2026 Daily Lenten Journey Day 17 – The Earth Moans
We are nearly two weeks into a new war, and the earth is moaning as it has for so many centuries. Air raid sirens cry out as bombs explode. From the comfort of our armchair in America, it might seem like a movie, but it is real life for those in the thick of it.
When I was younger one of my favorite movies was Time Machine (1960). I was reminded of this movie just the other day watching a video from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. There is a frightening similarity between them.
The reading from Isaiah taken in conjunction with the commemoration of Saint Sophronios of Jerusalem today brings all this together for me. He was Patriarch when Jerusalem was conquered by Islam. The people must have thought the world was ending.
When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem he will punish the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and his haughty pride. For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I have removed the boundaries of peoples, and have plundered their treasures; like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones. My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as men gather eggs that have been forsaken so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped.” Shall the axe vaunt itself over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood! Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts, will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire. The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day. The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land the LORD will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away. The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down. In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean upon him that smote them, but will lean upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. – Isaiah 10.12-20
Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark, to escape the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. – Genesis 7.6-9
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it. A foolish woman is noisy; she is wanton and knows no shame. She sits at the door of her house, she takes a seat on the high places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” And to him who is without sense she says, “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol. – Proverbs 9.12-18
I wonder if this was what Saint Paul meant when he wrote, “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” (Romans 8.22) Since before Noah the world has taken the brunt of our sins and disobedience.
The sounds of air raid sirens outside the Tomb of Christ reminds us that the world is still moaning so many centuries later. When will we learn to live at peace? I dare say we won’t learn. The devil will never give up his fight against God, using us as his pawns.
Where does that leave us during Great Lent 2026? If we are waiting for peace to ‘break out’ across the world, so that we can ‘finally’ live at peace as Orthodox Christians, we will be waiting a long time. The only alternative is for us to ‘find peace’ in our hearts.
That peace can only be found through Christ. The tools He has given us are prayer, fasting, and caring for the poor. Take courage my brothers and sisters. Christ will come to rescue us from the turmoil that darkens the earth. Take a hint from the monks at the Tomb of Christ.
They continue to pray. They continue to light the lamps. They continue to offer incense to God. Don’t let the war defeat you during Great Lent. Fight for your peace, not with bombs but with prayer and fasting. Defeat your enemies not with fire but with food and water.
This war will come to an end. Another war will eventually start. We are only in control of our heart and soul for God’s peace. Don’t give in to the devil’s temptation. The Saints before us never gave up and neither can we.
