On Observing Lent

I grew up in a very Catholic town.  My family was not Catholic, but it felt like everyone around us was.  So my earliest memories of Lent are seeing all my friends show up at school with smudges on their foreheads, and having only fish in the school cafeteria on Fridays.

But after joining an Anglican church several years ago, I was re-introduced to the actual purpose and reasons for Lent, and our whole family has come to embrace the season year after year.

I started to write out some of the reasons I've found this season to be so powerful and helpful in my spiritual life... but realized that many have already done a much better job of that than I could ever do.  So, instead, I will just list a few links below:

• Amy Julia Becker shares here 5 reasons she has come to value Lent;  I agree with all of them.

• Matt Kennedy gives a quick 7-minute summary of the purpose of Lent in this video.

• In this short post, the author gives some things to consider for keeping Lent meaningful.

Finally, I've enjoyed this quote from Arnold Ytreeide (from the preface of Amon's Adventure):

 "But the point of Lent, or any other time of spiritual focus, shouldn't be to follow a set of prescriptions and rules, it should be to seek a deeper understanding of and commitment to God.  It's not a time to check off days on a calendar;  it's a time to rend your heart, to do some spiritual housecleaninhg, to take a long, hard look at what's inside you.  A time to allow God to show you the work He's ready to do in your life."

I read once that the Christian year can be divided into 2 cycles:  the Cycle of Life and the Cycle of Light.  Join us now as we head into Lent, the beginning of the Cycle of Life!