Midway Through Lent: Schedule Disruptions and Despair

So, here we are, midway through Lent. How is your Lenten discipline going? I thought my Lenten disciplines would be so simple. I'd read my way through the Nouwen text, Show Me the Way: Readings for Each Day of Lent. I'd crochet prayer shawls instead of just mindlessly watching television. Not hard, right?

It always starts so well, and I always think, hey, this is easy. And then come the schedule disruptions and despair. Now is the time to resist the seduction of despair.

So, like me, you've gotten off schedule? Are you filled with self-loathing? Do you berate yourself by saying, "Really, why can't you just keep a simple commitment? What's wrong with you?"

Stop that line of thought right now. We have lived in the land of self-loathing long enough. Hopefully, we chose our Lenten disciplines because we wanted to become closer to God. We didn't choose them so that we'd have additional reasons to hate ourselves. That's not the emotion that God desires to see.

Take time to rest and regroup. Reassemble your plans. Rethink. Were you too ambitious? Has your schedule changed? What changes should you make as we head into the countdown to Easter?

And now, recommit.