A Time Of Simplification

Along with so many followers of Jesus, we begin our 40 day journey of Lent today. It is a season that hearkens back to Jesus’ 40 days in the desert which itself recalled Israel’s 40 year sojourn in the wilderness.  In both cases, these were times of identity formation, and we are called into a similar 40 day journey to reflect not only on who we are but whose we are.

Since the 2nd century CE, the faithful have observed this season of fasting, prayer and almsgiving, and today we receive ashes on our forehead as a symbol of our penitence (literally our “change of heart”) and commitment to set our lives and the world right. The word “Lent” comes from the same root as “lengthening” (when the light each day gets longer) and is associated with the coming of Spring. It reminds us that every liturgical season is rooted in the natural world.

If you grew up Catholic like I did, Lent may have been confusing. It was described as this mixture of self-denial and self-punishment that were supposedly pleasing to God. We “gave stuff up” in order to become holier somehow.

Thankfully, the theology has emerged, and my understandings of Lenten practices have shown me a depth to this time that I had preciously misunderstood. There’s nothing we can do during Lent that will make God love us more. And there’s nothing we can do during Lent that will make God love us any less.

Simply put, Lent is meant to be a time of simplification. We take 40 days to try to get back to the essentials. Just like if we were going into the wilderness, we try to refocus our life on what is really needed, and to release the rest.

It’s a time for simple appreciation. For simple gratitude. For a simplicity in seeing the beauty all around and inside us. And it is a time for clearing away all that gets in the way of being able to do these things.

Theologian Barbara Brown Taylor says that Lent is a time when we choose to “live on less, not more–of practicing subtraction instead addition–not because your regular life is bad but because you want to make sure it is your real life–the one you long to be living–which can be hard to do.” It’s a time of slowing down, releasing distractions and coming to grips with how full our lives might have become (full of ourselves, full of stuff, full of complaints, full of whatever). It’s a time of assessing the path that we are on and making any ‘course corrections’ that are necessary.

One thing I love about Lent is that it somehow seems to know what modern science has told us is the window of time for establishing a new habit – about 40 days. When we do something with intention and regularity for this time period, it has a much greater chance of becoming a practice in our lives. And so we focus on prayer, living with less and giving away money (among whatever else we might take up during Lent) which hopefully finds its way more fully into our life beyond Lent.

In our cycle of readings we hear from the prophet Joel (chapter 2) to “return to God with your whole heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” The reading goes on to speak about how the entire community is urged to drop whatever they are doing and make this a priority in their lives.

The second reading from 2 Corinthians 5 tells us that “now is a very acceptable time” to do the work of the spirit in our lives and that “now is the day of salvation.”

Finally in our gospel from Matthew 6, Jesus instructs his followers to “take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them.”  When we pray, we’re instructed to pray silently. We don’t need big fancy words or loud voices. God will hear us. When we give alms, we’re instructed to give generously and quietly. And when we fast, we’re told to keep our appearances up so that people will not know we’re fasting.

Taken together these readings invite us into this present moment as the most important time to do this work. Now is the time to fast. Now is the time to pray. Now is the time for generosity. Now is the time for humility. Now is the time to come alive.

Leave your normal life behind and enter into this 40 day space of transformation – one day at a time.

Two end notes:

1. One simple practice that we could do each day during Lent – related to the natural world – is either being outside or looking outside and mindfully connecting with the non-human world. Nature is, perhaps, the best teacher for lessons on simplicity, gratitude, generosity and prayer.
2. Please join us for our Lenten programming. Check the bulletin for the full list of events or click here and sign up. Programming starts tomorrow (with our Thursday speaker series) and formal programming next Monday (2/23) with a great program related to “Finding Inner Harmony”.