The days are getting longer, have you noticed the light fitting its way into dark corners of the house, well into the evening? This is the season of Lent, from an old English word meaning “to lengthen.” We are stretching time over 40 days, waiting, leaning toward the light, hoping in the resurrection of the world yet again from winter into spring, from cold withdrawn spaces to wide open plains of possibility — fresh air, sunlight, green leaves, blue skies.
In Lent we give up, we practice letting go as self-discipline, to follow Christ into the desert in hopes that we too will emerge intact as he did, ready for whatever sacrifice we are called to, ready to rise again. This letting go is hard, but it is necessary. Our hands are full of rocks we’ve been collecting all our lives and God has brighter gems for palms-open willing hands to receive. Can we let go of what we’ve been carrying, the weight so heavy, the cross not ours to bear?
Letting go can be so painful, and so liberating. The season we are in can be a season of deprivation or of liberation, a transcendent release. “Open your mouth wide and I will fill it,” God promises in Psalm 81:10. Living waters. Deeper magic before the dawn of time. Can we trust the process? Can we trust God to carry us through the desert?
This week, let’s go slowly, let’s be gentle with ourselves in letting go of what prevents us from receiving love, grace, freedom, forgiveness. This letting go is making way for something divine and holy and human and full of hope to come to us. In this lengthy, messy, moment-to-moment Lenten season, we find reasons to hope.
Writing the Book of Hope
If you’re just now joining us in writing the Book of Hope, here’s all you need to get started.
Have you heard our Reasons to Hope playlist on Spotify? It’s made up of songs to inspire gratitude and hope.
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Root and Vine