Can we, I wonder, become a bit too inward-looking during
Lent?
Many churches put on special courses, hold retreats and encourage special spiritual disciplines at this time of year. We do that because Lent is both a season of penance and preparation. Some view it, helpfully, as time for a yearly spiritual MOT.
All of that is good because in a world where the ‘material’ often captures our longings and ambitions some spiritual recalibration is surely beneficial for the soul. We believe that our hearts and minds are important because it’s from there that our actions spring.
So Lent, alongside all spiritual disciplines, is there to enable us to be so changed ‘inwardly’ that we are better equipped to look ‘outward’ and live a more Christ-like life of loving and generous service.
In his wilderness temptations Jesus seems to constantly reject all that might lead to personal advancement. His spirituality is anything but pietistic. Instead, he begins his ministry the way he lived it, with a focus on living for others.
Many churches put on special courses, hold retreats and encourage special spiritual disciplines at this time of year. We do that because Lent is both a season of penance and preparation. Some view it, helpfully, as time for a yearly spiritual MOT.
All of that is good because in a world where the ‘material’ often captures our longings and ambitions some spiritual recalibration is surely beneficial for the soul. We believe that our hearts and minds are important because it’s from there that our actions spring.
So Lent, alongside all spiritual disciplines, is there to enable us to be so changed ‘inwardly’ that we are better equipped to look ‘outward’ and live a more Christ-like life of loving and generous service.
In his wilderness temptations Jesus seems to constantly reject all that might lead to personal advancement. His spirituality is anything but pietistic. Instead, he begins his ministry the way he lived it, with a focus on living for others.
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