Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. I went to bed with a belly full of pancakes and my favorite Maple syrup after an evening of fellowship and fun. This morning, in my normal morning text with my parents, my dad (who is a United Methodist Pastor and probably one of the silliest people ever) began the morning with a “Happy Lent” text. This struck me. I responded with “do people even say that?”
Lent is so often thought of as a season of deprivation. We must sacrifice something in our lives in a theoretical effort to get closer to God. Over the years I have tried to get creative with this, besides the usual giving up X food treat for 40 days. One year I gave up doing my hair or make up, another year I gave up secular Music all together. Never was I particularly excited to begin the season of lent. Rather some what melancholy. It is a reflective season yes, but that does not mean it needs to feel like a season of depravity.
This year, I am not giving anything up. I am adding something. I’m changing my attitude about the season. I want to get closer to God, and that is a bit hard if we are even the slightest bit resentful of the season. Instead of giving up (there is no positive language for such an action) I am going to consciously set apart a chunk of my morning routine to sit in prayer. No rushed devotion as I so often do each morning, but actual time in reflective prayer. As it is only the first morning, I must say I feel markedly different. Despite the stresses of school work and the million things on my to do list, I feel at peace. Most importantly, I am excited for this season of Lent and I am excited for this journey on which I am beginning to embark.