The word ‘Lent’ comes from the old English word for ‘Spring’. Lent is not a time for feeling gloomy or miserable for forty days; it’s not even about giving things up for forty days. Lent is springtime. Lent prepares us for that great climax of springtime which is Easter. And as we prepare ourselves for Easter during these days, by prayer, fasting and works of mercy, what motivates us is not self-denial as an end in itself, but trying to sweep and clean our own minds and hearts so that new life may have room to come in and take over and transform us at Easter. All this clearing and cleaning brings us face to face with the accumulated dust and ashes.
The trouble with dust and ashes is that it’s always in the wrong place. There is no good place for dust to be and even though we know that the ashes we use and bless are made from burning last year’s palm branches and are a sign of the Paschal Mystery, we still can’t wait to wash them off! They are such a nuisance. And that is the whole point. ‘The Lord formed us from the dust of the earth’. It is our beginning and our end.
Lent is a gift from God to us; a gift of the essential. Lent returns to me this essential layer of life. Lent is the time for healing. Realising my own weakness makes me more tolerant of weakness in my neighbour. As St Isaac the Syrian puts it “The one who knows their own sin is higher than the one who resurrects the dead in their prayers. The one who is granted the gift of seeing themselves is superior to the one who has the gift of seeing angels.”
There is no real getting away from it: for we are dust, and to dust we shall return. That is why we must turn from sin and follow Christ, who is not merely a good idea, but the Word who was made flesh to dwell among the children of Adam and Eve, the people of dust.
The spirit of this holy season of Lent is neatly summed up in the much loved prayer of St Ephrem:
O Lord and Master of my life,
Give me not a spirit of sloth, vain curiosity, lust for power, and idle talk.
But give to me your servant, a spirit of soberness, humility, patience and love.
O Lord and King, allow me to see my own faults and not to judge my brother & sister,
For You are blessed to the ages of ages.