What I'm Doing for Lent...
A few years ago, I received an 11th century bronze Byzantine cross much like the one pictured above; and ever since, I have taken it from its box at Lent to wear every day until Easter. This symbol is a thousand years old. Over highways and byways and seaways, it made its way from its provenance in Cyprus to a British jewelry shop- and when I wear it, glaring explicitly from my neck to make any instance of sin quite embarrassing, I remember that this is Lent, that Lent is the journey of a pilgrim over highways and byways, to the promised Resurrection of the Crucified Lord, in whose rising I hope for my own.
Lent is the time of pilgrims, who eat pilgrim food, endure a pilgrim's discomforts, think pilgrim thoughts of a soft and familiar home left far behind, of hard climbs ahead for the sake of arriving at the promised Kingdom where the Lord reigns who has conquered our death.
I am a Lenten pilgrim too, with my far-traveled cross around my neck and memories of painful treks on my mind (Kilimanjaro, Pike's Peak, Blackbird Mountain, and some long roads at home). In the journey ahead, I will do what such pilgrims do- I won't be eating the sweet things that those who stay behind in their nice hotels find on their tables. I wont be drinking the wines and spirits which become deadly at high altitudes. I will be far, far away from my daily dose of NPR and CNN, and so I will only have beautiful music to fill my ears and songs to sing to my Savior. Needing to streamline my burden for the journey, I will show up for an honest and thorough confession very soon, I will pay my parking tickets, I will ask frequent forgiveness of my friends and family. Having only the sky to search as I tread my hiking trail, I will meditate on the healing virtues which can be mine through the grace of God. And because I travel this route with a pack of fellow pilgrims, both present and gone before, I will be following their time-honored example; on Fridays I will be eating fish, remembering the Passion of our Lord on my rosary, and staying put for an extra hour of intercessory prayer for the people I love.
...And that will be my journey. Pray for me.
posted by MM at 6:27 AM
<< Home