A Concord Pastor Comments: LENT or SPRING BREAK?

Image: UUAA

Ash Wednesday was a week ago today: how's Lent going for you?

Whatever your response to that question, let me suggest that you think of Lent as a kind of spiritual "Spring Break." That's right: think about Lent in terms of taking a vacation!

Imagine taking a break from the things that weigh you down, wear you out and drain your spirit…

• Imagine taking a vacation from the over-eating and over-drinking that many of us do. Holding back on consuming too much food and drink, and experiencing instead what it means to be hungry, what it means to want to be filled with something good, something healthy, something nourishing for the heart and soul… It’s hard to know our hearts’ real hungers on a full stomach. (We don't do our best thinking after Thanksgiving Day dinner!) And imagine the money you might save on a "vacation from consuming" - and how you might use that money to reach out and serve those in need…-

Image: ITBgames

• Imagine taking a vacation from the couch or from the chair in front of one of your screens (TV, computer, tablet, smart phone, Wii, Xbox). Imagine taking a vacation from the machines that mesmerize and manage our time and spending that time, instead, with real people, at home or in the neighborhood or out with friends… Imagine a vacation that moves us from relating to machines to relating with human beings, our brothers and sisters in Christ…

• Imagine taking a vacation from your schedule, your planner. Imagine setting aside a half hour (or even an hour) every day to do some of the things you really like to do, the things that nourish you, the things that bring you peace, the things that feed your soul and spirit…

• Imagine taking a vacation from the sounds, the voices, the music, the media, the background noise that is everywhere around us, often plugged into our ears… Imagine a vacation with moments of quiet, even silence… imagine sitting still for a while every day, or walking in a quiet place… imagine that in the quiet that you might speak to God in prayer… imagine that perhaps in the quiet, you might hear God’s voice in your heart…

• Imagine taking a vacation from wasted time and foolish pursuits and laziness and finding time to do some of the spiritual things you want to do but never seem to get around to… Imagine planning and making the time to participate in parish prayer and activities in Lent and in Holy Week… Imagine a vacation that draws you closer to prayer with the Church…

Image: SongBird

• Imagine taking a vacation from all the busyness that keeps you from reaching out to others. Imagine planning and making the time to call or write someone you should have been in touch with months, even years ago… Imagine making the time to get together with the people who bring out and nourish the best in you… Imagine going to the supermarket and shopping only for groceries to bring to church on the weekend for the baskets for the parish food pantry… Imagine making the time on your Lenten vacation to volunteer in your parish's outreach to those in need… Imagine having the time on this vacation to be more aware of and to attend more carefully and personally to those in need in your family, at school, at work and in your neighborhood…

• Imagine taking a vacation from whatever might be your bad habits, from over-indulgence, from gossiping, from self-concern, from jealousy and envy, from junk entertainment, from grudges long held and resentments carefully kept, from silence used to punish and manipulate others… Imagine bringing your faults and failings to the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) for the gift of the Lord's pardon...

• Imagine taking a vacation from making yourself and your own circle of activity the center of the universe and, instead, making the time to see God as the center of your life and of your family, your friends, your work, your week…

Image: HG

• Imagine taking a Spring Break that refreshes your heart, cleanses your soul, opens you to God’s grace, brings peace to your relationships and wisdom to your choices… Imagine taking a vacation at the end of which you find yourself more the person God made you to be and more the person you want to be…

• Imagine a Spring Break that ends with Easter and the joy of leaving behind what gets you down, wears you out and drains your soul... And imagine finding in place of all of that new life in the light of Christ and the peace he suffered, died and rose to give you...

"Spring Break" began a week ago but it's not too late for you to come along. Easter is still 5 weeks away. Take a "Spring Break" - we all need one!