Monday Morning Musing: How We Practice

On Wednesday, the Church begins the season of Lent, the 40 days (not including Sundays) that lead us to the Feast of the Resurrection.  It is a season of penitence, of sacrifice, and deepened spiritual practices.  It is a somber season, although the Sundays are intended as “little Easters” as we do not gather at the table without the resurrection story calling us there.

In many ways, it feels as though we are living in a collective somber season as we endure a daily assault, not only on democracy, but on decency and decorum. 

(Birdwalk:  one of the things I so admired about President Biden was his commitment to his faith.  It was heartening to know that the decisions he made were made with the mind and heart of a person who was used to being guided by something other than his ego.)

Those with whom I serve and have served as their pastor have heard me say that for me, a Lenten practice of “giving up” something has never really yielded anything other than a test of my resolve.  A practice of “adding in” something seems to be slightly more effective, sometimes. So, with just two days to go, I’m left to ponder how to keep this Lent while living in these times. 

Dear Ones, this will look different for all of us.  So, if it is meaningful to you to give up chocolate or coffee or cursing….do that.  But I’ll be over here with my Rolos and my latte wondering how the hell we got into this mess and what part did I have to play in it.

Ah, there’s the rub.  There it is.  What part did I have to play in the world we are living in now?  Was I silent when I should have spoken out?  Did I make the phone call to my representative?  Did I shop the convenient free-delivery-all-the-time-for-whatever-I-need want or did I go to the local shop instead?  Even harder: Did I resist out of anger or did I cultivate joyful resistance?  To choose the former will only hurt me and those around me. 

I recently read a piece that describes Lent as taking our spiritual pulse.  Micha Boyette wrote: “What makes Lent powerful is its insistence on setting aside time in our lives to take our individual and collective spiritual pulse.  What makes Lent powerful is that it invites us to make a choice toward honesty with God and ourselves, a choice to get solemn about what we discover in our core and live that restraint in the ways we spend our time, in the space we create in our lives, in the practices we pour into the space we’ve opened up.”

Our collective spiritual pulse is rapid and thready.  Collectively, we are panicking.  Understandably.  My vocation calls me to help those among whom I serve take their spiritual pulse, discover what is there, and determine how to live as God’s beloveds…pouring into them that which will return them to a steady, strong spiritual heartbeat. 

And I will also need to do that for myself. 

As of this Monday morning, I am pondering the following Lenten practices:

1)    Daily self-examination and confession.

2)    Replacing screen time impulses (you know, scrolling, not working or reading wondrous writers) with walking, reading, or music.

3)    Adding in additional spiritual direction time.  (I am a strong advocate for having a spiritual director, especially if you work in the Church.  Having a spiritual companion to help me see where God is in the world and how I’m responding has been an immeasurable gift.)

4)    Intentional breath work.  This slows down our literal pulse and I find that mine is racing these days.

Maybe these practices will help shape a meaningful Lent for me.  Maybe not.  I may neglect/forget/get distracted.  It doesn’t matter.  It’s in the intention that we find meaning.  It’s in the purpose that we learn more about God and our own spiritual pulse.

So, beloveds, if you are a person who keeps this upcoming season, I invite you to a holy Lent.  In the Book of Common Prayer, that invitation reads like this:

Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting.  This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism.  It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church.  Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.  (BCP, Liturgy for Ash Wednesday)

Peace be with you.