Reflection #82 (11th February 2024 at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians)
So, as I said at the top of the service, today we’re looking at Lent as a season for Spiritual Strength Training. A time to focus on spiritual deepening and to develop disciplines that might help us to live in greater alignment with our values, to live lives of meaning and purpose, to bring us closer to God.
In order to get there, though, we probably ought to start by refreshing our memories about Lent as it is traditionally observed in the Christian faith. It’s a period of 40 days – from Ash Wednesday, next Wednesday, to Easter (not including Sundays) – a time of solemnity and self-reflection during which the faithful remember the events leading up to Jesus’s crucifixion. It is meant to parallel the 40 days which Jesus spent fasting and praying in the wilderness, when he was tempted and tested by Satan, but he resisted those temptations, held firm in his self-discipline, and stuck to what he set out to do. So in the traditional view, Lent is a time to draw closer to God, through prayer, reflection, perhaps making sacrifices which test our own self-discipline, and resolving to live a more Godly life by doing so.
As we heard in the reading from Brian earlier, people from varied traditions – Catholic, Orthodox, and Unitarian Universalist – have noted similarities between Lenten practice and strength training. It’s a season of asceticism – like an athlete’s training programme – but rather than aiming to turn out like Usain Bolt, Simone Biles, or Arnold Schwarzenegger – the aim is to become more like Jesus. Or to put a more general, more Unitarian, interpretation on it: it’s a season to focus on spiritual growth and ethical commitment, and living in a way that is in greater alignment with our values. Lent can serve as a season where – metaphorically – we engage in spiritual weightlifting on a regular basis in order to build up our spiritual muscles so we’re more ready to face what life throws at us next.
I reckon this is part of the point of coming to church all-year-round – part of why we’re here – it’s a space where we nurture spiritual growth and personal development, where we are challenged to think new thoughts, to internalise and integrate spiritual teachings, to stretch ourselves and be transformed. And part of my job is, as the reading said, to be a kind-of personal spiritual trainer.
Some of you may know I’ve been seeing a personal trainer – a personal physical trainer – for the last 18 months or so. I brought some 5kg weights in as a visual aid (I do usually lift heavier than this!) One of the many great things about my trainer, Leila, is that she meets you where you are (both literally – as she’s based in Essex, and I’m not, so we meet once a week on Zoom – and metaphorically, as she adapts our sessions depending on the state I turn up in on any given morning). And some mornings I really do turn up in a state. The last few years have been quite tough going for me, in places, with dad’s illness, and the sudden death of my best mate Jef, and all the other ups and downs of life that we all have to face. So when Tuesday morning rolls round and it’s time for my session with Leila – sometimes I’m knackered – there have been months where my entire system has been marinated in stress hormones – there are nights when something’s been worrying me and I haven’t slept well. So I haven’t always got it in me to push my limits – to lift heavier weights or do more reps – but I want to turn up and do something… rather than skipping a session and breaking the habit of showing up. So on days like that we’ll say – OK, today’s session just requires you to get dressed and go out for a walk, and we’ll have a chat about life as you go – and sometimes that’s the only time in the week I’ve got away from my desk to get any sort of exercise or fresh air at all and it has done me the world of good.
Why am I sharing this? Well, the process of training – whether it’s physical or spiritual – is more nuanced than the archetypal image of a horrible sergeant-major type berating you to push harder. There’s always a balance to be struck. Sometimes it is the right time to push, to challenge yourself, to make sacrifices and do the hard thing in service of a greater goal. Equally, though, sometimes it is the right time to hold back, take it easy, rest up for a bit until you’re ready to go again, consolidate your gains. In weightlifting there’s this idea of ‘progressive overload’ – by increasing the weight or the workload your body will step up to the challenge and adapt by growing and strengthening muscle – you have to push yourself a little bit further in order to develop. You probably aren’t going to grow by just endlessly repeating what you’ve always done. But if you overdo it – if you increase the weight before you’re ready, or train when you’re sick or tired – you’re likely to end up hurt or burned out.
We can transfer this idea across to spiritual strength training too. It’s important to strike a balance, over the course of our lifetime, between times of stretching ourselves and times of taking it easy. If we want to be our best selves, to flourish spiritually, that is going to require us to give the process proper attention and put in intentional effort. We need to find a spiritual practice that works for us – or perhaps a smorgasbord of different practices that suit different seasons of our lives – and then we need to build new habits – ‘put in the reps’ – and embed these practices into the rhythm of our days.
I want to suggest that Lent is a time for each of us to embrace this process of Spiritual Strength Training – a time to refocus on spiritual discipline – to take up a practice. Unless it’s not! That’s why I included the poem by Diana Elizabeth Carroll that Chloë read for us earlier – as it says – ‘Lent / is not for trying / to become someone / I am not. / It is for honouring / the person / I already am.’ Each of us needs to weigh up both sides of this paradoxical advice and do some discernment for ourselves – only you will know whether right now is a time to challenge yourself or a time to curl up and rest.
So you’ve got until Wednesday to decide if you’re going to ‘Do Lent’ this year! And what form of spiritual practice, or habit, you might focus some attention on over the next 40 days. There are all sorts of things you might take up – it doesn’t have to be hugely arduous – and I can offer some suggestions to get you started. How about spending five prayerful minutes in bed, first thing each morning, to get yourself spiritually centred and set your intentions for the day? Or you could take five minutes at bedtime to review your day, give thanks for the good, notice what’s not so good, and ask for what you need in order to set it all aside before you sleep? Maybe you could choose a spiritual book that you’re going to read during Lent and just set aside five minutes or so each day to read a few pages and see how it works on you? Make time each day to sit quietly and appreciate music or art? Or get out each day to walk out in nature? Or maybe you’ll go down the traditional route and give something up for Lent – but make sure it’s something that’s in service of spiritual or ethical growth or an expression of your values – thinking of last week’s climate conference maybe you could go vegan for lent. Or perhaps you might think about cutting back on ‘doomscrolling’ and limiting your consumption of news or social media. If you feel like you’re really up for a challenge – consider your ‘growing edge’ – is there an area of your spiritual/religious life you know you’re kind-of neglecting or avoiding? Maybe you’re a bit squeamish about traditional religious language and symbolism. Maybe you’ve never got to grips with meditation as you struggle with sitting still. Perhaps now is a good time to investigate these challenging areas of your religious life with renewed curiosity.
Whatever you decide – let us know – so that we can all cheer you on! You might tell the WhatsApp group or stay for the Sunday Conversation with Jeannene after today’s service. And in the weeks to come, let’s do what we can to strengthen our collective spiritual muscle – to flourish and grow, and be our best selves – for the greater good of all. Amen.
Reflection by Jane Blackall
An audio recording of this sermon is available: