Guest Post: David Ayres, Minister of the Word, Bammel Church of Christ
I was in college the first time a priest put ashes on my forehead. In fact, I had never even heard of Lent until I learned about it as a Bible Major in a course entitled: “Christian Worship.” One of the first projects our professor assigned was a presentation on the Christian calendar. So, I acquainted myself with Advent and Christmas, Epiphany and Lent, Easter and Pentecost. Of those seasons, I had only ever heard of two: Christmas and Easter. And even those two holidays were treated with suspicion in the tradition that raised me. Jesus was likely born in the springtime, not winter, after all. And why make a big deal about Easter when we celebrate the resurrection every Sunday? As a proud son of my low-church heritage, I received a “B” on that particular assignment. It was all so new to me.
And it may be new to you, as well. Though, I’m sure you’ve pieced some of the details together. You’ve probably heard your friends talk about giving up coffee, or chocolate, or alcohol for Lent. You’ve likely seen people walking around with oily black globs on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday. You may be familiar with Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. And yet, for those of us raised to be suspicious of “the traditions of men,”[1] Lent can remain mystifying.
Now if you’ve read this far, this is where I may have to disappoint you. Because I am not going to make any attempt to de-mystify Lent. Instead, I want to make the case that Lent is worth being mystified by.