I heard the phrase “the Lenten Journey” at Mass tonight. As
if there wasn’t enough to think about right now with all of my church
activities, searching for a job, running several websites and social media
campaigns, editing a doctoral dissertation, working on (working on ignoring) my
New Year’s Resolutions, and just trying not to go “stir-crazy” from being
cooped up this winter…now I have to go on a journey. Great.
Just Great.
Depending on whom I ask about this journey I just get more
confused. I polled several of my Facebook
friends to see what they had to say about this journey I am supposed to embark
on. It was a mistake…a big mistake. Once I weeded out the sarcasm and
inappropriate suggestions of exactly where I should go, I found that no one
actually knew where the Lenten journey was supposed to take me. Apparently it is shrouded in a great mystery.
Is this Lenten journey really so mysterious? Is it possible for just anyone to understand
it? I think, after much reflection, that
the answer is a simple one. As with most
spiritual activities we make things harder than they really need to be. I’ve heard it said that it is very difficult
to be Catholic. Or Christian. Or Spiritual.
Or. Or. Or.
Being Catholic (or Christian or spiritual or anything else)
isn’t difficult. The difficulty lies
within our ability to accept who we are when we view ourselves through someone
else’s eyes. The easiest way to explain
this is to ask, “Who are you when no one else is watching?” It’s pretty easy to be ourselves when there
aren’t any other living beings around to approve or disapprove of our
actions. Much of our behavior is affected
by expectations of others.
One of my very favorite quotes is from Dwight Moody, a
leading evangelist from the 19th century. (Stern looking guy. Big beard.
Didn’t smile a lot but was adamant about sharing the love of Christ
through evangelism…usually by banging someone over the head with it.) He is most noted for saying, “Character is
what you are in the dark.” Being Catholic
is quite simply our character and the easiest way to be Catholic is to imagine
ourselves in the dark. I know that
brings about bunches of imagery from popular media and pop-psychologists that
insist on walking “out of the dark,” but I’m not using metaphor here (that
begins in the next paragraph). I really
am referring to dark. Not evil, or
shade, or Friday the 13th nonsense.
Dark. Turn off the light
dark. That’s all.
So back to this Lenten journey. A small part of me hopes that the journey
will take me to Aruba (it is February in Ohio after all), but the reality is
that the Lenten journey is a metaphor. Church leaders thrive on metaphor. It helps them to explain how and why, using
contemporary phrases, to explain the unexplainable…and confuse us even
more. The Lenten Journey is not a
journey. Or a vacation, a roadtrip, a
hike, a skip, or even a shuffle. A
Lenten Journey can be taken in an auditorium with hundreds of people. It can be taken on your sofa while watching
Ellen DeGeneres. Or it can be taken
while locked in a closet…your choice, you choose.
The Lenten Journey is not about a physical change or a
change in locale. It is about an
awareness. Scholars greater than myself
can elaborate on how Lent is the atonement for original sin by Jesus so that we
can fully join him in paradise. However,
I believe that Lent is quite simply the acknowledgement and awareness by
humanity of the power of forgiveness.
The Lenten Journey is the process of accepting that forgiveness,
offering forgiveness to others, and learning the lesson provided by Jesus so
that we can move on.
Journey found.
Life is good.
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