Lent... Tough not rough

I stood in the check out line at Tractor Supply, my favorite store, with a load of horse, cow and chicken feed. The young woman checking me out heard me complaining about my rough hands. One of the side affects of farm work is calluses and rough skin on the side of my pointer fingers, split skin around my nails that bleed, and chapping during cold weather. She reached over and grabbed a tube of cream from a display next to the counter and handed it to me. “Try this”, she said. “It works for me and I tend horses and cows every day.” Holding her hands out for inspection, I could see they were a working woman’s hands but they were not split or rough. The calluses were smooth and not peeling. The cream was named “Tough not Rough... Intense Healing Cream”. Made in Aiken, South Carolina, it is a local product and I like using local products.
I have been using this cream every day now for a month and it lives up to her advertising. My hands are obviously the hands of a woman who works outdoors everyday but they are not bleeding, cracked and peeling. Every morning before I put on my gloves, I put on some cream. It sits by the back porch door so I won’t forget. Perhaps it is the regularity of application as well as the product itself... whatever... it works and I am grateful.
Lent is a little like my hand cream... tough not rough. It is forty days and nights of boot camp for the soul...giving something up to gain something. Friends of mine have given up various things for Lent. One has given up his glass of wine in the evening, a daily ritual that signals the end of the day and sets the tone for his evening. Another is consciously changing his life to simplify and live with only what really matters the most. Easier said than done. But this process of examination and repentance and letting go is absolutely necessary for anyone who takes Jesus seriously.
Doing without is not an easy sell in our current culture of easy come prosperity religion. Our culture reinforces this with buy now pay later plans. And, we are bombarded with images and words that promise beauty, health, wisdom, riches and happiness if we will just buy this or go there or eat this or do that. Giving up the illusion that acquiring something on the outside will change who we are on the inside may be the toughest thing of all to give up for Lent.
When we flee from the sight of our true selves, our souls stark naked in the harsh light of Lent, we give up our chance to see not only our sins and flaws, we miss the chance to see the unique miracle of creation that is contained in our being, the image of God that resides in our temple bodies here on earth. Those that have eyes to see, ears to hear and the stamina and will to persevere, see and hear and touch the face of God that lurks beneath the surface of us all. Its tough to hang in there for forty days but the journey is rich beyond measure.
Both Luke and Matthew record some words from Jesus that have become my Lenten motto. “ If anyone would come after me, let them deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save their life will lose it; and whoever loses their life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit you if you gain the whole world and lose yourself?”
So, way to go, Malcolm! Have at it Hugh! Hip, hip, hooray for all who are staggering through Lent, marching like Marines at boot camp, giving up and gaining, hanging in there until the end of this tough season of faith. Our souls and our selves will be better for this time of penance and release. Hope I can keep up with you and not let the team down!