Happy Lent!

Happy Lent, everybody! I mean happy, too.

For those of you less familiar with Christian tradition (or those in different Christian traditions than my own!) Lent is the 40 days before Easter. It began this year last Wednesday-- called "ash Wednesday" because of the ritual of receiving a smudge of ash on the forehead with the words "from dust you come to dust you shall return."

When I was young (and Catholic, sort of) my family used to observe lenten practices like not eating meat on Fridays and making some sort of sacrifice (chocolate, tv, pop) for the entire 40 days. Lent was a somber time--bright colors, silly faces, and running around were generally thought to be out of place. I thought it was 40 days to just be really sad because Jesus had died. I'm not sure where this idea came from in my life--I don't think my parents taught me that joy was disallowed during Lent.

In any case, what my early experiences with the Lenten tradition gave me was mostly just a distaste for fishsticks and some guilty feelings when I enjoyed myself.

I'm starting to find other riches in Lent, though. Last year I gave up Facebook, which was a really marvelous experience. This year my goal is much more difficult to keep track of-- I'm trying to live more in the moment-- to let go of my planner and my to-do list and to enjoy life as it comes at me more.

Now instead of as a guilt-fest, I see Lent as a time to examine what it means to live as God's people in a world that doesn't recognize God. If I really believe that God is working to heal the world and bring us to Godself, how should we live our lives?

I'm sure that it is not by squandering our time on facebook or getting lost in our calenders. When we let go of some of these extra things it becomes easier to see our neighbors, our world, and ourselves, and to see God in those places. It's a time of discovery, a time of sharing, and a time of joy!