Lent: The Chase

If you've read the post above, there's nothing new here. If you've come here to 'cut to the chase', then...

If you're still with me I'm heading somewhere. And my destination is greater intimacy with God and each other. My hope is that, together, we can throw off the dysfunctional, litigious and religious contexts that have tinged my perception of Lent to reveal a holy intent for any pursuit of God: a greater glimpse of His heart for us and His Church, and His restoration of the world.

The danger of doing anything like this is that it becomes a new liturgy—another thing to do. That's not the plan here. If you're up for engaging in some form of Lenten experience then let's be really clear here: the purpose is bigger than the plan. And, if at any time during the 31 days there's a fork in the road between purpose and practise, choose purpose.

And the purpose is this: intimacy with God, intimacy with community. Draw near to God and He'll draw near to you. Draw near to those around you and you'll discover the joy of joining others in this mysterious life journey that we're on (NB. they may also tell you to buy some deodorant).

So, I'm throwing this out there for you to chew over—to contemplate then active (however 'activate' looks for you).

For starters:
A place to begin might be to throw out some questions—not just to form your Lenten practice, but to inform it along the way.

a) What unhealthy patterns do I see in my life during the past year?
b) What relationships need reconciliation or my new or renewed investment?
c) How can I improve my relationship with God?
d) In what ways can I join God in healing and restoring the world?

Then...
Secondly, you might consider some form of addition or subtraction to the next 31 days that moves towards the over-arching purpose. On the subtraction side, the fasting thing is an obvious one. Yet it needn't be about culinary deprivation. Perhaps identify the things that absorb your time and money and fast from those. Television? Shopping? Reading? Take-away food? The idea here is that whenever you feel an impulse for the thing that you're fasting from, take some time to acknowledge God and ask for His strength and His grace. Perhaps it's pursuing simplicity and integrating lifestyle choices that mean that, ultimately, less can become more.

On the addition side, there's lots of Lent to get excited about. What about deciding to pray with someone every day of Lent? What about using the four weekends of Lent to build community by having a series of dinner parties in different houses? Or shouting someone to a long coffee (long in time not volume...). Or how about deciding that on every day of Lent you'll specifically encourage people (whether it's by phone, sms, email, face to face, financially, whatever). Perhaps you could commit to physically kneeling by your bed, removing all competing noise, and praying aloud, allowing as much space to hear from God as you do to talk to Him? They're just a few, there's bundles of them.

Finally, it's common to commit to a daily reading of scripture during Lent. We're going to have daily readings on Cacophony over the next 31 days is you'd like them to be part of your Lenten experience. The idea is to pause. To stop and reflect. To rewind a little if you need to and meditate on God's word for you.

Final Thoughts: The Chase
I'd love you to buy-in to the purpose of Lent beyond the practise of it. But I'd love you to practise too. To allow the purpose of Lent to fuel your practise. While I'd love you to dialogue about Lent here on Cacophony, I'd love you to do something else: comment anonymously what you're integrating in this Lenten period to build intimacy. What you're doing and not doing. Or, even why you think it's a waste of time.

One last thing: my hope is that together, we discover that the decisions we make for these 31 days might be 'whole of life' decisions. So, document your journey. Share it here. Engage with Lent and those doing it with you. I don't doubt for a moment that the underlying purpose of Lent is an all of life purpose...by staring it in the face we clarify the journey ahead.

Lent on...

(Please note that as part of this post is a duplicate of the 'Late but Lent' post you are unable to comment here. Rather, to keep all comments together, please comment to the 'Late but Lent' post. Thanks)