Who are you? During this Lent, are you discovering something about yourself? I remember last year we entered Lent with the threat of coronavirus becoming a pandemic — and then it happened. And people boldly proclaimed via Facebook: This is the Lentiest Lent ever Lented. Or something like that.
And I wonder: how are we feeling about that now? If Lent is a time where we self-examine, where we take a hard, deep, real look at our relationship with God, to see our spiritual lives for what they really are . . . it’s tough. Lent has always been a more somber time in so many ways. And yet, after a year in the pandemic, I keep thinking to myself “haven’t I been sitting in this reflective time a lot?!?”
It’s been a season of reflection and realizing what is important to me, for my family, and to separate out what we think makes us “happy” and what really matters. My relationship with God has been strained as I have focused on so many of the “other” things in my life: how to get kids into school, buying the right kind of masks, trying to go out only when needed and come home with needed supplies, working smarter, checking in on my parents and extended family. The pandemic became its own season, alternative time, for so many of us.
It’s not over yet, but this season of disease and death and work and worry has some light within it. We see vaccines coming to our communities to protect. Healthcare workers, senior adults, and now teachers are getting the antibodies they need to safely stay at work and moving about the community. Some clergy are getting vaccinated now and others will be eligible soon!! We are finding hope and light, thanks be to God!
During this Lentiest of Lents, my hope is that you are making new rules for yourself. The Ten Commandments are in the lectionary reading for this week. God brought these commandments to the Israelites while they were on their long journey. These rules were a renewal of relationship between God and God’s people. The response to the law was a way for the people to show their love to God, to reflect back the love God already had lavished upon them. Lent is a time when we give our attention to our relationship with God. We give up something that takes us from God or we take on a new discipline to help us draw nearer to God. My hope is that this Lent looks a bit different – in the moments of giving up or taking on, also recognize what you have gained and how you have grown in the past year. Each of us have learned new skills and something about our own lives in the past year – what are these things? How has God blessed you? How has the pandemic season given you a gift? It brings me joy to realize this season has given me reasons to smile, not just fret. God is in this, all of this.
I rejoice for homeschooling – not because I love having my kids home zooming, but because I have been forced to engage with my teenagers on how hard zoom school is! We are talking more than ever (especially my 8th grade son) and I’m grateful for this gift! I rejoice in the pandemic for cooking more at home – and finding my family can try new foods and we can survive the clean up of the dirtiest kitchen. My kids have even started roasting their own brussels sprouts for lunch (it was a food new to them in this season). I am thankful for my dog who takes me on walks and helps to ease the stress of sitting and zooming for long, long meetings. I know the pandemic has made me more aware of my mental and spiritual needs and how important self care is for all of us. I am thankful that God slowed me down to see what I needed to see, even though I didn’t know it. So much to give thanks to God for, knowing these gifts are shared with me by God.
As you reflect on the pandemic season and in this Lenten season, make a rule to be kind to yourself. This season is not one of reflecting on “what I did wrong” but reflecting on the gift of God’s gracious and generous love, how God gifted us with what we needed when we needed it. God offers us grace so I hope you will offer that same kind of grace to your-self and to others. This is a discipline and takes practice. May you find Lent a time to give yourself over to God and others, letting love and gratitude rule. I pray this Lent brings you closer to the One who loves you like no one else.
If you would like to view past editions of Time with Tara, follow this link: https://harbordistrictnc.org/category/from-the-ds/