The sacred spot during Lent is a helpful tool. Observing Lent can sometimes feel like a success/failure paradigm. You were able to keep your fast; you weren’t able to keep your fast. But the true observation of a holy Lent is to be fully and humbly present to the time and season and all the human feelings you have as a result of that. Lent means Spring-we are noticing and observing the arrival of this season in nature. As we look toward the celebration of Easter as an arrival of Spring and an ending of winter, we are made aware of the need for re-awakening, re-warming, re-birth in our human experience too. The sacred spot is a way to honor this time in the year. It is a place to notice the season, and with every glance at the spot, every candle we light there, a little reorientation to the moment: It’s raining. It’s sunny. I’m lonely. I’m grateful. There are blossoms. The morning is cold and frosty. The day is mild. The robins and bluebirds are back.
The sacred spot in Lent isn’t about making a commitment or evaluating yourself. It’s simply about a reminder place and letting a small part of your home environment represent the bigger reality of the world. The season and story that draws you into itself as a small part of a bigger picture. Spring, human frailty, God as human, love, sacrifice, dust as our beginning and ending…if ever we needed a little spot for reflection, we do during this time of year. Blessings on your Lent. You need do nothing. It is holy to be a human on planet earth as it turns to Spring.