Lenten Lessons

As I was walking today I realized that this Sunday is Easter Sunday. Maybe realized isn't the right word. Maybe it's more like a leap in my soul at the understanding that on Sunday many of us will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I grew up in the Catholic tradition and have participated in Lent almost all my life. As a child, it was not eating meat on Friday or trying to abstain from something or trying to add new disciplines to our lives that were different from the norm. One of my mom's best ideas was what we called 'lenten letters'. All of us (even my parents) would sit down every Sunday of Lent and write a letter to someone we loved, usually an out of town family member.

I've experienced varying degrees of feeling connected to lenten tide and Easter. Sometimes Easter Sunday is this feast for my soul after fasting for 40 days, but the last couple of years have been very uneventful. It is always my desire to participate fully but often times I get distracted and Easter arrives and seems no different than 'ordinary time'.

The last 2 years have been really tough. Life is tough, in general, for all of us. But since we moved to Seattle we have dealt with some fairly huge things. God's been faithful through all of it. One of the hardest things about this time is not having a feeling of being called to people here in Seattle. I'm sure it's our ability to hear the calling that was impaired. At first we needed to learn some things in the absence of community. But it seems that the time for this is over and we are compelled to stop just dipping our toes in and to jump head first into relationship building.

It's been a 'lenten season' the last two years on an emotional and spiritual level. It has brought us closer to each other and closer to God.

Today I realized that I'm ready for Easter this year. I'm ready to break through the death part (I still have to get through Good Friday) and really submit to celebrating the resurrection.