A Lenten Prayer

Following the Church calendar, observing various seasons and holy days, and the use of liturgy is something fairly new in my own journey of faith. As a young Christian, I remember thinking that tradition, as it related to faith, was dead, dry, and something to be avoided. I still agree that tradition for tradition's sake can be so, but over the years as I've discovered and fallen into the rhythm of these traditions, I've found them increasingly helpful and meaningful, especially as I seek to follow that compelling call of Christ to live differently amidst a culture whose traditions can promise so much and deliver so little.

The season of Lent is the 40 days before Easter. I've heard this time described in many ways, and I find them beautiful and helpful in one way or another. It's the journey with Christ to the cross. It's a submission to discomfort and wilderness, a way to clear space (check out my friend's great blog on this idea here), and to be with God. It's the recognition that life is not all about me, and that I am not my own God. It's a recalling of baptism, a deepening of commitment to Christ. One of my favorite aspects of Lent is that it's a journey of millions, and I know that brothers and sisters in Christ, all over the world, are journeying with me in some way or another.

It's common to take up some sort of discipline during Lent, to give something up, take something on, or both. This year, Rusty and I are eating rice and beans for lunch every day. It's a way to be simple, to remember the millions in our world who are hungry and happy to have even such a simple meal, and in its own way, it's a way to remember Christ, to invite God and His Spirit into our daily routine, and to use even a simple discipline to transform us, to make us His people, to be our God in a day and time and place when it's so easy to try and be our own.

I find it hard to articulate the reason for and meaning of this journey, but this morning as I did a daily reading and prayer from this Lectionary website, I found this prayer and thought it said more than I ever could:

Artist of souls,
you sculpted a people for yourself
out of the rocks of wilderness and fasting.
Help us as we take up your invitation to prayer and simplicity,
that the discipline of these forty days
may sharpen our hunger for the feast of your holy friendship,
and whet our thirst for the living water you offer
through Jesus Christ. Amen.