As a high school student, I attend a practicing Episcopalian school. When I say practicing, I mean that we have a weekly chapel filled with verses and prayers read of a simple sheet of paper. Then, once a month we are offered Eucharist(Lord's supper). All of the actions and practices in chapel at our school seems very routine and is sometimes hard to grasp the full meaning of what we are even there for. However, I appreciate the opportunity it provides for me to learn about the Episcopalian denomination and learn how the denomination functions. Today was the start of Lent season known as Ash Wednesday. During our chapel today, each student was given the opportunity to have ashes placed on their forehead. At first, I thought this was rather strange, but then our leader explained the significance behind the ashes. The ashes are meant to symbolize the death and sorrow of sin. As a whole, the service had a very sorrowful mood being expressed. As the leader explained what the Lent season was about, he explained that from now(Wednesday) until Easter, we should give something up or take something on to show our commitment to God and how much we do not want sin in our lives.
After the service ended, i thought back on the whole experience and thought of a few things:
1. I first asked myself the question, "Why was the service so sad and quiet? Shouldn't we be excited to give away our sin for God or take on a task for God?" I realize that sin can be and is a gloomy thing to deal with(God even says he hates sin), but we have the grace of God to forgive us of those sins. So shouldn't we be excited for that? I feel as though the Lent season may be being perceived in the wrong manner.
2. I then asked myself, "Where is the focus of Lent being directed?" The service I saw today seemed very focused on solemnity and and our sin. Like I said earlier, we have Gods grace and forgiveness so we don't need to feel guilty or melancholy. Grief does not help yourself become a better person, it keeps you feeling distant from God for a longer period of time.
3. So what is the purpose? For me, the forty days leading up to Easter is a time where we should be completely focused on God, but this should really be the case for every day of our lives. I think the next forty days should be used to give something up or do something extra, but not because we are grief-stricken and we feel sad for the things we have done. Instead, this should be a time full of rejoicing for the wonderful gift God has given us...salvation. We should be excited to take on a new challenge or give something up that holds us away from God. We should be excited to get closer to God.
In closing, I do challenge you to try giving up something close to you that you would normally give time toward and give that time to God. Or, I challenge you to take on a task for God such as having a more consistent quiet time, reading a certain book in the Bible, doing a service project, or whatever you feel led to do. I do encourage you however, to remain in constant prayer giving thanks to God for everything he gives us.
Psalm 62:8
