So, what is Lent?
Laurence Hull Stookey writes this. “[Lent] is a single entity with a double focus. The Forty Days are a time for probing consideration of our human condition, including sin and its deadly consequence for both individuals and society, and a time for an equally intense consideration of the new possibilities offered to us in Jesus Christ.”
Here’s how I would summarize it: Lent is for both discovering our shit and discovering our gold by stripping away the veil cloaking us from our shadow – those things we hide, repress or deny about ourselves, both holy and sinful. Lent is for recovering our humanity, and calling a fast to the false humanity we’ve contorted ourselves into.
Genesis 2:7 reads, “The LORD God formed the human from the dust of the ground and breathed into the human’s nostrils the breath of life, and the human became a living being.”
Lent is about recovering our life. It is about learning to breathe again.
Too often Lent has been an exercise in behavior modification. Delete this bad habit or introduce this good habit and after forty days you’ll be a better you. But Lent is not about moving ourselves forward. No, Lent is about breathing – breathing Life instead of simply gasping for air.
This Lenten season my invitation to you is to recover your humanity – the image of God in you, the breath of God flowing through you, and the calling of God around you.
Over the next forty days put everything on the table, let there be no sacred idol and let everything be examined. Ask yourself, where have I lost my humanity? Where have I stopped breathing?
Holy Spirit, realign us where we have become contorted. Expand our lungs with the liberation of Life, not just the relief of air. Dilate our hearts with love for ourselves and our neighbor as the constrictive chains of our false humanity are loosened.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Amen,
P.S.
If you would like to follow me through the Lenten season here are a few things to note/I would invite you to do.
My posts during Lent will be rooted in the Genesis narrative. Please take 10 minutes and read Genesis chapters 1-3 now. If we want to recover our humanity we must know how it began. Any vision for who God intended us to be must be rooted in who we were in the beginning.
Also, take a few minutes to journal in response to each post. Write down thoughts that came to mind or explore questions that were posed. Our brains process differently when we write than simply thinking or talking, so it’s possible you will discover trailheads of recovery you didn’t see before when you put pen to paper.
Last, be sure to click “follow” on this post on my page to get email notifications when I post.
Ok, thanks for reading!
Happy Lent