By CJ Lester
I didn't grow up observing Lent. Not even a little bit.
Growing up Pentecostal, Lent wasn't something we talked about. It wasn't on the calendar, it wasn't preached from the pulpit and honestly it wasn't something most people around me even thought about. When I moved into Baptist circles it was pretty much the same story. Lent felt like something Catholics did. Something distant and maybe even a little suspicious to the traditions I was raised in.
So for a big chunk of my life the forty days before Easter were just... the forty days before Easter.
That changed when I became Methodist around 2019. Suddenly there was an Ash Wednesday service. Suddenly there was something called the liturgical calendar that gave the whole year a shape and a rhythm I had never experienced before. I remember thinking where has this been my whole life? It wasn't that Lent was forced on me. It was more like something clicked into place that I didn't even know was missing. There's a reason the psalmist wrote "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24). For the first time I was learning to treat every season of the church year that way as something the Lord had made with purpose.
Now I'm worshiping in an Anglican setting at Holy Cross Cathedral and my understanding of Lent has grown even deeper. The liturgical calendar isn't just a schedule to me anymore. It's a way of walking through the life of Christ every single year intentionally and communally and with purpose. And Lent is one of the most sacred parts of that walk.
This year I'm observing Lent by giving up ground beef and sodas. That might sound simple or maybe even small to some people. But that's kind of the point. Every time I reach for something I gave up I'm reminded of why. It pulls my attention back to what this season is really about. The giving up isn't the destination. It's a signpost pointing me toward something greater. Jesus himself said "When you fast do not look gloomy like the hypocrites for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others... But when you fast anoint your head and wash your face that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you" (Matthew 6:16-18). Lent has taught me that the discipline is between me and God. That's it.
More than what I'm giving up though I'm devoting myself more deeply to prayer this Lent. That's where the real work happens. Fasting from food or drink is outward. Prayer is where you actually sit in front of God and let the season do what it's supposed to do. Paul puts it plainly in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 "pray without ceasing." Lent gives me a focused season to actually try to live that out.
And it's not just Lent that has taken on new meaning. Taking Holy Communion every Sunday now hits different than it ever has before. Growing up in traditions where the Lord's Supper was observed occasionally it was easy to let it become routine or even overlooked. But the night Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper he took the bread and broke it and said "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after they had eaten saying "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood" (Luke 22:19-20). He wasn't describing a casual ritual. He was giving his followers something to return to again and again so they would never forget the cost of their redemption.
Paul echoes the weight of that in 1 Corinthians 11:26 "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." Every Sunday at the table that's what we're doing. We're proclaiming. And during Lent especially when I come to the table on Sunday I'm aware of where we are in the story. We're in the wilderness with Jesus. We're on the road to the cross. And that awareness makes the bread and the cup carry a weight and a beauty that I never fully appreciated before.
What Lent means to me now after coming through Pentecostal and Baptist and Methodist traditions into Anglican worship is the full picture. I finally understand why the Church has observed this season for nearly two thousand years. It's not about following rules or checking religious boxes. It's about slowing down and stripping away and preparing your heart for the resurrection. It's about arriving at Easter having actually walked the road to get there. As Paul writes in Philippians 3:10 "that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings becoming like him in his death." That's what Lent is. That's what the whole journey has been pointing me toward.
For this millennial that feeling is something I can't quite put into words. But awesome and amazing comes close.
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