A Lenten Reflection by Shawna Hart
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Luke 19:40 "I tell you even the stones will cry out."
My first introduction to Lent as a practice was when my daughter came home from church youth group. She told me what she had learned and said she was trying to decide what to 'give up' for Lent. I was drawn in by a middle school youth talking about giving up social media. During the next week I dug into the history and meaning of Lent. Lent is actually a word that simply means the season of spring. It has been a Christian practice first acknowledged in the early 300's AD. It is presently celebrated in the church calendar year (Liturgical Calendar) year. It commemorates the gospels account of the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness and fasted. I found it simply amazing that Christians want to understand and share in Christ's experience of being deprived of something enjoyable.
That first year I decided to follow my daughter's lead and give up something: listening to the radio in the car. What I learned was that the kids would talk to me in the car when there was silence. We had some conversations that seemed unimportant and some that we still talk about to this day. That year God used my children to 'cry out' and teach me lenten lessons.
Since that time the Lenten season for me is not always about fasting from something although it is always a time I pay more attention. The wireless 'spiritual' receiver inside me seems more connected. A couple of years ago, just before spring, I paid for a parking space near my apartment that was under a tree. I don't know about trees, but that year the tree began dripping sap on my car and continued dripping sap until Easter. It was strange to also notice the sap abruptly stopped after Easter. I felt as if the tree was God speaking to me and reminding me every day that even nature weeps at injustice and to remind me of the story of Jesus. That year a tree 'cried out'.
I have a habit of noticing street signs. When I see one with a particular name of someone I know I take a picture and pray for that person. Last week as I was thinking about the journey of Lenten practices I have taken since that first year I accidentally stumbled across a street sign and realized that I was driving on Lent Trail. I laughed at God's sense of humor and took a photo. This year a street sign 'cried out'. I instantly felt God speaking to me about intentionally praying through this years season and how my own journey through many Lent seasons has morphed.