Living the Season of Lent
Where do we go from here?
A woman used to give up smoking for Lent. Every year – forover 20 years – she would put down her cigarettes on Ash
Wednesday (that seems somehow appropriate, doesn’t it!)
and then, with great pleasure, would light a cigarette after
worship on Easter morning. Every year.
Someone confronted her and asked, “Why do you start
up again? You know it’s bad for you and surely if you’ve
gone without smoking for over a month, you could give it
up for good.” But the woman replied, “That’s not the point.
The point is, can I go without something I really love, and
really want? That’s what’s Lent is about for me. It’s not about
changing my ways – it’s about going without for a time.”
Another person once said, “I used to give things up for
Lent. But then I thought that didn’t make a lot of sense. So
now I take things on for Lent.” Someone asked, “You mean,
like an outreach activity, or helping others?” “Oh no,” she
replied. “This year I’m taking on 40 fun things for Lent.”
In one other instance, a fellow jokingly gave up
watermelon and golf for Lent – not real hardships in the
cold climate he lived in. But then a sudden business trip
took him somewhere much warmer, where there was
watermelon, and the opportunity for a great game of golf in
the warm sunshine. But he felt he had to pass, having said
– albeit jokingly – that he had given them up.
Such is the nature of Lent. It tends to have all manner
of trappings attached to it, which can have very different
and powerful meanings for each of us. Yet, whether we give
something up, or take something on, the real point seems to
be to find a way to step outside of the everyday, and allow the differentness of this season to overwhelm us, if even just a little.
It seems that when we do that, Lent can take us
somewhere. We may not know exactly where. The simple
answer, of course, is that Lent takes us to Easter. But it really is far more about a journey to a particular day or season; it’s about moving into a new relationship with God.
■■ Where do you feel Lent drawing you?
■■ What might you want to give up for this season? Why?
■■ What might you want to take on for this season?
Why?
Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2012 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Lent • Easter 2013 p. 11
