Some time ago, I was having a conversation with someone about Easter. And I guess I used the word 'Lent' several times. It was already about ten minutes into the conversation when my dialogue partner looked at me and said "I don't think I am understand what you mean when you say 'lend.'" "Oh," I thought, "I need to watch how I speak my Christianese."
But that misaligned conversation has been helpful to me in thinking about some aspects of this 'Lenten' time, as I remember that the other definition of the word 'lent' is as a past tense of 'lend.' As in, all of these things around us that we enjoy and feel incredibly blessed to have -- our children, our friends, our family, our world, our possessions, our health -- ultimately are given to us on a 'lent' basis, which is to say they are ultimately not 'ours.'
Which means the thing that we ought to be most thankful about is not our children, our friends, our family, our world, our possessions, our health -- but rather the One who is so kind and loving toward us to give these things to us to love and enjoy for the duration.
Which actually is kind of a good thing to think about during this other 'lent.'
May God re-orient my gratitude toward Him.
(So, what thoughts have occurred to you during this Lenten season?)
For me, there are a lot of thoughts I've thought during this Lenten season. In all honesty, most of it has been, "This is hard!". I've decided to give up watching TV. When I come from a long exhausting day at work, sometimes all I want to do is NOT think about work. How I've been doing that is by watching TV. While a "moderate" amount of TV is ok it's been taking up several hours in my day, everyday. So, I thought it would be a great time set aside to spend some more time with God. In the first couple of weeks, I actually just fell asleep! But as the weeks progress the desire for escape is much more apparent. Then the thought crossed my mind.. "What better place to escape than into the arms of Christ?" Sounds so cliche, I know. It's still hard to stay away from my massive DVD collection and the big screen TV at the foot of my bed... but I am reminding myself of this every time I want to reach for the remote.
ReplyDeletePastor Jin, thanks for reminding me that "lent" IS the past tense of "lend." Your post really helped me put my thoughts together in terms of how things have been during (and even before) this lenten season. I've been feeling incredibly blessed these days by my supportive and loving family, friends, church community and an opportunity to work at a job that I love. All these things that God has given me -- I try to not take them for granted but to somehow use them to glorify Him, who has graciously given me all these things. I've been reassessing my life and how I can use the resources that God has given me to further reach those who are "struggling" with the most basic daily need such as eating a simple meal just to sustain life. I know, I love to eat out. I eat out about 4-5 times a week. It's not because there's no food at home, or I can't prepare my own meal... it's just, i prefer eating out because it's GOOD, it's TASTIER than a homecooked meal. It deeply satisfies my taste buds. During this lenten season, I want to tone down my desire to eat out and spend more time thinking, praying and being more aware of those who are lacking in their most basic needs -- food. For lent, I gave up eating out (except for when i'm traveling...due to necessity since i'm not at home) and at the end of the lenten season I want to donate the money that I have saved up to help out a hunger organization. I know my tiny offering won't solve the problem but at least it will help me be mindful and do what I can to help. I think our church is really blessed to be able to share a meal together after service and always have more than enough food to serve our congregation, but let us continue to think about those who are hungry and not let any food go to waste.
ReplyDeleteKayla - its' encouraging to hear that you are pursuing two of the most important disciplines of Lent: fasting and almsgiving. I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments about food and how in our abundance, we can so easily lose perspective. Good word.
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