LENT IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER (March 6 to be exact)

The Christmas decorations are still in boxes in my garage, waiting to be loaded into the attic, so it's hard to imagine moving into the Lenten season, but it really is almost here. 
​
I have always loved this time of year, the transitioning from winter to spring that foreshadows how the pain of Christ's sufferings will take us into the glory of resurrection.
​

The Book of Common Prayer offers three invitations for our spiritual journey during Lent.  These are:

• Self-examination and repentance
• Fasting and self-denial
• Reading and Meditating on God's Word

I would have to add one other, which is prayer--not any type of prayer, but the kind that enables us to connect with the beauty of redeeming love in the face of Christ.  To that end, I believe you will find my book, Contemplating the Cross: A Forty Day Pilgrimage of Prayer a trustworthy guide. 

Of course, words like repentance or self-denial or even fasting can fill us with a bit of dread.   We wonder if this will be depressing or more costly than our souls can afford.  I know these feelings well--I lived them a good part of my spiritual life.

---

Of course, words like repentance or self-denial or even fasting can fill us with a bit of dread.  We wonder if this will be depressing or more costly than our souls can afford.

But the secret that's rarely spoken of, one that took me years to discover as I broke loose from the bonds of legalism, is that these kinds of spiritual disciplines are really just ways for us to open our hearts to receive from God.  We don't earn our spiritual stripes by repentance, nor do we commend ourselves to our Heavenly Father through fasting.  We really don't become better Christians by engaging in self-denial or meditation.

The long and short of it is that Lenten practices have little value except to the extent that they enable us to come humbly to God, holding out our broken, needy souls so that he can pour his life and love and holiness into them by his Spirit.  Thus, we need not approach Lent with grand plans or worthy commitments or fervent devotion, but rather ask ourselves how we can be more intentional about opening ourselves up to the goodness of God.
​

We need not approach Lent with grand plans or worthy commitments or fervent devotion, but rather ask ourselves how we can be more intentional about opening ourselves up to the goodness of God.

To that end, I am providing a special web page for those who might want to journey together this Lent.  It includes several opportunities for you to participate, as well as resources throughout the Lenten Season.  I do hope you will join me.  You can find that page by clicking on the button below!
​

Lenten Season Web Page