Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Lent

Lent is a season of growth, fasting, and simplicity.  Often times, Lent is viewed as a season of self-denial in hopes of becoming closer to God, and therefore people give up their favorite things, such as chocolate.  This is not the point though, at least not to me.  God never intended for us to be without what makes us happy.  Rather, in this season preparing us for the resurrection of Christ and victory of death, we should strive towards removing ourselves from the world to which we do not belong, and move closer to the Lord who granted us life long long ago.
This year, I am not giving up anything for Lent.  I never grew up doing this, but in my freshman year of college, I decided to give up worry.  Essentially what this meant was I was removing the distraction of worry over trivial things and I would pray instead.  You could say that I was just adding prayer to my life.  I, being the great worrier that I am, was praying a lot during the Spring of that year.  I am doing that again this year.
Praying in color has been my favorite form of prayer since I learned it a few years ago.  This year, every day, I will pray in color.  The last time I prayed in color was last December when one of my friends was close to death.  That time in my life was one of the darker times, yet there is always hope.  Death is not the end, but rather the doorway into our real life.  In this time of repentance and renewal, I can think of no better way for me to grow closer to God than to draw to Him.  I have always enjoyed drawing, and it has often been my best portrayal of what is truly happening in my life.  So, for the next 46 days, I will pray in color every day.

Lent is supposed to help us become more Christlike, called by Eastern Christians theosis.  Athanasius describes this as "becoming by grace what God is by nature."  It is by grace that we have been saved, so let us work together to draw near to the One who created us.

2 comments:

  1. I've never heard of "praying in color" but I like it!

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  2. Hey monyana! Great to hear. I've not decided to do anything special for lent yet - I think I'm just too displaced to really commit myself to anything right now, and I figure it would be okay to take a year off. It sounds like you're doing really well, and I was delighted to see my perky Abby when skyping with Holly this morning (well, last night for you!). I just wanted to let you know that I've been praying for you in color since I got here. I figured that it would be the best way. Good luck with your lenten commitment. I hope that it does bring you closer to God this year. I can't wait to finally see you again when I get back to Chicago!

    ~Jack

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