For me, one of the least pleasant tasks in those days after Christmas is the taking down of the tree. The lights, in particular, cause me the most heartbreak. Each year they seem to end up more twisted and tangled than the year before. Each year I struggle to resist the temptation to simply bundle them into their box and postpone until next year the time-consuming and painstaking task of unlooping and untangling the knotted mess.
We can find ourselves in a similar situation when it comes to our own lives. Things start out rather simple and straightforward. Over time, we seem to tie ourselves up in knots. Sometimes, we might even end up in a ball of confusion not knowing how we got here, or what to do or where to go. We may have said or done things that we now wish we had not. Relationships, that were once the joy of our lives, have become burdensome or have broken down altogether. We find ourselves tangled in negative habits, twisted ways and damaging personal situations from which we are unable to escape. For the believer, we may find that, almost unknown to ourselves, we have drifted from God or from our faith community or from a trustworthy faith-inspired moral compass that gave direction to our lives.
The knowledge that the task of dealing with those tangled Christmas tree lights will take not only time but also a conscious effort to retrace, unloop and reorder, tempts us to postpone the work for another year. Likewise, it is understandable that the possible complexity of untangling our own lives more than often results in us putting it all on the long finger. Many of the world’s great religious traditions dedicate certain times of the year to the very task of untangling and reordering life. For many Christians, each year, the season of Lent holds out to us a special spiritual space to quit the procrastination, stop the dilly-dallying, and to seriously tend to the work of sorting out and renewing our own lives.
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As a person of faith, I take heart from the deeply Judeo-Christian belief that God is a God of new opportunities, a God of many chances and new beginnings. No matter what a tangled mess we have made of our lives, there is always the real possibility of starting again and again and again. I am also consoled by the belief that I am not alone in this work. God walks with me and together we will figure it out. Many of the world’s great religious traditions have turned to prayer, fasting and almsgiving to assist us in the task of personal renewal. To some, such ideas might sound a little antiquated or old-fashioned, to others they are but common sense.
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Some tried-and-tested programmes for addiction recovery contend that it is often only when we open ourselves up to a greater power that we can get a grasp on our own lives. For the believer, rekindling our relationship with God through spending a small time each day in prayerful conversation with the Divine holds out great potential for the work of self-renewal. Perhaps we start by saying “Good morning, God” – or sharing how we feel today – or “Good night, God”, or simply reviewing our day in the divine presence.
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Many modern health regimes hold some sort of fasting as integral to their success. Historically, religions have often turned to the idea when it comes to the effort of self-renewal. Fasting can rid us of things that are bad for us; but more importantly, it can open up for us a space that we can fill with something better. What about fasting from phones or tablets at table this Lent – and filling that space with the good that comes from conversation with those sitting with us.
One of the greatest causes of our life’s knots is selfishness: thinking and acting for ourselves rather than thinking and acting for others. Almsgiving – giving to those less well off than ourselves – creates in us an open spirit and a generous heart that simply makes us better people. Many associate almsgiving with donating to the poor, but it also encompasses the giving of our time or of our talents to those who may need them.
How easy it would be for us to let the grace-filled opportunity Lent offers us for untangling the tangled areas of our lives pass us by. Knowing that it will take time and effort, we could be tempted to put it off until next year. Perhaps today and not tomorrow is the time. Perhaps this Lent, Lent 2023, is our time – our time of God-given new beginnings.
Michael Duignan is Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh, Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora, and Bishop of Clonfert.