Living a Forced Lent

For Christians around the world, early spring brings with it the bright sadness of the Lenten season—a season of fasting, of abstinence, of giving, of prayer, and of self-reflection.

We who practice the Lenten pillars of prayer, fasting, and giving, are urged to fast without show, abstain without bragging, and to give without measuring out the cost or the desire for notice.

It is a sacred time—a season to pull back from the surface distractions and attachments of our 21^st century that have clung to us like barnacles on a sunken ship.

The customs of lent ask us to fast and abstain from certain foods and activities as a sign of our detachment from a purely material point of reference. So, we may cut out deserts (yes, I said it!) or fast from food, or simply reduce the amount of food and drink we take in. And, we may choose to abstain from activities for these forty days—activities like watching TV, surfing the internet, or going out to restaurants and clubs.

All of this, though, is designed to bring one to a place of stillness and self-reflection, where we are more likely to look at ourselves and how we have been living. These practices bend our souls towards self-examination—to take stock of our moral and spiritual life. This is when we stop looking at others, and instead look at ourselves.

We ask ourselves during this time how we have grown in our relationship with God and with others. We look at how we may have harmed others and what we can do to repair the damage we have caused. We look at where we have been “missing the mark”—the definition of the biblical word “sin”.

As one who has grown up following Lenten practices for many years, this one is like none other.

When Ash Wednesday, (the inauguration of the Lenten season) arrived on February 26^th, the United States was not yet fully aware of the change in our lives that was racing towards us. The coronavirus had already ravaged China and was spreading throughout Europe, with sixty cases reported in the United States.

Since then, in less than three weeks life across our globe has been turned upside down. Seven and a half billion people are living in a different world than they were a month ago. As of this writing, bars, restaurants, theaters and events are shut down. Libraries, churches, synagogues, and mosques are empty.  Schools are closed for the remainder of the school year, and anyone who can work from home is. Senior citizens are urged to stay indoors and away from any social contact with the outside world. Groups are restricted to less than ten.

This is the stuff of Dystopian fiction. If I were to put this little reflection in a bottle and bury it in the ground, when it is dug up fifty years from now, who would believe it?

Yes, our Lent has been forced upon us. There is no need to decide what to abstain or fast from. For the most part, it has been decided for us, like it or not.

What has not been decided for us is how we will spend this time. How will this affect all the people of our globe, and how will we be changed as we come out from this dark season?

During a normal Lent, the first week is exciting for its novelty (forgive the use of the word), but as the weeks go on, our Lenten practices require the spiritual virtues of perseverance, fortitude, and a hope that anticipates a time of personal renewal. Like physical exercise, the greatest benefits come from the accumulation of your practice over time, with the greatest impact coming towards the end.

The governmental restraints put upon us during this crisis may not seem too bad at first– some of us may even enjoy the slowdown and the cancelled activities and meetings. Yet, as the weeks of social distancing and zero group physical interactions strain us–take heart. In those weeks when we may be prone to restlessness or listlessness we will experience help from the one who made us and holds us in his hands.

The spirit of Lent is upon us, whether asked for or not. My hope and my prayer for all of us during our “forced Lent” is that this will be a time of breaking us down from our dependence and attachments to those superficial and distracting elements of our modern lives, and that we would be rebuilt in a new fashion with a renewed perspective of what really matters in life for ourselves, our loved ones, and our world.

The world has come to a halt. There is a sense I have never experienced before that we (the entire world) are being forced to accept that we are one, have always been one, and that we are in need of divine help and always have been.

I know we will be better for this.

May God bless and keep you in his hands.

Bob