Lent often approaches us like a challenge to take on a Christianized form of New Year’s Resolutions, like it’s inviting us to a heroic stint of self-denial.
But is that what Lent is about?
Understanding the True Purpose of the Best Lent Ever
I don’t think so. First of all, I usually fail at keeping all the promises of self-denial I make in Lent. So perhaps Lent is an opportunity to see how much I need forgiveness and a new heart and will. I simply can’t live up to the standards even I set for myself. If that is so, the hallelujah shout of Jesus’ resurrection tells me that what I need—forgiveness, new life, a new will is coming true.
That is helpful.
Practices to Help You Live the Best Lent Ever
Or maybe it is good to remember how the ancient church practiced Lent. Teaching and training to follow Christ — “catechesis” –was offered in Lent to new Christians. And every Christian was encouraged to a season of more rigorous practices of alms giving, prayer, and self-denial. IF we deepen these practices for a season, Lent says to us:
Learn: Study the substance of what it means to know and follow Jesus.
Focus: See other people and act with generosity and compassion.
Pause: Ask God for help, thank him, pray for others, confess your own faults and sins.
Turn Away: Resist letting your own needs and desires master you.
That is helpful.
Embrace Light and Renewal for the Best Lent Ever
And finally, the word for Lent has its roots in the idea of lengthening or stretching out. Most likely it refers to the lengthening of daylight as spring begins and matures into summer. But think about a stretching out of light… a longing for more light. Joy in seeing the days grow longer and warmer. What if in Lent God calls to us, “Stretch out your souls to long for his light, his life-giving love”?
That would be a Lent to look forward to.
Sally Breedlove is an author and the co-founder of JourneyMates, a Christian soul care and spiritual formation ministry. She serves as a spiritual director and retreat leader on many occasions and the associate director of Selah-Anglican, Leadership Transformation’s program for training spiritual directors. With her husband, Steve, a bishop in the Anglican Church in North America, she has ministered broadly across the United States, in Canada, and overseas. She is a mother to five and a grandmother to sixteen. She lives in Chapel Hill, NC.
She is also one of the co-authors behind Eighth Day Prayers: Volume 1: Daily Hope for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany and the latest Eighth Day Prayers: Volume 2: Daily Mercy for Lent and Eastertide (Forefront Books). See more at: https://eighthdayprayer.org
