Lent

Here it is again. One of my most favorite seasons.

This Lent I am giving up sugar and artificial sweeteners. It may not sound like too big of a deal, but Diet Dr. Pepper and peanut butter M&M's have become a delicacy for this sleep deprived grad student.

I am looking forward to the countless moments when I go to the fridge for a crisp drink and mild caffeine hit to pause and remember how it is God who satiates and fills.

I far too often (nearly always) go through each day as though I am completely self reliant. I am looking forward to learning, through something as simple as cutting out the sensation of sweetness, how great my need for God is. I am hopeful that as I experience cravings for sweetness, I will be reminded my deepest yearnings and invite in the only One who can truly fill me.

Here are some of Henri Nouwen's thoughts on Lent: Ever the more profound in his simple words than I could hope to be.

Lent is the most important time of the year to nurture our inner life. It is the time during which we not only prepare ourselves to celebrate the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus, but also the death and resurrection that constantly takes place within us. Life is a continuing process of the death of the old and the familiar, and being reborn again into a new hope, a new trust, and a new love. The death and resurrection of Jesus therefore is not just an historical event that took place a long time ago, but an inner event that takes place in our heart when we are willing to be attentive to it....

Lent offers a beautiful opportunity to discover the mystery of Christ within us. It is a gentle but also demanding time. It is a time of solitude but also community, it is a time of listening to the voice within, but also a time of paying attention to other people's needs. It is a time to continuously make the passage to new inner life as well as to life with those around us.

When we live Lent attentively and gently, then Easter can truly be a celebration during which the full proclamation of the risen Christ will reverberate into the deepest place of our being.