Lint, Life and the Lenten Season

By Maria Nicole Robertson

Have you ever examined the inside of your dryer filter or jean pockets? If so, what did you find?

In my experience, the hope of finding a crisp dollar bill is usually replaced with a disappointing ball of fuzz. Lint, which is the accumulation of fibers and materials from our clothing, bundle together and collect in our dryer filters and sometimes naval cavities. Yes, even our belly buttons like to capture fuzz on occasion. In either case, most people’s desire to have a fluff-free naval or dryer filter requires one to first inspect the dark and hidden places where lint can easily build up.

Lint is messy. It sticks to you in the most inopportune times and unless you have a lint roller around you can safely bet that you will be picking at that sweater until it is free of debris.

Lent (capital L and ‘e’) can also be messy. Stick with me on this one.

Lent is a season of grief. Lent ends with a great celebration, but for forty days before Easter we reflect and prepare for Jesus’ return by inspecting those dark and hidden places where sin can easily build up.

Grieving is a part of life and although it is not fun, it is necessary.

This time two years ago, I lost a much loved family member. Everyone experiences grief differently, and in this instance I chose to sit and wrestle alongside my family with the pain and darkness that befell the months to come. Peace eventually came and now I can celebrate the fact that my loved one is experiencing complete joy and freedom in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I believe this is why Lent is known in the Eastern Orthodox tradition as the season of “Bright Sadness”. This is a time where many in our community are experiencing hardships and suffering: Immigrants who remain strong despite the threats and persecution, couples who have lost a child or are unable to get pregnant, or those recovering from the effects of divorce or alcoholism. The list goes on and on.

The good news is that this is also a time of great hope and celebration. Despite the multitude of different stories, one common message remains: Our faith and hope is found in Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus set out into the wilderness for forty days to prepare for his ministry, we fast and journey with Jesus to reflect on and prepare for the Easter message. We have faith, hope, love and joy because of Jesus’ life and resurrection.

As you fast, reflect, grieve, and repent in the weeks to come, ask yourself:

“What lint is accumulating in my life during this Lenten season?”

Remember that the accumulation of lint is messy, but the accumulation of sin and suffering is messier.

Remember that an empty dryer filter is good, but the promise that comes from an empty tomb is far greater!

Maria Robertson is a CBF Leadership Scholar pursuing her M.Div. at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta, Ga.