Why Lent?
“A clean heart create for me, O God,” Psalm 51 offers. “Give me back the joy of your salvation.”
The next 40 days, starting tomorrow with Ash Wednesday, will see the seasons change, from the lingering dark of winter to the rebirth of spring. It is a time for me, as well, to undergo a change of the spirit, as I begin the journey to the Cross with Christ.
Every year I get asked, "Why Lent? You're not Catholic." And every year I explain that I was raised Presbyterian, and we celebrated Lent. My parents are Methodist, and they observe Lent. My Lutheran family observes Lent. Our Orthodox friends *really* observe Lent. And as Anglicans, Charles and I take seriously this season of the Church. It's not a "Catholic thing".....it is a matter of faith for much of the Christian world.
Not everyone observes Lent the same way. Some give up meat altogether in the great Fast (that would be the Orthodox)...some give up meat on certain days. Some people give up a hobby, vice or indulgence. Some give up nothing at all, but instead try and add something to their daily spiritual life; more prayer for instance. It isn't so much about giving up or adding to our lives, as it is about focusing our lives....on Christ, on the Cross, on repentance and renewal.
It is a chance for us to ask God to create a clean heart within us, and for us to listen and hear God call, "Return to me with your whole heart."
It is a chance to imagine what those last 40 days were like for Jesus, as He made His way towards Jerusalem, to the last supper, to the garden, to betrayal, and to death.
It is a chance for us to realize that each step Christ took, He took for us. Each lash of the whip, He took for us. Each nail driven, was driven for us.
It is a chance to really examine our souls, and see what lingering sin we've yet to give up, what part of ourselves it is we're holding back from God. To know that it was our sin, yours and mine, that Christ Jesus took upon His shoulders as He journeyed to the Cross. And it was for love of us that He took that journey, and endured that Cross.
Lent is heavy for me. A time to prepare my soul and lay out my heart, wretched as it is, before God. To know that as flawed and fallen as I am, Jesus loves me enough to have gone to Calvary for me...and so I can love Him enough to use this season of Lent to prepare my heart anew for Him.
If you celebrate Lent, then I look forward to journeying with you. We share Lenten prayers and music, and I hope this is a blessed season of reflection, repentance and renewal for you.
On towards the Cross,
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