THE meaning of Lent and the call to "deny yourself and take up the cross" (Luke 9:23), at first glance, appears to take on some rather militant meaning, especially when the next verse continues with words to this effect: "He who saves his life will lose it and he who loses his life for my sake, will save it."
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But the call to deny yourself itself is interesting, as it takes on many, apparently contradictory meanings. You can deny yourself your comfort zone, your ego or even the familiar. You can even deny yourself your fears and your insecurities. On a more spiritual note, you can even deny yourself your unbelief, I suppose.
It is a time to push the envelope, to turn yourself into the spaceship the USS Enterprise and explore the final frontier and go where you've never gone before. How else can we know lack when we've never tasted deprivation?
How else could we know hunger when we've always enjoyed abundance? At the risk of sounding like some ascetic, I believe it's the only way for many of us to grow. If we are computer systems, you can liken Lent as the time to renew your anti-virus subscription and reboot to a new and fully functional you.
