I rather enjoy Lent. I like the idea of setting aside a specific amount of time to dedicate oneself to something of importance with intentionality. New Year's resolutions are too big of a challenge - too final... "Beginning on New Year's Day I will or will no longer... forever! ... or not... as generally happens. These resolutions are not usually spiritually driven - instead they are typically diet or health related independent of religious convictions. But Lent is a specific religious observance and the goals are very different. Just the same, many a religious person has given up something for Lent that is diet or health related - like chocolate - in an effort of experience a sense of sacrifice designed to grow in a deeper relationship with Christ. It is not for me to judge, let me be clear. But the purpose of this blog is not to ask you to give up chocolate. Instead, I suggest three ways to invest yourself in your Lenten observance.
1. Be intentional. There once was Buddhist monk who had studied at a temple for ten years. On the night before his departure his teacher asked him to stop by his room for a parting conversation. When the monk arrived it was raining and he closed his umbrella and put it by the door before entering. The monk and the teacher spoke for some time and enjoyed their conversation. As the monk was preparing to leave the teacher asked him, What side of the door did you put your umbrella, the left or the right? The monk did not know. The teacher noted the monk's lack of awareness and as a result of this lapse he continued his studies at the temple for another ten years. Most of us move through life as if sleepwalking, not fully awake or alert much less fully alive and available to the present moment or to the person in the room with us. "Where did I put my glasses?.... Oh, they're on my head!" We do this so well and so autonomically, we actually think we ARE fully present and awake. We can't imagine anything beyond that which we know now - how could there be more? But there is more, or less, depending on how you see it. Fr. Richard Rohr says that with increased awareness we don't ascend to a higher place as we might imagine, rather we descend, or fall, into a new understanding of living in Christ. To be intentional about living in the present moment is the first step to awakening to the Kingdom of God. This Lent pick something to give up and/or something to add to your life and plan for its inclusion or exclusion. It should be something that is not particularly easy for which you can make a quick adjustment. It should be something that requires effort and full engagement.
As an example: I am taking a Lenten class offered by Amy Howton (former director of Becoming Beloved Community for DSO) around her newly released book, A 40 Day Journey to Remembering Soul and Spirit (co-authored by my leadership coach, Quanita Robertson). These women are entrepreneurs and activists, which are not areas of expertise for me, and in many ways challenge my perceptions of spirituality and personal expectations, or lack thereof. This work will require that I explore ideas and exercises in unfamiliar territory. Daily journal work as well as other exercises are required as is a zoom meeting every Saturday with the wider group.
Not everyone needs to take a class. But I do suggest that you set your intentions on something that requires your attention and is out of your routine. Maybe your intention is to sit on a park bench for one hour a day and focus on everything you see, training your mind to remain in the moment and not think about anything. This would be a difficult practice for most of us, but it would also be transformative. (Eckert Tolle's transformation was just this: He sat on a park bench all day, every day, for two years.) Explore The Work, by Byron Katie. Do the one page worksheet, exactly as she instructs (free on her website) every day. After 40 days, you will transformed - you will never blame or shame yourself or anyone else ever again, that's a promise (unless you stop doing the work).
2. Focus on shifts. Whatever form your Lenten observance takes this year, focus on it each day. Every morning consider the work of your intentional observance that day. Before you go to sleep consider how you lived into your observance over the preceding hours. What has changed for you? Where did your mind go? What is rising up in you? This will likely be very subtle, but don't discount the micro-shift(s). It would be very rare to experience something profound; generally with new practices we experience nearly imperceptible shifts in ways of thinking about things or a subtle realization that a letting go of particular things or people. Focus on the shifts, the letting go's, and explore them - thereby growing them by giving them attention. Just training ourselves to focus and to do that with consistency is a big shift for most people. What side of the door did I put the umbrella?
3. Invite change. You might be saying: But change is the LAST thing I want! There is too much change in life and I'm sick of change and I don't want any more of it! Rant. Go ahead. You're allowed. When you're done, consider that not all change is terrible, or involves loss and grief, or pandemics or war.
In a Kingdom-minded way, expect that whatever change you experience as a result of your intentional Lenten observation will be positive and add to your happiness in immeasurable ways. In a Kingdom-minded way, accept that God wants you to be happy and is providing you with everything you need to realize happiness. In a Kingdom-minded way ponder the possibility that it is our thinking, our perceptions and biases that prevent us from experiencing joy and optimism even in the midst of difficult conditions here on planet earth. God's invitation to return and Jesus's teachings push us in the direction of continual growth and evolution; they anticipate shifts from inaction to action; from fear to courage; from despair to joy; from sickness to health, from enslavement to freedom. This is the kind of change I'm encouraging you to invite into your life.
No comments:
Post a Comment