Lent is just a short week away and we need to get ready. Lent is the season of preparation for the coming of Easter; the coming of the day in which we celebrate our gift of eternal life – the death and resurrection of Christ and our reflection of what it means for us to participate in Christ’s death and resurrection. So you mean that Lent is a time of preparation and I have to prepare to prepare? Exactly. Lent is 40 days (not counting Sundays, at least in most Western Christian traditions) and 40 days is not a lot of time. At least not enough time in our crazy time-constrained culture to begin wondering how we might effectively “reflect” and “open ourselves” to the possibilities of Christ in our lives if we begin our wondering some time after the second Sunday of Lent. So, why not be the first one on the block to have your Lenten practices decided? You can tell your friends that this weekend is to Lent what “Black Friday” is to holiday shopping…and you don’t even have to sleep in a tent in front of Best Buy!

What can you do; what should you do? ANYTHING. Just do anything, preferably something that you have never done before unless “that previous thing” was incredibly helpful to your spiritual life. If you have some time available for vacation and a retreat center is nearby (and nearly everyone has some type of retreat center nearby), go on a Lenten retreat. Read a book, read the Bible, follow the Daily Office using the Episcopal Prayer Book (or go online here if it’s easier). If you are incredibly busy (and who isn’t incredibly busy, unless you have recently retired and you haven’t told anyone yet, so they can’t ask you to do several things in your “free” time), then simply find a few spare moments to pray for those you love, those who love you, and especially for those you don’t love, and pray for the world while you are at it…the world could use a prayer or two. Just do anything throughout the 40 days of Lent, and do it consistently. Lent, after all, is a time for thoughtful and disciplined attention toward God so we are prepared to receive His gift of saving Grace on Easter morning.

As for me, I will be reading Jane Shaw’s new book, A Practical Christianity: Meditations for the Season of Lent. You can purchase the book online at Cokesbury bookstore by following the link here. I have not read the book, but am following Bishop Jeff Lee’s (Episcopal Bishop of Chicago) invitation to read the book throughout the season of Lent. I look forward to walking with you as we travel the road to Calvary to Easter morning. I invite you today to prepare for the season of preparation; to get ready for Lent so that your Lenten journey may be fruitful and you may hear God calling you in the unique manner that God speaks to all His children.