3/5/22 - Friday Forget-Me-Nots by Jim Silcott

Photo Caption: 4th and 5th graders making beignets for Mardi Gras.

Dear Our Lady of Peace Family,

40 days and 40 nights of Lent. Like New Year’s resolutions many of us begin Lent with a determination to really observe it this year. Fasting, giving something up we really like or enjoy, praying more, attending Stations of the Cross, going to the parish penance service are all part of the promises we make.

Like New Year’s, we have the best of intentions. And then life gets in the way. Before we know it it is Holy Week. We grab our palms, dye our eggs, plan our Easter brunch or dinner and manage to make it, at least, to the Easter vigil or Sunday Mass.

40 days and 40 nights. I googled the following line in the search box: what can I accomplish in 40 days? The responses were wide and varied with dieting and exercise leading the list. If I truly watch what I eat for 40 days and get in at least 30 minutes of exercise during that time, I am promised good, maybe even significant results. The goal is to make it a habit, to really focus on whatever it is we need to do for at least 40 days to show improvement. Hopefully, it will stick after 40 days and our bodies will be transformed!

I think about the things I have accomplished in 40 days or less. In the old days of quarters at Ohio State, 40 class days was about the complete 10 weeks. At the end I found myself 12-17 credits closer to graduation. In 1975 I managed to walk about 800 miles of the Appalachian Trail in my first 40 days. 40 days of courtship with my future wife convinced me that she was the one with whom I wanted to be united with in matrimony. And yes, 40 days of riding my bicycle daily and watching what I eat has allowed me to fit in clothes that were a little snug at the beginning of the journey. Anything that you do for a steady 40 days- from practicing your putting to hitting the gym will indeed show progress during that time.

So what can 40 days of fasting, sacrifice, increased prayer and better attendance at religious services beyond Sunday Mass do for my soul, for my relationship with my God? Jesus Christ Himself felt that 40 days of solitude in the desert was enough to prepare Him for his ministry and to stave off the temptations of the Devil. I think we would be surprised what a 40 day relationship with our Lord will do for us, mind, body and soul and we don’t have to travel to the desert to do it.

I envy those individuals who never let a day go by without prayer, Scripture and Sacrament. For me personally, I can’t use time as an excuse because I know faithful people far busier than I am. Some days I have the best of intentions and then the day goes south and I crawl into bed at the end of it, just grateful to hit the pillow. I am convinced that if I established a spiritual routine and actually did it, without fail, for 40 days, I would rekindle that relationship with God that sometimes, I am sad to admit, is neglected for days or sometimes even weeks.

When I walked the Appalachian Trail, although I couldn’t attend Church too many times- I was in the south and in the mountains, I did pray and read Scripture each and every day.

By the end of that journey I felt as close to God as I did to my family. So I know that it works. I know that developing a habit of spirituality brings us closer to our Creator and removes any doubt in our mind of His real presence.

But like that diet and exercise program I get distracted, lazy, and stressed out. Then, it seems I have to start back from ground zero. My stomach growls and my muscles ache as I try to get back on track on my body. It is the same with spirituality. Once out of the habit, I find it far too easy to find other ways to fill my day. Then, when I start up again, it seems really difficult to make time for that rosary or even just a prayerful 10 minutes out of my day.

The beauty of God is that He never leaves us. We may drift away from Him, but He remains steadfast. Thanks be to God for His faith in us!

And so, this Lent I pledge to take those 40 days to try to strengthen my relationship with God. If I miss a day, which will certainly happen, I won’t give up, but refocus on getting back to it the next day. If I truly follow through on my Lenten promise, when Easter comes my soul will rise in glory with Christ’s resurrection, hopefully, in preparation for my final journey one day.

40 days and 40 nights. Where will you be at the end of it?

Jim Silcott