"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
What's the big deal about Lent? Is it really about giving stuff up for forty days? Well, not exactly.
We should really start with what the word Lent actually means: spring. Yes, it's true, the word Lent means "spring" - as in the season, spring, not a coiled piece of wire! The word's roots are in old Germanic languages, and from what I've read, the original root word was similar to "long," and came to mean spring because of the way the days lengthen in springtime. I had a nice reminder of this early this morning when I noticed that the amaryllis I keep in my bathroom had started blooming. Springtime.
Lent, isn't supposed to be a sad, dreary 40 days of gloom... it should be a time of growth (though growth involves sacrifice, to be sure!)... because things grow in the spring; they thrive in the sunlight of spring's lengthening days.
Thinking about it this way, I realize that I approach Lent the wrong way sometimes. Well, let me rephrase that. I think I could approach Lent from a more fruitful perspective.
Instead of thinking about giving things up, perhaps I should come at this from a different angle, and consider what I can do to grow in these 40 days of springtime.
Can I make a greater effort to show kindness to those around me? What can I do for the people of God - what can I do to take the focus off of myself, and seek Christ in those around me? What can I do to show the world that I, as a Christian, value human dignity as a precious and sacred gift from God? What can I do to show the world that I am a Christian, period? How can I better live the words of St. Francis of Assisi, "preach the gospel - when necessary, use words"?
Of course, this ties back nicely into Lenten self-denial and self-discipline, because a) doing more for our brothers and sisters in Christ, doing more for the Church, almost always means giving something up (time? talent?) and moreover, b) it's not always easy to love those around us.
It's not always easy to acknowledge the God-given dignity present in each person on this earth... EACH and EVERY person on this earth. Including the five different people who cut me off in traffic on my way home yesterday.
That love and that acknowledgement are a choice, conscious decisions I have to make, we have to make, and every time we have the opportunity to make those choices, we have the opportunity to choose God over ourselves, to choose love over pride.
It's not easy to show the world that I am a Christian. I struggle with it every single day, and fail more often than I succeed.
It's not easy to try and hold my tongue instead of sharing the latest juicy bits of gossip, it's not easy to hold back my anger and the words that come with it.
It's hard to forgive and bring love to those who hurt me.
It's hard to be people of peace in a torn world.
It's hard to be a faithful witness to the Gospel.
Yet, we are exhorted in another invocation used in the imposition of ashes on this day:
"Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."
I'm going forward into the springtime.
+peace, and all good!
No comments:
Post a Comment