We often talk of Lent as a season. Yesterday the woman bagging my groceries made “Lent” a verb.<\/p>\n
The one-inch-thick, pound-plus bar of Belgian chocolate was already safely tucked away in one of the bags when I explained that for the next 40 days I’d be abstaining from sweets and alcoholic beverages in order to connect more deeply with God and my need for God.<\/p>\n
“Are you Lenting?,” she asked. She could just as well have been asking if I preferred my milk in a bag or whether it was raining outside.<\/p>\n
But her question had elicited a surprised laugh on my end. “Lenting” as a verb suggests a little more intentionality than Lent as a season that we passively watch come and go like the colors of fall or the ice storms of winter. “Lenting,” like most verbs pertaining to human activity, connotes a choice or commitment of some sort. In the same vein as working or leaving or playing or boating or rock-climbing, “Lent” in verbal form is a decision, in this case to enter actively into the season of Lent as a time for remembering our need not just for God, but a God who wears a cross.<\/p>\n
But here I go preaching again.<\/p>\n
Because what I really want to say is that yesterday I learned from a stranger about what I want this Lent to be for me. My participation in Jesus’ journey to the cross won’t happen passively; nor can I will it into being; but it does require a level of commitment to place myself in a posture of neediness, starting with my most basic lusts and cravings. Embracing rather than passively ignoring my finitude is a blessed and well-trodden path to the heart of God. As St. Augustine said, “This is the very perfection of man, to find out his own imperfections.”<\/p>\n
So here I am, Day 2 of Lent, Lenting.<\/em><\/p>\n Wanna join me?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We often talk of Lent as a season. Yesterday the woman bagging my groceries made “Lent” a verb. The one-inch-thick, pound-plus bar of Belgian chocolate was already safely tucked away in one of the bags when I explained that for the next 40 days I’d be abstaining from sweets and alcoholic beverages in order to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":461,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,43,25],"tags":[2464,2093,1560],"class_list":["post-4987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cross","category-humor","category-jesus","tag-lent","tag-lenten-disciplines","tag-meaning-of-lent"],"yoast_head":"\n