“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing—grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.” Joel 2:12-14
“Abba Paul said, ‘I am in the slough, sinking in up to my neck and I weep in the presence of God, saying, “Have mercy on me.”‘ It was said of Abba Paul that he spent the whole of Lent eating only one measure of lentils, drinking one small jug of water, and working at one single basket, weaving it and unweaving it, living alone until the feast. Abba Paul said: ‘Keep close to Jesus.'”
Abba Paul, a desert father, in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection, trans. Benedicta Ward (Kalamazoo: Cisterian, 1975) 205.
We can trace the practice of Lent back to the desert fathers. Abba Paul depicts Lent rightly for what it is: a time to return to God with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Notice the practices of solitude and simplicity in this season which position us for fasting, prayer, and giving to those in need. But why work at a single basket in this season?
We as humans are guilty of multi-tasking to a point where we lose our focus on the things that matter. I am guilty of this. A discipline of single-tasking helps us keep our attention fixed on what matters.
Think about your journey for Lent in 2021. It does not start for a few weeks so you have time. How might solitude, simplicity, and single-tasking come together to help you “keep close to Jesus” and position you for greater generosity?