I am the type of person that gets really excited and passionate about things and then expects every other person I interact with to share that same level of passion and excitement. This is typified in my love for Lent. I love Lent and I want you to love it too. Like I REALLY love it. I love what it does for my soul and my mind. Deep down I wish every Christian (and really every spiritual person) would join me in celebrating Lent.
This is my attempt to convince you to participate.
The beauty of Lent is that it falls at a time when the weather is horrible. The world (at least Indiana) is damp and gray and sunless. The weather is so bad I openly discussed going to a tanning salon this week (something I am fundamentally opposed to) with my wife just so I can see some artificial sunlight. Lent is a time of mourning, a time to truly connect to the suffering of Jesus and in doing so to appreciate, resonate, and connect with his resurrection.
The discipline aspect of Lent is connected to the mourning, but it also provides space in your life to think and meditate about God (and your life and your purpose and your actions). It gives your mind a new time and way to think. Beyond that, we live in this society that tells us to indulge to an infinite degree and typically it just leaves us in a haze.
Lent is my chance to break the haze.
It isn’t easy at all. I am giving up Facebook and sound in the car (ESPN radio, NPR, music, cell phone). I feel dumb making that public, but some people have no idea what this is all about, so I am trying to give you ideas. You do get Sundays off by the way. I have some friends who will abstain from a specific food or drink and then take the money they would have spent and donate it to a charity. I have other friends who are looking at more traditional Orthodox ways to celebrate Lent.
Back to Facebook and sound in the car, these two things are significant parts of my life, but I don’t need them. They are space fillers and boy do they fill the space well! But I need a break from lack of space; this transition to a desk job has been suffocating at times. My days blur together and my mind checks out for hours at time.
Lent is my chance to reengage my heart and mind. I do this not only with what I am giving up but I am also doing a daily reading. I read from the book “Reliving the Passion” [ http://tinyurl.com/lentbook ]. It is a daily narrative that takes you through the Passion of Jesus. Another option would be to do the daily readings that are used by the Liturgical calendar [ http://www.crivoice.org/lent2.html ].
I appreciate the yearly rhythm and routine. It makes me feel connected. Connected to myself, my friends and family who are also participating, but most importantly connected to the suffering and resurrection of Jesus.
By the time Lent is coming to a close, I will once again be desperate for it to be over. And when I feel that desperation, that deep soul conflict, it is then that I realize the true value of Lent. It prepares my heart for Easter and the celebration of the resurrection and the renewal that comes along with it.
But before the celebration comes the mourning. You should join me.
