harbarger theory: lent is not lint.

From my Appalachian heritage and speech patterns, I don't make a pronunciation distinction between "lent" and "lint." I don't say a difference. I don't hear a difference. If I somehow stumble into saying "lent" instead of "lint," then you can just know that it was unconscious and unnoticed.

But, in my heart, there is a tremendous ... world-changing ... difference between Lent ... this season of preparation where we forsake a beloved pasttime or add a new discipline to our lives to help us to get our heads around (in a very, very small way) of the sacrifice of Christ ... and lint ... this fluffy stuff that grows in our dryer filter or in our belly-buttons. Lint is stuff we can discard (or collect to start campfires with!) and Lent is a tool that helps us focus our hearts.

A good and wise friend (thank you Naomi!) e-mailed me this week suggesting that maybe ... just maybe ... we should NOT pick up those things that we lived without during Lent, since most of them are things like caffeine, chocolate, etc and then next year, getting rid of another destructive habit. A commendable idea, I might say!!

But, let me share with you why I don't do it that way. If you remember my post about Messy Foods then you'll know that I believe life is to be live OUT LOUD with fun and hilarity and stuff on my shirt. I believe that God gave us all kinds of wonderful things like mud and chocolate and coffee beans and that we are to use them and to revel in them.

John the Baptist came preaching austerity. Jesus came preaching abundance. Fasting is a good thing. But, I don't believe that we are to live "fasting lives." We are to live abundant lives biting into juicy peaches and letting the nectar run down our chins.

Therefore, when Lent is over, I'll be back to having the occasional "high-test," that is caffeinated latte. I urge you to fast when it's appropriate and to feast when it's appropriate.

Lent is powerful and important. Lint is trash. But, Lent is not life. Life is life.

harbarger theory: lent is not lint.