert the Israelites did their fair share of grumbling. They grumbled because they had no food, and God provided food, they grumbled because they had no water and God provided water. Then they grumbled because they didn’t like the food they were given.
Their grumbling had devastating circumstances for their communities, until they recognised the error of their ways and turned back to God, admitting their sin and their need. This created a space where God could offer them healing:
“Make a fiery serpent and put it on a standard. If anyone is bitten and looks at it, he shall live.’ So Moses fashioned a bronze serpent which he put on a standard, and if anyone was bitten by a serpent, they looked at the bronze serpent and lived.”
Their experience reminds us that we too can turn back to God, asking God to replace our grumbling with gratitude. In the healing light of God’s love, we can discover a new way of looking at things that leads us to appreciate what we have instead of grumbling about what we don’t have. In a world that tends to feed dissatisfaction learning be satisfied can be a real challenge, and can bring us to a new and life giving freedom.
Where are you been called to put aside grumbling this Lent?