Like Jesus in the wilderness
Like the Israelites in the wilderness
We are learning again to be God's people, to hear the call of God to obedience
So we spend more time in prayer, in reflection, in fasting (giving up distractions), in study (it is one of the few times of the year that people are up for a 'course' of some kind, to come to something extra - the problem these days is there is so much to do in lent, lent ends up being the opposite of what it intends)
We seek to discipline our lives to have more of God and less of everything else
So that we can formed as God's people ... This is an inward-looking season ... If epiphany is a reminder that God's reveals himself to the world and we are part of those who are to witness to that; if easter is about the good news that the God who is revealed is alive and kicking and free of sin and death, then lent is the inbetween season that seeks to ensure that our witness is faithful to a way that is cross-shaped ... To get easter, to which we see glimpses (trailers) in Jesus baptism and transfiguration, we have to go the way of the cross ... In lent we remember that life comes out of death, that disciplining our "freedom" makes us more free ...
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