Ash Wednesday: Walking into the Unknown

It is Ash Wednesday and Lent is officially upon us. I wrote last week that there is always a little bit of apprehension for me as I enter Lent. That is true, but there is also a sense of excitement and allure that comes from it. I have been on a number of diets in my life. I need to diet semi-regularly because I gain weight and lose weight fairly easily. Combining that with a lack of eating discipline and I am overweight. When I decide to go on a diet, however, I usually formulate a strategy, go out and get the food I need to make it a reality and set a time frame for the diet. I don’t want to do it, but at the same time, when it comes time to being, I get excited. I get excited because there is this unknown realm of possibility that exists on the other side of a diet.

It is that sense of anticipation that marks the beginning of this Lenten season for me. Life has been crazy, and busy, and moving at a quick enough pace over the last 3-4 months, that I feel so undisciplined. I really need some Lenten fasting just to create space to breath and think again. I need to listen for 40 days and patiently wait on the voice of the Lord. I need to remind myself of the futility of giving myself over to the my own passions without tempering them and transforming them through Christ. But mainly, I need to get over myself. Lent isn’t about me. It is about God, and focusing and reorienting my life around him. So I am entering this Lenten season focusing on knowing God.

I am fasting and adding disciplines to aide in my seeking of God’s voice. I like to tell people what I am fasting from because it helps keep me accountable. I have made my fasting a multiple realm fast this year. From my entertainment realm I am giving up my IPODS and all music in my car. I will not listen to my IPODS or the radio during Lent. Instead, I will try and use this time of silence to pray and listen. From the realm of food I am fasting from chocolate. This seems like a small fast, but when I considered all the times a day I have something containing chocolate, it suddenly became a much bigger fast. In the realm of disciplines I am concentrating on listening to God, by creating silence in my life. Exploring my understanding of God through writing. And God’s will for my life through prayer and the discerning voice of my friends.

So with excitement, trepidation, and longing for peace, I enter Lent and give thanks. Today as I am marked with the ash and mark those of my congregation, I pray that God will once again bring life from death by putting his breath in us. I pray that there will be renewal and strength found abundant. And I pray that you too may hear the voice of God and like Moses you will emerge from this time of seeking God with a life that radiates his glory to all you encounter.