It's Lent

It's Lent. We're three days in already, having observed Ash Wednesday two days ago, with the solemn reminders that we are all, indeed, going to die; that sin is real; and that neither of those two realities is the last word on us. Thanks be to God.

 

While Lent may not be the happiest of seasons, I need it. I need the raw honesty, the reminder that I do indeed need saving from "weak resignation to the evils we deplore" as the old hymn puts it, and that I frequently need saving from myself. I need a fresh start. Again.

One of the downsides of Lent is how "do-able" it can seem - the invitation to embrace a discipline, or to undertake a "40 ___ for the 40 Days of Lent" challenge can make someone like me feel like maybe if I just try hard enough, and buckle down, and build up that will-power, I could keep a "Holy Lent." While I tend not to enjoy failure, I need that, too, especially during Lent, otherwise I'm tempted to make a god of my own good intentions and small successes.

 

It's a paradoxical season: Struggle with sin, and don't resign yourself to it; "return to God," to paraphrase the reading from the prophet Joel on Ash Wednesday. At the same time, recognize that you have, and always will, fail in that struggle. And that's precisely why returning to God (who never left us, by the way) is such good news. In Lent we are invited again to acknowledge that God always comes down to us, to our world, to the messiness of our hearts. And loves us. And takes up residence right in the middle of the broken, and weary, and otherwise hopeless.

So - pick a discipline (prayer, fasting, almsgiving, 40 ___ for 40 days) and embrace it with all you've got. When you follow through, give thanks. And when you falter, give thanks. You are human. You will die. And you are held, and loved, by a God who raises the dead to life.