Lenten Day Eight: John McQuiston

February 21, 2024

“There must be time within which we neither speak nor listen, but simply are.”  John McQuiston, author of Always We Begin Again.

On this eight day of Lent, this quotation reminds me of a blog I read just yesterday entitled Lenten Overload, by my friend Nancy Agneberg (https://livingonlifeslabyrinth.com/2024/02/20/lenten-overload/).  For those of us whose spiritual practices include honoring the season of Lent, we can, indeed, sometimes overload ourselves with all good intentions for becoming “holier” or doing our Lenten season “correctly,” or even “faithfully.” Like Nancy, I, too, have a stack of Lenten reading material, along with webinars and mini-classes I registered for in a moment of . . . seeking?  Desperation?  Craziness?  Intentional failure?  Even if I could attend to everything I have planned for Lent, I doubt I’d be one bit different from what/who I am right now, if I didn’t make room for silence, for simply being.

The tradition of Lent progressed from the story of Jesus the Christ’s 40-day sojourn in the wilderness before he began his public ministry.  At its beginnings as a church practice, it was intended as a season of repentance before Easter and as a period for those joining the church to prepare for Baptism.  Nothing else.  Go back even further to Jesus’ time in the desert.  What did he take with him to help him grow spiritually and be more faithful?  Books on spirituality?  Webinar appointments?  Blogs on “How To Do Lent Right?” No. The only thing Jesus had with him was his own being, silence, his desire to be with God, and the Word of God that was part of his core.  Nothing else.

I am reminded by Nancy and by John McQuiston that the most important, meaningful, and transformative reason for practicing Lent is to, as Nancy so beautifully states, allow “Lent to enfold us.”  In that enfolding, God does Lent to us, which can only happen in the silent time we give to God.

Blessings ~ Rosemary

PS. I wrote the following poem during this past Advent, when I was also trying to do Advent “right” and getting frustrated. It speaks also to Lent.

What If?

we turned down the noise
of Holiday Traditions
closed the email accounts
with all of those various
sources that encourage us
to do Advent
right
set aside the plethora
of spiritual books
hoping to guide us into
a valley of perfect
waiting
and tuned out
the spiritual gurus
eager to reveal
the promise of
impeccable
stillness.
What if
it were enough
instead
to sit
wordless
just as we are
in a darkened room
with a single candle,
illuminated by
the Light?

© Rosemary McMahan