Lent: With

I like "with." Grammatically, it's a conjunction that shows the relationship between its object and the word it modifies. As words go, it's all about partnerships and doing things together. "I went to the store with Joey." Or "With Heather's help, I made sure we put frogs in the boots of everyone in first grade."

Some things just belong together, after all. Peanut butter and jelly, Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Spidey and MJ, bacon and eggs, Sylvester and Tweety. They're a two-for-one package deal that can't be broken up without inviting calamity:

It makes it odd that we so often romanticize being alone.

And that's what Lent is about, isn't it? Kids whose families observe Lent frequently are admonished to pick something to give up for the six weeks of Lent, as teens and adults we tell ourselves that somehow not eating cheeseburgers will help our personal spiritual walk, and giving up Fortnite is just the penance God requires of us.

There's something to be said for entering the desert by yourself. Away from the press of the daily grind, you lose the distractions and start to notice what's essential. Separated from the inane and repetitious chatter that fills our lives, we start to hear One Voice clearly and we realize that there is another with us.

But what I love about the story of Jesus' time in the wilderness was that the mystic journey wasn't enough. In order to be in harmony with that voice he needed to be with others.

I like to think that in the Judean desert, Jesus came to the same profound understanding that rocked John Steinbeck's preacher Jim Casy in "The Grapes of Wrath." Casy went out into the wilderness to find his own soul, only to discover he didn't have one. He just had one piece of a great big soul, and the only way to care for that piece was to care for the pieces held by others.

In the end, we all need to be with one another. It's a package deal and to break it up would only invite calamity.


Copyright © 2019 by David Learn. Used with permission.


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