So Lent was a struggle for me this year. I managed to keep a grand total of none of my resolutions for the whole six weeks. What was the problem, I wonder?
Perhaps I have done it so many times it feels rote and I’ve lost interest. Perhaps it was the lack of prior planning (I started thinking about what I would do for Lent on Shrove Tuesday; that’s a bit late). Perhaps it was because I was doing it by myself this year; I usually have a friend or two who is in on the journey with me. Perhaps I’ve made Lent some mystical, magical thing and the day-to-day reality was too much for me.
Or maybe it was because I’ve disconnected Lent from the context in which it is celebrated. I may be hindering my own efforts because I’m not in a high church and therefore don’t really get all the special days that fall within this six weeks. Perhaps taking Lent out of the church calendar and celebrating it on my own makes about as much sense as wearing my earbuds without plugging them into my iPod.
Maybe I should call a do-over. Maybe I should evaluate why I do Lent every year. Maybe next year I should skip Lent, just to see what it is like. And maybe in a year’s time all this wondering will seem as silly as when I re-read the things I wrote in high school and giggle at my 16-year-old perception of the world. Perhaps my 30-year-old view of Lent isn’t quite ready for real world testing.
But for all my failures and shortcomings these past six weeks, I have felt myself more aware of the Lord, more open to his work in my life, more eager to fellowship with his people. So I do not feel that I have wasted my time.
And that’s my final word on Easter. Until next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment