It is indeed Ash Wednesday, the traditional beginning of Lent, which is a period of penitence and reflection leading up to the remembrance of Jesus’ passion during Holy Week. The culmination comes with Good Friday and the celebration of the resurrection on Easter.
As a typically jolly protestant (I think of myself as typically jolly, not all protestants, who can be quite dour), Lent runs fairly counter to my DNA. That is precisely why I find it sort of helpful. We protestants don’t like to have much imposed on us, particularly sacrifice, but I think there is a positive trend towards recognizing the spiritual potential of seasons like Lent. I think it is helpful to have seasons of sacrifice, so that we rewrite our own DNA to become more sacrificial, penitent people. Typically, in Lent that involves a willing fast from a particular item of interest for the forty days between today and Easter (not counting Sundays).
Over the past few years I’ve experienced Lent through particular fasts, such as getting of Cokes and caffeine, or totally staying off of red meat (that’s the most difficult one for me!) John Mark Hicks wrote a wonderful little bit about Lent on his blog a little while ago, that I think is a great start at thinking creatively about how to participate. (Update: he also wrote this today.)
Take some time to think about it, and if it’s something that you think would be useful to you, give it a go. If you do, I have just a couple of bits of advice.
1. Keep it as a discipline, not a novelty. It’s not a plaything, not an accessory to the spiritual style of your life. Don’t talk about your fast all the time, but let it be something that draws you closer to the sacrifice of Christ. If the fast is all about you, you’re missing the point.
2. Let it change you. I think it best if you can think about the things you do over Lent aren’t just endured for the season itself, but are things you practice for the sake of your ongoing spiritual formation. One way of thinking about that is that, while we certainly look forward to enjoying things that we fast from after the fast is over, We don’t just fast for a little while then go back to the same lifestyle of overindulgence. that kind of pattern isn’t really the same as taking on a fast, letting it teach us about sacrifice, and then coming out of the fast to live with greater thankfulness and joy in the things God gives us, but with a different view of ourselves and the sacrifices we’re called to make in an ongoing way. How can you fast in such a way that when it is over, you aren’t just thankful that it’s over, but you are thankful for the process and how it formed you along the way as well.
