The invitation of Lent

Lent is a time of preparation for Christians—a time of realignment to the central story of our faith; which is that God comes to us in the person of Jesus, putting God's own self on the line for our healing, our liberation, for the wholeness of creation. And that really pisses off the powers that be: the powers of empire, exploitation, and extraction. And so they crucify Jesus; they torture and kill him. But God's dream for us proves indomitable; God's love for us proves stronger than death.

(You can see a video version of this post on Instagram by clicking here, or on the image.)

Lent is a time of being honest about our part in that story. First, we are not the heroes of this story: we are the ones God comes to, that God delights in, and wants to liberate and heal. And secondly, we are the ones who so often stand in the way of healing and liberation for others—and for ourselves. Because we're sort of comfortable here, in the status quo.

Historically, Lent has been a time to get more uncomfortable. And for many of us, that has sort of meant punishing ourselves for being bad, for being sinners.

Now, if healing, liberation and wholeness is what God wants, and what we want, then repentance is a crucial part of that: to name how our choices have gotten in the way of God's redeeming work, and to make some changes.

But there also might be ways in which self-denial or self-deprivation don't serve our healing. So we might also ask ourselves in Lent if there is a specific kind of nourishment that we need right now for healing; if there are other people struggling for liberation right now, that we can join with; if there are parts of ourselves that need to be welcomed and redeemed rather than shut down or cut out.

In this season of Lent I'll over one short reflection a week on Instagram, here, and in our newsletter: inviting you in different ways to healing, liberation, and wholeness. Stay tuned!