@PresbyTwit asked today: “Do you get emotionally worn down at this point in Lent?”
I was going to give them a very in-depth answer on Twitter, but I was too tired to explain in the few characters Twitter allows. 
The avid readers of my blog (mostly my mom) will have noticed I have not posted a Lenten prayer in several days. Or a week. Last week was a fast-paced week. Thursday and Friday a group of us at the seminary put on a sketch comedy show to raise money for a local charity, so most nights were spent in rehearsal and performance. I lead worship on Sunday, so it was a full weekend as well. (Not that I was working on my sermon on Saturday or anything.)
Basically, life happened. While I know that is not an excuse to lapse in your Lenten practices, it is what happened. Even now the idea of crafting a prayer to post makes me feel more tired. Lent wears me down. Is that what Lent is supposed to do? Why can’t we move Lent to the summer time when there’s no school?
Of course, that’s why Lent is important. It’s important because it’s hard. It’s important because it’s so long. It’s important because we’re preparing for the event that makes Christian Christians. Yes, Christmas is important; but Easter’s the BIG Christian holy day. Often people who are going to be baptized use Lent as a time of intense preparation and then are baptized on Easter morning. (A very ancient practice.)
One of the things that is hard is that there is a certain flow to long periods of time. In Lent we are past the halfway mark, but we’re not so close to Easter that it feels like it’s almost over. It’s the same with the semester right now. We’re past the halfway point, but we’re not so close to the end that it feels like it’s almost over. Some mornings you just want to wake up and say “Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuug.” Some mornings I do say that before getting up and starting my day. I try to get it all out before I get to class or work.
If Lent is a time to turn back to God, then this “Uug” part of Lent is the re-turning to God. Since Lent is a long haul I feel like it’s appropriate to re-commitment myself to Lenten practices after they have lapsed. So I re-commitment.
Loving God,
It’s still Lent!
How long, o Lord?!
It feels like it’s taking forever!
I know I’m not the only one who feels this way.
So I re-commit to my Lenten practices.
Because I am trying to be a better person,
to walk closer to you,
to love as you love,
and to do Lent as best I can.
Shower your Spirit upon me to empower me to do these things
and to do the other things you want me to do.
Amen.
