On Monday mornings, one of the appointed Psalms is Psalm 36 (37 in the non-LXX numbering). This Psalm has a list of imperatives (i.e., commands) that are especially meaningful in an increasingly alienated, violent culture:
"Hope in the Lord and give grace generously,
dwell in His land, and you will be tended by its richness.
Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Reveal your way to the Lord,
set your hope only in Him, and He shall bring your hope to pass" (36.3-5)
"Submit to the Lord,
plead with Him alone for your needs,
never envy the one who prospers in his self-made way,
never envy the one who appears successful in wicked schemes.
Cease from all anger and forsake wrath,
let not envy lead to evil deeds" (36.7-8)
"Depart from evil and do good,
dwell forevermore in the [transfigured] earth, the inheritance of the meek" (36.27)
"Wait on the Lord,
endure patiently His way [through this wilderness], and He will exalt you to inherit the earth; and you shall see all the demonic works utterly destroyed [eventually in the Parousia]" (36.34)
"Preserve innocence,
witness and confirm uprightness, for such is what remains for the peaceful" (36.37)
Obviously, this is a paraphrase. It is my own and thus has no authority.
But these imperatives seem to me a more authoritative rubric for this Lent. Fasting (and other ascetic works) is valuable and rewarding, to be sure -- only insofar as it aids in love, and prayer, and the accomplishment of these greater commands.
Presently, it appears that human society is breaking apart like melting arctic ice.
Leadership structures have become increasingly partisan and tribalistic. And some of this is at least partly true in the church itself (at least in its institutional contours).
"Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples," the Prophet Isaiah said for times like these. "I will wait for Lord, Who is [now] hiding His face from the house of Jacob [could that be us? even us Orthodox?], but I will still hope in Him. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord Sabaoth, Who dwells on Mount Zion. And when they say to you, 'Consult the mediums and the wizards who chirp and mutter,' should not a people consult their God instead? Should they consult the dead [i.e., dead, secularized minds and authorities] on behalf of the living? To the teaching and the testimony!" (Isaiah 8.16-20a)
We've too long put too much trust in mortal princes (whose incompetence in the true economy is becoming increasingly more apparent). Now we are forced by time and history to put our trust in God alone.
So now it's high time we hie to the teaching and testimony. It's wisdom and the theology of the Logos that our people need, not to mention the poignant need of our own souls.