So here is
the first of my annual appeals to give Lent its proper due. We usually
think of Lent as kind of a gloomy penitential time when we're begrudgingly
obligated to give something up that we like - chocolate or social media or
martinis or whatever. But consider: Lent is derived from a word meaning
“springtime,” denoting new birth, restored life, a chance for a new
start. Just as Advent is not a season for its own sake, but a time of
preparation for the joyous celebration of the nativity, neither is Lent a
season set aside to make us feel bad about ourselves. It is, rather, a
time set aside for self-reflection in order to prepare ourselves for the
seminal event in Christian history: an Easter celebration of the resurrection
and all it means for us.
Here's a
novel idea to think about. Instead of giving up something you like, how
about giving up something that you don’t like, like
self-absorption, lack of charity, refusal to forgive, or disdain for those who
differ from you in some way, thereby giving Lent its proper due by ridding
yourself of those things that hinder our relationship with God and one
another. Penitential? Maybe. Gloomy? Not if our Lenten
preparations culminate in a glorious Easter.
- Marc+
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