Life is a
journey; cliché, but undeniably true. Likewise, Christianity is meant to be
journey. Christianity is not meant to be an event, but a life. We’re all human;
we all bleed; we all laugh; we all cry; and we all dream. Christianity is a way
of becoming more authentically human; tapping into all the wonders of life,
from Sunday symphonies to Wednesday blues and Saturday rock and roll. The
seasons of the Church Year are designed to help us become better at being
human; better at savoring ordinary joys, like a good cup of tea; weathering the
horrible sorrows, like the loss of a loved one. How? By helping us to live more
intentionally and to give more attention not only to our ever-present to-do
lists, but to the spaces in our lives we ignore, where strangely and scarily,
God is often to be found.
Lent is
designed to do this by challenging us to take our spiritual lives more
seriously. To set aside forty days to ponder our relationship with God and
God’s universe, God and God’s people, and God and our innermost selves. The
classic Biblical image for Lent is Jesus’ forty days and nights of temptation
in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11); while in the desert, Jesus had plenty of time
to ponder life’s mysteries; to pray, to fast, and to be tested. During Lent,
the Church invites us to take on the spiritual practices of silence, Scripture
reading, and fasting in order to grow into more authentic human beings.
If we miss
out on Lent, we might miss out on being our very selves as God intended us to
be. If we miss out on Lent, we may become less human, not more. I encourage you
to take advantage of Lent this year. Make it a heavy-weight season, not a
light-weight season. Don’t miss the flight that is Lent; if you do, you’ll miss
out on going to some transforming places. Archbishop Rowan Williams On Lent
Two Minute Crash Course on Lent
Observing Lent as a Family
