February 14 is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, a forty-day period when many Christians practice reflection and repentance in preparation for Holy Week and Easter.
Lent is an invitation to look at our habits — what we routinely do and say, how we think — and reflect on which ones help us live joyfully and peaceably, which ones help us love God and our neighbors, and which ones make it harder to live lives of meaning and connection. Lent is also an opportunity to try “small experiments,” to mess with our habits, interrupt our usual patterns, for the sake of inspiration. As one thoughtful teacher says: “Anytime you break a habit, you recover your creativity.”
Some people play with their habits by giving up something for Lent. What would happen if you spent less time on social media or took the money you usually spend on candy bars and saved it to buy a present for a lonely child?
Other people try adding a new habit. What would happen if you greeted strangers on the street or picked up a piece of litter each day? What would happen if you wrote down each morning three things you were thankful for?
Paying attention to our habits and intentionally breaking them, even a little bit, opens us to bigger possibilities for our lives. That’s part of the promise of Lent.
If you attend the Ash Wednesday service at St. John’s Episcopal Church at noon on February 14 (or if you attend services at another congregation celebrating Ash Wednesday), you’ll hear readings from the Bible and an invitation to the practice of reflection and repentance. The priest will mark a small cross on the forehead of anyone who wants to observe Lent this year in some way.
If you’re not able to attend a service and still want to connect with the spirit of Lent, St. John’s priest, Steven Tomlinson, and others from the congregation will be in the parking lot at Brookshire Brothers grocery store from 2-4pm on February 14 offering ashes and prayer. All are welcome.
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