How to Begin Again: Lessons from Nature (and Lent)

The doldrums of Lent are upon us.  Several weeks of slogging through, haphazardly trying to fulfill commitments of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, sometimes doing them well and sometimes not doing them at all. But everything worth doing is worth doing, even poorly, right? 

Even in the midst of Winter’s Last Stand, (read: winter’s last shot at causing nasty viruses that knock whole families on their feet, keep small babies up at night with congested noses and keep preschoolers down all day, bound to the sofa with a fever) we must try to slog through, even if it’s poorly. Because as most people know it’s hard to keep commitments and fast and make sacrifices when life is, well…  difficult. 

During the past couple weeks, I’ve felt as though my seemingly positive start to Lent spiraled downhill and have recognized a need to begin again. 

Beginning again

This idea of beginning again is built into our lives and the world around us. Each day, the sun rises and the sun sets. We can wake up in the morning to begin again, starting fresh.  It’s built into the rhythm of life in the seasons. Each year the earth goes to sleep, animals burrow in to sleep through winter, plants die or go dormant beneath the soil, the snow covers everything in a glistening sparkle, remaking the world into something chillingly beautiful. 

This is where we are at in life’s cycle – the end of winter giving way to the hope and newness of spring. The sounds of life are all around. Despite cold temperatures and continued snow, we can hear the chorus of birdsongs, singing in unison to announce this new beginning.

This also marks the chance to prepare my rose bushes for the coming growing season. This generally consists of cutting back all the dead canes and leaving the living stems to be the bearers of new life, new leaves, and new blooms. But before the growth happens, they look pretty dead. However, the general rule is that the more you cut back, the more robust the new growth will be.

My family has also been planning to start something new this year,  a cut flower garden, an exciting prospect for this flower-lover. Just a couple weeks ago we started our seeds in a tray, with hopes of growing healthy seedlings that will afford us blooms nearly a month sooner. Each day my daughter ventures downstairs to our seedling station to check the progress. She will run back upstairs, excited to share about the new growth that is so easy to see each day. 

How to Begin Again

So, when life is hard and things feel messy, there is beautiful comfort in the notion that we can start afresh. But we can’t just plant ourselves in new soil and prune our branches, right? Well, in a sense we can. No, we aren’t plants, but there is plenty we can do to reset and restart ourselves in fresh soil and prune the dead branches. Here are some practical ideas for you: 

• Make a new commitment to start fresh. It could be the next morning, the next hour, the next minute.  Make the commitment and allow the new moment to transform your heart and mind. Sometime simply telling someone else is really helpful.
• Reflect on the areas of your life that are dead and incapable of bearing fruit. Where do you need to be pruned back in order to produce more robust and beautiful growth? Make another commitment to cut these areas out of your life and give it time to see how this changes your life.
• Go to confession.  Entrust yourself to the mercy of God. Recognize that your past is behind you and your life rests in the hands of God. He doesn’t hold onto our mistakes and sin and shortcomings, but oftentimes we do. So entrust yourself to his mercy. 
• Walk away. Take a nap. Leaving a situation or circumstance for a time will offer a fresh start. Now, this isn’t always possible, but sometimes it is. Sometimes it’s my husband letting me take a few minutes to myself to reset even though I can’t simply walk away from a frustrating situation at home.

I pray that now in the waning days of lent, you may continue to put in the work. I pray that you identify the area(s) in your life or in your Lenten resolutions that need a new beginning and allow something new and beautiful to spring forth. God has an unexpected way of bringing beauty from ashes or order from complete chaos. So give him the time and space to work in your life. Let him do the heavy lifting, providing you with all the tools and ingredients you need to make a fresh start, firmly planted in fertile soil. I have no doubt that it will bear great fruit as Lent gives way to the joy and newness of the Easter season.

For Prayer & Reflection

Read one or both of these bible passages:
“See, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
In the wilderness I make a way,
in the wasteland, rivers.” Isaiah 43:19 (NAB)

I will lead the blind
   by a road they do not know,
by paths they have not known
   I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
   the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
   and I will not forsake them. 
Isaiah 42:16 (NRSV)

• Read these several times.
• What word or phrase jumps out at you? Take a moment to pray with it. Journal about why it jumps out at you.  Talk to God about the areas in your life that you feel need a new beginnings.
• Ask God what he’s trying to tell you through these words. Ask God what areas he feels need new beginnings.
• Take some time to allow him to gaze upon you with love and speak to you from his heart. 

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