Lent
On the daily dog walk it is a joy to notice the lighter mornings and evenings after what has seemed a rather prolonged gloomy and wet few weeks. Time marches forward, and we continue on our journey towards Easter, through the church season of Lent. Lent is an unusual word, coming from the old English lencten probably itself from the Germanic lechten both simply meaning ‘lengthen’, reflecting this gradual lengthening in daylight hours we enjoy whilst taking in our natural countryside landscape.
Lent as a church season goes back many centuries and reflects Jesus’ time of fasting and praying in the desert, before he began his public ministry. The Bible tells us Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days but Lent itself is 46 days in our modern calendar because Sundays are not included. Historically it was also a time of preparation for people who wanted to be baptised, and this sense of preparation in readiness for Easter continues today. The first day of Lent is known as Ash Wednesday, when people came to church to have the sign of the cross made in ash, on their foreheads as a sign of penitence and repentance. This practice evokes Old Testament times, where in the culture of the day, people indicated their remorse by wearing sackcloth and ashes.
Before the Lenten fast began, people used up their richer food stock on Shrove Tuesday (by making pancakes, for example). So lent became associated with giving something up, fasting and making time to focus on God by reading the Bible and praying. In modern times, we may choose to give up specific pleasures, such as chocolate or alcohol, or social media. Sometimes it is only when we give something up that we begin to realise how much of a hold it had over us. Lent is also a season for charitable giving, the idea of giving up something for Lent coupled with giving something to the poor.
Rather than giving something up this year, for this Lent, why not consider taking something up? Something that does good to others and ourselves. For example, volunteering to help the community in some way; giving to charity; and making time for our own spiritual growth. Regarding the latter, our free Lent course, ‘In the Footsteps of the Saviour’ continues on March 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th at 7pm at our Community Church in Andoversford. All are welcome.
With every blessing
Rev’d Andrew Hiscox