Today is Ash Wednesday, the
first Day of Lent. All across the Globe,
folks are participating in the season of Lent by attending special church
services and, in all likelihood, “giving
up something for Lent”.
Traditionally, this requires some sort of fasting activity, and its
purpose is to bring to mind Jesus’ forty days of fasting while roaming in the
wilderness just prior to beginning his ministry; as well as to join us in
solidarity with him as we recall that Jesus, too, was continually tempted by
evil during this time and other times in his life. Just as Jesus relied on his Father to deliver
him from those periods of trial; so we, too, must rely on God to give us
strength in our own struggles.
Obviously, this is something we should do every single day of our lives,
but the Lenten period serves as a yearly, focused reminder that we’re probably
failing miserably in this regard and need to get back on track. Is it any wonder, too, that the beginning of
this period is the day after Mardi
Gras; arguably one of the most self-indulgent days of the year for many?
Frankly, for most of us,
making the connection between giving up something for a month and a half to
trusting in God is a stretch. For many,
this can turn into a silly, if not pointless activity. “How
can giving up (fill in the blank) bring me closer to God?”
Good question, and one which I believe can be
answered by “It depends on whether you
take it seriously” and “It depends on
what you give up”.
I’ve only recently returned
to this practice of fasting. I remember
half-heartedly going through the motions when I was a teenager but I’m almost certain
I never made it through Lent without eating a chocolate bar or chewing a piece of
bubble gum or arguing with my mother.
This is not to say that young people today cannot take Lent seriously; I
just wasn’t ready to do so when I was 16 years old. Heck, I wasn’t ready to take anything seriously when I was 16 years
old. In later years, I never remotely considered
attempting a fast during Lent because nothing to do with God or Jesus or
religion or anything at all of that nature was on my radar screen. In the spring of 2012, I was finally ready to
take it seriously. WHY that was the case
is another long story covered elsewhere in this Blog (see He'll Meet You Wherever You Are )
I don’t think I need to
spend much time explaining what I think taking something seriously means, but
just to cover that base for a moment; if I am going to do something; to commit
myself to a person, a relationship, a vocation, an activity, an event; I always
ponder long and hard before I do so.
Perhaps not everyone does this to the degree I do, however, I have to
believe that most people have at least one or two areas in their lives that
they are quite serious about and very committed to. If you can’t wrap your mind around the
seriousness of participating in fasting for Lent, I’m not sure you should even
bother to attempt it. In my opinion,
someone going through the motions without any true desire to grow from the
experience risks hypocrisy.
Taking it seriously, then, should
lead a person to give up something meaningful.
So, what should it be? There are plenty
of folks that use this period of time to commit to giving up a bad habit, and I
personally think that’s just fine because it’s an excellent opportunity to be
reminded how we should rely on God to see us through the challenges and the
temptations. And, as an added bonus, if
a person can successfully eliminate whatever the bad habit or behavior is
during this forty or so days, they've made big strides and will probably be
able to maintain this success after Lent is over. They will also be in good company with others
during this time, a huge, ready-made support group, who will also be struggling
through their own particular trials. Yes,
sometimes misery does love AND NEED company.
But what about those who may
not have an obvious bad habit or
behavior? There is a story in the Bible about a rich young man who, upon
hearing about all of the wonderful things Jesus was teaching and doing and also
observing the band of Disciples surrounding Jesus who were both following him and learning
from him; approached Jesus and asked what he had to do to get in on this game, to get into the Kingdom
of Heaven. Jesus initially told him “the
basics”; love God, obey the commandments and the laws. The young man was really happy and pleased with
himself because he was already doing all of this. But Jesus went on. “Sell all of your possession, give the money
to the poor and follow me”. Oops. Not what the young man wanted to hear, so he
walked away, feeling sad and sorry for himself.
My reason for bringing up this story is that Jesus looks into each of our
hearts and sees what we need to give up in order to truly follow him. Circling back to us giving up something for
Lent, it could be something different every year or perhaps the same darn thing that remains a stumbling block in our faith-walk. Whatever the case, there is something for
everyone.
My guess is, after prayerful
consideration and perhaps some nudges from the Holy Spirit, you may already
have a pretty good idea of what it should be.
Remember. It’s not something
simple, just ask the rich young man. If you find yourself toying with the idea of
giving up something you don’t even do in the first place (in my case that would
be watching T.V.) or something you don’t have any sort of problem not doing
(for me that would be smoking) or some activity you are already not doing due
to your life circumstance (in my husband’s case that would be sleeping because
he’s a CPA and it’s tax season), then I suggest you circle back to the “take it
seriously” part before proceeding any further.
Mrs. B
Up Next: Give and Take
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