Is it even Lent?
It hasn’t felt like it. I haven’t felt the gloomy excitement
of the season. I haven’t experienced my Lenten malaise. I’ve been reading a daily
devotional and planning for Easter and all the usual markings of the season,
but I’ve felt nothing.
I thought maybe others were right; we’ve been in one, long
Lent for the past year. Maybe I just couldn’t tell the difference any more. But
over the past week, as I’ve waited on that annual malaise that always comes halfway
in, I realized, I wasn’t in a long Lent. I was in Advent again.
The weather is nice—warmer but not yet humid, blooming
flowers and overcast skies. Not winter anymore but not quite spring. Places are
opening up, slowly. My friends and family and I are half-vaccinated. We’re
making plans again. The season isn’t celebratory yet, but it’s full of hope.
There is potential in the air, in our voices, in the dogwood buds. Soon.
In Lent, especially Holy Week, we suspend our knowledge of
the Resurrection. We suffer and mourn with Jesus and the disciples through the
horror of the arrest, trial, and crucifixion. We pray and hope, but we don’t know
that the tomb will be empty on Sunday. It’s a surprising find, a sudden victory
that turns it all around. But in Advent, we know. Christmas is coming. The
Messiah is coming. The king is coming. It’s exciting and celebratory, even while
being a time of penance and preparation. Peace on earth and goodwill to men.
Not now, but soon.
Today is the Feast of the Annunciation. God has become man.
The countdown to his birth, his arrival, begins. There is a date set; just
wait. It always feels a bit odd celebrating this feast in the middle of Lent.
We’re on the road to Calvary. It’s getting rough. Yet we pause to celebrate the
Incarnation and begin it all again.
But this year, the Annunciation feels more appropriate. I'm just too full of hope to suspend knowledge. I know the good is coming. Promises
of birth, of change, of victory. The long wait is almost over. The proud will
be scattered. The meek will be exalted. The hungry will be filled and the rich
sent away empty. The Annunciation is full of concrete hope. There’s a lot of
potential in Mary’s bulging belly. All will be well. Soon.
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