Lent isn't about me.

Today is the first day of Lent. The first of 40 days (excluding Sundays) that leads us to Good Friday and Easter.  In the first Christian century, Lent was only two days. By the third century it became two weeks, and then to 40 days in the fourth century. Forty days suggested by Jesus time in the wilderness before starting his ministry.  Like Jesus' wilderness time, it is time to review our lives, identify that for which we need forgiveness, examine our value system, and seek to grow in the way of love.

The popular notion about Lent is to give up something...alcohol, a candy bar, desert. This can miss the deeper meaning and lead to a sense of self righteous. I have done a terrific job and now I can eat ice cream again. Lent is not about me. Lent challenges us to make a deeper commitment to the way of love. To the life giving love that Christ brings to each of us.  Lent is cross bearing. Again, we have a popular notion that when something goes wrong in our lives, it is "our cross to bear."

That is not cross bearing. That is complaining. Cross bearing is doing something loving because it is right, God's will and I choose to do it. It is not the result of something that has happened to me or forced on my by circumstance. It is a loving choice. The Good Samaritan could have crossed the road, but he chose to help.

How can I take up the cross of love, be more loving, reach out, be more the person God has intended for me to be? Lent is growing in the way of love. And may God bless each of us as we take our growth in Christ seriously this Lent.