By Pastor Andrea Ayvazian

Think of it as a gift.

Lent is forty days.

Think of it as a gift of forty days to do some things differently, some things in new ways—to drop some things you always do, to add some things you never do, to change some things you usually do.

Think of it as a gift.

Lent is forty days long—about one-tenth of a year. Think of Lent as giving yourself one-tenth of this year to focus on God, or love, or generosity, or forgiveness, or all of them together.

Think of it as a gift.

In her book Breathing New Life into Lent, Rev. Donna Schaper writes, “The spiritual goal for Lent is to admit our need for Lent. Just to admit our need. For Lent, the desert time, and for the promise contained in desert time.”
I am admitting my need.

I need Lent this year. I really need it. I need to shift some things in my life, I need to deepen my prayer practice, I need to give away more money, I need to forgive myself and others, I need Lent this year. I really do.
What do you need this year? How can Lent be a welcome and cherished forty-day spiritual gift to yourself?
I have hauled all my Lenten books, devotionals, and prayer journals off the shelf—where they were carefully stored one year ago—and I have been looking through them… quite a stack! In the pile, I found the Lenten Devotional from 2012 written by the UCC “Stillspeaking Writers’ Group.” That year’s devotional was called Give It Up!

There are forty devotional readings, one for each day of Lent, in the Give It Up! book. Here are some of the titles of the daily readings, suggesting some things one might give up: “Give Up Excuses,” “Give Up Fooling Yourself,” “Give Up Demanding,” “Give Up Swearing,” “Give Up Judging,” “Give Up Craving,” “Give Up Giving Up,” “Give Up Despair,” “Give Up Busyness,” “Give Up Emptiness,” “Give Up Discouragement,” “Give Up Anxiety,” “Give Up Loneliness,” “Give Up Caution,” “Give Up Underestimating Yourself,” “Give Up Holy Smugness,” “Give Up Revenge,” “Give Up Self-Righteousness” and there are many more.

Maybe the gift you want to give yourself this Lent is giving things up. Like the Give It Up! devotional suggests!
Or maybe the gift you want to give yourself is more along the lines of Take It On! (I made that up.) Take on being more active in Church, take on giving more money to charities, take on volunteering at the Cot Shelter program, take on regular attendance at Cathedral in the Night, take on visiting shut-ins, take on participating in Peace and Justice Committee meetings, take on joining our Choir and singing your heart out, take it on.

Or maybe the gift you want to give yourself is deep rest, deep contemplation, and deep renewal. Try going snow-shoeing for a good long time then taking a good long nap. Try making cocoa and sitting by the fire WITHOUT a book. Try counting the first stars you see in the night sky. Try going to the evening Taizé service held at the Episcopal Church in downtown Northampton.

Whatever is right for you…is right for you.

This Lent think of the forty days as a gift.

You have the gift of forty new, fresh, beautiful days on which you can write your dreams, hopes, and prayers.
Savor each day.

Think of Lent as a holy gift.

Blessings and love,
Andrea