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Dear Lent,
It’s me, Deepu.
Not to be rude, and not that I don’t want you here, but um,
I know you come every year, and I know I’m supposed to take this season of you to prepare for Jesus’ Passion, but, like, I am not ready for you yet. I feel like there should’ve been a season to prepare myself for this season to prepare myself.
I’m sorry I’m not ready for you.
Also, I’m sorry that you get such a bad rap. There’s the eating less and not having meat, there’s the challenge to give something up or do something extra while you’re here…it’s like you’re a vegetarian house guest.
Scene: a dad is in the kitchen preparing dinner with his daughter watching
Daughter: Dad, why can’t I have meat?
Dad: Because Lent is staying with us for a few weeks and is a vegetarian.
Daughter: So why does that mean I can’t have meat?
Dad: Because I’m not going to make two separate meals every time we eat together. Deal with it.
End Scene
But what if we approached it differently?
Scene: a dad is in the kitchen preparing dinner with his daughter watching
Daughter: Dad why can’t I have meat?
Dad: Because Lent is staying with us for a few weeks and is a vegetarian.
Daughter: So why does that mean I can’t have meat?
Dad: Because Lent is our guest, and we want our guests to always feel welcome and appreciated.* It’s a small sacrifice. It can also help us to appreciate meat more when we do eat it, right?
Daughter: I guess that makes sense. Does that mean that we’ll become vegetarian all the time?
Dad: Hell no, sweetie. Hell no.**
End Scene
I think too often I don’t appreciate you, Lent, because I look at you in the wrong way. I see you as a hindrance – some obligation that I just have to deal with. I also see you as a challenge where failure is unacceptable. That if I mess up and give into the thing that I’m giving up, then I might as well throw in the towel and just quit on you.
But you deserve more than that. You deserve a second chance – and then a third, and a fourth – as many as it takes to get me to the Easter Season.
I try to be better at not yelling at my children. When I fail and yell at them, I don’t just say, “Oh well” and then just keep yelling at them. I keep trying. I should give you the same effort.
I can’t just zip through the rest of your stay and ignore you, waiting til you come next year. That’s ridiculous. And selfish. And lazy.
I’m sorry for doing that in the past. I will try harder while you’re here this year. Thank you for being here, and reminding me of all that Jesus did for me.
Love,
Deepu
*Beth, if you read this, in no way am I saying that we should only eat vegetarian meals when having a vegetarian over. I mean, we can do turkey bacon as a middle ground I guess.
**If you’re a vegetarian, I do not judge or condemn you. I don’t understand you, but I don’t judge you.
