Lent: A Time to Become Truly Ourselves

I looked over at my calender beside my desk on Wednesday and realized it was Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. At this point I recalled a mental post-it note I had made a few months earlier while reading "Promptings from Paradise" by J. Philip Newell (I highly recommend his books). That mental note was to refer back to Newell's book at Lent (finally a mental note that I found!) Today, I flipped through Newell's book until I found the scribblings that I had made late last year.

Newell wrote about a teaching that the third century, St. Antony of Egypt shared with his followers: "When you die and stand before God in judgment, you will not be asked whether you have become another Antony, or Paul, or even the great Mary herself, but whether you have become truly yourself." Newell goes on to say "The traditional emphasis on repentance during the season of Lent is not that we should become something other than ourselves, but rather that we should become truly ourselves."

The last line "we should become truly ourselves" really resonated with me when I first read it and it continues to do so now. This quote helps me to understand that Lent isn't merely about giving something up or starting something new for the 46 days before Easter, but rather it's a time to do something or not to do something that will guide me into learning about who I am and who I have the potential of becoming, myself. I still haven't decided what I'm going to give up or take up for Lent but I feel that I'm headed in the right direction.

Blessings to you on your journey of becoming truly yourself.