I’ve practiced Lent in some manner for almost 20 years of my life.

I didn’t grow up with it as a spiritual practice, but it came into my life in early adulthood and has stayed.

Lent and Leaving Louisiana Behind

I live in Louisiana, so it is impossible to not know something about Lent. As a child, during Lent, public school cafeterias stopped serving hamburgers during Lent and instead gave us fried fish. All I knew back then was Lent was this season when Catholics gave things up. I learned in my mid-20s, other Christians practiced it, and it was much more than simply not eating meat on a Friday.

Over the last few years, I’ve begun to see Lent as a practice of laying things aside for a season. I create more space for Jesus to work in my life, to be conscious of my sin, and to use that created space to give more space to Jesus. Hopefully, year after year of this practice of self-denial I emerge from Lent to not take that space back over. Instead, to have more continual space for the presence of God in my life.

And in my devotional time this week, I feel like I hit a connection point between things I’ve been thinking about and what I hope this Lent to do.

Dreamland's Seed: Syllables of Grace in Empty Moments

I’ve got this theological curiosity I call “dreamland”. I think about it often during my devotional life, make notes of when I see it in scripture, and other breadcrumbs when I am reading. It has to do with having the mind of Christ (1st Corinthians 2:16). I wrote about it before, but in short, it is about capturing the imagination and making sure it is always oriented towards the grace of Jesus Christ.

In a previous article, I wrote on how Augustine speaks of how we might have syllables of good things. These small things can’t compare to the whole words of grace God gives us. These fleeting things we chase for a moment of happiness, a dopamine hit of what we consider to be the good life.

But they don’t compare to the goodness we find in Christ.

I marked the quotation as “dreamland” in my Zettlekasten. I kept thinking through it as I worked on reducing my screentime. I started practicing these moments of prayer at night, when watching a show on Paramount Plus, during those frustrating commercials, I still think don’t belong in streaming services. I started praying specific prayers while I showered and went back to an older practice of not listening to the radio while making short drives around town, and instead practicing thankfulness and gratitude toward God in prayer.

This Lent, I decided to read Jeremy Taylor’s “On Holy Living and Dying”. Taylor was a 17th century Bishop in the Anglican Church and a big influence on John Wesley. In the very beginning of the book, he lays out a practice for realizing that every waking moment is a chance to devote ourselves to God. Even in the mundane, or while we are at work, or even drinking or sleeping, we can be with God.

It hit my brain how both Augustine and Taylor might be talking about the same thing. It built up this idea of dreamland I’ve been thinking about as well. Part of dreamland is realizing we can go back in our mind to replay things. It might be a moment of regret or frustration at the past. It might be a reimagining of something we feel like would bring more happiness into life. In some ways, we use dreamland to attempt to give us more satisfaction by reimagining something in the past. At best, when going down this alternate path, we are not trusting in God enough. At worst, we are subconsciously trying to relive life in our brokenness.

Every Moment a Space for Holy Living

In the very beginning of Holy Living and Holy Dying, Taylor talks about how all of life can be lived in glory to God. In each moment, especially the mundane, we can be at worship. All things are done for his glory if we are conscious about it.

Taylor says this;

“So that no man can complain that his calling takes him off from religion, his calling itself, and his very worldly employment, is a serving of God; and if it be pursued, according to the rules of Christian prudence, will leave void spaces enough for prayers and retirements of a more spiritual religion.”

So what does this mean about Lent?

This year, I am trying to make small spaces by giving up those small moments, and instead filling them with a more constant devotion.

• Keeping a book with me for reflection; Holy Living and Holy Dying.

• Being even more intentional with my prayer list in my journal.

• Keeping the Night Office each night, and not sitting on the couch after my wife goes to bed.

Sure, other things are being given up, but time is one of the best practices I know to practice self-loss for the sake of Christ.

Chad