“Self” examination and our Lenten Journey

I invite you to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance...

The idea of the false self was made popular by Thomas Merton. Most of us hear false self and think bad self but that isn’t how it works. The false self is not the bad self, it’s the constructed self. Constructing an identity is something we all do, it’s part of being human. Some of that construction we do intentionally and some it happens because of our environment, community, or family systems. We all have a constructed self that we have spend years crafting. This is a good and necessary part of our growth and becoming.

Immanuel Kant and Neo in the first Matrix movie reminds us that it’s important to “know thy self.” We need to spend time examining our constructed self. Looking inward and seeing the bits that are essential and those that are not.

The true self is the you that will live eternally. After we have constructed a self, during what some spiritual writing call the first half of life, we spend the second half of life deconstruction the non-essential parts and carving away, through the power of the Holy Spirit, those parts that don’t align with the kingdom of God and who we have been created to be. This is the work of repentance.

This work of knowing our true self is important, it’s an essential part of the spiritual journey. Knowing our true self happens through prayer and introspection that is fueled by the Holy Spirit. This work will happen until the day we die. Maybe even longer!

Lent is a season of the church calendar when those of us not prone to do the work of self-examination and repentance are invited into an intentional season of doing this very thing.

From the book of Common Prayer’s Ash Wednesday Service

“I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.”

On the first day of Lent, we head to church and a priest or pastor marks our forehead with ashes in the sign of the cross, reminding us that we are going to die. Telling us that our constructed self won’t last forever. Inviting us to take some time to think about what will. Take some time to align your heart, soul, mind, and strength with that true self that you’ve been created to be.

Lent is a Gift

Lent is a gift. It teaches us during this season to live all year with an eye toward eternity. Not so that we can float away to the great beyond but so that we can live, a little more every day, the quality of life that God created us for and that we will experience fully in the new heavens and new earth.

We have today, we have this season, we have the gift of Lent to learn to live now like we will live fully someday. Take this lenten opportunity begin to look inwards, remembering that you will die someday, and prayerfully consider what needs to die today so that you can live the abundant life of the kingdom.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.

1 Thessalonians 4:13&14

Lent is a gift! In it we are given the opportunity to reflect on the life we have constructed, the life God intends for us. And the Spirit helps us to know the difference. We are invited during this season to learn to live more fully today like we will someday.

May your Lenten journey be full of grace, truth, and insight into the resurrection life we were all created for!