Discovering Lent
Good Friday comes. I have worked myself into a state of sadness. I am overwhelmed by my emotions as I process the events of this day. I watch The Passion of the Christ on Good Friday and I sob. I want it all to stop. I cannot bear to see him suffer at my expense. My silly expense. Why does my sin have to cover him? Why does he love even me? And then I go to church that night and we sit in the dark and read passages from the Gospels. My heart is heavy with the weight and knowledge of his death. I apologize on Good Friday. I apologize for being selfish, lazy and impatient. I apologize for my lack of understanding and pray for forgiveness.
Sunday comes. Easter Sunday dawns cold here in Michigan but the air feels alive. I feel the pulse of the earth. The last forty days have helped me to tap into the quietness of nature. I believe the whole of nature waits anxiously for Easter Sunday. How do the birds and the trees know that their Creator conquered death on this day? I often ponder Luke 19:40 on my drive to church, “If [they] are silent, the rocks will cry out…” I believe nature does not wait for us to worship its Creator. I can feel the earth tremble with excitement. I nearly speed to church on Easter morning. Church fills with people and soon the room fills with singing. I weep. Lent has ended, Christ has risen and the Gospel story is complete. I have found no better way to prepare for this event than to practice Lent.
What started out as skepticism for this man-made tradition has become a spiritual practice that I look forward to even before the Christmas season is underway. Two years ago, however, I was in the middle of a Joy Void which lasted about 14 months. I gave up shopping for a year, I gave up TV for Lent, and I was undergoing a very tough year at work. A friend pulled me aside and said, “Maybe next year for Lent you need to give up Lent.” All my fasting left me feeling separated from God. So last year I gave up nothing and much to my chagrin the Easter season passed by virtually un-noticed. I had not fully realized how affected I was by the act of “giving up” and was thankful for this new understanding.
I think my sister still gives up chocolate milk for Lent. One year my mom gave up cheese which is hard for a Dutch woman. I am back on track now and no longer in the midst of a Joy Void. I have already decided what I will give up this year: high fructose corn syrup and tomato-based products. My reasons are many and varied. I anticipate a good daily struggle.
Posted on February 23, 2009 12:42 PM
Comments
Diane! I loved reading this. Thanks so much for writing it.
I have decided: I will practice Lent this year. I will not give up coffee. I might give up Facebook.
HFCS: a tough one to avoid. I wish you well, and I'm looking forward to your post-Lent follow-up article... and any tricks for avoiding the stuff that you can offer.
Posted by: Sara Johansson | February 23, 2009 3:20 PM
Very nice Diane. I'm getting goose bumps as I anticipate Lent. Easter IS the most powerful and important day of the year in my opinion. I'm giving up movies (rented, theatre, tv, all forms). I am also fasting to DO something: write or read for 30 uninterrupted minutes each day.
Posted by: Daniel VanDeSteeg | February 23, 2009 4:22 PM
Oh, my friend....
Yet another great article you have written.
What spoke to me the most was the way in which you depicted how much you look forward to Lent over all the seasons and I. get. that. There is something so much more spiritual and satisfying about this time and I don't know of another in which I feel closer to God than Lent. It's almost tangible in the way one feels they are journeying alongside Him during this time and equally exciting and rejuvenating.
Thanks for writing about this. Let the season begin!
Posted by: alycia | February 23, 2009 7:34 PM
I love your straight forward story here. No fluff talk. Your honesty always draws me in. I don't want to read about perfect people who succeed every time. No. I want to read about people like me. People who try, fail, and try again (and again, and again) and who learn from it every time.
Well done.
Posted by: Victoria Fanning | February 24, 2009 5:45 AM
I had a great time reading your article.
I decided to give up chocolate for Lent this year. And I amsupposed to have a "chocolate" date tomorrow with a friend. Can you believe it? So I'm cancelling.
And then on Friday, I have this big reunion dinner with my old roommates. We do this twice a year. And someone said, "who is bringing the chocolate cake?" And I said, "Nevermind. Don't."
