Calvary Episcopal Church
Memphis, Tennessee
THE CHRONICLE
March 2, 2003
Volume 48, No. 9

Why We Need Lent

Lent is the account of the last and most difficult journey of Jesus' life. Lent is also
about the difficult journeys in our lives. Traditionally during Lent we sacrifice
something that we don't usually sacrifice, and/or we serve the needs of others more or differently than we normally would serve. Lent is a time that calls to us to be in touch with our mortality. (Certainly the main message of Ash Wednesday is "from dust you came and to dust you shall return.") Lent is at the very least a symbol of the deaths we suffer while we are alive (e.g., disease, loss of youthful health, death of a loved one, heartbreak). It is also a symbol of the death we will die.

It is easy to forget our need for God if we are functioning well, enjoying success, and living "the good life." But there are some very sad and painful events in life over which we have no control. At Lent we have the opportunity to focus, through
worship, Bible-reading, prayer, and special Lenten activities and services, on the
deepest reality of the human condition: from dust we came and to dust we shall
return. We do not have the ability to change that. When a loved one dies, there is
nothing we can do to bring him or her back. When our heart is broken, we can only
wait until God sends some grace and healing.

The reason that adversity usually causes us to grow, and even perhaps increase in
wisdom and compassion, is that it is mainly in adversity that we are brought back to our knowledge of our need for God.

Do you find this little article depressing? Let me quote from M. Scott Peck's worldfamous book, The Road Less Traveled: "Life is difficult; once you accept that, it isn't so bad." Life is difficult, but people of faith do not have to go through it alone. With God, and with God's community of faith, "all things are possible." May you have a productive Lent.

Bill Kolb+

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