Lent "practicing"

I confess, I so much enjoy the Lenten season because it seems that it calls us to be who we are supposed to be. But the biggest reason why I love Lent, is because I know what to do.

Although I have spent lots of time and money investing in learning how to be Christian and how to follow God, I adore Lent because I know what to do. We are suppose to fast and break the fast on Sunday. We are suppose to go to Ash Wednesday services, remember our humanity, hope in the cross and look towards Christ's redeeming work in the world. It makes me feel like I am a part of something. It makes me feel as if my faith matters and I long for this. I long to be a part of something big. Something real. Something that demands my all. I really do.

But in the midst of this desire, I have the tendency to turn Lent into oppression in my life when in fact, it is the way of life God has asked of us in order to set us free to love. Thankfully, I was reminded from a dear friend this week that Lent is about "practicing Lent". We may not get it right the first time, we may miss something God is seeking to reveal in our lives but we are seeking to create space to listen, to practice----not to perform or earn God's good favor. I love this idea way better than some of the ideas floating around in my head.

So I am committed to "practicing Lent" this season. I am committed to practice giving up things so others can have what they need. I am committed to living simply so others may have life. I am committed to seeking God and desiring God help me grieve those dead things in me so I have some room to hope again. I am committed to these things and it is my prayer God will show me the ways I am being transformed. The ways I am being made like Christ and the ways I really need to hold out hope, confess my sins (my tendency towards self) and wait for life to be made new.

Also, in the midst of practicing Lent, I am praying for those in our neighborhood who do not have what they need and I am praying for those in Japan and Egypt who are in places where there lives are at risk and their loved ones have died. God be with us on this journey.