Yeah, I know...Lent and Happy are not supposed to go together. Well, unless you understand what Lent is about, then, like me, you'll love Lent. For those who aren't aware of the Liturgical Calendar, today is the first day of Lent...Ash Wednesday. In just 6 weeks, we'll celebrate the biggest day on the church calendar...Easter.
As I get older, I get more perspective on Lent, and this is especially true since I converted to Catholicism. This is really a special time of year...a time for reflection and penance, and most importantly a time for spiritual growth and a deeper relationship with God. I know, some of you are probably saying, "why don't you focus on that year around?" and you do, but Lent seems to ratchet up the intensity of that focus and makes it more intentional. Every year, I pick something to work on during Lent, rather than giving up something like chocolate. Some years, it sticks better than others. I believe I have picked something this year that will really help me grow, and I ask for prayers that it will. I'm not sharing what I am working on. When Lent is over, I'll let you all in on the secret, and I'll let you know how I did.
I hope all of you are able to find time for spiritual growth over these next 40 days. Read the Bible a little more, spend a few extra minutes each day in prayer, try being nicer to your friends and coworkers, if you haven't been going to church, start going to church...or do all four. I pray that all of you experience a deepening of your relationship with God this Lent, and I hope you will pray for the same for me. God Bless!
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4 comments:
I agree Jake. I used to poo-poo the Lent season. However, I tried it once in college. I found that giving up an indulgence really helps free up a person to focus on others. It also helps a person rely on God since we cannot use the indulgence as a crutch any longer. Since then, I have tried to honor the season of Lent, because I know the value.
When I was a kid, I had given up something like candy or sweets. My friend told me that Sundays are counted in the forty days of lent to you don't have to observe your Lenten intentions on Sunday. The next Sunday, I told my dad that as I reached for my stache of candy from Valentine's Day. He told me he didn't think that was true. And I told him, count the days, you only get 40 if you don't count the Sundays. It's true. He said to me Well, if that's the way you want to observe Lent, then I guess you go ahead and do that, but I'm keeping my observance each day of Lent. He didn't lecture me or forbid me from doing it. But, his disappointment (I don't think disgust) with me was enough to make think twice and decide that I wouldn't take Sundays off of Lent. I'm glad you both grow during Lent. I hope I figure out a way to do that. For me, it still seems depressing and stressful.
I have never observed Lent. My reasoning as a child was simply that the church I grew up in was non-denominational and didn't make a deal out of it. When I later went to a Lutheran church after high school, and found out more about it, I still didn't observe it. I've always been confused why the things I heard people giving up were chocolate, beer, or some other "indulgence" (I like mediocre's word). What does it benefit us, or God, when we give up something for a fixed period of time that could ultimately be seen as an idol in our lives? Aren't we saying to God, "I recognize a sin area in my life - an idol I have put ahead of you - during the Lenten season, in recognition for giving your life on the cross for me, I will hold off on that sin for a while"? Anonymous, I am probably wrong here, but I would understand the depressing and stressful feeling to come from the weight of a legalistic concept being placed on you, rather than the freeing yoke that Jesus carries for us.
Thanks, Nuke. I think Lent is actually a very good thing, and a good opportunity to rid ourselves of false idols. I agree, now that I'm not a child, that Lent isn't about giving up an idol for forty days. It's about finding something that's keeping you from God and using Lent has a jumpstart to eliminate/decrease that from your life. At one homily, our priest talked about how for many years only to start again once Lent was over. He realized basically what you said, God isn't asking us to get rid of something for forty days just to start again. So that Lent, he stopped smoking and never started again. So, I think Lent is a good way to encourge/force/enable someone to rid themselves of obstacles in their life. I usually try to actually do something more, such as prayer more, read the Bible more, etc. rather than eliminating somthing. However, I also think there is value in also giving up and indulgence as well. Chocolate, computer games, ice cream, etc. are not bad, but they are a luxury. I don't want to give something up like that for my lifetime (though I have given up one indulgence for life for a special cause), but I can give them up for Lent. And when I reach for that indulgence or am invited to take part in that indulgence, it reminds that I'm paying extra focus to God and the sufferings of others while I prepare for Chrit's passion. I think there is value in both oberservances of Lent. That's what my head knows. Sometimes it's just hard to get to my heart, and the sacrifice just seems like sacrifice, and my obligations seem like burdens instead of opportunities, and thinking of others sufferings saddens me. And it's true, that thinking is just oberserving the "law of Lent" rather than the spirit of Lent, which I need to get better at. I just tend to be a depressed person in general.
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