One of the things I have found hard to do when Lent comes around is to
give something up. First trying to
figure out what I’m willing to give up; then trying to determine what the point
of this particular denial is. Would
giving something up really change my relationship with God?
If changing my relationship with God is the goal during the Lenten
season, wouldn't it be better to find ways to engage with God and for God? Wouldn't intentionally devoting time to God
make more sense? If giving something up
would help me make more time to be in and for relationship with God, then, yes,
giving something up would matter. But giving
something up to deny myself some kind of pleasure may not mean as much.
I’d rather add something to my life of faith during these few weeks of
Lent. Thirty days makes a habit. Imagine what changes I can experience during
these forty! Creating space in my day
for contemplative time with God, writing in my blog, participating in
activities that help me see God in new ways, reinterpreting my place in this
world, praying, singing, worshiping more often and in more restorative ways,
these are ways that I will embrace Lent.