Unless you’re more dedicated than most, Lent will pass you by with no real tread marks of change left upon you or your life. In today’s culture we think we meet Lent’s expectations of us if we “give something up” for the forty days prior to Easter. People give up Diet Coke, candy or alcohol as if doing so really changes their life. Instead, the only thing it does is give them something to talk about it if the topic comes up at lunch with co-workers.
Lent can be relevant in today’s world and in your life if you’d let it and if you’d do the real work required. Lent comes form a German word for “springtime.” In other languages the name for the season before Easter comes from the Latin word for “40,” and gives us a clue that there is something much more important than giving up Diet Coke. Lent has significant themes: prayer, fasting, almsgiving, the number 40, wilderness, journey, covenant, temptation and the presence of God.
I was once told that adding something positive to your routine during Lent was a better idea than subtracting something. For example, add a scheduled prayer time every day. Or, add weekly trips to the food kitchen and feed the homeless and poor. Make time to teach your kids about your faith, your church, and your spirituality. Do things together like fasting or teach them what almsgiving means. Step outside of your routine and comfort zone in order to serve others, your family and God.
The idea is, of course, to purge ourselves of the habits, lifestyle and routines that lead us away from the presence of God and develop new behaviors that lead us to a better relationship with Him. In reality the only sure way to find true and lasting happiness, wonder, meaning and joy in life is to develop a right-relationship with God. Whether you “give up” something or “add” something isn’t as important as what you’re giving up or adding. Do you really think giving up chocolate for Lent will lead you to a better relationship with God? Really?
Making Covenant with God during Lent is an activity that I imagine very few people consider yet it is a critical process and component of a successful Lent. During these 40 days you are, in a sense, “in the desert” wandering and being tempted in ways that are real yet often ignored. Let’s assume you’ve decided to add a scheduled 30 minutes of prayer or meditation time each day during Lent. You can bet that the enemy will tempt you and try to convince you that you don’t have to be true to that decision. “It’s okay if you miss a day.” He will whisper. Or, he will say, “You got a late start this morning and your kids will be late if you do this. You’ll make it up later.” Just as Jesus was, you’ll be tempted during the 40 days of Lent. Your covenant with God is created during Lent and you should have the intent to continue it when Lent is over. This is how Lent becomes relative and its effects permanent.
For those that don’t get it and aren’t enlightened, they give up Diet Coke or candy or whatever. As soon as Lent is over, they drink and gobble it all up again because they have no concept of covenant nor do they realize Lent is about permanent change – not temporary sacrifices. It never dawns on them that Lent means taking a journey in the metaphorical wilderness of our inner selves just as Jesus spent 40 days and nights in the desert preparing himself for His public ministry. We live life too much in the moment. We don’t reflect upon the presence of God within life. We don’t understand the expression of tithing (almsgiving) nor do we take adequate time to add beneficial practices to our routines to carry on beyond Lent. We don’t fast. We don’t approach Lent as a journey nor does it dawn on us that making covenant is its main idea and purpose.
Lent gives us a good length of time to consider the Meaning of Life. The definition of this age-old quandary is: To enter continually into the lives of others and make differences for the better. How do we achieve this in our lives? These “differences for the better” don’t have to be grandiose. They can be simple things – and are often more powerful when they are simple. Making a difference can be done through charitable acts, random acts of kindness, helping a neighbor, paying the toll for the guy behind you, getting involved in your church or area non-profit group. Lent beckons us to adopt and implement this kind of behavior on a continual basis.
Easter arrives every year on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring. When it arrives this year, how will you have prepared? What will be the remaining elements of good in your new routines and approach to life that will carry on through the year and beyond? Will you be able to say that you spent 40 days and 40 nights developing a deeper spirituality and relationship with God? Will you be able to claim that you embarked upon a journey with fasting, almsgiving and covenant? Will you be able to claim that you have discovered the Meaning of Life and entered continually into the lives of others to make differences for the better?
Or, will you rush to the fridge and gulp down a Diet Coke?
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