Lent is the beginning of the liturgical year for most Christian churches in the Catholic tradition. Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans, the Orthodox and increasingly others observe the season as a time for fasting, prayer, self examination, repentance — all in preparation for celebrating resurrection on Easter Sunday. Lent always begins on Ash Wednesday. This year it falls on Feb. 22. Churches calculate this calendar slightly differently. It lasts 40 days, not counting Sundays because each Sunday represents a mini-Easter. This year, Lent ends on Holy Saturday, April 11.
Folk in many places have unique traditions related to Lent. New Orleans has Mardi Gras, for example. Mardi Gras is a descendant of old fertility rites celebrating the coming of spring and the rebirth of vegetation. Fat Tuesday is the tradition in which the people of the church joyfully feast on pancakes on the night before Ash Wednesday. All these traditions are treasured customs. We all benefit from times of fun and play. Healthy spirituality requires a large supply of whimsy and laughter.
But now, don't you think, with all the problems we have in the world, we could use a little more prayer and meditation?
How about a week of focus on living a simpler life? Most of us are being forced to live on less. Less money to shelter, feed, clothe and educate our families. Less money to help others more at risk than we. Less money to spend improving the standard of living for many of us who live on the margins.
Most of us would do well to pray for a week about the wages of war. We know that the wages of sin are death. Who can afford that? But the costs of war are incalculable, too. How about a week of repentance, prayer, meditation and study about peacemaking? The Prince of Peace said the peacemakers are blessed.
The sick. Who's praying for the sick? How often do we pray for those who spend their genius in the laboratory seeking cures? What disease could not be cured for the cost of a discretionary little war somewhere? How often do we pray for those who devote their lives to the healing arts?
The environment. Now there's a topic that requires some repentance and spiritual imagination. At the beginning of the Bible, in the story of Creation, the Creator gets straight to the point. "Y'all look after this thing that I have made." I'm paraphrasing, of course. But I think that's the way God talks.
It seems to me that denial of reality is one of the most common ways we irritate the Godly nerve. We deny our own waywardness and sin. And we trash our environment by denying that our careless behavior has any consequence on the planet. Who's praying for deliverance from such vanity? Could we give that a week of prayer this Lent?
According to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent 40 days out in the desert wilderness where he was tempted by Satan. Then he embarked on his public ministry. Why don't we, during this Lent, come in from the wilderness in which so much of life is lived and talk with God about how we are measuring up?
Harold Bales is a semi-retired Methodist minister who lives in Kannapolis. He also has a new book out and copies are available for sale. For more information, visit www.TheSouthernFriedPreacher.com. Send him an e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
