Garden clean-up in March is one of my favorite activities. Where fall clean-up is mostly about getting the leaves and sticks out of the way before the first frost comes and the ground hardens, spring clean-up means raking up the winter debris to find the promise of  new life underneath. My heart is happy at the sight of bulbs beginning to sprout and those few resilient plants thriving under the protection of left-over leaves. The moist dirt is dark, emitting the hopeful scent of a fresh season on the brink of arrival. This annual clean-up is an important step that opens the space for plants to grow and flourish. 

The opportunity of living into a Holy Lent is essentially engaging in a spring clean-up: gathering up and getting rid of the stuff that has accumulated and can potentially create a barrier to our spiritual growth. Living into Lent means re-directing our energies from the hustle and bustle of what we have come to experience as normal and to focus our attention and intention on what is blocking the way for deeper connection to God.  It is a season designed for cleaning up the junk so that something new may emerge and transformation can take place.

Historically Lent is a time to engage in a particular discipline that reflects a shift in our regular daily rhythm.  Often, the discipline we choose takes the form of giving up something. But we must be careful not to see the season as one of sacrifice or challenge simply for the sake of proving that we are capable of it. The objective of Lent is soul-readiness. It is a set aside season meant to clear away the debris so that the power of the resurrection can burst in. 

• How can you be intentional about deepening your bond with the Holy during this Lenten Season?       
• What will be different if your Lenten discipline is fruitful?

 God of All Seasons, 

as we enter into these 

40 days of Lent, we ask that you grant us the courage to face into the problematic debris that has built up over time.

 Give us the wisdom to develop disciplines that will enable us to prepare our hearts for the changes into which you are calling us.  

Remind us that our mission will be more fruitful when we take the time to deepen our connection to you and ready ourselves for the work at hand. 

We reach out to you O God, knowing that you are always reaching out to us. Amen.

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"We learn through