Many Christians around the world will celebrate Ash Wednesday this month on February 13. Ash Wednesday begins the roughly 40-day period known as Lent that leads up to Easter. Lent is traditionally a time of reflection and preparation, and has often been observed by fasting, devotion to prayer, repentance, moderation and spiritual study.
Lent and Ash Wednesday figure more prominently in some denominations. I didn’t grow up observing Lent, except for a couple of years while I was in college and denied myself desserts for a little over a month. Looking back, foregoing desserts was not much more than a late New Year’s Resolution which did not require a life change. And unlike failing on a New Year’s resolution, I only had to hang in there for the relatively short Lenten season.
Today, as I consider Lent, I can’t help thinking how beneficial a little true reflection and preparation are, particularly as I look forward to the suffering and sacrifice that we commemorate next month on Good Friday, and the victory and hope that Christians will celebrate on Easter.
This year I intend to celebrate Lent, and not just by giving up desserts. Join in if you’d like, in whatever way seems fit, and please plan to join us next month at the community-wide observances of Good Friday and Easter.
Bruce McQueen
Hope Community Church of God
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