As I write this, “Lose Weight for Good”, “Trust Me I’m a Doctor”, “Exercise: New Year, New You?” “Food Unwrapped Diet Special” are on prime time TV….and Easter Eggs are on supermarket shelves.  Yes it’s the first week of January, Christmas is a distant memory and it seems we are fast forwarding to Easter…

 

However, there is a different rhythm at work if we choose to turn aside and notice.  For many Christians the beginning of February is when we keep the feast of Candlemas, which involves blessing the candles in church.  It is also when we commemorate the Presentation of Christ in the Temple; revisiting the encounter of Simeon and Anna with Jesus, the one for whom they have been waiting patiently and faithfully, a light to lighten the Gentiles, the Light of the world.  So, Candlemas brings us to the end of the season of feasting which began at Christmas.  (I have a friend who, one year, insisted on keeping her Christmas Tree up until Candlemas…but that is another story).  Candlemas is the moment when we pause to look back at the wonder and glory of Christmas before turning our attention towards Lent.

 

And here you might be thinking that this is where all those TV programmes about diet and exercise will be useful; after all Lent is about fasting, self-denial and giving things up, isn’t it?  Beginning on Ash Wednesday, which this year is also St. Valentine’s Day, and ending on Easter Sunday, many Christians will observe 40 days of ‘fasting’ in a variety of ways.  Sundays are not included as they are feast days or for “refreshment”.  Lent is a time for Christians to reflect on the passion of our Lord, to revisit the events leading to Jesus’ death and resurrection, to ponder on what this means for us.

 

For me, the season of Lent is also about a change of pace; slowing down to turn aside from the all-consuming busyness and distractions of everyday life, and to notice, to pay attention…

To pay attention to my relationship with God and how I might deepen and nurture it.

To notice the ways I have cluttered up my life; on the outside to protect myself from being hurt; and on the inside, squeezing God out.

To notice how my vision has narrowed and my habits have become selfish.

 

On Ash Wednesday, when I receive the sign of the cross in ashes on my forehead and hear these words:

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.”

I will be even more intentional about turning my steps and my heart towards the Cross and walking in the way of Christ.

 

Observing Lent provides an opportunity prayerfully to take stock of our spiritual growth, to lay aside those things which come between us and God, to discern where and how we might take on a new discipline or responsibility, and in doing so to open our hearts to Emmanuel, God with us.

Rev. Linda Carter