Thoughts heading into Lent

Lent is a season of self-reflection. It’s a season of contemplation. It’s a season of examination. It’s a season of vulnerability and confession. It’s a season of repentance. It’s a season of preparation.

It is many things — a transition to Easter. A journey. And like all journey’s, there’s a starting point and a destination. And a path along the way. It’s not the destination that matters so much as what happens along the way that makes the journey worthwhile. It’s how you change that makes the journey memorable and meaningful.

That’s the story of every vacation, isn’t it? That’s the story of every training for a marathon, or every epic quest that we’ve ever heard, isn’t it? It’s the purpose for our education — to be changed and transformed by the process. It’s what life is all about after all. Lent is an analogy for life, in some ways.

And in Lent we hear a few distinct messages. We hear about our mortality. Oh how difficult that is for so many. Death. Far too many don’t even like the word. We prefer to spin it with other things — passing away, sleeping, going away, celebrating life (which is the complete opposite of death). What is our fear of death? Are we afraid of its power? I thought as Christians we claimed that death no longer has power or a sting? Sure, we’ll all feel death — that’s reality. Death is very much a part of life. But death does not get the final say. Yet how many people actually believe that? We talk about the resurrection, but I wonder how many actually, truly believe in resurrection. In…