Preparing for Lent
It is my hope today that I can get you excited about one of my favorite times of year. The word “Lent” comes from the old English “lencten“, which means “spring”. And who doesn’t like spring? What does spring bring to mind? Change! New life, re-birth, growth. Sprouting, budding, unfolding. arising.
We may be conditioned to see Lent as an “ordeal” or even a time we dread in some way. We may even enter into it with a sense of defeat and heaviness.
These last few days before Lent are a time to start anticipating something wonderful that is about to happen. We GET TO experience Lent! We can choose to mindfully and purposefully co-operate with God’s grace to change us; we get to blossom, we get to experience new life. And we get to do it in community with other believers. What if this reality brought you great joy this week instead of dread? I know. It is a paradigm shift. A new, fresh way of looking at Lent.
Remember as a child the joy of anticipation; a birthday party, Christmas? We get so much joy our of anticipation and sometimes the anticipation is as much fun as the event itself. Like planning a trip. These days before Lent are a time to start anticipating something wonderful that is about to happen.
Just imagine that this Lent is going to be different from every other Lent we’ve experienced. Imagine that there will be many graces offered us this year. Let’s even imagine that God is going to help transform our lives, with greater freedom, greater joy, deeper desires for love and service.
Lent will be this wonderful season of grace for us if we give ourselves over to it, if we cooperate with God’s grace. So, in these days last few days before Lent begins, let’s think about preparing our hearts. We need to prepare by giving some thought to how much we want to grow in our faith, how much we need to shake off some heaviness and experience some real joy, and how much some parts of our lives really do need to change.
CONSIDER LENT AS LESS OF A PROJECT
WITH A BEGINNING AND AN ENDING
WITH GOALS IN BETWEEN TO ACHIEVE,
AND MORE OF A SWEET JOURNEY.
Love this way of thinking of Lent!
Thank you Sherri for always giving us a new perspective on things and to continue to grow!
If we GET TO change with God’s help, it is a good thing indeed!
Thank you Sherri for this beautiful way to think about Lent. I didn’t realize Lent came from the word Spring. Love your message and am glad I was able to read it just in time!!!
I think I am going to refer to it as my spiritual spring!
Thanks Sherri for sharing your thoughts on Lent as a spiritual spring. It’s a refreshing take that I needed to hear! God bless us all on our journeys with God this year!
New life is coming!
A very good reminder! We are so very blessed to get to experience Lent. Thank you.
And in community!
Sher – Love your perspective on Lent! I completely agree that Lent can be a blessing to us all. Looking forward to my spiritual Spring. Enjoy. Xoxo
Who doesn’t love spring?!!