Reflections on Lent

For the Christian world, Wednesday was Ash Wednesday and marked the beginning of Lent. Many non-liturgical traditions ignore or do not understand the meaning and significance of the season. Lent is the 40 day period leading up to Good Friday and Easter. It is a time of preparation; it is a time of self-denial and introspection. It is a time of "dieing" as the believer gets ready for "resurrection," re-birth. It is a serious time. It is intended to be a life changing time.
So, whether you are Christian or not, may I invite you to consider the message of Lent, death to the old and life to the new. During Lent many give up something--chocolate, meat, alcohol--to focus inward. Here is my list of suggested things to give up (based on the words of Jesus of Nazareth found in Matthew 5: 39-44:
1) give up hate, revenge, and retaliation. To be struck on the right cheek was to be back-handed, slapped, humiliated. The imperative (yes, imperative, not suggestion or recommendation or do when convenient) is to live an alternative to violence, which is usually our first reaction. DO love in humility.
2) give up greed and hoarding and selfish consumerism. If someone takes your "coat," offer a second. We never know their needs, and generosity is not "qualified." DO love wastefully, without thought to race, social or economic status, beliefs, etc.
3) give up begrudging meeting others needs or rightful expectations of us. When asked to go a mile--doing the minimum, doing the expected, doing the required--gladly double the effort to relieve the suffering of others. DO love because the person in front of us has dignity and value and a rightful place on this earth.
4) give up thinking about what and if we will receive in return. "Pay forward." Open our hearts and pocketbooks to respond to the needs of the world. DO think of others first. Do go out of the way to assist those in need. Lead by example.
Detractors will immediately say: these are not practical, these are ideals to strive for but not feasible, these cannot be attained, these are nice but unrealistic.
How do we know? Few of us have earnestly tried. One step at a time. One day at a time. Until we die to the old and enter the new.