Ash Wednesday
Today begins the ancient Christian season of Lent, the 40 days before Easter Sunday. Originally, this time was set in place so that those who were curious about Christianity could begin their training and learning about what it meant to be a Christian before they fully committed with a baptism on Easter Sunday. For those who were already baptized, this was a season devoted to repenting, reconnecting with God, and reconnecting with others.
Over the years, Lent morphed to become a period where Christians give up or take on a particular practice in order to better themselves in some way—giving up sugar is a popular example. And while this new tradition isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s always good to remember the original purpose of this season—which wasn’t to lose weight, but to realign with our truest spiritual calling to be in a loving relationship with God, ourselves, and one another. The “one another” would also include the earth as so poignantly discussed by The Rev. Dr. Sylvia Sweeney in her newest book, Winged With Longing for Better Things, an Ecofeminist Lenten devotional.
I find Lent to be so important because it’s kind of like New Year’s Day. It may be an arbitrary date on the calendar but it makes me pause, take a step back from my day-to-day hustle and bustle, and reflect on whether or not I’m really living according to my values and desires. It’s easy to go through life on autopilot and not live with active presence and intention, especially when we’re busy or stressed.
Many of us will inaugurate this season by receiving ashes on our foreheads today, Ash Wednesday. A strange and dark practice, I know. But it’s also sobering. Ashes are symbols of our mortality. All of us take different life paths yet share one commonality—we’re born and then we die. The question then is, how will we spend the middle part? Lent invites us to take personal inventory, engage in deep soul searching, and figure out if there’s something we need to give up or take on, in order to spend this middle part, between birth and death, differently than how we’re living it now.
I’ve normally taken on a personal discipline but for the first time this year, my husband and I decided to do a discipline as a family. It’s a simple one as our son is still pretty young. Our simple discipline is that during our family dinner time each evening, we will ask one another what we are grateful for.
There’s nothing like gratitude that makes our lives so much better. It always changes our perspectives by giving us renewed hope and joy. So, we want to instill this habitual practice of gratitude within ourselves and our children.
I now invite you to think about whether or not you want to take on a particular discipline or give something up for the next 40 days. Here’s a helpful tip that helps us stick to whatever we decide to do: the smaller the better. Don’t launch into a dramatic spiritual transformation. Just notice one area of your life you’d like to improve. If you spend too much time on your smartphone for instance, you could decide to put your smartphone away from 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. each night for special family time. Or if you just want to start praying in general, begin with 5 minutes a day or another spiritual practice. Or if you want to get more in touch with yourself and grow in self-awareness, begin with 5 minutes of freestyle journaling in response to the question: where is God in my life these days? The only requirement is that it has to be regular. Consistency is the secret to transformation. At the same time, don’t be so hard on yourself if you forget occasionally as slip-ups happen to all of us. Just reorient yourself and recommit.
And if you happen to live in the San Diego area, I invite you to our Ash Wednesday service tonight at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church (3502 Clairemont Dr, San Diego, CA 92117) from 6 p.m. - 6:45 p.m. in the Sanctuary.
Let us now begin our journey. See you on the other side.