What is Lent?

There are many answers to this question. It’s a season of the church year of course. It’s a time in which people give up something they like, or sometimes things they know they shouldn’t be doing anyway. Some think of Lent as a time in which there are added things — added spiritual practices, almsgiving, service, worship, etc.

But at it’s core, Lent is really about this — preparation for Easter. It’s a time in which we prepare space in our lives for the risen Christ on Easter.

And to get to the risen Christ, we must go through death. Yes, Lent is an intentional time of facing death. It is fitting that we start Lent with Ash Wednesday. It is on Ash Wednesday that death gets right in our face — actually on our face — in the form of ashes on our forehead. We hear the words “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” There is no escaping death. We are reminded that we are mortal. We are reminded that we can not save ourselves. Rather, there is a Savior for us.

Lent and Easter give us ample opportunity to explore the fullness of the Christian promise — life, death, and resurrection. And to know that we cannot experience resurrection until we go through death. There is no other way.

Resurrection offers us a better life. A renewed life. A life of new possibilities in which the old ways are put aside in favor of something better — even…