The original 40 days of Lent

I don't know about you, but I've never really given a lot of thought to the original Lent, the forty days when the holiest of holy men walked into a desert to spend time with God. It seems to be what was needed before Christ embraced his mission to teach us all about how love and the suffering that comes with it bring us to resurrection and deeper love.

In Jesus' day, going out to the desert was a practice mostly undertaken by the Essenes, a sect in Roman-occupied Palestine who embraced simplicity, prayer and fasting as a way of life. John the Baptist probably "trained" in that tradition, and it's clear that the average Jane and Joe of his time looked at the desert-dwellers as either really holy or really crazy people. You can tell from Jesus' comments about John (Matthew 11:18). Going into the desert wasn't something taken lightly -- a certain reputation came with it.

What exactly does one do in a desert for forty days? No one really knows what Jesus did with his forty-day "time away from it all retreat." I can't begin to imagine fasting or praying for that long, so I guess that's why this video with Matt Maher's song, 40 Days, caught my attention. Kudos to the video creators!

To be honest, I didn't really like it when I first saw it a few weeks ago, but after listening to the gospel reading this morning, I had to find it and watch it again and rehear the lyrics... and now something in me has changed.

The images, while simplistic, touch something fundamental about the meaning of Lent. It is a time apart from the ordinary, an opportunity for silence, solitude and simplicity. The image that stays with me the most is Christ on his belly in the dust, watching a flower grow, probably in deep conversation with the One who made the flower.

What will you do in the desert for these 40 days?

Thoughts on a week of solitude and community

I'm back from Montreal, tired and happy. It was a beautiful, busy first week of Lent for me, full of solitude and community, celebrated in both of Canada's official languages. If I wasn't quite so tired (hard bed and busy brain to blame), I'd be as excited as the disciples at Jesus' transfiguration!

It was a wonderful experience to help as musician/accompanier at L'Arche Canada's Emmaus Retreat for assistants. 23 people who live with people with disabilities in L'Arche communities spread from Vancouver to Halifax came to Villa St. Martin on the bank of Riviere des Prairies for a week of silence, reflection and talks about their journey with people with disabilities. They learned (if they didn't already know) that sometimes it's a good idea to "unplug" -- to take a break from routines, technology, noise and activity to just rest a while, consider life in L'Arche, and listen to the still, small voice within that speaks of God's love in day-to-day life.

Our team of six leaders was amazed by the sincerity and depth of the assistants, how they embraced the silence, were eager to hear the talks, to share their insights from the talks one-on-one with their accompaniers, and to participate in small group discussions. In this era of instant communication and hi-tech gadgets and devices, it was amazing to see how many of them took full advantage of the opportunity to put away their smart phones and follow the week's simple program to renew themselves by reflecting on their relationships with their communities' core members, assistants, leaders -- and their relationship with God.

The week's gifts to me were the opportunity to attend mass in French in the lovely little chapel (pictured above) before breakfast each morning, the meeting with and sharing of the assistants I was invited to accompany, and a deepened sense of the importance of both solitude and community in my own life. I need to make time for quiet and reflection, but I also need the demands of community to keep me real.

When's the last time you've taken advantage of some silence and solitude, and allowed it to deepen your love for those around you? How is your sense of communion with others? I hope this season of Lent can be a time for us all to live both solitude and community well.

The beauty of solitude

Today is going to be a busy day... I have lots of running around to do. A walking workout with my neighbour, a bus ride to City Hall, where I'll answer questions about the ReUse Tree (all of its very cool ornaments are recycled rather than purchased items) and listen to school choirs sing. Then I'll have lunch with my hubby, and do a bit of RULES shopping (yesterday's moodling), perhaps, before I hurry home to put supper in the oven.

One of the things about the time leading up to Christmas is that, in all its busyness, we sometimes forget to allow ourselves time for peace and quiet, time to be alone. Though we may avoid it sometimes, solitude is good for us, and needs to be cultivated so that we can hear our own souls.

Tanya Davis and Andrea Dorfman have made a beautiful little video about How to Be Alone. In the midst of pre-Christmas planning and preparation, take a minute to appreciate Andrea and Tanya's excellent reminder to take care of ourselves, too -- maybe more than once. Enjoy!