bits and bants vol.45
what does nature say about lent?
There comes a time every Lent where I have the thought, “How do people who live in places with real spring even notice Lent?”
An intersection between place, climate, and spirituality exists for all of us because we are people made of soul and body and who have bodies who live in physical locations. Just like the time period we are born into, the place where we live has meaning because God meant for us to live in such a time as this and such a place. Our natural surroundings affect us and are meant to be noticed. God speaks through nature but also through our unique topography, flora and fauna, and shifting of the seasons.
Which is why in where I live in northern Canada Lent is felt in a very tangible way. March rolls in and it usually brings little change from the freezing temperatures of February. There may be some melting but the inevitable snowstorms blow in and leave more snow than we had before. Here in the north there has not been bare ground for almost six months. There is just more snow, more ice, even though there is more daylight hours.
Winter, March, and Lent feel frozen in time. It will always be winter regardless of what the calendar says! Lent feels cold and monotonous. There are no buds on trees and flowers, there is no green starting to spring forth; the ground is still frozen, the trees bare.
It all makes the spiritual desert of Lent feel more obvious. The world I see and move around in is dark and appears for all intents and purposes dead. Nothing I do can awaken spring, I have no power to bring anything back to life outside where the temperatures remain below freezing. The desert of Lent is stark, the comfort we seek here in the world may tide us over, but does it truly relieve our suffering? Lent is not meant to be a punishment, it is meant to show us that we are not in control. We cannot change our spiritual predicament of sin and separation from God. We cannot raise ourselves from the dead anymore than we can make spring come sooner and the earth warm and grow.
Since this Easter is so late we might have a warm sunny day, but the Easter season will finally bring the melting of snow, the beauty of growth, and the awakening of the beauty of nature here after six months of snow. Nature will reflect the Resurrection. It will be impossible to deny that new life has come out of death. And those with eyes to see and ears to hear will recognize that it is only through the grace of God that we get to witness and participate in the miracle of spring. Life springs anew, and ask any Canadians, our hearts and minds feel renewed through the coming of warmth, light, and growth after a long winter.
All of this is to say sometimes I wonder if I would be able to appreciate these spiritual realities if I lived in a much more accommodating, temperate climate? Knowing my own tendencies towards ignoring God’s small graces and works in my life, would I take to heart how lent shows me my neediness and weakness if I could walk out my front door with no coat and pick a flower in March? Would I long for Easter and the power and shock of the Resurrection if spring came gently upon me after a January and February of no snow but early flowering shrubs and the daily blooms of spring bulbs? Or am I conditioned to need the yearly reminder that in the desert of Lent I am weak and in need of supernatural grace just as the earth is in need of light, heat, longer days?
I routinely need God to blatantly show me that He is in control and not me. I need broad strokes and brightly bold signs. But do the natural surroundings of other climates speak of a more gentle guiding hand of God illuminating the need for redemption? Does a perpetual temperate climate allow different words to be spoken by the Creator? The answer is of course God speaks through all times, seasons, places, climates, and circumstances in as many unique languages as there are souls. And that in itself is a wonder we could spend the entirety of lent contemplating. I love that God uses all things to communicate to us His plans, but also that He uses what is happening right outside my window to speak to me right now.
bits:
I haven’t talked about the Severance finale from a few weeks back, but I am glad that someone smarter than me put down similar thoughts I was talking to my kids about when it comes to how the show makes the interesting comparison between IVF and the medical procedure of being severed. Truly, humanity does not think through the psychological ramifications with so much of our technology that the science fiction elements of a show like Severance becomes so believable and relatable.
I really appreciated this well thought out essay on Erika Bachiocihi’s book The Rights of Women (which I really need to bump up the TBR list!)
I really loved
’s thoughts on the recent kerfuffle aboutmotherhood.
She shares so much of what I feel as well when it comes to motherhood. I just keep thinking that so much expectation is put on parenthood as if it somehow should be a vending machine of dopamine in our lives. Maybe it’s because we’re all addicted to dopamine we can’t imagine a major life choice not being all dopamine, all the time? But I feel it’s similar to how we expect to find a soul mate who fulfills and completes us! No, no other person is responsible for your complete happiness and that includes your children. Our children don’t make us endlessly happy at all times. Our children are people, not vending machines meant to make us feel good all the time. And if that reflects in us not “having light in our eyes” at all times, then that is a realistic representation of human life, not a sign that we’re being tortured or not doing something of fundamental value. As a similar comparison to joy vs happiness, the profound joy that our children bring to our lives can’t be adequately described. It may not be the fleeting high of performing in front of thousands of adoring fans, but it is having someone look at you with a pure and innocent love for you as their mother. My children are not for my use or to make me feel good, and while they make can and do make me crazy during the day I wake up in the middle of the night and think of them one day being out of the house and immediately weep. I don’t sacrifice daily for an immediate sensation of fulfillment, but I know that there is nothing else that I would rather give all my imperfect energy towards than raising and being with my children. What is more worthy than that? But it is a complex, tangled thing which is why I appreciated Emily’s take so much, and which is why I also have a pretty strong reflex against syrupy motherhood descriptions. It’s tangled.
reading, watching, what have you:
I picked up a Muriel Spark because I realized it had been over a calendar year since I’d read one of her novels. I’m reading Loitering with Intent which is so fast paced, meta, and engrossing I remain completely astounded that someone can write so well.
I’m also reading Out of Africa because I’ve never actually read it but always wanted to, and Cry the Beloved Country made me want to read more atmospheric books that take place in Africa. So far so good, but definitely not as juicy as the movie!
I will also admit to watching this season of The White Lotus. I don’t think I recommend it other than it might be an important cultural show for our time. I don’t think there’s a cohesive viewpoint from the show, but is so many different parts being pieced together that it muddles a lot of what could be starkly honest portrayals. Does spirituality matter? Does our pursuit of pleasure leave us empty or is there an objective answer or Being that counteracts our human drives? Are families important or just dysfunctional clusters of humanity we need to break away from? Do we owe each other forgiveness and understanding without making amends? There are no real answers poised by the show, and the questions keep coming from all directions. But it was gorgeous to watch and the creation of tension is pretty masterful. And Parker Posey is a national treasure.
There was more I was going to write about but I keep having things come up and take me away from actually writing anything so I am just going to go with what I have today. I wonder if I’ll ever reach a point where I will be able to write based on what I want to write about and take as much time as necessary, or if it will always be write right now or you never will!? These are existential questions that sometimes float through my mind! I started writing this last Thursday and was tempted to scrap it altogether because I like to send things out on Fridays, but again, why am I letting these weirdly held rules dictate my very limited writing space/time?
Ok, let’s carry on.
still don’t know what I’m making for dinner,
Christy
I'll read everything you write here, no matter how "incomplete" or what day you hit "publish" :)
This was so poetic. I'm going to start paying attention to God speaking through nature now. Beautiful writing Christy. Thank you!