Let this Lent be your new springtime

The season of Lent is so much more than ‘giving up’ sweets or other treats. It’s a season of spiritual renewal through self-control, prayer and mercy aimed to bring you closer to God. Life on Purpose by Eileen Benthal.

In many churches, Lent began this past Wednesday, with the distribution of Ashes. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of 40 days of fasting, prayer and almsgiving.

The number 40 holds great spiritual significance throughout the Old and New Testament. It always represents a time of preparation. Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai, preparing to receive the Ten Commandments. “Moses stayed there with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights, without eating any food or drinking any water”(Ex.34:28). Elijah walked “40 days and 40 nights” to the mountain of the Lord, Mount Horeb (I Kgs 19:8). In the New Testament, we see Jesus Himself fasts and prays in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights before he began his public ministry (Mt.4:2).

Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter is actually 46 days. The reason for that is because every Sunday is meant to be a day of Sabbath rest, a holy day celebrating the Resurrection of the Lord! So, if you remove the six Sundays of Lent, you have 40 days. That little fact makes me smile as I recall Sundays in Lent growing up as a child. We didn’t really choose our fasts for Lent; it was a given that there were no desserts, no sweets or alcohol allowed all during Lent-except for Sundays (and of course on St. Patrick’s Day; the other “holy day of obligation” for Irish Catholics). But on Sunday my Dad took us out for “mystery rides” that included a trip to the ice cream shop or a he would give us money to go to the corner store and buy a Hershey bar. Thus began my love affair with chocolate! Sundays were a day of celebration year-round.

Fasting during Lent means eating two small meals and one main meal, with abstinence from meat on Fridays. Fasting gives my body, mind and spirit time to reboot and recharge without the distractions of food. Like all things in the spiritual life, there is a balance. So with Lent, the emphasis is not supposed to be on what we “give up” for the sake of fasting. Rather, the goal of fasting is self-control. In our society of instant gratification and high-speed information, we all need to pause and practice self-control. Fasting is one way to do that.

Two other elements of Lent are prayer and almsgiving. Prayer is a given (if you decide to do it.) Why bother giving up all this stuff if you don’t connect to the Giver of Life? Prayer is my lifeline, as essential to me as breathing. To a certain extent, it has always been a way of life for me, even as a young child. As a young adult, I learned to practice prayer through conscious periods of time set aside to read scripture, offer petitions and reflect. This discipline has reaped far greater rewards than the time it takes to pray. Prayer has opened my mind, body and spirit to tap into the eternal reality of heaven that is present to us in every moment.

If you aren’t sure how to pray, then start by bringing prayer into your day in simple ways. Talk to God while driving (it decreases road rage) or hand over your problems to the Lord as you walk (it makes for a faster pace.) While living a prayerful life is the goal, setting a time and place to pray is very important. I have a prayer corner in my laundry room. In it, I have my Grandmother’s chair, (I imagine her praying her rosary and reading the Bible in this chair) a pew from a recent church renovation and lots of icons and images that call my mind to focus on the Lord. I move the images seasonally to change my focus. During the warmer weather, my prayer corner moves to the porch, where the sunrise and the North Fork skies are natural icons that lift my eyes to God. My Bible and prayer journal and a scriptural reflections magazine,“The Word Among Us,” help to root my prayer time in God’s Word. In my journal, I write what strikes me in the readings of the day, and I dialogue with God.

Almsgiving comes from the Greek eleemosyne, meaning “pity,” and “mercy.” Many people mistakenly decide that almsgiving is simply monetary. But mercy is so much more. Mercy literally means to see life from another’s perspective. And so almsgiving requires that we take time to discover what a person needs and offer it to them with compassion. I really don’t have a lot of money to give, but I can offer my prayer and good works. This past Friday, my husband and I brought our two therapy dogs to Avalon Gardens, a nursing and rehabilitation facility in Smithtown, which is home to 350 disabled children, young and older adults, who require round-the-clock nursing care. We always receive far more than we give. We use the dogs as tools of mercy; providing licks, wags and nuzzles to elicit comfort and smiles from the patients we serve.

The word lent means “springtime”. Seasonal preparations are a natural and supernatural part of life. I invite you to use the grace of this time of preparation for a new springtime in your life — body, mind and spirit. Talk to God as you walk and drive, as you do the dishes and prepare your taxes! Set aside a time and a place for reflection and spiritual reading. Use the discipline of fasting to eliminate sugar and toxic food in your diet and to fill your plate with lean protein, fruits and vegetables. Give alms to the poor in your life: extend mercy — beginning with yourself.

This Lent, experience the love the Lord has for you. Let this Lent be your new springtime. Then, when the glory of Easter Sunday appears, we will all rise from our tombs to embrace the new life God has for us. Happy Lent!

Eileen Benthal has a B.A. in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville. She is a writer, speaker and wellness coach at 40DaysToFocus.com and NOFO Wellness Center. She works with clients locally and around the U.S. who are excited about balancing their health in body, mind and spirit.

Eileen and her husband Steve live in Jamesport and have four young adult children. Their youngest, 16-year-old Johanna, is a teenager with special needs. Eileen can be reached at eileenbenthal@gmail.com and facebook.com/40DaysToFocus.

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