"Pocket Lent"
Yeah, I went there. That title is a pretty awful pun. In the spirit of the season, please forgive me.
A few Sundays ago, I was given a Lenten devotional book after church—one of those 40-Days-40-Devotionals books that many Christian publishers print every winter for the upcoming spring Lenten season, which begins this year on February 22. Many of those books can be wonderful tools for spiritual practice, but they are also an unfortunate metaphor for how the Lenten season gets treated in many Protestant churches—some of which do not even formally celebrate Lent.
Lent is not about following the church calendar for the sake of following the church calendar. Like the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Lent is meant to be a season of penitence, confession, and repentance for Christians. Yet, while many synagogues will draw standing room-only crowds for Yom Kippur, many churches have to wait until Easter to draw those crowds—folks will arrive for the happily-ever-after ending, but the trick is inviting them on the 40-day journey to the cross to begin with. Just because Christ was alone for the 40 days in the wilderness does not mean we must be alone for our own 40 days of Lenten wilderness!
So, in this Lenten season, I encourage you to not only give something up or take on a new spiritual practice for Lent, but to integrate that practice into the rest of your life so that you may share in it with the people closest to you. And in doing so, may Lent and all its spiritual richness not be consigned to your back pocket, but instead be brought front and center in your life, and the lives of those around you.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Eric
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