Once again Lent begins today with Ash Wednesday services around the world.
Many readers (& dear friends) are of differing faith traditions, but perhaps Blogger Virginia’s post-a-day Lenten gig can introduce you (a bit) to what’s up with Lent?
Christians start Lent with ashes on our foreheads as a reminder that we are dust, and to dust we shall return (ie, life is a gift and we are stewards of it during our time here on this planet.) The 40 days of Lent are a time to clean up our act (spiritually speaking.)
Kind of like Marie Kondo tidying up? Watching a few of her shows has inspired me to tidy up intentionally. Starting with messy dresser tops (so cluttered they couldn’t be dusted) I’ve moved on to sorting one small drawer at a time.
Lent is like that, a time to intentionally clean out our internal spiritual homes: to empty closets of excess everythings, clear our pantries of pride and self indulgence, and de-clutter our entryways of indifference and apathy. To clean out hallways of negative thoughts and vibes targeted at others. To drain our furnaces of leaky fears (that often burn up our desires to do good things.) To get rid of (any & all) kernels of hate hiding in the cracks of our basements.
Lent is also a time to grab a scrub brush and go deeper – to thoroughly scrub out the yucky stuff clogging the drains of our hearts. Things we need to let go, things that need changing, and things that may need forgiveness attention (of God & of ourselves.)
Using a big Lenten scrub brush (aided by lots of prayer) we can clean out our spiritual homes to make room for more of the good stuff that sparks joy in our hearts:
Love (the biggie of our faith), Grace, Mercy, Peace, Joy, Goodness, Kindness, Self Control, Wisdom, Gratitude, Humility … plus a desire to love God with all our hearts, minds, souls, spirits (basically our whole beings) — and love our neighbors as ourselves.
We give up stuff for Lent to draw closer to Jesus, but we also do things that strengthen our faith – more prayer(s), fasting, Scripture reading, heading to church more often, volunteering, sharing our resources… (& doing post-a-day Lenten gigs.) 🙂
As we begin our Lenten journeys, take time to reflect – what areas of our lives need tidying up? What areas need scrub brushes? How can we make room for more of God’s love to flow through us to others (& ourselves?)
To truly spark joy – the joy of Jesus – when Easter rolls around.
grace, peace & Lenten tidying-up
Virginia : )
p.s. Once again Virginia will attempt her post-a-day Lenten gig, but this time she is plotting a slightly different format. For weekdays streamlined blog posts (a quickie quote & pic) & slightly longer reflections on special days (Sundays inclusive.) Hope you will join me on this journey – blessings & Lenten hugs!
Roses in the Rubble 
Very ambitious, and I thought I was. I like that spiritually tidying up…I made a prayer corner in my bedroom today where I’m going to read and write my way though my bible journal. I’ll need plenty of support from the Holy Spirit to keep me on task, but I’m going to give it the old college try and stay on track spirtually ❤ Blessings Mz. Virginia ❤ I'll be following along 😉
Amen to needing Holy Spirit help keeping us on task! Your prayer corner sounds like a great space to offer up the ears of your heart to the Scriptures- I also like to keep a spiritual journal. (Helps finding quotes for blogs!) So glad to find you, Mz. Scarlett, & follow your blog! Lenten Blessings! 🕊🌟🙏🌟🕊
I asked the Holy Spirit to help me to set up the prayer corner b/c I live in a pretty small place and he really came through for me. I’m going to post a blog on it soon with pictures ❤ I really love it ❤ Thanks for stopping by Mz. Virginia. Here is my journaling prompt for today…" Faith makes it possible, not easy ❤ " Happy Thursday 😉
Thank you, Scarlett – especially for the faith prompt. Here’s to the Holy Spirit strengthening our faith muscles this Lent (& all year through!) ✨🙏✨
I love your analogy!!
Thanks, Michele – and this weekend must get out scrub brushes (the real kind) to clean the house I share with my brother. Blessings! 🌟🌷🌟
Thank you…I need scrubbing
It’s a hard thing, scrubbing grime out of our drains – sometimes it’s a blessing having others in our lives to help us deal with the tough stuff. Thanks for helping me with your friendship! Blessings Carol-Jo! 🌷🌟🙏🌟🌷
This is a carefully written and well thought through description of the true meaning/purpose of Lent. The cleaning analogy brought such clarity to the whole thing. Bravo, Sis❣️
Thank you, Cin. So appreciate the way you’ve helped me deal with tough stuff clogging the drains of my heart over the years. Blessings to you & Mark during this season of Lent. Hugs!! 💜🌟🙏🌟💜
The start of Lent. Embracing the message.
Amen, Arlene. A great way to approach these 40+ days, by embracing the Message: Jesus Christ! Blessings on your Lenten journey – & hugs! 🌷🌟🙏🌟🌷
Same to you. Have a meaningful observation of Lent Virginia.
✨🌟🙏🌟✨
I’m glad you’re doing this, Virginia. I’ll try to hop over as often as I can. YES, I think tackling one small drawer or tabletop at a time is wise. I look at all the mess and wonder where to start when what I should be doing is just starting somewhere!
Thank you, Debbie. Your encouragement during Advent was a huge blessing. Looking at my whole ‘tidying list’ overwhelms, but doing my bedroom dresser tops made a huge difference increasing my verve every morning (vs. things getting lost in the clutter!) Still on the one drawer @ a time schedule… (then will address boxes – 1 @ a time.) Tidying (& Lenten) blessings to you! 🌷🌟💜🌟🌷