We come together in Lent as a faith community to be a companion, witness, and disciple of Christ as he begins his long journey toward death and resurrection. How can we best be attentive to the spiritual journey during this time of grieving, introspection, seeking, and redemption? As Christians we are offered two significant pathways toward a closer communion with God, in Christ. First, we are invited into a community of fellow seekers. And second, we are invited into our own personal relationship with Christ, as we seek to find points of connection through his words, his story, his example, and his living spirit, to our own lives today.

Lenten Reflection
Lent comes each year laden with the memories, teachings, assumptions, and wisdom that each of us has accumulated over the years of our church experience. This can be both a blessing and a challenge. A blessing, in that we are reminded of the cycle of birth and resurrection. We are re-called, called again, to our connection with not only the liturgical calendar, but the cycle of life itself. In the familiarity of our rituals and celebrations we are re-connected to our faith and the family of God. The challenge of Lent is to find a way to make it a vital, living, immediate experience of the life of Christ and our connection to that life, in all that it both asks and promises. The writing exercises offered here invite you to explore both the blessings and challenges of this season.

The Blessings of Lent
Take a few minutes to think about what it is you truly look forward to in the Lenten season. This could range from daily events to more general feelings or awareness. Now go beyond what first comes to mind. Is there something that attracts you every year, when the season of Lent first begins its approach? What about it especially beckons you, what is it that draws you to want to be a part of this experience? Is it the change in seasons, the promise of spring? Is it the comfort of tradition? Is it some sense of a new start in your life, or a chance to go deeper into your prayer life? It may be all, or none of these things. Write about what the blessings of Lent are, for you, this day.

The Challenges of Lent
There are several challenges before us during Lent as well. How to stay the course of Christ's journey without losing heart. How to not judge the way others are "doing Lent." How to keep the incandescent reality of our faith alive in the midst of the harsh reality of daily life. In some Christian denominations, Lent has also traditionally been used as a time of giving up something we enjoy or rely on, in order to demonstrate our personal repentance and our allegiance to the suffering that Christ experienced. Yet the story of Christ is not just a story of suffering, but of a human being who lived in the complete fullness of God. Our challenge therefore is to learn to live in that same complete fullness, as best we can, through Christ's example and his ever-present love. What is it that keeps us from full communion with Christ? What can we "give up" this Lenten season that has until now served as a barrier between us and Christ? Is it some behavior, some pattern, some way of thinking about ourselves or others? Or could it be some unrealistic desire that keeps us from the present moment? Or are we avoiding an unexplored dream that might fulfill us? Write about what you might "offer up" to God during this season as a way of acknowledging your desire to come closer to God. What door could you open, in what way could you stop hiding from God's love?

Copyight © 2005 Sarah Stockton