We might hear the word "lent" mentioned on television or the radio. Maybe we've seen it talked about on Facebook. Some of us have heard about it when participating in February church services, offering specially tailored messages focused on the suffering and death of Jesus.

Though we've probably all heard of it, even those of us raised in the church may not be exactly sure what it's all about. Let’s take a few minutes to explore its meaning and purpose, and how we can participate (even if we don't consider ourselves religious).

What Is Lent and How Long Does It Last?
Lent is a 40-day season in the Christian church calendar that leads up to Easter Sunday. It focuses on the suffering of Christ for the forgiveness of sins. The 40 days represent the days Jesus spent in the wilderness resisting the temptation of the devil. The number 40 also represents the 40 years that Israeli people spent wandering in the desert after their exodus from Egypt.

The literal meaning of lent is “to lengthen the days.” We lengthen, and give deeper meaning to, our short days of life by reflecting on and reorienting to the important relationships in our lives.

The Four Relationships of Lent
If left to ourselves, we might not ever stop to think about how we are acting in the four primary relationships that each of us have:

1. 1. Our relationship with God
2. 2. Our relationship with others
3. 3. Our relationship with our ourselves
4. 4. Our relationship with creation

Lent, for people who celebrate it, has become a yearly time to stop, smell the roses, and fix some of the broken pieces in each of these relationships.

What Do People Do During Lent?
With each of these four relationships in mind, there are many ways Christians have celebrated Lent for the last 1,500 years. All of the following practices have similar themes based on improving our attitudes toward God, people, ourselves, and the created world.

Giving something up
Some choose not to eat a certain food for 40 days, or to refrain from a certain activity for that length of time. When they say “No” to themselves in one area, these people believe they are training their bodies, minds, and spirits to rely on God for comfort – rather than relying on food and physical pleasure. Sometimes, the money they would have spent on food or a certain activity is given to someone in need.

Giving gifts
During Lent, people share. They look for those in need of something – their money, resources, or time, and they intentionally give in some way that is meaningful to them.

Prayer and reflection
Recognizing their dependence on God, people celebrating Lent attempt to step beyond their self-dependence and move more toward a dependent, trusting relationship with God. They talk with God through the season of Lent, often using Bible reading to inspire their prayers. Seeing life as being lived in a community, they attend church services, and walk with others through this time of reflection.

In summary, during Lent people fast, give and pray to grow in their relationships with God and others.

What Is Ash Wednesday And What Does It Have to Do With Lent?
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, and is a day devoted to humility, trust, and asking for forgiveness. It’s called “Ash Wednesday” because in some traditions a mark is made on the forehead on this day to symbolize the wearer’s humble belief that “from dust (ashes) we came, and to dust we will return” (Ecclesiastes 3:20). The ashes also symbolize repentance, or a desire to turn away from attitudes and actions in our lives that offend God and others.

Ash Wednesday, and the Lent season it starts, is designed to help us realize that the world doesn’t function well when everyone is trying to climb the corporate ladder, or consider ourselves better than everyone else.

Lent reminds many that:

--We must go lower in order to go higher
--We must go under in order to rise above
--We must go deeper in self-examination, digging into our most basic motives, attitudes and approaches to people – in order to rise higher in our relationship with Christ.

Lent – A Time to Go Lower; Easter – A Time to Rise Higher
In a sense, Lent is meant to be a season that takes us “lower,” so that our celebration of Easter (the resurrection of Jesus) is that much higher (Peter Davids, Ph.D.). We look into the shadows of our hearts, in all four of these relationships, and we seek to make things right.

Whether you celebrate Lent or not, what could you do this year to help you think more clearly about the four relationships mentioned above?

You may be glad, like millions around the world, that the season of Lent gives you an opportunity each year to get some things straightened out in your relationships.

Copyright 2013, watchgmctv.com. For permission to repost or reprint, click here.

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About the Writer

Dan Wilt is a freelance writer based in Franklin, Tenn. He celebrates Lent every year because it’s good for the soul.