Giving-up stuff can enrich us. Self-denial can be a way toward self-fulfillment.
Lent is an opportunity.
For the last several years I have tried during Lent to drag myself back from the routine, practically unconscious, living, that we all gravitate toward if we allow it, and strive toward a more aware, rich life. Things distract us from Love. And Love is the only thing worth living for. Love demands some degree of immediate self-denial (though you could argue that that self-denial is actually done for long-term selfish intent.)
Like everyone else, I have my doubts. I am not a person who has absolute "Blessed Assurance" of every single theological tenant of my church. But I am assured, at least, of the basic truth that Love is good. And according to I John 4:8 we can go so far as to take one of the "o"s from "good": "Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love." And along the way I have made the decision to try to live according to that assurance. (I fall far short of my goal.)
Lent is a time for me to consciously re-up by giving-up some stuff -- physical, behavioral, or both.
This link has some good info about Lent and some ways to observe it. Click on the picture below:
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