How
Lent Looks at The Woods
By:
Andrea Beyke
The Church all over the world marked the beginning of
Lent this week with Ash Wednesday, and it was no different here at The Woods…indoors,
at least. The word “Lent” comes from an
Old English word in the 13th Century that means “spring” or “springtime.” In this way, it looks nothing like Lent here…outdoors.
Photo Credit: Sisters of Providence
Yesterday, some students and the campus minister gathered
for a faith-sharing group during dinner.
The planned activity was to pray the labyrinth. Upon waking up on Thursday morning, this was the
feared outcome…
Needless to say, we decided to try finger labyrinths and
paper labyrinths instead. Therefore, we were able to stay indoors and warm, and we were also able to write on the paper labyrinths the baggage we wanted to
drop on the way toward the center and then write the virtues we wanted to pick
up on the way back into the world with God.
This exercise was just as effective, if not more so.
With this amended group sharing, I discovered how Lent
looks on the inside of The Woods. Lent
looks like a pilgrim journey, bending and curving around the obstacles. Lent is naming the obstacles and what we can
do to remove them. Lent is finding and
following the path that makes us our best selves. This is exactly what’s happening here.
On Ash Wednesday, the student body gathered with some
Sisters of Providence for prayer and to receive ashes. The beautiful service, led by Sister Jan
Craven, SP, brought students together: Catholic and non-Catholic alike. One student posted later Wednesday evening, “Even
though I myself am not Catholic, I am very thankful for all the opportunities I
have at St. Mary's to learn and participate! Tonight I attended my first Ash
Wednesday service and I gained a new perspective on what it and Lent itself are
all about thanks to Sister Jan. Never miss an opportunity to broaden your
perspective and have new experiences.”
Snow on the ground, grey days, frigid temperatures, and
slippery sidewalks have nothing on us here at The Woods! I’m reminded of the old saying, “When it
is dark outside, the light that makes the stained glass window beautiful comes
from the inside.” Lent may have a snowy
beginning per the natural world, but from where I stand, the warmth within the walls
carries us through this journey. Before we know it, the outside will follow
suit, bringing spring, and the growth that we experience on the inside will
manifest itself.
So, how does Lent look at The Woods? Like this…
Photo Credit: Sydney Wilderman
"So let us be marked not for sorrow. And let us be
marked not for shame. Let us be marked not for false humility or for thinking
we are less than we are but for claiming what God can do within the dust,
within the dirt, within the stuff of which the world is made, and the stars
that blaze in our bones, and the galaxies that spiral inside the smudge we
bear." Jan Richardson
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