Do you know about Lent? In Christian communities, it’s often
a time in which the
readings about Jesus living into His ministry are read and
discussed. For forty days and nights (the same number that Jesus spent in the
wilderness) churches around the world reflect on Jesus’ life as it leads
towards the cross and ultimately our salvation at the cross. Too much? Take a
step back and let me share a story.
I grew up in a church that followed liturgical seasons.
You’re probably familiar with them, too, regardless of your religious practice
(Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, Advent, Christmas,
Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, Advent, etc., etc., etc.). You get it. Each
season has a significant focus on the life of Jesus and the Christian faith,
and each season includes a series of readings from the Bible so that throughout
the year, participants in liturgical services end up hearing a significant
account of Jesus’ life as well as readings from the Old Testament (the first
part of the Bible) leading up to His life. It’s pretty amazing how in depth the
study can be and how much of the Bible is actually read through this practice.
I grew up hearing all of these readings and following cycle
after cycle of seasons, year after year, but in my early 30’s, Lent made a
significant impact. It was one of those major hill climbs on my spiritual
journey. And when I say hill, I mean reaching towards the peak.
I was a youngish wife and mother of two, working hard both
professionally and in trying to live out God’s call for me to do good or share
my gifts or whatever it was that I still hadn’t totally figured out. Feeling a
strong pull towards something different, towards something that might help
others, I left my job of eight years, a job with great meaning, a place with
beloved colleagues and a ministry in itself. It was not without a lot of prayer
that I made this leap of faith towards something new.
It was only weeks into my decision that I started to wonder
if I had misunderstood what I felt strongly as a calling. I was confused and
hurt. I could not understand how the positive and powerful spiritual pull I had
felt had lead to something so painful and difficult. I prayed. I prayed hard. I
called upon friends. I asked for help and guidance.
Eventually, a thought settled on me. In my new career, I no
longer felt as if I was using my gifts and talents to serve others, something
important to me in both my profession and ministry. I decided if I was not
using them in my professional work, I would need to make sure I was using them elsewhere.
I called upon a local church to see if I might offer my
services. Although my confidence was badly bruised from my current predicament,
I knew I had a lot of experience to offer as a communications specialist as
well as a lay-leader bible study facilitator. I offered to help facilitate a
bible study at their church as well as to help coordinate their communications
volunteers. The bible study was to start the Thursday before the first Sunday
of Lent and a volunteer organizing meeting would happen a few weeks later.
The readings during that Lent were cathartic. Interestingly
enough, they are very similar year to year. As I studied the main gospel lesson
with the several women who gathered on Thursdays that Lent, I found myself
healing. I found myself strengthening. I realized that just as Jesus was
tempted in the desert, I was finding myself tested. I realized that I too had
the strength inside me to resist that temptation and that I wasn’t going to put
a bushel over my head any longer.
I made a decision to make a change. Interestingly enough,
just as I closed the door on the oppression I was experiencing, God opened a
window. To this day, it remains one of the most amazing moments of answered
prayer in my life. After several weeks of Lenten bible study, being guided to
and surviving the wilderness and walking the ministry of Jesus towards
Jerusalem, I stood before a group of volunteers wanting to learn more about how
they could help share the message of their church. After the gathering, a kind
man walked up to me and asked me if I was happy with my current employment. I
answered him honestly and said, “no.” The window opened. The job of my dreams
awaited me, one I knew would make the difference I was praying for.
When I walked away from the church building that night, I
opened the doors to the outdoors and the trumpets of angels were blaring. It
was the local train coming through blowing it’s horn, but the timing could not
have been more perfect for angels’ trumpets, and it will forever be angels’
trumpets blaring through that night that awaiting me as I walked in a new
direction towards light out of darkness.
Ah Lent, it does have a soft spot in my heart. It is not
easy. It is challenging, but it is oh so worth it, for Easter and resurrection
is coming, my friend. There is always a way out of the darkness. We just have
to find the path. We have to be willing to make the study, to open our eyes,
our ears, our minds, our hearts to the possibility that there is another way
and that God wants to lead us there.
I also want to note that there was great purpose in that
trying time before the angels’ trumpets blared. I will forever be thankful for
each and every person that crossed my path during that time and the lessons
learned from each of them. Without that experience, I would not have been
prepared for the new path before me.
I wish you the most blessed and thoughtful Lent. I hope that
angels blare their trumpets for you. Just know that you might have to do a
little homework to hear them.
In 2014, Lent will begin March 4 and continue through April
17. You don’t have to wait to start attuning your ears, hearts, eyes and minds.
With love and light,
LT
