Secrets of a Fruitful Lent

How about having a very fruitful Lent this time? Not the same old give-up-chocolate-or-beer Lent. Instead, how about a Lent where you give up something that could really set you free? Interested?

Lent is about sin. Now, sin isn’t a very popular subject among progressive Christians. I guess some of us tend to think it is a passé topic, not really worth our attention. But as much as we would like to ignore sin, it is still going to influence how we interact within ourselves and with others. It will do this in very destructive, if not seductive, ways when it is allowed to fester in a cocoon of denial. So let’s just tackle sin head-on this Lent.

First of all, what is sin? It is more than an in-bred compulsion to do naughty things. I’ve been told that the word itself comes from an old archery term that means “to miss the mark.” I miss the mark when I’m not being true to who I am—when I’m not being true to the person God called and created me to be.

In his book Living Presence, Kabir Helminski writes, “Somewhere, somehow, we began to live as if we were separate, alone, and in danger. Once afraid, we constructed a self out of that fear and have been steadfastly defending it ever since.”

Chew on that for a moment and see whether it resonates. This is the foundation of the false self and the beginning of sin—a separation from that person God created you and me to be.

So do you want a fruitful Lent? Here’s the thing to give up: that false self.

To be sure, the false self isn’t going to go peacefully into the night. Most tyrants don’t. It will take more work to eradicate the false self than giving up your favorite dessert or alcohol.

What is required? Getting to know yourself again, and that is accomplished through prayer, meditation, and some study.

A Lenten rule is fruitful when it involves a combination of giving up and taking on. Give up the false self, and take on meditating, praying, and study. Give up that old tyrant, and take on some extra service in which you can find meaningful interaction with others. Give up fear, and take on the Presence of the Beloved, who has never left but has been obscured by the false one.

Jesus presents a model of a fruitful Lent when he journeys out into the wilderness, demonstrating the courage to take on the inner demons and face them down. That is a paradigm of freedom and possibilities previously only imagined yet never realized.

A fruitful Lent will bring to realization new potential that has always been there but hidden behind the false one.

So you can give up chocolate and beer and do the usual pop culture approach to Lent—or you can give up that false self, bathe in the light of the Beloved, and begin new ventures only dreamed of before. An old paradigm waits to be shifted—a new paradigm waits on you.

Joel t