Preparing for Lent

 

I have been thinking about what spiritual practices to commit myself to during the 40-days of Lent, which begins this year on March 5^th, Ash Wednesday.  Lent often comes upon me earlier then I expect, and I find that I have not given enough thought to how to observe this important season of the church year as we walk with Jesus toward Good Friday and Easter.  An important part of Lent is to nurture and grow spiritually.  So, what does that mean?

A good description of spiritual is given in the book “Praying with Body and Soul” by Jane Vennard.  Vennard’s definition of spiritual, is “all that has to do with one’s relationship with God”.  Therefore, the spiritual life is a life lived in relationship to God.  A spiritual practice is that which we do to deepen and strengthen our relationship with God. 

The traditional practices which are meant to deepen our relationship to God during Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving.   In some traditions these disciplines are seen as obligations, but these are really practices that can free us up to be mindful of how the Spirit is working in our lives.  

Prayer and almsgiving (giving materially and of ourselves in service to the needy), are pretty much a part of my ongoing life, individually and corporately.  I don’t know anyone who thinks they do these things well enough or perfectly; I certainly don’t.  But fasting?  That’s something altogether different. Certainly not much a part of my Lutheran upbringing.

Fasting is the practice (and discipline) of giving up food, or something else, for a defined period of time to make space in our lives to be more intentional about our relationship to God.  Vennard writes that when we fast “we create emptiness in our bodies and space in our lives.”  I have found the notion of emptiness to be true in my experience with fasting.  Going without food for several meals certainly gets my attention.  It heightens my awareness of Jesus’s emptying himself for me, and the rather minimal hunger I experience is minuscule in comparison to the hunger of so many people in the world.  That, to me, is what a spiritual practice should be – an activity done with intentionality and in response to God’s love for me.

I am thankful that St Luke Lutheran, where we worship, observes Lent with a Wednesday evening soup and bread supper followed by a contemplative service featuring Taizé music and some silence.  In the choir we are learning, Faure’s Requiem in preparation for the Good Friday service.  Singing and listening to music are eloquent forms of prayer to sustain one’s spiritual life.   

I haven’t quite decided what my fast will be this year but there’s still some time to ponder – though Lent is almost upon us!   Think about it.