We mardi gras-ed it up right last night. Things were loud and sticky and just about perfect.
Yes, I thought, this Lent will be great!
Cue rueful laughter here . . .
Again we keep this solemn fast
A gift of faith from ages past,
This Lent which binds us lovingly
To faith and hope and charity.
New year resolutions? All well and good and I appreciate the sentiment but for real, hard core change? Serve me up a Lenten list any day. It was with this attitude and so very many shiny, promising fasts and observances that I went to bed last night.
I awoke this morning to screaming. Screaming and a headache, to be exact, and within 30 seconds those high hopes were trashed. Why, Lord? Why did I think that 10 hrs and a plan would somehow change who this family is?
Kids still fight. Feelings still get hurt. Insecurities still grow.
Let us avoid each harmful way
That lures the careless mind astray;
By watchful prayer our spirits free
From scheming of the Enemy.
I was ready to throw in the towel before I even rolled out of bed. It’s too hard, it isn’t worth it, I don’t want to! all played on repeat. From somewhere God whispered, “My power is made perfect in your weakness.”
Fine.
And so it begins. The walls are bare, but our foreheads are not. We are still working on our lists, remembering that this time is to strip away the things that distract and keep us from God. It’s bare-bones season, baby. Let’s not waste it!
We pray, O blessed Three in One,
Our God while endless ages run,
That this, our Lent of forty days,
May bring us growth and give you praise.
*Hymn: Again We Keep This Solemn Fast. It was a fight, of course, this morning over which Lenten song would be sung for morning prayer as everyone has their favorite. (It’s true.) Tess won out with this one which is darn close to the top of the list for me, too. The text is ascribed to St. Gregory the Great – it makes my heart glad to sing these words of his. There’s a reason why he bears the distinction of “the Great”!
**Also, no photo today because the only picture I took was of a very full toilet. It was that kind of day. You can thank me later for sparing you.
