Time For Spaciousness

Even the word sounds slow. In fact, the word means slow in French. It’s Lent – the season when we spiritually prepare ourselves for the season of Easter. The problem is, even though it sounds slow, it seems that most people’s lives don’t really slow down during this season. Most people I see seem perpetually stuck on a hamster wheel revolving between the realms of work, family needs and social obligations that leave very little time for the stillness which might allow them the space to spiritually prepare. People seem hurried and harried and don’t even want to think of adding some spiritual discipline into their lives. 

I remember well when, as a theology student, there were times when it seemed the professors were colluding together to make sure that all our major papers were due in the same week. Those were the times when attendance at daily morning prayer in the chapel dropped in half. When talking to one of my theology friends about how utterly crammed my week was, and that I was thinking that I should drop Morning Prayer for a week too, he said something that I have never forgotten: “When there’s no time to pray, it’s time to pray.” 

Lent, in English, means something else as well. When something is lent, it means it has been borrowed. In order to add something to our schedule, we might need to borrow time from something else that we do. Or we might need to give something up to allow for this new thing. And so there is also a tradition of giving something up for Lent. Sometimes it seems that giving up something is the chief activity of many who observe Lent. Someone might give up chocolate, bless them, but if that is the total extent of their observance, I would suggest otherwise. They might try giving up some time from some small activity to really observe a spiritual discipline with a view to preparing their hearts. 

What can you do? Whatever you choose to do, set your intention with a small prayer like, “Creator God, open my heart to receive the good news of Easter that I may be transformed to walk in your ways and to love what you love. Amen.” Say this prayer each day before your practise. 

If you take on a spiritual discipline, make it simple and something that you can reasonably do every day. Some examples are: 

• Keep a gratitude journal: at the close of the day or first thing in the morning, review the last 24 hours and choose something that happened, or some person for whom you’re grateful. Write it down in your journal. And say a quick prayer of thanks to God. Transformation happens rapidly in this discipline because you quickly start to notice and appreciate blessings. It changes the way you see things. 

• Start to practise one or several of the daily offices: Morning Prayer, Midday Prayer, Evening Prayer or Compline, perhaps. You may use the BAS or some other prayer book, such as Pray Without Ceasing from the Anglican Church of Canada, but now there are easier methods, such as apps for your phone. My favourite these days is from England, and you can follow along as it is prayed aloud, with parts of it beautifully sung. It is a free download, just search for Daily Prayer in your app store and install it on your phone or tablet. It just says “Daily Prayer” in white letters on a blue background, from the Church of England. Choose one of the offices that fits into your day. 

• Practise meditative prayer such as Centring Prayer, or Christian Meditation. When you get silent and let go of your hurriedness and timetable, even for a few minutes, you open the interior space to allow God’s presence to work within you. The great thing about these prayer practises is that they come with organized groups. They can help support you, usually with a weekly group meeting either in-person or by Zoom. You practise the prayer daily by yourself, but you can get together with others weekly. I am the Coordinator for Contemplative Outreach Central Ontario (COCO), which supports Centring Prayer groups throughout central Ontario. You can find out about the practise by visiting our website: WWW.ContemplativeOutreachCO.org 

• Practise Lectio Divina or Visio Divina, where you meditate upon a text or piece of scripture, or upon an image, such as sacred art, to help you change your focus and lead you into contemplation. 

You can also do your own research online to find a spiritual practise for Lent. I encourage you to find something that is attainable for you, and one that inserts a new spaciousness, rather than one that just adds more to your to-do list. This Lent, add some slowness into your life.