One of my favorite descriptions of Lent was from a pastor. She said, shrewdly, “Lent is about the mess.”

I think this statement covers it all: the messes we have made in our relationships, our lives… the messes within us—the feelings, hurts, resentments, stuck places. In asking us to look at our “mess” and to bring it before God, Lent asks us to embrace our full humanity, not to make us wrong, but make us seen—not hidden—in our own eyes and in God’s.

It can be quite an inventory! But the purpose of this honest examination is repentance, which literally means “to turn around.” To pivot. To make a new step. As Episcopal priest Martin Smith has written:

“In repentance we face the fact that a great deal of our sinning is done through omission, failure, neglect or evasion. Repentance involves the willingness to plan the inclusion of whatever is missing from discipleship.”

Oh-oh. I used the “sin” word, a word that has been used to beat too many people over the head in too many a church. And yet… one of the many biblical definitions of this word is “to miss the mark”—an archery reference. That is something we do as easily as breathing, and almost as often. Awareness of when and how we are “missing the mark” is the first step.

Because you teach what you most need to learn, I am offering a class this Sunday at the 1:30 class at Marble that dives deep into things that hinder our relationship with God, self and others. I hope you’ll come, or tune in on live-streaming at www.marblechurch.org.

In the meantime, think of the understandable, glorious “mess” that is your still emerging humanity, and think of ways to shift it during this Lenten season—and beyond.