It is Lent. And it is tax season.

I see parallels between the two: Both remind me that perfection is impossible. Every year I seem to misplace at least one important document needed for tax filing. Once again, I’ve had to request a duplicate. Just as Lent reminds me that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), tax season repeatedly humbles me, challenging my image of myself as organized and competent. Both call me to face my shortcomings.

Both Lent and tax season remind me that I hold on to much that is useless. I can’t believe how many useless papers I filed away! Yes, I do need that financial statement, but not the other two sheets of paper that came with it. Yes, this receipt for prescription medicine might be a deductible expense, but why hold onto the printed instructions that are the same for every refill?

And why hold onto resentments or grudges that do me no good? Bad habits that I know are unhelpful? I am reminded of a massage therapist I used to see. While massaging the tense muscles of my neck and shoulders, he would intone: “All the harm that has been done to you: Let it go. All the harm done by any man: Let it go. All the harm done by any woman: Let it go.”

“Hold fast to what is good,” scripture encourages us (Rom. 12:9). And what is unhelpful, harmful, or simply worthless? “Let it go,” Lent intones. “Let it go.”

Another similarity between Lent and tax season: No one else can really do the work for you. Although we pay an accountant to file our taxes, that does not really mean he does our taxes for us. Yes, he completes the final forms, but does so based on information we provide – provide on a worksheet that is 21 pages long! The accountant truly helps with our taxes, but we still must do a lot of the work.

So it is with Lent. A spiritual director can help us face the truth about ourselves. A Lenten study group or a devotional book can challenge and encourage. But to look honestly at ourselves, to acknowledge our weaknesses, to repent and set out on new paths – only we can do that.

Lent is a 40-day journey, a spiritual journey, that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with the Resurrection at Easter. It recalls the days Jesus spent in the wilderness, his temptations in the desert, and ending with his agony in the Garden and his crucifixion. Many Christians observe these six weeks as a time for personal reflection, self-denial, penance, moderation, and fasting.

We are encouraged to reflect on our own anguish side-by-side with the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus’s torture and death. Some Christians follow the “Way of the Cross” and recall, metaphorically, memories in their lives of being condemned, scourged, or even looking upon a precious child who is about to die. The sense of being in a tomb often arises while contemplating the passage from Crucifixion to Resurrection.

In all of this, let us keep in mind the presence of angels in Jesus’s life, from beginning to the end, who gave him strength. His life was begun with the announcement to Mary that she would be the mother of the Savior. After Satan’s temptations of Jesus in the desert, “Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.” (Matt 4:11) The angel gave Jesus strength in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength.” (Luke 24:4-6).

In the New Testament are multiple stories of angels in the life of Jesus and his friends, bringing good news, messages, protection, reassurance and strength. May we offer ourselves to God, strengthened by an angel, as Mary did with her “Fiat” – “May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38b) and Jesus’s “Fiat” - “Not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42b)                                                                                                                                     

Let us not ignore the presence of angels in our lives, seen and unseen, bidden or unbidden, bringing strength to our suffering along with the faith in the coming of Easter Sunday. Behold, angels come.

-- Jan

During Lent, we journey toward the good news of resurrection. The Soul Windows CD, The Dawning, invites you to follow Mary Magdalene to the empty tomb, guided by Bill's words and the thoughtful music of Geri Pieper. To order The Dawning, as an Easter gift for yourself or for others, click here or on the image.

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