Lent and Easter should be the most important time of the year for Christians, but in evangelical circles, Lent is rarely observed at all and Easter is a frenetic celebration that sneaks up on us one Sunday in the spring. Last year, after observing Lent for the first time, I decided to do everything I could each year to make Lent and Easter my family's most anticipated and enjoyed season. (I'll be sharing some of my ideas for drawing out the significance of Lent and Easter in upcoming posts.)
One way I'm observing Lent this year is by giving up the TV, movies, and talk radio that dominate my free time. There are too many distractions in my life--too much noise. My inner "space" is now hidden somewhere behind responsibilities, the mundane maintenance of life, media bombardment, and sheer exhaustion.
That inner space is the soil for my spiritual life. It is the stillness I need to contemplate what really matters; to deepen roots and nourish fruit. The soil has been fallow beneath the moment-by-moment immediacy of life. It's time to dig up the weeds, soften the clay, water the roots...plant something new.
Every time I reach for the radio dial or feel like flopping down in front of the tube, I will stop. Close my eyes. Envision the garden coming to life again. Ask God to walk with me in my mini-Gethsemane. And remember Christ, who laid aside everything to take on flesh, suffer, die my death...and now live my life.
Athens
4 years ago
