Why I love Lent

I love the Lenten season: the 40 days leading up to Easter. Sounds strange, I know. It's the community building within the 40 days-- we're all in this together sort of thing. It's because it's really the only time of year where I feel like I have super-strength powers-- I can go for 40 days without desserts or even facebook. It's the weather... it's almost spring! It's the one of the few times a year I consciously try to renew my relationship with God. 

Below is my reflection for this year on these next 40 days...

Lent.

What’s it all about?  

Why is it so important? 

What are we supposed to do? 

Do I really have to give up desserts?

When I look outside, I see the gloom of an everlasting winter. The snow is half-melted and dirty, the trees are lonely and bare, and our cars are crusted with salt. Oh, let’s not forget about the constant cold and awful rain, slush, sleet, and snow we’ve had recently.

Every day, I walk to school—it’s about a 25-minute walk. So, every day this semester, to make the walk more enjoyable I crank up the tunes on my ipod. However, yesterday, in the rush of getting to school, I forgot to get out my ipod. About half way through the walk, I realized that I wasn’t listening to music… and surprisingly, the rest of the walk wasn’t so bad. Even though I didn’t have my music to keep me going, it was so nice to just have 25 minutes to myself. It was so nice to just walk in silence. I was able to reflect on my day and the million things I had to finish. When I got to school, I was ready and determined to conquer my day. And let me tell you, I was so productive yesterday! 

...Coincidence?

During my daily walks on my commute to school, I try to remember what it’s like outside in the spring. Every now and then I see a small chunk of grass peaking out through the snow and am reminded, there’s still a glimmer of hope, a small speck of light at the end of the tunnel: spring is on its way.

Honestly, when thinking about Lent, the first thing that comes to my mind is: no dessert. That’s my go-to thing that I give up for Lent every year. I, like many people, love desserts—Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate is my favorite, then there’s cookies, cake, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and of course McDonald’s always has Shamrock Shakes during this time!

To me, though, Lent is not just about penance and giving something up—TV, desserts, facebook, soda—hey, it’s nice that you feel better from the less sugar that you’re eating, or the more productive you are without social media. But really, Lent to me is a very spiritual time. It’s a time to pray, it’s a time to listen to God, it’s a time to reflect on the light at the end of the tunnel. The glimmer of hope that comes after 40 days of gloom: Jesus dies, Jesus rises, Jesus will come again. That realization gets us through these 40 days, just like the hope for spring coming gets us through the cold winter.

During this Lenten season, I’m going to keep my ipod off during my walks to school and take that silent time for me. Each day, it will get warmer and sunnier as the Wisconsin winter rolls into spring. And each day, I’ll listen to God in the silence of my walk.

And so, I’d love to leave you with an inspiring quote. But, instead, I will leave you with something more: just… a moment of silence.