The word "lent" brings to mind many thoughts. Often we think of it as a time of giving something up, such as desserts, chocolate and snacks, or a host of other things we find in our daily lives.
It can be a time of denial. It also directs our thinking to the agony of Good Friday and the ecstasy of Easter morning.
We remember the story from scripture of Jesus and his being driven out into the desert for 40 days. It was not a place he chose to be.
There, as the story goes, Jesus met Satan, who tested him three times.
The first challenge Satan presented Jesus was to turn stone into bread.
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The second challenge was to defy gravity by throwing himself off the pinnacle of the Temple.
The third challenge was to give Jesus all the worldly power he wanted if he would just bow down and worship Satan.
We know, according to the scripture, that Jesus resisted all of the challenges.
What if we think about the temptations we face today? The list would probably be very long. It might be categorized as what we need and what we want.
As an elderly lady once told our Appalachia mission group, "God will take care of my needs but not my wants."
In the book, "A Clearing Season: Reflections for Lent," Sarah Parsons presents some ideas about Lent. We can face temptations that we may not recognize, such as trying to make someone love us, pushing our work to follow a certain course or trying to control another’s life.
Lent gives us the time to examine our lives and look for the temptations that we could resist. The 40 days gives us an in-between time of the past and the future. We might look at it as a gift, a gift of using this time for self-examination.
What does lent mean to you?
