Remember, O Man, That You Are Dust

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten season. Unless you’re a zealously devout Catholic, chances are your idea of Lent is either

A) the past tense of the word “lend,”


B) your grandma yelling at you for forgetting you’re not supposed to eat meat on Fridays, or


C) the stuff you find in you pants pockets.


And that's understandable. The liturgical calendar isn’t exactly the sexiest thing in the world (nobody’s going to confuse it for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Calendar), and nobody really talks about it much outside of the Catholic church. But it's also a shame. Everybody pays attention to Easter, you can't fully understand Easter without also understanding Lent. And just as Advent points us to Christmas, Lent prepares us for the passion of Holy Week and the joy of Easter Morning.


The purpose of lent is not to become super-holy by fasting from your vice of choice. The purpose of lent is to remember. To remember that Easter is not primarily about fluorescent colors and chocolate bunnies. To remember that life is not mostly a story about me. To remember that “we are dust, and to dust we shall return.’ Lent is about actively reminding myself that what Jesus did on the cross matters to me on a daily basis, to the extent that I'm going out of my way to remove things that distract me from the heaviness of that truth. Ultimately, Lent is about getting my eyes off me and fixing them on Jesus.


With that in mind, here are a few things to keep in mind during Lent this year.

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1) Fasting Means Doing, Not Just Abstaining


Fasting, in a nutshell, is the practice of saying “no” to something so that you can say “yes” to something else. So really, the common practice of giving something up for lent only amounts to half the battle; that is, it’s not enough to simply “give up Facebook,” or “give up alcohol.” It’s a good start, but it’s only a start. The idea is you’re creating space in your life so you can give your energy to God-centered thoughts and activities. You’re saying “no” so that you can say “yes.” So take time to think about what you’re going to do instead of whatever thing you gave up. Journal. Pray. Read Scripture with a friend. And speaking of friends...


2) Do It With People


If you’ve ever fasted on your own, you know how vulnerable it can make you feel, as well as how easy it can be to rationalize breaking your fast. Gather some friends around you and ask them to walk through the Lenten season with you. Check in with each other periodically throughout the week. Text each other when you’re struggling. Just like going to the gym with a buddy helps keep you on track, so too will doing Lent in community keep you from giving up when you're not feelin' it.


3) Observe the Feast Day


Traditionally, Sundays are viewed as Feast Days, a day when you break your fast in conjunction with the Sabbath. That doesn’t mean Sundays are a time to gorge yourself on whatever you’ve chosen to abstain from. Rather, think of each Sunday as a Mini-Easter, because Easter is nothing if not a proclamation that rescue is coming, and in fact has already come to us. So take Sundays off and enjoy the day, fast-free.

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Finally, if you’re interested in reading more about the heart of Lent, these articles are worth checking out:


-First Things: The Dust of Adam

-RELEVANT Magazine: Experiencing Lent Beyond Fasting...Why Practicing Lent IS Crazy


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