Dear Church Family,
Welcome to the solemn season of Lent. This is a time for reflection and contemplation, as we walk with Jesus on the road toward the cross. Today is traditionally a time to contemplate our mortality as we remember “we are dust, and to dust we shall return.” However, this is already a very solemn year, and with the hundreds of thousands of deaths around us we have already been up to our necks in contemplating mortality, so we do encourage you to adapt your Lenten routine. Perhaps in previous years you may have “given something up” or taken on a new discipline. We have already given up so much, this year, and many of us have had to be quite disciplined. To give up more or to add a harsh discipline on top of the everyday struggles may be an unhealthy practice this year, betraying a subconscious belief that God will not love us until we do better. That is a lie, and a pernicious one. I do, however, encourage you to set aside this time in some way, and find a way for this to be a spiritually healthy practice – that is, one that reminds you of God’s love, and Christ’s compassionate example.
Here are some creative and generous ideas I have heard about people choosing as spiritual practices this Lent. It’s a dizzy list full of things that may or may not work for you depending on your situation, which only you know best. Some are good for people with time on their hands, while others are better for people whose covid experience has been more about overwork and stress than about having extra hours to spend. I know one person whose Lenten discipline is to say “yes” to requests for help, and another whose discipline is to say “no” to the same kind of requests. If there was ever a year for flexibility, this is it. And a Lenten discipline can also be an attitude or expectation shift, for example if a pregnant person (like me) gives up alcohol for the coming forty days, it’s really just a matter of giving up my self-pitying complaints when I see someone else enjoy a beverage; I’m giving up on pining and whining. It is remarkable what a big internal change can come from an attitude shift like that. If none of these ideas fit for you, then ask yourself what you need, body and soul, to be a little healthier this Lent, remembering that God is with us as we struggle. How about any of these ideas?
- Giving up large groups and eating in restaurants
- Giving up international travel
- Fasting from one particular media outlet, whether that is a rage-inducing social media platform like Twitter, or a binge-consumption one like Netflix
- Deciding to rest more, and go to bed earlier
- Taking some time, daily, to declutter your home
- Deciding to participate in worship more regularly, whether that is with MPC or any of the many services now available online
- Deciding to take a moment of quiet meditation each morning
- Daily anti-racist actions or learnings
- A daily cup of tea with no multi-tasking allowed (just sit and sip until the whole cup is done!)
- Turning worries into prayers
I hope and trust that you will each find something that works for you this season.
Every Blessing,
Talitha