A Brief Reflection on Lent and "Spring Cleaning"

For many of you, today will be just another Wednesday. If you are out and about, you may notice a number of people walking around with a black smudge on their foreheads and think, “That's odd.” Otherwise, the day will pass much as any other. However, for Catholics and many other Christians, today marks the beginning of the season of Lent and is anything but an ordinary Wednesday.

My purpose in writing this post is not to give you a long history of the practices associated with Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. For those who are unfamiliar with Lent, or who would like a brief refresher, here is a two-minute video which does an excellent job summarizing Ash Wednesday and the observation of Lent:

My purpose today, is to briefly reflect on some of the aspects of Lent that are applicable to most of us, regardless of our personally held religious beliefs. 

I was raised Catholic and continue to practice my Catholic faith today. As a child, I used to dread the Lenten season. At the time, I thought it meant deprivation, solemn services, and extra church obligations. How greatly I anticipated the arrival of Easter and a return to a “normal” life. 

As a teenager, my view of the season was more superficial and jaded. That view can be summarized in the following way:

I find that meme hilarious now, though I steadfastly believed it for a time.

Today, as an adult and partner in an interfaith marriage, I take a much more nuanced view. I have come to deeply appreciate the season as a time to reflect on my faith life, act more charitably, humble myself, and commit to a personal “Spring Cleaning” of the soul. It is a time that my husband and I make an effort to focus on making changes that will strengthen our family unit and teach our children to love and be kind to others.

Many of the ideas associated with Lent transcend Catholicism. People of all faith backgrounds can benefit from the practices of humility, charity, sacrifice, and self-reflection. How appropriate, therefore, that the start of our month of discussions on topics related to the theme of “Spring Cleaning”, coincides with the start of Lent?