Clergy from left, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired; Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Assistant Rector Lynn Finnegan and Pastor Deb Church. Courtesy photo

By PASTOR DEB CHURCH
White Rock Presbyterian Church 

“…for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19b, NIV)

This past Wednesday, Feb. 22, was Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the season of Lent, which will take us, before we know it, to Easter. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

But wait–first, Lent–everyone’s favorite time of year! Who doesn’t look forward to this season of somber self-examination and repentance? Who doesn’t love this period reserved for turning away from all that bad fleshly debauchery and turning toward all those good spiritual disciplines? Who doesn’t count down the days until it begins–this opportunity to focus intentionally on our wretched, sinful nature and our relentless need for mercy?

Lent–say (sing??) it with me: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”

Wait … that doesn’t seem quite right…

Or is it?? 

What if we thought of Lent not as a forced opportunity to focus on our sinful nature, but instead as a chance to claim more deeply our true identity as God’s beloved, and consider what are the parts of our personality that keep us from embracing that more fully?

What if we thought of Lent not as a period reserved for begrudgingly giving up something that’s “bad” for us and equally begrudgingly taking on something that’s supposedly “good” for us, but instead as a time when we’re given permission, and in fact encouraged, to recognize and step away from the things that keep us living fractured and frantic and broken lives, and choose instead what leads us toward wholeness and peace and blessedness?

What if we thought of Lent not as a season of ruthless self-examination and grim-faced repentance, but instead as an invitation for honest reflection on who we are, who God is calling us to be, and how well we’re living our “one wild and precious life?” (from Mary Oliver’s poem, “This Summer Day”) as one (and as a community) of God’s beloved??

Is it possible that Lent is the most wonderful time of the year??

Maybe, just maybe…

May God’s Holy Spirit, and an openness in our human spirits, be with us all as we enter this holy season, in all of our glorious humanity!

Editor’s note: ‘All Shall Be Well’ is a semi-monthly column written by local women clergy (pastors and deacons) including, ELCA Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, M.Div., retired (czoebidd@gmail.com); Nicolé Ferry, Pastor, Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church (pastornicole@bethluth.com); Lynn Finnegan, Assistant Rector, The Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith, Santa Fe (rev.lynn@holyfaithchurchsf.org) and Deb Church, Pastor, White Rock Presbyterian Church (pastor@wrpchurch.com).