4 Questions to Ask Before Lent-ing

Merry Lenten everybody!

Another all to familiar, not-so-merry — yet — superficially-sacrificial-spiritual season is upon us.

I hope Fat Tuesday / National Pancake Day / Chug-Every-Last-Drop-Of-Caffeine-I-Can-Find-Before-I-Quit-Cold-Turkey-For-6-Weeks Day was enjoyable. Ash Wednesday has officially arrived. The day we kick-off our spiritual marathon of sorts; desperately sprint to the finish line of more morning prayer, less Twitter-tantrums and losing ten pounds.

Though my (obvious?) sarcastic tone, I may not be far off from what we normally “do” for Lent, right? After all, it’s nothing more than a completely self-centered season of discipline…Right?

Before we go any further, I have a confession to make:

I’m not Catholic.

About once a year I go thru a phase when I seriously consider jumping on the bandwagon. I do love me some Pope Francis. But I wouldn’t categorize myself a convenient Catholic either. I guess when it comes down to it, I’m nothing more than fanboy.

So, please be patient. If I break any hard Catholic commandments, know it’s not a malicious move — I’m just an ignorant protestant.

Now that we got that out of the way…
Lent has become a season of which I readily embrace. A season of which I’ve found can be filled with profound moments of discovery, stimulating journeys of wonder, and opportunities to love my neighbors deeper.

Whether you plan to execute a Lenten practice or not, I invite you to chew on these questions I asked myself before diving into the Lenten pool:

4 Necessary Questions to Ask Before “Lenting”

1. WHY?

Trite as it seems, asking “Why?” may be the crux of it all. Seriously, what’s the point of doing something if you can’t answer the simple question. Especially in dealing with faith, I’m not sure, “I did it because I can” or “Why not?” suffice as adequate answers.

Lent is a specific season carved out for deeper focus and growth in pursuit of God…or so I’m told. Maybe it’s nothing more than waging war on Skittles. Anywho…having a reasonable answer as to why you want to expand your paradigms. Exploring the deeper recesses of your spirit will undoubtedly grant you further wisdom. But what will the discovery be if we don’t know why the season is important to us?

We don’t have to blast our reasons and justifications all over the interwebs. Though our minds and hearts do need a realistic answer fueling the fire. The last thing we need is an instance where we underestimate the importance of motive.

I keep saying “we” like me and the Catholics are so close. Classic!

2. CUTTING CANDY OR DITCHING THE CRUTCH?

It’s common practice to “sacrifice” something for the Lenten season. We throw the guilty-pleasure-monkeys off our backs exhibiting a tad more discipline than normal.

“It may be difficult to cut Sour Patch Kids from my diet for 40 days — but I can do it!”
“I don’t really need soda to survive, and I could stand to lose a couple pounds…Dr. Pepper is getting the ax!”

Can we be honest for a second? 
That’s not sacrificing — it’s pressing pause.

Here’s a crazy idea…Let’s push ourselves till it hurts!

What if, instead of simply cutting out a semi-harmful, yet enjoyable, vice — we kick the crutch out from under us?

Metaphorically, of course. Although, if you’re determined to make the physical act of “kicking the crutch” out from under someone — please be careful, and video tape it. We all wanna see it.

Quit social media cold-turkey for 40 days…
Stopped blogging completely…
Refuse to look up pornography…
Stopped letting hate fester in our hearts…
Let’s pray for our enemies…
Stop enjoying in other’s misfortune…
Call a different person we’ve wronged each day and ask for forgiveness…
Let a homeless person move in…
Dare to dig to a depth our faith has never reached…
What if we sacrificed so much that we saw Jesus clearer than we ever have despite it breaking us in the process?

Ouch! Did I really just say that?

If we’re not willing understand what it means to truly sacrifice, than all we’re doing is masturbating. Sure it feels good for now and it takes a little effort — but what are we really achieving?

3. WHAT AM I ADDING TO MY REPERTOIRE?

Somewhere along the line we became so fixated on exclusion that we forgot the benefits of inclusion. After all, if we’re doing this “church” thing right we’d be known by our welcoming love and not by what we abhor and ignore…Right?

Jayson D. Bradley is one of the better “Jesus-bloggers” out there and has become a solid internet friend of mine. I asked my Facebook-peeps (the only true resource, right?) what they were planning to exclude for lent. Naturally, Mr. Bradley dropped a truth-bomb on me:

“I always use Lent as an opportunity to add something into my life rather than take something out of it (that will just be reintroduced). I am mostly concerned with my omissions.”

Bam! There it is. The massive wake-up call I needed. Admittedly, I was ashamed I hadn’t seen the obviousness of it all before. But he’s right.

In the midst of the season, we’re already programming our minds and hearts to be exploring on a level we don’t normally dwell. What better time to add a practice or two our our community could benefit from?

Don’t merely ditch your crutch. Replace it with a healthy leg.

4. WHERE WILL I FIND NOURISHMENT?

A few years ago, a friend of mine released his first book which found vast success. The whole piece centered around dealing with loss on an incomprehensible level. From his personal testimony, he shared why it’s important for our faith to have “battle scars” of sorts. Being okay not having all the answers. Knowing that God is present, mourning and healing is perhaps the most difficult — yet — profound discovery of it all

Ironically, he didn’t set out to write a book. While dealing with his loss, he chose to dedicate the Lenten season to fasting and writing. Everyday, he’d write for at least an hour in his journal pouring out his heart, confusion, frustrations and thoughts. He shared it with a couple friends of his who then empowered him to share his story.

That’s how his book came to fruition.

Deciding which well to draw from is just as important as drinking the water.

Where will you go for nourishment these 40 days?

And don’t say Dr. Pepper. You’re supposed to be knocking that shit off!

Journaling, prayer, fasting, Bible study, a specific book, a small prayer group, a soup kitchen, at mass, confession, writing letters, prayer walks?

Wherever you find it, be intentional. 
Eat what’s served not just what you want. 
Come to the table hungry.

Whatever your pursuits may be for this Lenten Season, I hope they’re more than mere sin-managing or knocking off of the Snickers bars. At the heart of this time is a rich history filled with imperfection and resurrection. Let’s dare to celebrate, stretch, mourn and grow in these next 40 days to the likes of which we’ve never ventured.

Oh wait…

Since I’m not Catholic — I’m I allowed to say all this?
Maybe I could’ve summed it all up with this:

We could all stop sucking. Now — Lenten — is a good time to start.