h2odevos encores 022312 My Friend, Lent

"I'm a lonesome chord looking for a song

Still not sure I know where I belong

You're a tired word looking for a rhyme

Feel as though you're running out of time

They say Joy will be

Just around the bend

'Til I'm there

It's good to have a friend"

You're a quiet whisper dancing in the breeze

I'm a hurricane tumbling toward the keys

You're a wild dream on a falling star

To me the destination seems too far

 It's Good to Have a Friend by David Bailey & Peter Mayer

I was on an elevator the other day when I heard someone say, "I hate Lent."  I didn't respond verbally, but my heart exclaimed, "I love Lent!  Lent is my Friend."  For folks who know me quite well, maybe you are now saying to yourself, "Well, okay, that explains it."  Or some of you may be thinking, "How can anyone like Lent, let alone love Lent?"

I have always lived in places where the four seasons each claim distinct parts of the year.  Around this time each year, Peter's words ring very true for me:

     "I'm a lonesome chord looking for a song

     Still not sure I know where I belong."

In these days I experience restlessness.  The magazine covers that I see in the checkout line at stores all diagnose SAD-Seasonal Affective Disorder.  However, Ash Wednesday suggests the same acronym, SAD, but let me say it's clearer, it demands different words and behavior, namely, "Some Alternate Direction."

"Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing.  Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing."  (Joel 2:12-13)

In other words, my friend, Lent invites me, and each one of us to change, to undergo a metamorphosis, an extreme makeover (if you will) and return to Sender, the creator of the world.

"You're a tired word looking for a rhyme

Feel as though you're running out of time"

As the sign of the cross is made in ashes on our forehead, the following words are said, "Remember, you're dust and to dust you shall return."  It's confirmed, we are running out of time.  Lent reminds us that "time flies" and "time waits for no one."  I wonder how many people would like to file for extensions, for an exception to the rules, to be exempt from the deadline.

My friend, Lent doesn't visit me for more than 40 days each year.  I know some people who seem to entertain Lent as a guest 365 days each year, but I've found that 1/9th of each year is good enough.  In fact, it's perfect because after Lent comes and goes 50 Days of Easter arrive.

"They say Joy will be

Just around the bend

"Til I'm there

It's good to have a friend"

Thanks for taking time for this journey.  As people who have a mutual friend, let's get to know each other and God better during these 40 days and nights.

Peace,

rtg