Journey through Lent

The third lesson is that spirituality is satisfying. 

Isaiah 58:11 says, “The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places.” Even amid fasting, says the prophet, God will provide satisfaction. The season of Lent is not all bleak. Although it’s 40 days long, starting on Ash Wednesday with a recognition of our mortality and ending on Easter Sunday with a celebration of Christ’s resurrection, there are actually 46 total days in that span. The reason for the discrepancy is Sundays. Sundays do not count in the 40 days of Lent. 

Sunday is always a feast day, even amid the season of fasting, because Sunday is the day Jesus arose from the dead. This is why Lenten fasts are properly broken on Sundays. Sundays during Lent are very important to Christians around the world. Where the Monday to Saturday of each of the six weeks are concerned with fasting and abstinence, the Sunday is a symbolic celebration of the reality of Christ's resurrection.That experience showed us that spirituality involves satisfaction as well as repentance and self-denial.

For lots of people, when they think of depth-they think of a tree with deep roots. The thinking is that if a tree wants to be big and strong, then it has to grow its roots deep into the soil to support its weight. I did some research on tree roots, and it's actually quite different---tree roots tend to grow shallow and WIDE. Some do, in fact grow deep "tap roots," but they rely on their surface roots for oxygen, moisture, and their nutrients. Most trees, though, spread their roots really wide, some as far as 10 times beyond the distance from the trunk to the top. So, when you think of a tree, maybe the thinking should be width, and not depth.

There is something in nature, though, that has some serious depth. When ships are out at sea, many of the naval officers see icebergs floating in the water moving against the current, even when high winds are blowing in the other direction. The reason is that only 10 percent of an icebergs mass is above water. The iceberg's depth is 90 percent below water. Perhaps there is a spiritual lesson here too.

Well might we ask

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss –
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life –
I know that it is finished.

Well might we ask, how deep is my devotion.