Psalms 81, 82, 119: 97- 120; Jer. 8: 18- 9: 6; Rom. 5: 1-1; John 8: 12-20

This is the mid-point of Lent. Three weeks ago, in the flush of a renewed religious fervor that grips me every Ash Wednesday, I promised God and myself that I would take on a Lenten discipline and actually follow it the whole time. Some years, I focus on "giving up" a bad habit I enjoy; some years my focus is more on "taking on" a good habit I wish to make permanent. In the past, my Lenten discipline has included everything from eating right and exercising (those perennial New Year's resolutions of mine that always fall by the wayside the second week of January) to spending a certain amount of "quiet time" in prayer and reflection each morning. This year, I was trying to decide between brushing and flossing my teeth twice a day and swearing off Ebay for 40 days. (Uh, the Sundays in Lent don't count, right?) But then it occurred to me that perhaps I have been approaching this Lenten discipline thing all wrong.

In today's Old Testament reading, the prophet Jeremiah is stressed to the max (and he wasn't even trying to follow a Lenten discipline!) He wants to run away from his problems, especially the friends and family that surround him. ("O, that I had in the desert a traveler's lodging-place, that I might leave my people and go away from them!") The psalmist seems to echo this feeling, although he realizes he doesn't have to physically run away; instead, he finds his refuge in God. ("You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.") Paul elaborates on the connection between strife and hope in his letter to the Romans. ("We . . . boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us . . .") The words of Jesus in the Gospel of John complete the message: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life."

Lent, then, is not about good habits or bad habits. Instead, it is a journey: from suffering to hope, from darkness into light, from the cold of winter into the warmth of spring. We are midway through our journey. In three weeks, it will be Holy Week. May Jesus, the Light of the world, guide you on your journey through the darkness into the light of life.