Words of Faith: Lent is a time to allow God to prune our lives

I have a crepe myrtle. I want it to be more of a tree than a bush, so each year I prune it to shape it like a tree – tall and with a defined trunk rather than short and bushy.

I’ve also learned through the years that pruning produces lots of beautiful flowers. Crepe Myrtles bloom on new growth. Pruning produces lots of new growth and lots of flowers.

The Christian season of Lent is a time to allow God to prune our lives so that we bloom and grow, producing beautiful lives for God. Lent is the six and-a-half weeks before Easter. During this time we are called to focus on our relationship with God. In order to follow him more closely, some activities may need to cease. In order to do his ministry in our lives, our lives may need to be shaped to reflect his life and love. In his Second letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul reminds us that we are called to be “Reconciled to God.

This is what a holy Lent is about.

During Lent in my church, the Episcopal Church, we are called to self-examination and repentance; prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and reading and mediating on God’s holy word. During Lent we are called to disciplines – practices – that will help us to draw nearer to the Lord. These practices help us to be reconciled with God. These practices shape us – prune us – so that we reflect God’s image in our lives.

First we are called to repentance. Literally repentance means to turn around. We turn from the things that separate us from God and turn back to God. When we repent we acknowledge the ways in which we have left God. We confess and ask for God’s forgiveness and then we start anew.

We also commit to grow in our relationship with God. Trees grow with water, sunshine, and fertilizer. We grow through prayer and the reading of Holy Scripture. As we engage in these practices, we open ourselves to hear God’s word for us, we open ourselves to be led and changed.

You can read the Holy Scriptures in many ways. There are daily medications books that assign a passage each day and then provide a meditation on the passage. You may also choose to read an entire book of the Bible, like the gospel of Matthew. As you read you can get a book called a commentary that will guide you in understanding the theological, historical and cultural context of what you are reading.

You can also engage in a practice of prayer. Prayer is how we meet God, how we talk with God. In prayer we share our lives with God. We can share our hopes and dreams; our struggles and our fears. And as we pray, our lives are shaped by the life of God. By this encounter our lives are changed in such a way that we are then able to do God’s work in God’s world.

This leads to the next Lent discipline: fasting and self-denial. Often when people think of fasting they think of giving up chocolate for the six and-a-half weeks of Lent. But another way to think of fasting is as a discipline that enables us to give to others by giving up something ourselves. I once had a friend who would give up a meal once a week and put the money that she would have used for that meal into an envelope. At the end of Lent she gave that money away.

There are many ways to give during Lent. You could help an elderly neighbor who needs assistance with yard work. You could volunteer at a local school, helping children learn to read. You can give money to help feed those who are hungry.

Another opportunity to serve others will take place at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, located at 501 Pine St, on March 12 at 9 a.m. We will hold a Stop Hunger Now Event. On this day we will be assemble 10,000 meals for people who are hungry in the world. Please join us for this important event.

Everyone is welcome.

As we participate in these disciplines during Lent, our lives are pruned, just like my crepe myrtles. As our lives are pruned, we are shaped in the image of God. Some branches may be cut off so others can grow stronger. But when we allow God to shape and mold us, our lives will blossom and reveal the beauty of God’s love.

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 2:19 PM with the headline "Words of Faith: Lent is a time to allow God to prune our lives."