What do you do with an unexpected gift?
One of your co-workers whom you find difficult to work with, hears that you have hit a patch of black ice on the highway and you are in the ditch. He jumps in his truck and goes out to rescue you. How does it make you feel?
Life does have such unexpected moments of giftedness. Often you will discover something that you have grown up with to flower forth in giftedness and meaning. Lent will prove to be such a gift to your spiritual life.
In the Bible people felt the need to disassociate themselves from the pressure of life and they moved out into a space where they could seek God. They put themselves into a framework where they could focus on the things of God and work toward responding to whatever God was asking of them. This was the foundation of the forty days of Lent. It is a time of spiritual hunger, of seeking and of risk-taking. This spiritual journey could also end up in failure!
Through the centuries our ancestors in the faith have entered into this spiritual seeking for the movements of God. People feel within themselves the need to work harder at their spiritual life. They want the ‘more of God.’
As we begin Lent on March 5, Ash Wednesday, move your foot forward in a spiritual seeking. Move out of the comfort of your present religious practice and work to be alert to the movements of the Holy Spirit in your own life and the life of your church.
During these forty days of Lent, we are offered each day a stimulating part of the Scriptures. We are called to meditate, pray over and wrestle with the Word of God. Each day we can take the Scripture readings for that particular day and bring it into our lives. The Word of God may be very challenging, or it may give us a new insight, a new direction to follow in our lives.
This is a season of fasting. But fasting always means different things for different folks. Maybe your fasting is to put your phone down and be attentive to the concerns and hurts of other people. Maybe your fasting is to turn away from your phone and turn toward the poor and the suffering.
Lent is always a time for charity. Maybe this is the time to help with the volunteers of your city who prepare food for the homeless. Making sandwiches for the hungry is one of the wonderful works of Lent.
Lent always looks forward to the great celebration of Easter. We are seeking a stronger conversion to the life and the works of Jesus Christ. May the risen Lord happen in us!
May you discover that Lent 2025 is a dynamic gift to your life!
