So here is the first of my annual appeals to give Lent its proper due.  We usually think of Lent as kind of a gloomy penitential time when we’re begrudgingly obligated to give something up that we like – chocolate or social media or martinis or whatever.  But consider: Lent is derived from a word meaning “springtime,” denoting new birth, restored life, a chance for a new start.  Just as Advent is not a season for its own sake, but a time of preparation for the joyous celebration of the nativity, neither is Lent a season set aside to make us feel bad about ourselves.  It is, rather, a time set aside for self-reflection in order to prepare ourselves for the seminal event in Christian history: an Easter celebration of the resurrection and all it means for us. 

Here’s a novel idea to think about.  Instead of giving up something you like, how about giving up something that you don’t like, like self-absorption, lack of charity, refusal to forgive, or disdain for those who differ from you in some way, thereby giving Lent its proper due by ridding yourself of those things that hinder our relationship with God and one another.  Penitential?  Maybe.  Gloomy?  Not if our Lenten preparations culminate in a glorious Easter.

– Marc+