In the beginning of Lent, I listened to a sermon while doing the dishes to a preacher who confessed that his intentions for Lent get dropped before Lent reaches its middle. It’s not intentional. He doesn’t mean for it happen but it seems to happen every year like those New Years resolutions that are forgotten before February comes along.
I was still trying to decide what my practice for this season would be. I wasn’t sure what it was that God was nudging my to pay attention to right now. Elaine Campbell Reed asks this beautiful question, What is the purpose of Lent? I wasn’t sure.
What did I need to discover to make resurrection to come alive? What would grant me an experience of new life? What might be calling my attention?
I tend to make these things too big and that’s often why these best intentions get dropped before the middle of Lent. It might be why I lost the calendar I created for my kids only yesterday but Lent isn’t about doing it perfectly. It’s not about getting it right every day but creating space for the possibility that change might come.
It might not be the big change that alters the landscape and all of global politics. That might just be beyond our reach. Or at least, it’s beyond my grasp. It won’t be that even if I wish it could be but I can refocus my attention.
I can keep asking questions. I can light more candles even when it feels like I should be doing more. I can do this. I can breathe deep. I can wonder what is calling my attention now.
Maybe your big, bold intentions for this season of Lent haven't exactly worked out. You may have given up. Easter will come anyway, right? And it will. I promise you the good news of resurrection is always working on us and there might be nothing we need to do to prepare for it. I didn’t always think this. I know there are clergy especially who can’t fathom this. They are convicted that there can be no Easter without Good Friday. I am not as convinced as I once was.
When I open my Zoom living room to make room for my directees in spiritual direction, they don't need a reminder that there is suffering in the world. They are wrestling with every injustice whether it is a part of the daily life or a headline in the news. They want to know how to live into new life. It feels like the world is crumbling around them and they are hunting for resurrection. They want to live into that hope because they already know what Good Friday looks like all too well.
Maybe this describes you too. You don’t need another reminder that the world is on fire. You need to understand what is burning inside you like hope and trying so very hard to believe that God is bringing about new life even now. In the middle of Lent, this is what I want to ask you because it’s the question on my own heart.
I would love to hear the workings in your heart in the comments because these are big questions to ask and it is too lonely to ponder these things alone, but more that that, I hope this question lives in you through these next few weeks of Lent so that Easter comes with new boldness.
This question arose after reading my dear friend Celene Lille’s sermon for this coming Sunday which I can’t link to yet. It’s a really good one though. But I can link to this sermon by Diana Butler Bass entitled Mary Magdalene is Us and from where I adapted the title for this reflection.
If you have no idea how to answer this question and would be interested in finding space to wonder about the workings of your own heart, I hope you’ll send me a note to explore spiritual direction.
Needed this reminder today. Thank you. Yes resurrection is always working in us.
I think too many people treat Lent like a second attempt at their New Year's resolutions. I don't make those anymore as they are too hard and usually unrealistic to keep, especially if you are living and interacting with other people who may or may not share/care about my resolutions. I also don't have to beat myself up for messing up. I just live everyday, always trying to do better in areas that need it and forgiving myself when I mess up.
To answer your question, I think resurrection is living in me because fundamentally I still believe in God. I do question a lot what He is or is not doing. When I read the Bible it seems like history is repeating itself once again and God is just waiting for everyone to wake up and realize it. I just pray they do before it is too late.