The movie Chocolat is about a town that is held together very tightly by the Compte de Renaud, the mayor of the town, who insists that everyone undergo rigorous misery and self-denial, as he does, during Lent. Into the town comes Vianne and her daughter Anouk to open up a chocolaterie. For many years I led a weekly study during Lent, both at the university and in the congregation, based on the movie. I used a wonderful little book called “Chocolate for Lent.” As the resource says, the movie is about “Lent verses chocolate.” But, it’s really about much more.
In fact, the movie is about how Vianne becomes a catalyst for many of the townspeople to re-examine their own lives, to discover what’s really important, and to live in a different way. And, that brings about healing, healing for the individuals and the whole town, and even for Vianne herself.
Artist and theologian Jan Richardson says that both the book, upon which the movie is based, and the movie, “… offer a narrative that beckons us to see the effects of clinging so fiercely to a practice that we miss the point of it … the mayor’s grip on his Lenten fast is so ferocious but so fundamentally empty that he falls helpless before it. We see a fierce clinging in other characters as well, their lives shaped around practices that keep them insulated and sometimes alienated from one another, and from their own selves. For most of the folks in the story, slamming against their beloved walls finally causes them to crumble, opening them to an experience of mercy, reconciliation, and release.”[1]
This Sunday is the first Sunday of Lent – the forty days before Easter. For Christians, it’s a time to remember what we hold important, what we hold dear about our faith, to examine our own habits and rituals. Are they life-giving to us, to those around us? What is it that we cling to?
The old stereotypes of the season, no longer hold. Giving up something to be miserable or to show how strong you are is not what it’s about. My spouse used to tongue in cheek declare that he was giving up scotch mints for Lent … perhaps a bit of a protest against his own religious education. In fact, I don’t think I ever saw him eat a scotch mint.
Can we think metaphorically about fasting? Can we fast from judgment, from greed, from scarcity, from fear? Can we fast from lies, gossip, anxiety, apathy, discontent … Perhaps we can feast instead on compassion, on sharing, on abundance, on peace, on truth, on praise, on patience … on kindness, on engagement. We could fast on noise, and feast on silence. Fast on discouragement, feast on hope. Fast on hatred, feast on love.
I used to say that in the busyness of the season, I gave up all my spiritual practices for Lent. Every year I try to do a little better … and that’s what Lent is about. The chance to try again. I am always comforted by a little reading from Maya Angelou. She says:
“Many things continue to amaze me, even well into the sixth decade of my life. I’m startled or taken aback when people walk up to me and tell me they are Christians. My first response is the question, “Already?” It seems to me a lifelong endeavour to try to live the life of a Christian. I believe that is also true for the Buddhist, for the Muslim, for the Jainist, for the Jew, and for the Taoist who try to live their beliefs. The idyllic condition cannot be arrived at and held on to eternally. It is in the search itself that one finds the ecstacy.”[2]
Our Lenten worship materials this year, again from the folks at Sanctified Art, tell us in their introduction:
“Lent was originally a season for new converts to learn and prepare for their baptism on Easter. During that time, they would study what was central to Christianity. As we crafted this series, we studied what was central to Jesus’ life and ministry: radical welcome, love for neighbor, care for the vulnerable, nourishment for the hungry, nonviolence in the face of injustice.
At the heart of Jesus’ teachings, we find liberation, love, mercy, and grace—all of which are meant to be very good news for us all. Jesus’ words are easily distorted and sanitized in our modern world. Following Jesus leads to a richer, more expansive life, but it’s not necessarily comfortable.
Jesus’ ministry can be described as “radical” which comes from the Latin word “radicalis,” meaning “root” or “ground.” Therefore, the good news should bring us back to our roots. Emulating Jesus and embodying his teachings should ground us in who God created us to be. Can we be “good news” people in a world too often burdened by bad news?
This Lent, let us remember that the good news really is good news. It is joyful—like fine wine saved for celebration. It grows like a mustard seed and smells like perfume poured from an alabaster jar. It tastes like bread passed endlessly through a hungry crowd. It sounds like laughter and feels like mercy. The good news is alive in the world. We hope this series will provide fertile ground for conversation and worship, rooting our hearts and lives in the expansive goodness of God. This Lent, let the teachings of Jesus lead us forward.
May the good news inspire us to take action in a world desperate to hear, see, and taste what is good.”
We will also celebrate the sacrament of communion, and begin a new, all ages activity that we will add to each week.
At our faith study the other night we learned about “Godwinks” … kind of like what I was calling “God moments” last week in my sermon. Our Lenten practice over the next 7 weeks will be to name the Godwinks … the God moments … the GOOD NEWS … in our lives each week. This might get you into the spirit of that …
https://www.today.com/parents/teens/students-share-good-news-viral-video-rcna243046
(Note: if you scroll down a bit and watch the video in the article/ comments instead of the shorter clip from The Today Show you will see more students and won't be interrupted by the hosts).
Below is a reading I found many years ago and then turned into a word cloud. It is a wonderful reminder of how we might approach the next 40 days …
Blessings in these first days of Lent
Martha
A Special Lenten Fast from South America
Give up harsh words: use generous ones.
Give up unhappiness: take up gratitude.
Give up anger: take up gentleness and patience.
Give up pessimism: take up hope and optimism.
Give up worrying: take up trust in God.
Give up complaining: value what you have.
Give up stress: take up prayer.
Give up judging others: discover Jesus within them.
Give up sorrow and bitterness: fill your heart with joy.
Give up selfishness: take up compassion for others.
Give up being unforgiving: learn reconciliation.
Give up words: fill yourself with silence,
and listen to others.
(from Making the Sign of the Cross, Janet Hodgson,
Canterbury Press, p. 80)
[1] http://paintedprayerbook.com/2008/02/05/ash-wednesday
[2] Ash Wednesday – Cultural Resources, Nessette Falu, Rice University, Houston, TX