Something New for Lent

(Hi, Y’all. I’m stepping back in briefly to share this exciting thing. I’ll be back doing my regular posts next week …)

Lent. In the liturgy (aka the work of the people) for Ash Wednesday in the Book of Common Prayer, the priest offers an invitation into “the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.” Self-examination and self-denial make many of us uncomfortable. What if we don’t like what we discover about ourselves? Why would the God who made us and calls us good and beloved want us to deny any part of our humanness?

The season of Lent isn’t about denying or limiting any part of our humanness but about shedding those bits of us that get in the way of living into the fullness of being who God created and calls us to be. The imagery of a grain of wheat shedding it’s chaff is a perfect metaphor for this. The grain of wheat when it is freed from its chaff can be planted to produce more grains of wheat or it can be made into life-sustaining bread. The chaff is the bits, sometimes necessary for protection and development, that need to fall away for the grain to fulfill its purpose.

Lent isn’t about punishing ourselves but about growing deeper into our humanness. As we grow deeper into our relationship with God, our will and desires naturally align with God. It’s a process that takes the whole of our lives being nurtured in prayer and worship and learning and relationship. Lent is about checking to see that our compass is aligned with Jesus so that we continuously become more and more fully human in our connectedness, with God, each other, and ourselves.

For this season of Lent, I offer you an invitation to listen in on these conversations I’m having with a couple of friends about who we are as God’s beloved and how do we live into the fullness of who God created and calls us all to be. We’ll be dropping a new episode every two weeks through this season and hopefully beyond.

Please comment, like (if you do like it), and share it widely to invite others into this conversation.

Keep lovin’ louder than the hate, Y’all!