Lent. Not the Stuff in Your Dryer or Belly Button.
February is almost over, and we'll be two months deep into 2015. Time slips through our fingers like sand in an hour glass. Before we know it, Nora will in kindergarten (excuse me while I go sob in my bed), and we'll have a new president. Time is steady though. An hour, a day, a year...they're always the same. Always 60 minutes, 24 hours, 365 days (with the exception of leap year, obviously). Time is steady, but our perception of it can vary based on our surroundings. Chaos has a way of propelling time forward as we spin through our days, our moments. Distractions from what is real and true and good make us forget what it is that we did yesterday, and routine can unintentionally make us numb to new opportunities and revelations.
Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, not to be mistaken with tomorrow. It crept up on me to be honest. I thought tomorrow was Ash Wednesday so imagine my surprise when I realized my fast from refined sugar was in the present and not a week in the future. Maybe it's good that all of a sudden it was upon me, that I had to immediately nail down my commitment to break my little sugar addiction rather than have an extra week to think it over. Somehow I've always been part of churches that don't recognize Lent, which is unfortunate, really. I think any church that proclaims Jesus as their Savior should closely follow this preceding practice of Easter, but it gives our family the opportunity to develop new habits and traditions, and for that I am grateful. In the past, I was under the impression that Lent was about sacrifice. Fasting as a way to empathize with Jesus in his suffering on the cross, to show commitment to the cause, and to rid yourself of a fleshly foothold. Maybe that was a misunderstanding or something I inadvertently convinced myself. Maybe it was birthed from legalism. Certainly that idea has nothing to do with the freedom that Easter so radiantly proclaims.
I was afraid to give up sugar because if you know me even a little bit, you know that I treasure sweets. Self control doesn't come easy in this easy for me, and I kid you not when I say I could literally eat an entire package of Oreos or half gallon of Bluebell in two days (and two days is being gracious). When I thought about giving up sugar, white knuckling it to "suffer" with Christ, the idea felt of binding. It felt like a chore, one I might fail at, and one that didn't seem very fun. But this year, my idea of Lent has been reset. All of a sudden I realized that Lent isn't about making ourselves suffer in some cheap and minor way to pretend we understand Christ's suffering better; Lent is about pushing away the chaos, distractions, and routines our of lives to allow space for Christ to break in. As I give up sugar each day, I realize that it isn't just a sweet treat I'm giving up. I'm giving up my tendency to gravitate towards cheap and counterfeit substitutes, and I'm trying to be more intentional about partaking in what is real and true and good.
Easter is a beautiful follow up to Christmas. Christmas symbolizes God bending down towards us, and Jesus breaking the barrier between God divine and broken humanity. Christmas is a pivotal piece of the story that paves the way for Easter. Lent helps prepare our hearts for Easter, and it helps push out the things that so easily distract and entangle us, the things that we let clutter our everydays and unintentionally push away what is better for us. Lent is a beautiful unfolding and stripping away that propels us towards the reminder of our salvation; not to be mistaken with a time of empty sacrifice and meaningless efforts.
I love that Lent is becoming more of our family's story, and I love that I'm understanding more and more why we do what we do as people who believe in Jesus. In this season, what is it that you might need to push out of your life to make room for something better, for something real? What do you clutter your life with that distracts and falsely satisfies? How can you put that aside to allow space for God to rush in and fill those spaces? Lent is a time to refocus, to realign, and to change the parts of our routines that aren't good for our souls. And we all have things in our lives that aren't good for our souls. Let's change that because we're inspired to, and not because we feel obligated or pressured to. Happy breaking free and creating space in this sweet time of Lent.
Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, not to be mistaken with tomorrow. It crept up on me to be honest. I thought tomorrow was Ash Wednesday so imagine my surprise when I realized my fast from refined sugar was in the present and not a week in the future. Maybe it's good that all of a sudden it was upon me, that I had to immediately nail down my commitment to break my little sugar addiction rather than have an extra week to think it over. Somehow I've always been part of churches that don't recognize Lent, which is unfortunate, really. I think any church that proclaims Jesus as their Savior should closely follow this preceding practice of Easter, but it gives our family the opportunity to develop new habits and traditions, and for that I am grateful. In the past, I was under the impression that Lent was about sacrifice. Fasting as a way to empathize with Jesus in his suffering on the cross, to show commitment to the cause, and to rid yourself of a fleshly foothold. Maybe that was a misunderstanding or something I inadvertently convinced myself. Maybe it was birthed from legalism. Certainly that idea has nothing to do with the freedom that Easter so radiantly proclaims.
I was afraid to give up sugar because if you know me even a little bit, you know that I treasure sweets. Self control doesn't come easy in this easy for me, and I kid you not when I say I could literally eat an entire package of Oreos or half gallon of Bluebell in two days (and two days is being gracious). When I thought about giving up sugar, white knuckling it to "suffer" with Christ, the idea felt of binding. It felt like a chore, one I might fail at, and one that didn't seem very fun. But this year, my idea of Lent has been reset. All of a sudden I realized that Lent isn't about making ourselves suffer in some cheap and minor way to pretend we understand Christ's suffering better; Lent is about pushing away the chaos, distractions, and routines our of lives to allow space for Christ to break in. As I give up sugar each day, I realize that it isn't just a sweet treat I'm giving up. I'm giving up my tendency to gravitate towards cheap and counterfeit substitutes, and I'm trying to be more intentional about partaking in what is real and true and good.
Easter is a beautiful follow up to Christmas. Christmas symbolizes God bending down towards us, and Jesus breaking the barrier between God divine and broken humanity. Christmas is a pivotal piece of the story that paves the way for Easter. Lent helps prepare our hearts for Easter, and it helps push out the things that so easily distract and entangle us, the things that we let clutter our everydays and unintentionally push away what is better for us. Lent is a beautiful unfolding and stripping away that propels us towards the reminder of our salvation; not to be mistaken with a time of empty sacrifice and meaningless efforts.
I love that Lent is becoming more of our family's story, and I love that I'm understanding more and more why we do what we do as people who believe in Jesus. In this season, what is it that you might need to push out of your life to make room for something better, for something real? What do you clutter your life with that distracts and falsely satisfies? How can you put that aside to allow space for God to rush in and fill those spaces? Lent is a time to refocus, to realign, and to change the parts of our routines that aren't good for our souls. And we all have things in our lives that aren't good for our souls. Let's change that because we're inspired to, and not because we feel obligated or pressured to. Happy breaking free and creating space in this sweet time of Lent.
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