The Meaning of Lent: An Ash Wednesday Rant

February 13, 2013 By 8 Comments

This year, more than any in the past, I have noticed a lot of nonsense about Lent.  The number of silly recommendations for its observance seems to have grown exponentially:

  • Care for the poor
  • Give up plastic bags
  • Reduce your carbon footprint to zero 

Don’t misunderstand me.  I am not arguing that any of these things are not noble goals in and of themselves.  Caring for the poor is the obligation of any Christian, whether it is in political fashion or not (and not just in Lent).  Giving up plastic bags could be a good thing for us all to do.  There would be less junk in landfills across the country.  And reducing our carbon footprint is not a bad goal either — although how you do that and go to church, or light one at night escapes me — and then there is always the carbon footprint of India and China to worry about — but ok.

None of this has to do with Lent, however, and an earlier generation of spiritually wise women and men would point out that just because you avoid your own mortality and sin by focusing on social and ecological ills does not mean that you are not still running from your mortality and sin.  In fact, one might argue that the surest road to undermining any true humility that would sustain us in those efforts is the failure to begin by drawing closer to God.

Lent, starting stunningly with the obvious words of the Ash Wednesday liturgy is not about your politics: “You are dust and to dust you will return.” 

  • You are dust whether your carbon footprint is zero or not.
  • You are dust whether you care for the poor or not.
  • You are dust and one day you will fit in a plastic bag, whether you use them or not.

It is a false dichotomy to pit spiritual considerations against engagement with the needs of the world, but I suspect that the current crop of eco-socio-politico Lenten observances arises out of that dichotomy.  The first victim is the very engine of the church’s engagement with the world.  A knowledge of the two facts that are the basis for all spiritual wisdom and moral strength:

  • One, there is a God.
  • Two, you are not.

We are given to enough pride that there will never be a year when it isn’t appropriate to spend the Lenten season remembering those two pillars of all spiritual wisdom, balance, and focus.  And the pseudo-sophistication of alternative Lenten observances is not just distracting silliness, it is the stuff of a deeply misleading reinterpretation of a season rooted in the wisdom of calling the whole of our lives into question before the One who is God — including our politics. 

Lent: Don’t run from it.  Lean into it.  “You are dust and to dust you will return.”  It is time to reflect on that fact and there is a reason why the liturgy doesn’t give us any room to run.

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About Frederick Schmidt
  • http://www.banditsnomore.com Richard H

    Lent is a season of repentance. Since so many of the actions traditionally recognized as sins in the Christian tradition are either now considered virtues or too minor to note, the thought seems to be that we need new sins from which we can repent. Though our culture’s morality is different than traditional Christian morality, it is still highly moralistic.

  • AliceMarie Slaven-Emond

    We had a wonderful combined service with the Presbyterians, Methodists and Episcopal parishes at out church. The sermon was simple……PRAY….CARE…. and FAST for Lent! For most Americans FASTING is a strange concept. We are so accustom to more than 3 meals a day that we panic if is 2 pm and we haven’t had lunch. My orphan Haitian children patients praise God when they eat a cup of rice a day or every other day. I pray and care when I quilt a lap robe for the elders. My touch in an exam room is a way to care……saying excuse me when I bump another is caring. Participation in the prayer requests is praying. Meditation for me usually ends in prayer…..just thinking with me fingers…. I wish all a peace-filled slow time for Lenten contemplation.

  • Pingback: The Questions of Lent: To Give Up or Not to Give Up?

  • K Nations

    Amen. Here in North Texas, a group of 13 sojourners gathers each Wednesday of Lent to encounter our own personal wilderness. We will note who and what beasts are present, and then select a Lenten practice that will allow us to be with one “wild thing” in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Following Christ, and Christ alone, we seek to discover how, embracing this long gift of time with the Holy One, we can encounter our own dustiness while rediscovering joyful hope in the 4th Day.

  • The Rev. Dean Houghton

    Always striving for the spiritual centre is the process and purpose of good spiritual direction,whether one on one or as a gathered and gathering community. Always back to the basics is generally good but lets not get stuck there. It is also worth acknowleging that there is a spiritual fervor that has led to various eco-socio-politico actions by members of the faith community. My take on fasting orgiving up something for Lent is that its not in what you do but what you learn about yourself in the doing. With good pastoral assistance, the penitent will learn those two formidable lessons in situ. Thanks for your rant.

  • John R Huff Jr

    Yes, I well enough do agree. One of my gripes is the prevalence and popularity of the Ashes on the Go. What a silly affair.

  • http://www.onewildandpreciouslife.typepad.com Ann

    Seems to me that Lent is also about being thoughtful — in the case of Lenten disciplines, about what things in our life are faithful choices and what ones are thoughtless ones at best, contra-faithfulness, at worst. Seems to me that making choices we believe are more faithful ones, that will bring us closer to God, has EVERYTHING to do with Lent. Seems to me that deciding to be a more faithful steward of creation is a faithful choice, particularly when one’s Lenten discipline reminds one that the choice is made on behalf of faithfulness, not just some politically correct motivation. Meatless Fridays for me, though politically correct, were made just to remind me — that’s all. No other reason than to remind me that it’s Lent, and it’s Friday, and I want to be ever closer to God.

  • http://www.evolvingchristianfaith.net irreverance

    I wish I had seen this sooner. This is a really good refocusing on Ash Wed. Years ago, I experienced the most powerful Ash Wed that I probably ever will. I went with some friends to a labyrinth. There, after dark, amidst the torches, we literally sat in the dust in the center and contemplated “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” I recommend it as an alternative.