5 Ways to Embrace the Transformational Power of Lent
Whether Christian or not, the Lenten season offers a profound opportunity to rhyme with the Spring season and embrace personal and spiritual transformation
Given I have the dual aim here on this Substack of reawakening tradition while embracing personal and spiritual transformation, Lent is an ideal time of year as it speaks to both profoundly.
Whether nominally Christian or not, Lent is an opportunity to discover an oasis of meaning in the spiritual desert of modernity.
Celestially, Lent rhymes with the reawakening of nature as Spring comes into full bloom. Just as the trees regrow their leaves and the flowers sprout through the earth, so too should your spirit come alive in this period.
If you’re completely new to Lent, I’ll offer a quick overview of what the season’s about and how you can engage with it.
The Basics
Lent runs for 40 days, a significant timespan in the Christian tradition as this is how long Christ spent alone wandering in the desert as he fasted for 40 days and nights. There, Christ had to face the devil and overcome the temptations of the world. Once he’d been through this period he was ready to begin his ministry (as a teacher). This is very important as the implicit message is that we must endure challenges and face darkness before we can spiritually advance.
Lent culminates in Easter (marking the death and resurrection of Jesus) and you may have noted in years gone by that Easter Sunday changes date each year. This is because the date of Easter Sunday is based on the first full moon after the spring equinox. You can read more about this here if you wish.
What are the Rules?
Differing traditions have differing demands when it comes to Lent. In the modern Protestant denominations, Lent has been watered down quite significantly and doesn’t involve much more than giving something up for the period (such as chocolate or swearing), however, in the older traditions Lent can be quite challenging. In the Orthodox tradition, some won’t eat at all until sundown, while also engaging in periods of self-examination, confession, prayer, acts of repentance and charity along with ‘fasting’ from bad language, sexual activity and media.
My personal experiences with such things are that the deeper the sacrifices one is willing to make, the more profound the spiritual growth.
Why is it important?
Lent is, of course, a time for Christians to get closer to Christ, yet the season also offers an opportunity for the healthy development of discipline and character, a moment of exposition to weed out the ‘sins’ and shortcomings within, and a time to reflect, learn and heal as you focus on what matters in life.
Modernity is so corrosive because it hacks the rhythms of nature, everything in the modern world is fast, noisy and alluring. This has created a desire for instant gratification in us that’s deleterious to the soul. With this in mind, Lent is an opportune time to realign your soul with earthier wisdom and discover a trove of transformation therein.
How can I embrace it?
I’m assuming that any Christians reading this will already have their plans laid out via their church teachings or those of their peers, yet if you’re new to Lent and would like to embrace the season I would advise you to keep it simple and embrace the steps below in a way that works for you:
Sacrifice something
As stated previously, it’s easy to water down this practice, and if we do so we will fail to reap the spiritual benefits. Ideally, we’re sacrificing something that you’ll feel quite deeply. These things change for all of us. For one man sacrificing alcohol for 40 days may be a breeze, yet for a wine connoisseur, it would prove challenging. Ergo, the former man should find something more meaningful than alcohol to jettison, while for the latter it sounds ideal. The point is to find something that has weight in your life, something that by sacrificing you embrace life in a new way.
Embrace fasting & moderation
If you’re new to fasting, I advise you keep it simple. You could begin by embracing intermittent fasting, being mindful of portion size, cutting out processed and sugary foods, and refraining from meat on Wednesdays and Fridays.
If you’re more experienced with fasting you may want to fast from food entirely on Sundays (a practice I engage in during Lent).
We should also be mindful that fasting isn’t simply about food. It’s not in the spirit of the season if we bring in moderation in our diet and then get into violent arguments, binge-watch YouTube videos and/or swear like a trooper. You don’t have to be a saint, but the idea is to embrace a period of quiet reflection so we can hear the truth of the soul.
Embrace self-reflection & authenticity
Lent provides an opportunity to slow down and get honest about ourselves. A great tragedy of modernity is that we run around like little gods all alone up in our heads with our thoughts, fears, desires and pride running riot. Lent is an opportunity to slow all this down, to get real about your shortcomings and fears. This is a challenging but very healing process that sees a man rise with a clear conscience.
A key element of this is the confessional aspect. Perhaps you have a trusted friend you can confide in, maybe a spiritual elder, if all else fails you can always DM me. The point is to be honest about your life and clear the darkness away. It will amaze you how profound this can be in removing those inner demons that pull the strings in the unconscious arenas of the mind.
Meditation, prayer & scripture
There are varying levels of meditation and varying practices therein, if you want a comprehensive overview, it’s worth listening to the great John Butler here. The central idea is finding space and time to retreat from the noise of the world (and mind).
If you’re new to prayer, the Lord’s Prayer covers all bases and is easy to recite every morning. On the subject of mornings, it’s important to carve out time on awakening that doesn’t involve smartphones or radios. A time that allows you to read scripture (Proverbs is accessible if you’re new to scripture) and be still and silent. The aim here is to welcome the challenge of Lent, to embrace adversity.
Personal conduct
Finally, try and be mindful of your social interactions over the coming 40 days. Watch how you speak to others and to yourself. The aim here is to be a witness to the noise of the world and your emotions without getting carried away by the storm. You may find this is so beneficial you carry it on afterwards.
I’ve noted in videos before that political arguments are almost always pointless unless the two debating can move beyond their egos, if that process doesn’t occur, it’s just two demons fighting with one another. If we can see that energy arise within ourselves and not react to the temptation to act on it, we can speak truthfully, effectively, and authentically.
Finally, small acts of charity are also advisable. These aren’t for self-glorification, but for spiritual wellbeing. Private acts are best, things such as buying a few tins of foodstuff for the charity box in your local supermarket, or putting a discarded empty coke can in the bin in your local park. It’s all about living in the right frame of energy.
Conclusion
I hope the above has given you some inspiration to embrace this part of the year. There’s a fine opportunity here for personal transformation and spiritual contemplation. As always, feel free to reach out if you’d like to connect on any of these themes.
Thank you, Richard. This is sound advice. Lent has been a blessing for me in my spiritual life and has even helped me break some vices and addictions. We should never underestimate the power of Lent. There’s a reason it’s such an important time of the Christian Year.
Wonderful article. Thank you.