Common during Lent is the spiritual discipline of abstinence. We give up things like alcohol, sweets, meat or even all foods during daylight hours if we choose to fast. We mirror the forty days Jesus spent in the desert with no creature comforts. No cold beer and couch for him at the end of a tough day. In a small way, through abstinence, we experience the depravations experienced by Jesus as he sought to remove distractions from his relationship with God.
And removing distractions allows space to face ourselves and our Creator; less interference recalibrates these relationships. With a generous six weeks of Lent to journey like Jesus, by Easter we are ready for the restoration promised in the Resurrection.
But this year giving up more than we already have because of pandemic restrictions (discussed in blog post: Lent Outed: What More to Give Up? ) may be a hard row to hoe. It’s been a long haul. Many are struggling. With the minimizing effects of COVID-19, removing one more thing may be an unwelcome push to despair.
How then to journey to Easter, to recalibrate and restore our relationship with Jesus and God?
Adding Take-Away. Less is More.
At this week’s on-line Zoom meditation session hosted by our parish priest, we listened to a CD by Fr. Laurence. As a co-founder of The World Community of Christian Meditation (see below for the link), he shared an interesting story.
Invited to teach a six-week course on meditation to a group of MBA students in the twenty-eight-age range, Fr. Laurence cautioned the students. He warned, meditation is a simple yet difficult practice. In the quest to quiet a busy mind, letting go of our thoughts is challenging.
The only course caveat was a commitment to meditate twice per day, morning and evening. That was their homework. Most students meditated at seventy percent of the designated time, surprising Fr. Laurence at how readily aspiring executive suite business students embraced the practice.
Lent Recalibrates Focus
Two months after the course ends, Fr. Laurence interviews each student. The students at the plus of seventy percent time commitment, signal that meditation is now a regular life practice. But the biggest surprise is the student who performed the worst, at marginally over twenty percent time commitment, when he shares a profound finding resulting from his meagre efforts.
In the interview he explains to Fr. Laurence that when he comes home at the end of a day, he moves around his place firing up his devices −TV, radio, computer. At night in bed, he scrolls through his phone, often falling asleep with the device still in his hand. First thing in the morning when opening his eyes, he checks his emails. Filling his mind with ceaseless white noise, leaping from one stimulant to another, he discovers that in adding a practice that takes away distractions; he recalibrates his relationships to stimulants. The little time he gives to the practice yields a profound insight. Meditation leads this student to recognize his dependence; his addiction to distractions.
Adding Abstinence Recalibrates Lent
How interesting that less is more. As discovered by a MBA student with poor meditation practices, removing distractions leads to greater clarity and increases the potential for personal insight.
Maybe meditation is a way to overcome the fatigue of COVID-19 restrictions. A surprise offering. A way to add an expansive practice of abstinence to this year’s pandemic Lenten disciplines.
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For more on Christian meditation visit: WCCM | The World Community for Christian Meditation founded by John Mann and Laurence Freeman.