Getting Ready for Lent
The reaction to the reality that Lent begins this week, among family, friends, and even parishioners, has been “Really? Already?”
I feel that way too, even thought Lent is pretty close to as late on the calendar as it can be.
WIth all that is going on in the world: people losing jobs, research being slashed, aid being withheld, and support for an aggressor over an invaded country…it seems like time is both standing still and marching out of control. I think it is important that we consider how we might enter Lent at this time and place.
Lent has always been meant to be a healthy and holistic part of our Christian calendar cycle. More so than New Year resolutions, Lent involves an intentionality to hear, see, and act differently in the midst of individual and communal lifespan.
Instead, Lent can be a time to spiritually, mentally, and communally regroup.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) website lists a chart regarding traumatic events:
Healthy ways of coping can help reduce stress and improve well-being. Here are some things you can do to help yourself:
Avoid the use of alcohol or drugs
Spend time with trusted friends and relatives who are supportive
Try to maintain routines for meals, exercise, and sleep
Engage in exercise, mindfulness, or other activities that help reduce stress
Set realistic goals and focus on what you can manage
Butler Bass reflects: “Notice how Lenten practice can fit in the above therapeutic map — fasting from potentially addictive substances, gathering with others, creating and maintaining healthy routines, developing spiritual practices for mind and body, and setting appropriate goals and boundaries.”
So what might we do to observe Lent in this healthy way?
I hope you might begin with one or all of our events this week.
Tuesday night, the eve of Lent, Shrove Tuesday or traditional Mardi Gras, we have our combined Food Truck event of Waffle Love and/or Tacos over at All Saints Episcopal Church on Foothill Drive from 5-7pm. In addition of food (a suggest donation of $10 per plate), we have games and activities in festive form, and we end the evening by burning palms in liturgy to produce ash.
The evening is followed by Ash Wednesday. Our Eucharist services are at Noon and 7pm, but I am making ashes available most of the day. There’s a reflection in your bulletin about the practice.
Then Thursday evening at 6pm we begin a study together: we will be reading Mark’s Gospel from start to finish. It is preferable to be in person but I will provide a Zoom link to anyone who wants to listen in from home.
Another opportunity: Butler Bass has created “10 Ws of Resilience”
Wake up, Welcome the day, Walk, (Be) With others, Work, Write, Watch the news, practice Wide-sight, Weep, and Wonder.
And is turning them into a Lenten offering at THE COTTAGE website: A LENT OF WELLBEING AND WITNESS
This begins on Ash Wednesday. You can subscribe for free at her website for the basic reflections, or pay a modest fee for access to videos, poetry, comment-chats, and additional resources.
Perhaps your norm is to do or give up something for Lent. If your practice grounds you in tradition and serves an asset to your experience, that’s all well and good.
I would advocate that you be gentle with yourself and know that the point of Lent is not to create hardship or frustration. If a bit of chocolate is helping you keep going in this stressful time, don’t give that up! Do something that enhances your life, or choose a not-doing that cares for your body and engages your mind rather than creating more stress.
Lent can be a time to step out of your comfort zone: write your letters, make your phone calls, show up to demonstrate, or protest, or be in intentional solidarity with those that do. Serve in our food pantries, try a new ministry, and/or let yourself leave an activity that has become a burden or no longer gives life.
Learn about our history from trustworthy sources. Branch out to hear the stories of others. Give yourself the chance to reflect, and then still your mind and give it rest as it needs.
Know that this all can happen in unexpected ways and from surprising sources.
I want to share an experience I had Friday. I went on a field trip with Sienna’s 3rd and 4th grade class to Kingsbury Hall at the University of Utah to see Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
I assumed we were seeing a performance, but that’s not what we experienced.
The Director came out, welcomed everyone, asked for the kids to focus their energy towards those who would be dancing for them, and then told us that we should first see how the dancers warm up. They lifted the curtain to show the dancers doing ballet together with their coach and a piano accompanist. Their movements were together, but their styles different so they could warm up their bodies as needed.
Then they introduced some of the crew including the Stage Manager to demonstrate how many people are involved in their work.
Next they did a couple ensemble numbers. But then they stopped and the Director interviewed a dancer about his life journey. The dancer had played sports in middle school here in Utah before moving to hip-hop dance and then dance of every kind and going to dance school and becoming a professional. He then performed a solo work.
The highlight of the day for me was when they brought out five dancers. Two took the lead in engaging the kids in movement exercises, while two demonstrated the movements from chairs and the other standing.
I am going to go out of my comfort zone now, and share with you a modified version of this as a meditation. combining movement and stillness.
We are going to begin with some deep breathing.
Breathe in deeply and slowly….and then exhale to at least a slow count of three.
Breathe in….Breathe out….
Now as you breathe in take in the goodness in our being with one another. Take in the energy and the life-giving air.
Now exhale the things that you need to, for the moment, let go of…
anxieties and stress.
Breathe in….Breathe out….
Now ground yourself through your feet. Imagine putting roots down like a tree.
And slowly, bring your arms up and out like branches.
Make them sway with the breeze: flexible and yielding to the elements.
Now make them sharp with strength: as if providing shelter from the outside forces.
Make them sway with the breeze: flexible and yielding to the elements.
Now make them sharp with strength: protecting those who are at risk with your branches.
Breathe in….Breathe out….
Now put your thumb out in front of you. Focus it on a moment.
Now allow your eyes to blur from it….and move you body in any direction keeping the thumb still as possible….
Now see your thumb again and still your body.
Again on the count of three …allow your eyes to blur from your thumb….and move you body in any direction keeping the thumb still as possible…
1….2….3
Now see your thumb again and still your body.
Change thumbs if you need.
Now we are going to do it quick after a count of three
1….2….3
See you thumb again and be still.
Breathe in….Breathe out….
“…a cloud came and overshadowed them;
…and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.
Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
"This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" (From Luke 9:28-36)
Entering the cloud can be terrifying.
The turbulence is real and we cannot control it.
Breathe in….Breathe out….
Listen for God…
Listen to Jesus…
Hear the Good news
See the possibilities
Breathe in….Breathe out….
Be creatively gentle this Lent: finding old and new ways to encounter God, and then actively demonstrating the love and justice that is needed in our world.
Breathe in….Breathe out….
Be ready to Move.
Thanks be to God
(Adaptation of sermons given at St. Paul's Salt Lake City on March 2nd, 2025)