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Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. The beginning of Lent.

One of the great mistakes of my life has been to waste far too many Lents.

In years past, I wasted it by ignoring it entirely. More recently, I’ve wasted Lent with meaningless abstinences and half-hearted devotions. Or by using it for self-improvement.

All of which miss the point of Lent entirely.

I want so badly for this year to be different. I’ve been reading, praying, preparing. So I don’t waste this Lent.

To make sure that this time, I get the point of Lent – repentance.

The thing that’s continues to do me the most good? “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis.

It’s really helped me to get clear about the point of Lent. Especially this,

“Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms.

Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realizing that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor—that is the only way out of the “hole.”

This process of surrender—this movement full speed astern—is what Christians call repentance. Now repentance is no fun at all.

It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death.”

This is something we cannot do on our own. This is something we can only do with Him.

This is the summons of Lent.