Lent

Remember that you are dust …

and to dust you will return.

 

Twice a year the church sets aside special times for us to pause, to reflect, to reconnect with our real selves, our souls. Living in a physical world with physical needs, with the temptations of sin, it’s easy to forget that our true self is as Spirit. Our bodies … temporary. This world … temporary. Our souls … everlasting, unto all eternity.

 

Advent and Lent are the two times where the church calls us for an examination of our spiritual life. I love Advent, with its sense of anticipation, of waiting and preparation. But it’s difficult to be reflective and inward when there’s such a focus on the material world of shopping and spending. I love Lent, because I can take the time for that inward examination without the pressures of the material world interfering with my practice.

 

Lent gives me time to pause and turn my heart toward God, to consider my faithfulness, my goals in becoming an enlightened being and the steps I continue to make in my journey. I’m not a theologian, so I can only speak from my heart. During Lent, I refocus my attentions and open my heart to learning the lessons that are mine to learn. I believe that signs of God’s love and His message for me are all around me and I only need to open my heart with clarity and understanding to see the signs and gain greater understanding of my journey.

 

I hear God’s voice when I’m quiet, meditative, reflective. I find it more difficult to hear Him in the chaos and cacophany of the everyday. So I take time to sit quietly, to not hurry; to paraphrase my yoga instructor, Peter, to not anticipate "the next thing", but just to sit in the moment, at peace, without expectation. (I’m reminded of Kwai Chang Caine through my yoga practice.)

 

Ash Wednesday has such tremendous symbolism for the season. Fr. Michael put it so well in our church bulletin:

"Ashes have a way of putting things in perspective. When we receive ashes, we are encouraged to see ourselves in the light of our mortality. Ashes demonstrate the foolishness of human vanity. Ashes also confront any smugness or undue self-asssurance we might have in our material well-being, and remind us of our need to develop an ever deepening spirituality."

 

I love to receive the ashes as a symbolic reminder that this body is temporary, used for a time, given to me to care for as steward, but it’s not really me, the real me, the Spirit me, the me that is connected to God, forever unto eternity. Focusing on my spirit, enjoying this season when God calls us to conversion, that, for me, is Lent.

Peace and all good.

Namaste.

 

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