February 18 2026 Ash Wednesday

Often we look at Lent as that season where we ‘give up’ or ‘take up’ something.  Lent is something we might ‘dread’ or see as a ‘chore’.  We find ourselves ‘resenting’ it because, if we are out and someone offers us some (usually) sweet food or the like, we find ourselves ‘regretting’ having to say ‘no, I’m giving that up for Lent’.  Or we regret/resent deciding to ‘do’ something that we don’t usually do, and find it a trial remembering to do it, and also doing it.

So I wonder if our attitude is the problem.  If we feel we ‘have’ to ‘do’ or ‘give up’ something and really don’t want to, because maybe we are not really sure why we need to.  So our Lenten discipline loses its impact because it does not feel ‘voluntary’, it feels ‘imposed’ and ‘false’ because our reason for doing/not doing it is missing or not well understood.  Lent can be a ‘long’ 5 weeks, and despite our best intentions at the beginning, it can really ‘drag’ by about the half way time and we have often ‘broken’ our intentions by the end.

I wonder, if it is an ‘attitude’ issue, maybe changing the way we look at will make it easier to get through it.  Instead of looking at what I will ‘do’ or ‘not do’, maybe if we change it to what will I ‘be’ during Lent.  Instead of giving up, can we embrace something.  Something that gives you joy, that nurtures you.  And yes, it is alright to be happy during Lent.  It is ok to think about how to take care of yourself during Lent.  Our starting point for Lent matters, we could ‘suffer’ through it, or we could choose to move through it from a place of wonder and gratitude: wondering where God might show up; what God might reveal in this ‘static’ time; this time that anticipates life and looks forward to glimpses of new creation.  Gratitude for the certainty of the resurrection when much of life seems devoid of its truth.

We often spend a lot of time anticipating a future life with God, but we forget to live life in the here and now in the assurance of God’s presence.  Lent could be a time to practice what living in the hope of the resurrection might look like and feel like in the here and now, not just in the future.

So what will you embrace, how will you choose to live and work and play during the next 5 weeks.  And remember, you don’t have to tell anyone what you are doing, just do it.  Even if you are ‘giving up’ something, don’t talk about it, if you are offered that ‘given up’ item, just politely reply ‘thank you, but no, I don’t need/want it’.  Remember Matthew’s injunctions, do it in secret.  Just be.  Decide how you want your Lent to be and remember, no one else needs to know.  Think about how you might come out the other side with a sense of knowing exactly what resurrection life looks like.  Because resurrection life has to make a difference for and in the dark times, the difficult times, the grieving times, and sad times.  It really does.