Lenten Journey

My work life has been so consuming that I am dreaming about projects due and past due leaving little time for the “self”, let alone time for thinking about my Lenten journey. 

We are all so busy with our daily lives, working, taking care of families and our commitments to various activities or projects…… who has time for ONE MORE THING!  Some days I feel like I am running constantly just to keep up, things to do, people to see.

I am reminded of the times I have gone to the Dean about situations that were causing me anguish and I would ask him what I could do. Inevitably the first thing he would say was, “well you could pray” and for a moment I would be speechless.  I was asking for what I could do to fix it, to take action, give me something to do to make it better!  

So it occurs to me as I write this, that perhaps my struggle is to make space for the spirit and Lent. 

In the midst of the daily “business” of life and the demands of the world, the season of Lent arrives calling me to stop for a while and reflect on what is going on within me.  As Dag Hammarskjold said, “the longest journey is the journey inward”.  It is much easier to fill up my days and thoughts with things that need to be done than to take that journey within, taking time to think about who Jesus is in my life, and to renew my faith from the “inside out”.

So as the first steps of Jesus ministry began in the desert, so does my Lenten journey begin as I face my weaknesses, my doubts and try and heal the hurting places in my own soul.