I always thought Lent was 40 days. And it is–if you exclude the Sundays during the Lenten Season. Sundays were historically excluded from the count because one did not fast on Sundays. Learn something new every day!
I had a wise teacher pose an interesting question to me this week. She asked what my Lenten practice was going to be. I fumbled around, talking about how I was planning on giving up drinking any alcohol on a “school night”. But she was asking about what was I going to undertake that would allow me to use the Lenten season as a rebirth season for myself. She wanted to know how I was going to mark the days in a way that would deepen my understanding and challenge my thinking, So the answer I came up with was to post a short observation every day for 46 days.
Today is Ash Wednesday. And it is also Valentine’s Day. It’s an interesting combination–forcing us to remember our own mortality while also suggesting we be joyful, and even celebratory, about love. Reconciling these two aspects of the day seems almost impossible. But that reconciliation came to me today through a cab driver.
As I got into a cab to come home earlier today, the driver noticed the ashes on my forehead, commenting that I had already been to church. I stated that I had. He then noted that it was also Valentine’s Day. I concurred, and said something about the odd juxtaposition. He corrected me by saying faith and love are connected and that having Ash Wednesday and Valentines Day on the same day was there to remind us of that.
I realized that his statement had some truth, although some would argue that there are some inherent theological flaws. But I thought about the basics of what the cab driver was saying. Love and faith are intertwined, the latter cannot exist without the former. More so, the combination of love and faith is powerful and enduring–whereas power without love and faith is weak and temporal. I want to thank that driver for challenging me to make sure that my love is faithful and that my faith is loving.