Adding Something for Lent

This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten season. To the average non-Christian, this season really doesn't hold much meaning, aside from Madi Gras and Fat Tuesday. To those who are Christians or "churchians" (my word for those who aren't really committed to a church but attend on an infrequent basis and/or had attended some when they were kids), the season of Lent is understood to hold some type of spiritual preparational significance for Good Friday and then comes to a climax with Easter.

Most Christians will attend an Ash Wednesday service this Wednesday, saying some type of liturgy and prayer with the people that have gathered (usually small), and then will walk to the front of the church to have their priest or pastor make the sign of the cross on their forehead with ashes as a reminder that they belong to Christ through their act of confession and repentance to Him.

But I have noticed that Lent has taken on more of a "New Years resolution" feel to it among many people who observe the season. It is seen, if not primarily, at least additionally, as a time to give up something "for the Lord," to try to start over on what you had resolved at the beginning of the new year that you were going to change, usually by giving up something. I hear people talk about giving up chocolate for Lent, sodas, TV, smoking, certain sweets, even sex. But what I never hear is what someone is going to try to "add" to their life during this season. That realization has intrigued me over the last few days.

I haven't been much different. Every Lenten season I determine to give up stuff, like limiting my TV watching, giving up Mountain Dew, cutting back on my sugar intake, dieting more consistently. But this Lenten season, I'm approaching it from a different direction. This year, I'm adding to my life, I'm taking on some things in the hope that it will deepen my life and make it richer on a spiritual and emotional level.

Let me give you some examples of a few additions I want to make. Every Ash Wednesday we stand at the front of the church and the pastor makes the sign of the cross on our foreheads with ash. But other than that, most of us in the protastent tradition never do much with making the sign of the cross. The Catholics do it, a lot, but we Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Evangelicals, etc, don't do it. And yet, the making of the sign of the cross has deep roots in being a symbol, that when I make the sign of the cross on my body, I am reminding myself that I have been crucified with Christ and that I now live in Him. So, for this Lent, I am going to add the sign of the cross to my actions through out the day. I realize this will probably raise some eyebrows among some folks, including my church people, but I'll simply explain it if asked. There was a period of time in my life when I did do this but for some reason I got out of the habit.

Another addition is to learn and incorporate into my devotional time the practice of Lectio Divina, the practice of the "slow, contemplative praying of the Scriptures which enables the Bible, the Word of God, to become a means of union with God" (a good book that I am reading about this is by Eugene H. Peterson, Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading). I tend to sit down and read a passage of Scripture with the idea of, "OK God, what can I get out of this today?" The problem is, I'm not the most patient guy when it comes to this and if, after some reading, praying, and thinking, I don't "get something," I'm ready to move on. Lectio Divina involves more imagination, more of an "ears open, mouth shut" approach. It demands that I take more time to read and reread, to let the passage "flood over me"; for me, it's like slowly working your way into a cold lake - my body has to get used to the chill before I'm able to swim around in the water. That's what I want when it comes to reading God's "living Word," to be able to swim around in it, to become part of the passage because it has become a part of me.

A third addition is something I already do but I am very inconsistant in it and that is journal writting. I do it every few weeks, sometimes even a month or two will go by before I sit down and journal, and when I do, it usually has more to do with some "crises" or emotional meltdown than reflecting on my spiritual pilgrimage, discovery, and growth. Again, to do this means making time to sit, reflect, read, meditate, and then write.

There a few other things that I probably will try to add to my spiritual life but there are also more "emotional" and "social" things I need to add. Like, making a more concerted effort to connect with people that I meet day to day in my life; to express more of God's love to others by saying kind and uplifting words to them; to be outgoing in my sharing Christ with others; to be more patient with others, especially my family... I think you catch my drift.

What will our lives become if we were to add to our lives things along the lines of the above? I challenged one friend, who "believes in God" but thinks that their are many ways to God to take the next few weeks to really sit down and read God's "Word"; to determine for himself whether Jesus was just a "good man," "a mad man," or "the Son of God." What if we were truly willing to do more than just be content with where we are in life, content with our current level of "spirituality," content with the ways we show respect, encouragement, and love to others. How dramtically would our lives, and the lives of those around us, be transformed and blessed? Wouldn't be way cool to find out?