Lent.
The season of "No-Meat-on-Fridays;" giving up little pleasures, the priest wearing purple, no Alleluia/Gloria during Mass...It's our spiritual bootcamp as we prepare for the death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter.
It's the season that always catches me by surprise..."It's Lent already???"
And as of last Wednesday, we are officially in it.
It was interesting to be on vacation during this period.
First of all, fasting while on vacation is certainly not a normal activity. (To be clear, I do not fast from food given my history with anorexia, but rather add in other spiritual sacrifices).
But secondly, it was just really blatantly obvious that...Lent is about as counter cultural as you can get.
As I you know, I was in Utah skiing last week. And our place belongs to this collection of condos that has a communal clubhouse. And one of the "perks" is that every day during the ski season, you get free breakfast and free aprés ski in the community lodge.
And so, of course, on Friday -- a "no meat" day -- we went down for breakfast and snacks...and there were no non-meat options. It was a ground beef taco bar, and the soup was chicken noodle. Beautiful -- but not "Lent-friendly."
But sure, the Friday food observances are one thing....but the whole concept of self denial and sacrifice of Lent...that is a concept that completely goes against modern society.
The society that worships at the altar of "my truth;" the society that has created the religion of woke ideologies; the society that has glorified the self to deity-status... the society doesn't do self denial. It doesn't do inconvenience for the sake of faith. It doesn't do living for someone other than oneself.
But that is precisely what Lent invites us to do.
The self-denial of Lent isn't meant to be something that one parades around on Instagram for likes or visibility. But rather, it is a deep spiritual exercise that allows us, in the void or desire for that thing, to draw close to Christ and cling to Him in our neediness. And to focus on Him. To prepare alongside Him as He makes his way towards Calvary and His Passion and death and ultimate resurrection.
It is a way to get ourselves out of the way, so that we can more deeply connect with God.
And yeah, it goes completely against what our culture dictates as normal and "right."
It's a pretty tangible confirmation that, being people of faith, we are, in fact, on an island. Sure, it can feel isolating, but no one said following Jesus would be easy...or popular.
Yes, Lent is inconvenient. No, self-denial isn't fun, and it certainly isn't something you'd choose to do on vacation.
But at the end of the day, it's those little sacrifices that allow us to join Jesus in His suffering, which we are preparing for on Good Friday and at Easter.
Know that I am praying for you during this Lenten season!
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