---
It is already more difficult than I thought it would be. But I hope for some sacrificial Jesus intimacy...your words were encouraging. And funny.
22 and addicted to coffee. Poor poor girl. :)
I like you.
Posted by: Elizabeth Zabel | February 24, 2009 10:38 AM
I had a great time reading your article.
I decided to give up chocolate for Lent this year. And I amsupposed to have a "chocolate" date tomorrow with a friend. Can you believe it? So I'm cancelling.
And then on Friday, I have this big reunion dinner with my old roommates. We do this twice a year. And someone said, "who is bringing the chocolate cake?" And I said, "Nevermind. Don't."
---
It is already more difficult than I thought it would be. But I hope for some sacrificial Jesus intimacy...your words were encouraging. And funny.
22 and addicted to coffee. Poor poor girl. :)
I like you.
Posted by: Elizabeth Zabel | February 24, 2009 10:39 AM
Great article! I love the ritual of fasting. I've stopped trying to force any meaning/relevance out of christianity anymore, but fasting/giving up still is just as meaningful (actually, moreso, for me) without.
I was laughing, though, just remembering back when I was going to church, and I gave up kitchen appliances one year. It's a long screwball comedy that involved brewing coffee in a pan with pantyhose. Oy!
Posted by: Blythe Gatewood | February 24, 2009 1:00 PM
Love the article...
Posted by: Aaron McNany | February 24, 2009 1:04 PM
Thanks for this, Diane. Growing up Catholic, I have fond memories from childhood Lents - usually of giving up either chocolate or candy - but what I remember most about Lent is that sense of communal sacrifice and anticipation. I think your article captured that perfectly.
Keep up the great work...can't wait to hear about your Lent!
P.S. I've been working on the no-HFCSs business too, so I'll email you some of my finds so far :) Just think...your Lenten sacrifice will double as an educational opportunity on the evils of federally subsidized corn!
Posted by: sara | February 24, 2009 1:09 PM
Thanks, Diane! I loved reading your experience of discovering Lent. I agree that it can be (if you explore it) the most reflective & meaningful part of the Church year! I always feel very letdown at Eastertime if I haven't walked through Lent.... it's life-affirming & life-changing!
Posted by: Stefany Welch | February 24, 2009 1:11 PM
Diane--
thanks for writing this, it was something I needed to read tonight.
I miss you and think about you all often!
grace & peace
Posted by: Esther Dwyer | February 24, 2009 9:35 PM
Lent really does prepare your heart during this season. It's learning to sacrifice things you love that are of this world in an act to celebrate what is NOT of this world. Lent makes the celebration of Good Friday and Easter Sunday that much more exciting and meaningful.
I was like you Diane, I always wanted to avoid religious traditions, and my then girlfriend Jennifer (currently fiance) sacrificed something every year, and I didn't understand it until I participated myself.
I love how those outside of our faith react because then it leads to questions, which gives me an opening to explain the story of the Gospel. This is my favorite season, and I too, have been anticipating it.
Thanks for the article post!
Posted by: Kyle Lane | February 25, 2009 10:54 AM
Thanks for this great article about Lent. I'll post my thoughts for anyone else having an OFF year. As an adult, this has been my very favorite time of year; it's spiritually beautiful...indescribable. But I have to say that this past year, the Lord has taken away so much that I decided not to give up anything else. Ooo, that sounds like a bad attitude, but it's really just realizing that life is Lent right now, and hanging onto what creature comforts are left. But I'm still hoping to seek and find Jesus in a special way during these weeks.
A funny comment overheard in an Old Town boutique last Lent, one female employee talking to another: "I gave up martinis for Lent. (In a stricken voice:) It's been AW-ful!!!"
Posted by: maria | March 1, 2009 5:40 PM
Thanks for this! I can totally relate (although not to the corn syrup and tomato-based products!). I live in Mozambique where Lent is not recognized at all, and there's actually little to give up. This year I've given up Facebook. My struggle always in giving something up is: am I using this to rely on God more, or is it a practice in developing more self-determination/stubbornness?
Posted by: Jen | March 2, 2009 3:40 AM