Who's Watching?
This is my pet rabbit, Mr. Bunny. |
As I make my way through Lent, sometimes I wonder if I'm being watched. Is God watching me to tote up my Lenten failures? Or even to credit me with my Lenten successes? Are friends or parishioners watching to see if I am "different" during Lent?
AM I different, during Lent?
I like to hope that I am being slowly shaped, like sand shapes rocks, by my Lenten practices. I imagine that any changes will not be evident right away, if at all, from the outside. I go through the season with a heightened sense of my relationship with God and my way of being in the world, and maybe an eye turned inward every now and then to "take my temperature," but like with most things, I think whatever formation that is being done now will only become evident later.
Still, I like to think that I'm growing and that I will notice that growth when the need for its application becomes apparent.
How is your Lenten discipline going this year?
Comments
This is the third year I've tried to observe Lent, and the for the first time I feel like I'm actually "getting" what it's all about. It's not just the "giving something up" but I'm starting to learn how to use the fast to "push in" deeper spiritually.
Not totally successfully, but better than usual so it is beginning to work.
Naturally lazy, I find it quite hard to force myself to perform little tasks that can be left till later, but this year am making a real effort and for the first time feel an actual sense of accomplishment hitherto unknown.
They do say that "virtue is it's own reward", said she smugly.