Lent 2014 The Year of Wellness

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I am very good at throwing myself pity parties, I am deeply gifted at feeling sorry for myself, and I am known for eating my feelings because when everybody on the planet wants things from ME, I COMPLETELY deserve a few apple fritters or a gallon of ice cream...(okay, or both, who am I kidding). But trust me: I don't really need an excuse to turn a hang nail in to an After-School Special.

I've been gearing up for Lent for a couple of weeks now, in conference with God's Holy Spirit who has turned my heart to a coupla new things this year. One of them is how much I love being an Episcopalian. Sure, sure, the polity and politics and personalities make Living It a bumpy road sometimes, but at its root I believe each Active Participant shares in common a love of love, a dedication to peace, a heart with God at its center, and a spirit which turns quickly to prayer. These commonalities provide such rich familial feelings that I have found myself quite comfortable walking in to any Episcopal gathering and being quite at ease striking up conversations with strangers, something not at all easy for me, and leaving having made vital connections with fellow travelers on our shared spiritual journey.

Another turn of my heart took me back to the days of the perfect answer to every question: "Because I Said So..." (which runs a close second to, "We'll see," which is what we called "The Catholic 'No'"). My husband says this all the time when I whine about needing another day in the weekend. I say, "We're not in the service, WHY do we have to go to church today!" and he'll say, "Because it's SUNday, you have to go to church!" Wuhl, it's true, right, for those of us raised in this tradition? When I was little I couldn't even THINK of not going to church on Sunday, I thought you'd go straight to hell if you didn't go. So, at the beginning of this week, I heard a bunch of people moaning about Lent, what they were giving up, that they weren't giving up ANYthing, that they don't fast because they think it's stupid or old fashioned, wah wah wah, like spoiled little children. Know what? We need to give up A LOT of things starting NOW. Know why? Because it's Lent and because the Book of Common Prayer Said So.

The 1979 Book of Common Prayer and it's sisters are some of the most perfect spiritual guides I've ever been blessed to meditate on. They really don't ask that much of us. I mean, I know the BCP imposes a duty on us to encourage and nourish each other through our Baptismal Covenant, but outside of that they're just a wonderful collection of scriptures in the form of prayers...for every occasion. You need a prayer for your enemy? We got one; for rain? We got one; to bless your bathroom? Absolutely. It's not a terribly pushy guide, though. It asks us to gather, it asks us to praise God, it asks us to listen to God's words, it asks us to pray, together and for one another, it guides our leaders to bless us, and it sends us on our way. On Ash Wednesday, however, that book reads kinda vicious. It "invites us, 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"..."because I said so".

So let's stop the whining, let's grow up. Let's get to know ourselves. Let's fast from allowing ourselves to walk numbly through our lives in the same old patterns. Let's take on living our lives with care, for ourselves and our neighbors. Let's take on a spirit of thanksgiving in every moment of our lives, being awake while alive, noticing every blessing. Let's fast from inappropriate choices, and let's pray; let's pray continuously, with passion, allowing our hearts and minds to roam where God directs. Let's get on this...and let's get 'er done.