Lent is a time to reflect.
Image by Gird Altmann from Pixabay
Tom and I are renovating our kitchen. We talked at length about the changes we needed to make. We planned what we thought would be best. We did the research and hired a top-notch contractor. Now, more than halfway through the project, our home is still in chaos. Assured that it will only take a month, everything is right on schedule. Though it’s not comfortable having our home disrupted, we’re fortunate. We have a fully finished basement with everything but a kitchen. We’re doing fine, just climbing lots of stairs. The dream is emerging. The renovation, once finished, will be a kitchen full of light, cupboards, counter space and drawers.
In the church, Lent is the six weeks’ preparation, a time of self-examination leading up to Easter It feels a lot like planning and renovating. We look at our lives. check for ways we have succeeded in living our faith, doing kindness, accepting others, spreading God’s love. We also check for the times we have focused on our fears, concerned ourselves more about our own needs and opinions than considering others.
We may then consider the changes we can make to do better during 2023. Do we need help? Are their books we can read, Bible study to attend? We could even talk with our minister. Seeking teachings from others is a great way to see through our own blind spots. Lent is as good a time as any to make sure we come to Sunday worship. Perhaps we could spend more time in prayer, or step into some new thoughts and actions.
Change in our personal lives may feel chaotic. It might be expensive in terms of time and energy, even comfort. When we have a vision and reach for it, we can trust that God is with us, leading us, applauding us, strengthening us. Just as Tom and I are enjoying watching the new kitchen take shape, we can also enjoy the small successes we have as we watch our new, more caring life materialize in our words, thoughts and actions.
Lent is a time for growth and change. Take advantage of it. When Easter comes and Lent is over, you will enjoy the wonder of living your faith more completely.
Ruth E. Walker
March 8, 2023 - 12:42 pm ·A lovely post, Janet. While I don’t participate in Lent, and my faith is in humanity, I appreciate that giving up something for a period of time allows us all to find room for broader thinking. The metaphor of the kitchen reno is an excellent fit to the importance of change. Doing something different — from deep spring cleaning to learning how to rock climb — can open the mind and the heart to reflection, particularly of the self. For persons of faith, it’s a time to reflect on their relationship with God and their place living within that faith. For others like me, it gives me a new perspective that can be a new slant on a simple act or a whole new take on our place in the world. I have family and friends who participate in Lent and I see the deepening of faith that results afterward. No matter what you believe, taking a lesson from Lent and allowing yourself to give up something that matters to you is an opportunity to change your relationship, even if just slightly, with yourself.
As you noted, “Lent is a time for growth and change.”