Lent: the sequel

Here we go again ...

It feels like we never left Lent 2020. Easter didn’t feel like Easter. It still feels like we are pointing toward hope and resurrection but haven’t actually gotten there yet.

It’s hard to start Lent 2021 when we didn’t have the closure of Lent 2020.

Closure has been hard during the Pandemic. It seems we don’t know how to do that without large gatherings. So this year I’m going to do things a bit differently to live into Lent.

1. Celebrate: I’m gonna celebrate the heck out of Sundays. Can I truly make them a mini-Easter? I’m gonna try. I’ll plan an Easter meal. I’ll play some dance music. I’ll decorate a centerpiece with signs of life. I’ll try a variety of things and see what works.
2. Mourn: I’m gonna mourn losses. Each week I’m gonna take some time to remember my grief. Write it down. Find a visual element to remember the person, pet, or idea that has been lost in the Pandemic. And in that process I’ll try to let it go. That’s often the hardest part - especially when new loss happens regularly. But in finding ways to personally get some closure regularly, perhaps it will get easier.
3. Repent: I will ask for forgiveness. During the Pandemic my fuse has been short. I have much to repent over.
4. Forgive: I will forgive. See above but change the pronoun.
5. Renew: I will do things that are renewing. I will eat well. I’ll get fresh air. I’ll exercise. I’ll do acts of Holy Mischief. New life is still all around us and within us. 

I don’t know if this will lead to an Easter that feels like Easter. Perhaps what I felt before was only a fraction of what Easter really is. But I think for the sake of my spiritual sanity, this is a plan that will point toward hope. And we all need as much of that as we can get right now.

Until Everyone Hears,

-Shannon

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