An Inkling
Lent begins this week. Last week I encouraged you to think ahead, and specifically to think about what you might give up for Lent. I have a further suggestion: don’t just lay something aside, take something up. Disciplines of abstinence are well balanced with disciplines of engagement. (If you’re interested in the rationale, check out Dallas Willard in The Spirit of the Disciplines. He’s a profound thinker on disciplines.) How can you take something up? Through such disciplines as study, service, or memorization.
First study. Study is a discipline through which we enrich our understanding. You can do so with a Lenten focus. Here are three books with Lenten themes: The Cross of Christ, by John Stott; The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer; and Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be, by Cornelius Plantinga. The titles of the first two make their topics obvious. The third is a profound reflection on the nature of sin, and yet is uplifting. Any of the three would be a good read for the seven weeks of Lent.
Another possibility is service. We all serve in various ways. But what special regimen might you take up for Lent? Here are some ideas:
§ a weekly visit a near-by nursing home, and focus on the residents that the nurses tell you get no other visits
§ walk your neighborhood once a week picking up trash
§ write a weekly note of encouragement to someone – anyone
§ bake some bread and take it to a neighbor
You get the idea. What form of service would work for you?
And the third possibility for engagement is memorizing scripture. Dallas Willard touts the importance of this neglected discipline. Because it’s one I’ve neglected, and because it’s one that my mind resists, this is the discipline I’m taking up for Lent.
Specifically, I’m memorizing John 14. These were Jesus’ words to his disciples on his last night with them. They are more than fitting for Lent. Might you join me? Thirty-one verses spread over seven weeks is certainly doable. And what better words to sink into one’s heart?
What might God do in us as we’re postured in readiness for his work through such Lenten disciplines? He knows, and we’ll find out! But we already know it will be good. Which might you take up?
Blessings,
Keith
