It’s Time for Lent
Today is “Fat Tuesday”, the day to party hardy before Lent begins. In our group Bible study last night, I enjoyed this definition for Lent: The purpose of Lent is to prepare our hearts for receiving God’s love, culminating in Easter. In order to be able to “Grasp!†the love of Christ, we must first release our grip of what is taking its place (false idols that temporarily use to meet a need). Thomas Aquinas said, “Every affirmation is also a relinquishment.†What is God inviting you to release for a season to recognize His love in a greater way?
Does your church do anything for Lent? I know that some congregations almost ignore this season of the church year and others dive in, including the use of purple cloth for vestments.
Last night, I asked the question at our community group Bible study, “Have you ever given anything up for Lent?”. I was surprised by the responses. Our group is made-up of people who grew-up in different churches. The large majority said, “No.” They didn’t find the idea of sacrificing something to be of any particular interest or much value. One person who has practiced it also suggested that in addition to giving something up for Lent, one could try putting something on. For example, trying a new prayer discipline.
I’m curious to hear what some of your past experiences have been and what you find most meaningful. Is anything being planned for your congregation for Lent this year?
Blessings to you!
Jeff
16 Feb 2010 Jeff Glass
Funny you should choose this as the name of your post! My Adventist boyfriend used “Time for Lent” as his theme for the blog of his denominational magazine. Like us, Adventists don’t usually make a big deal out of Lent, but can’t help but have it rub off on us (and in many ways, that’s a good thing, although I’m glad we’re not so obsessive about it that we make a big deal out of such things as not saying the “A” word for 40 days…).
What the Adventist theme was trying to get at, though, was a double entendre: now that it’s time for Lent again, perhaps we should give some of our TIME for Lent. Maybe instead of reorganizing our lives around the things we are doing without, we can think of reorganizing our lives by the time we devote to different activities and practices. Are we giving our time to God and our communities? Are we honoring Sabbath and making all of Lent a kind of Sabbath for the year?
Another great reflection on Lent came on the Bethany Seminary blog, by Elizabeth Keller. She wrote about what we might be able to ADD to our lives for Lent (or any time): what things of BEAUTY we might weave in, that would improve our lives.