4 Ways To Care For Your Soul Health During Lent

In the depths of winter, when the skies are gray and the days are short... we find ourselves entering the longest and darkest season of preparation in the Christian calendar: the season of Lent.

These 6 weeks leading up to the celebration of Holy Week provide us with a unique opportunity in our often busy lives—a time to examine, fast, and pray. 

For those of us on a journey to soul health, Lent can be a particularly beneficial time.

While the earliest mention of Lent comes from the Council of Nicea in the fourth century, it is likely that Christians had already been practicing forty-day fasts modeled after Jesus’ time in the wilderness as told in the Gospels.

Designating an official fast that would lead all Christians through the season and up to Easter became a fixed point in the Christian calendar—one that hundreds of millions of Christians around the world now practice together every year. 

During this season, you can also join us as we connect and pray in our online community, the Soul Care Collective. We've created a space to journey intentionally with others, with resources to help you along the way. You're not alone!

Here are 4 ways to grow in your soul health as we enter the season of Lent together:

1. Lent is a time of abstinence.

For traditional Catholics, this often means abstaining from meat. Perhaps, as someone new to the practice, or even if you have done this many times before, you could consider abstaining from something during this Lenten season.

What is something in your life that you could lay to the side, both as a sacrifice but also as a means of continually being called back to the quietness of soul that Lent offers? 

2. Lent is a time of giving.

As we enter into Lent, is there a daily or weekly way that you could give of your time, your money, or other resources in a way that would cause this Lenten season to be a blessing to those around you, either in your community or the wider world?

3. Lent is a time of reflection.

When Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, if you go to a church for the imposition of ashes, a priest will place ashes on your forehead while saying something along the lines of, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (BCP, p 265).

The ashes are from the previous year’s Palm Sunday’s palm fronds that have been burned down to ash. Lent offers us a time to remember that our lives will not last forever, and this is not a bad thing.

4. Lent is a time of prayer.

Embrace the practice of prayer as you make your way through these days, perhaps saying something each day as simple as the breath prayer: “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”

For each week of Lent in the Soul Care Collective, we have chosen a theme to dwell on, and for each day of Lent, we’ll be following Mindy Caliguire’s “Page, Person, and Plan” philosophy:

• Page: an invitation to reflect by journaling about that day’s scripture verse and engaging reflection question.
• Person: an invitation to connect with others by sharing your thoughts in the Collective or with someone in your life.
• Plan: an invitation to intentional rhythms of soul care. Listen to that day’s song as an embodied way to speak with/listen to God.

We pray this journey through Lent will bring healing and strength to your soul.

Shawn Smucker
Team Soul Care