If Christmas is the season to be jolly, is Lent the season to be gloomy?
There was a similar mentality regarding fasting during the time of Christ. Fasting was to be accompanied by a gloomy face – perhaps not the exact words, but that was the drift - or some other visible sign to tell everyone that you are fasting. Christ criticised this attitude.
Lent is not a time for gloom. On the contrary, it is the preparatory period for the greatest feast in the Christian calendar – Easter. It is a time for reflection on and examination of our basic choices and fundamental options. This, truly, can bring some pain with it; but it is pain of the redemptive kind, that is pain that leads to healing. The recognition of our basic sinfulness is a painful exercise which is however tempered by the realisation the God of Love waits for us to embrace us. A good physical workout in the gym is also painful. We do it to burn unwanted calories. We believe that it makes sense to invest in this kind of pain to benefit from a healthier and – hopefully – happier lifestyle. Believers feel that it is similarly beneficial to burn dross that is worse than extra...
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