Dear Friends in Christ,
Time management, personal coaching, and productivity apps are all talking about deep work. Deep work is the unbroken time of sustained attention to one important task. We read advice about how to prepare – clear the desk, turn your phone face down, put notifications on mute, and set aside a big chunk of time in your calendar.
This sounds a great deal like the ancient Christian practice of keeping a holy Lent. From the moment we fall to our knees during the prayers of Ash Wednesday (
BCP 265) we have plunged into deep work. It is a work of 40 days and work we enter into because our Savior Jesus did the same in his fasting in the wilderness. When asked, Episcopalians often say that Lent is their favorite season of the church year. I think it is because our souls are parched for what only repentance can bring to us.
Repentance is turning to God and starting again. C.S. Lewis gave a good analogy when he compared repentance with long division. If you have an error in your figuring, simply continuing the incorrect equation does NOT bring you to a correct answer. The only way to do that is to stop and begin afresh.
Lent gives us a chance to do that. One of the most powerful gifts of Lent is the gift of listening. As we clear away distractions from our calendar, screen time, and mindless viewing, we are better able to hear and comprehend the voice of God in our midst. Families do this with simpler meals and times of service together.
Scripture is a key part of our deep work in these coming days. We are asked to read and meditate on God’s holy Word. We can use the readings from the daily office, or simply follow the powerful gospels of each Sunday. Listen slowly to the story of Nicodemus meeting Jesus at night (
John 3:1-17). Turn it over day by day in preparation for Sunday until we can hear it proclaimed and preached. Do the same with the story of the Samaritan woman (
John 4:5-42), the man born blind (
John 9:1-41), and the raising of Lazarus (
John 11:1-45).
Finally, we may also choose to fast during this Lent: from anger and instant outrage, or from alcohol, or meat. Let us fast from whatever is distracting our relationship to God and blinds us from the snarl of sinfulness and willfulness that deafens us. With countless Christians, over the centuries, we will tune our ears to the great stories of scripture, hear the words of redemption, and discover the echo between the holy Word and God’s hand in our own lives and churches.
“I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.“
BCP 265
May you experience a holy Lent in preparation for the Feast of the Resurrection.
In Christ,
