Lent reflections 4 - Mothering Sunday

Everyone has a mother, most know the love and friendship they have, or had, with their mother, and some never knew, or know, who theirs is, or was.

In the UK and Ireland, Mothering Sunday is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent meaning that it falls on a different date each year. (It has no connection with the American Mothers' Day, which is celebrated in May.)

Hundreds of years ago it was important for everyone to return to their ‘mother’ church in the middle of Lent, once a year. The church where people would worship on most Sundays was called their ‘daughter’ church. Girls would leave home early, sometimes as young as ten, and go to work as domestic servants. Midway through Lent they were allowed one day’s holiday to return home to their family and to go to their ‘mother’ church. They would take a cake, which they would have baked themselves whilst they were learning to cook. If the cake lasted until Easter then they were considered to be a good cook. They would have had to walk home to visit their families and on the way would pick wild flowers, violets maybe or celandines, and they would take them to the church or give them to their mothers.

Whilst attending church on Mothering Sunday there was sometimes a ceremony called ‘church-clipping’. During this the churchgoers would hold hands and form a circle (if there were enough people) and they would then walk around the church. This may have been a Pagan ritual originally, but is more likely to have symbolised love and friendship.

There are almost three hundred references to Mother in the Bible.

 In 1 Kings, chapter 3,verses 16-28, we can learn of the true love a mother has for her child.

Lent reflections 3 - stop complaining

Philippians 2:14 

Do everything without complaining or arguing.

One of the most common phrases heard at the beginning of Lent is: "What are you giving up?" Chocolate is a favourite choice, then biscuits, alcohol, cakes, the list goes on. But who are we giving these up for? Are we doing this for God or for ourselves? Of course we could put the money saved by not buying these items into the Sunday collection, but do we? Why not give up grumbling and complaining instead? 

There are seventy-eight references to complaining in the Bible (International Standard Version) and nothing good comes from any of them. Of course, if we have been wronged or there has been injustice, then we should protest, sometimes on another's behalf, but how often do we grumble over trivial annoyances such as the weather, which is something we can do nothing about anyway? 

Perhaps if something irritates or irks us, rather than grumbling about it, which can be a destructive reaction in itself, we should hand it over to God and think of how many times Jesus complained when he was fasting in the wilderness.

1 Peter 4:9

Show hospitality to one another without complaining.

Lent reflections 2: giving up and self denial

  

Photograph of the Permissive Path by Syd Spence

Matthew 4:1-2

After this, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he finally became hungry.

We are often urged to give up things we like to eat or do during Lent. The abstinence that many experience during Lent cannot be considered fasting, merely giving up little unhealthy luxuries. When we go without something for any length of time we become hungry. We might miss a favourite television programme, or not go to the gym for a while, but can this hunger cannot compare with true fasting? What's it to be? Give up chocolate, delete your Facebook account, stop smoking, give up alcohol?

We all choose to mark Lent in different ways and more often than not focus on abstaining from something we enjoy, but is this always good for us? Perhaps trying to lead an ascetic way of life for forty days may not be right for us if our motivations are not rooted in God's love.

The months of February and March are quite a bleak time anyway, why then are we so fixated on fasting, abstaining and giving stuff up? Perhaps there is a desire for a 'freeing asceticism' if we can find a way to carry it out.

In the hustle and bustle of consumerism many are now turning to the minimalist approach; de-cluttering and being more simplistic. Modern life is often fraught and hectic and we long to step off the rolling-road and find tranquillity, somewhere to be with others, to be with God.

Abstaining from high-calorie foods and buying-in to the diet industry with its promises of feeling better about oneself, we often find ourselves utilising these supposedly ascetic practices. Many rely on the Internet and have iPads, tablets, smart phones, overtaking our lives, and even when all we want to do is turn them off, we just can't bring ourselves to do it – just in case.

Perhaps we need to ask ourselves if true asceticism will lead us to the freedom and prayerfulness that we long for.

Lent Reflections 1 - Shadows

2 Kings 20:10

It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.

The earliest mention of Lent in church history is in 325 AD and is referred to in Greek as 'tessarakonta'. Translated, this means forty – the length of time that Jesus is said to have spent in the wilderness at the beginning of his public ministry. The number forty is used as a symbolic period of time, just as we use umpteen or aeons when we do not have an exact measurement.

In English, Lent derives from Anglo-Saxon and means lengthen. Lent begins when days are lengthening as spring approaches. We too can lengthen spiritually - we can stretch out and grow in the Spirit.

Just as the sun was thought to do the work of lengthening the days during early springtime, so it is the sun – in the sense of God’s warmth and light – that does this work in our lengthening and growing in Christ. In the English language there is a beautiful play on the words sun and son. Just as the sun was seen to do the work of lengthening the days in spring, so it is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who does the work of lengthening in our spiritual growth. This image provides a comfort for us in our busy lives. During Lent, let us unite with God’s grace and find time to relax in the presence of God.

A shadow lengthening sounds gloomy, but without the sun there are no shadows. As the days grow longer, shadows stretch out. When we see shadows we know that the sun is with us, just as the Son of God, is with us too, always.

Karen Ette 14th February 2018

Photographs by Syd Spence