Musings on Doing and Being this Lent

I'm irked by how easy it is to curate our public image these days. Whereas an iPhone commercial claims that we can upload the whole of human experience, what we really do is pick and choose which facets of our lives to trumpet out to whoever will listen. We do things in order that we might later talk about it, digitally collecting a trophy case of accomplishments and adventures.

I'm irked because I see the same desire come across in the words I write, the pictures I share, the ways I fill my days. At the end of the day I find solace in what I have done rather than who I have been. Did I cook well, clean well, play well, etc. I turn to these action verbs to define and shape my days and ultimately myself.

What if I focused instead on the stative verbs? I am a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, teacher. More importantly, I am loved and beloved, forgiven and redeemed. Let's face it, some things need to get done in a day. I'm talking to you pile of dishes, runny noses and dirty diapers. But when I stake my worth on what I do rather than what is already done, the doing never ends, and the days blur into empty exhaustion.

Maybe that is why I like Lent so much. We're invited to sit inside the messy house that is our soul, realizing that we can't do anything about it. Still in that mess we can see the face of Him who gives us the title of beloved child - a title won at a great cost. Then and only then will our actions flow from who we are rather than what we've done.

So I hope that this blog will become a quieter, less-trumpeted space where I can document our family life, not in order to look back years from now at all we've done but rather to evoke memories that run deep with love, forgiveness, and grace.