Welcome, dear ones, to the Liturgical season of Lent, a period of 40 days lasting from now until Easter Sunday. Wait for it. Wait for it. Wait for it!
“Wait a minute!” I hear someone exclaim, “Today is February 22, and Easter is on April 8… that’s, what… something like 47 days, not 40!”
“Ah, grasshoppa! You are correct!” It’s true, there are 47 days between the first day of Lent and Easter Sunday. Here’s something that not everyone knows (even people who grew up in a liturgical church.) If I asked you how many Sundays are in Lent, the correct answer is ZERO! Sundays do not count as days in Lent. (No, I’m not going to explain that one… probably.)
Lent is comprised only of weekdays and Saturdays. AND here’s where things get a little confusing. In the denomination of my youth, Lent officially ends on Holy Thursday, the 38th day of Lent. Good Friday and Holy Saturday are of two natures… they are the final two days of Lent, and the first two days of the Easter Triduum… the three days of Easter. Please, don’t ask me to explain that. Perhaps once upon a Catholic time, I could have, but now well, I can’t.
And so, now what? What IS Lent? I’ll tell you later! This Lent, I want to immerse myself a little more fully in Lent, in the liturgical rhythm of my youth, and the first 38 years of my life.
You see, I have long espoused the importance of living with purpose (as our guest preacher last Sunday spoke about,) or as I have termed it, Living Intentionally. The problem is, I’ve only espoused it. I’m not so good about actually DOING it.
I think that’s because just as I was getting really into that, and really making progress TOWARD a way of living that was intentional, purposeful, rather than a life caught in the flow of some gigantic “Time River” against which current it is impossible to resist, a change came into my life. That change was my parents. When one becomes caregiver, it is much more difficult for one to keep focus on some ethereal goal like “Living with Intention” or “Living with Purpose”. At least, it was for me.
So, I’m going to start Lent of 2012 with the intention of being, well, intentional! And I am considering sharing my journey for the next 38, uh, 40, no, 38 I mean 47… oh heck, for Lent, with you all!
On The Road II 
Thanks for the intro to Lent. Ash Wednesday has always appealed to me, with its down-to-earth these of “ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” I connected it with the burning of sodomites on my blog today.
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Eric – really liked this one, but I will differ with you about ‘living life intentionally’ – not that it is a bad idea, it most certainly is not! But I do believe you have lived your life quite intentionally, particularly when it came to the care giving you provided to Mom and particularly Dad. Sorry I can’t find the exact scripture reference, but I believe Jesus said something like ‘what you do to the least of these (e.g. – people who need help) you do unto me’. So weren’t you in essence serving, befriending, loving Jesus when you provided care to Mom and Dad? I think so!
And I know of no better way to live life than as a friend of Jesus, loving with Him, walking with Him. A hard thing to do unless you are quite intentional!
Love you
Bob
P. S. – if I didn’t have to count Sundays I would only be 53 years old not almost 62! I guess I need to declare Lent year round!
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Hi Bob,
Thank you for your response. Yes, I guess you’re right about my care-giving for Mom & Dad. It WAS intentional… but in a way it was not, either. I didn’t see myself as having a choice. Who wouldn’t step up and take care of their Mom or their Dad or both? Had I HAD a choice, of course I would not have taken that second choice. I’d do it all over again. I know had Mom & Dad chosen to stay in So. Cal., you and Marcy and Brad and Brett and everyone there would have stepped in to do what was needed. I know had Mom & Dad decided to move to Houston, Paul & Deb and Aaron & Shay would have been stepped in to do what was needed. I have no doubt of that. They chose Omaha, so Scott and I did what was needed. That’s the way we were raised. We did (and would have done it) out of obligation, out of a sense of responsibility, but most importantly, out of love for them. I think therein lies the paradox of love. True Love sets free the object of love; and yet love is that bondage that we willingly set ourselves to.
I think what I was intending to convey was that my life became more myopic, and the focal point narrowed in many ways to Mom & Dad… and then just to Dad. And even my relationship with God suffered… in that I could not give of myself to the degree I wanted to. And yet, as I write this I see how that relationship did not truly suffer. It’s just that instead of it being reflected the way I WANTED it to, in service at church… in LOVING service at church as the first years here were… it became focused on service at home. In these years, I became known to many of my friends as an angry person, or one who just “walked away” from my commitments. It’s a wonder they remained friends, and continued to pray for and with and support me as I struggled through all that I was going through.
Wow. The blog entry started something I didn’t expect. And you, Bob, obviously followed God’s prompt in writing to me… because I really needed to hear what you wrote, and it’s got me thinking!
Love to you!
Eric
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Thank you both for your perspectives. It was a marvelous journey – more so often for the tribulations I’ll wager. To me it boils down to that we live with a purpose when we live for something other than ourselves. Beyond that though you are both way to deep for me today. Thanks again. Love you both, Paul
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Eric, I have seen you grow so much in your love and your relationship with the Lord and He has prompted me to write to you in this second letter to the Iowaians (ok some bad religious humor)…but I am serious about the intentional life you are leading. Walking with Jesus is intentional and does not necessarily include service in the ‘church’ although He calls us to fellowship certainly. But I sincerely believe Jesus seeks an intimate relationship that involves our desire to talk with Him above everything.
It is a shame that your friends were critical of you in not ‘doing more’ (perhaps they perceived your distance as anger or you tried to distance yourself by being ‘angry’ when around them so you would not feel so guilty…in any case guilt=bad! Again, sharing your life with Christ and seeking His will is paramount – all else is distraction which Satan loves to foment. And yes, we do have to battle Satan and all his direct and indirect assaults (didn’t Jesus in the wilderness? Why would we be exempt??)
Keep up your Easter blogs.
Love you, Eric.
Bob
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Eric, I agree with Bob: caring for your parents certainly filled your life with purpose and intent. Not, perhaps, the purpose and intent you originally envisioned, but clearly God’s intent and purpose.
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