Like a growing number of Christians from outside liturgical traditions, students at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor are discovering Lent—and finding the 40-day observance beneficial for their spiritual growth.
Senior Christian studies major John Mark Harvey decided to start practicing Lent for the first time last year and found his participation to be very rewarding.
“It is not this weird thing, and it is not just for Catholics. It is a Christian thing,” Harvey said.
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor student John Mark Harvey reads his Bible in the Baptist Student Ministry prayer room as one of the spiritual disciplines of Lent. (PHOTO/Carol Woodward/UMHB)
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Baptist Student Ministry Director Shawn Shannon encourages students to see Lent as a time to take stock of the soul and focus on praying, fasting and giving. With this coaching, Harvey determined to make a mental shift for his first Lent.
“Last year, my goal throughout Lent was to have a positive attitude about things. When I was doing it, I thought, ‘This is great.’ I enjoyed things more, and I was a happier person,” Harvey said. “Even the people who knew what my goal was said they could tell the difference.”
This year, he wants to try to encourage people by listening and lifting them up. His hope as he does this is not to focus on himself but to reflect truly on others.
“I want it to be a life change—not just giving up soft drinks and then starting up again after Lent is over. I want something I do for 40 days to become a habit. I want to somehow better myself and make my life more Christ-like. I would like to experience Jesus in some way, to know him better,” Harvey said.
Fellow student Deborah Baker’s life changed by participating in Lent her sophomore year. Her friends knew her as a person who complained often and had a pessimistic outlook on life.
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In the spring of 2007 while praying, Baker felt God calling her to give up complaining. With Lent around the corner, she began to prepare herself for the task ahead.
“I was scared to death, because I was aware of how hard the challenge would be. I called upon everyone around me to keep me accountable during the 40 days of Lent, and it was one of the most difficult things I have ever done,” she said.
As she looks back on the time, she feels it was worth it. Baker learned the way people view situations can predict the outcome early on. If problems arise, and they know not to complain, then they just get to work and fix the problem.
“God showed me a weakness that only he could fix, and every step of the way he was there beside me stretching and molding me into more of the woman of God he has called me to be,” she said.
Baker, a senior business major at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, said she knew about Lent but never understood how challenging and rewarding the time could be.
“Now I see it not just as a time to fast and take away something from your life, but a time to exchange that thing for something that will strengthen your relationship with God, such as prayer, Bible reading, giving and many other things,” she said.
As she continues to partake in Lent, she said she hopes to learn more about submission to God and being open to whatever he wants to teach and reveal.
“Lent is a time to prepare spiritually for Easter. It’s so easy to let Easter sneak up on you and be just another Sunday on the church calendar, but it’s so much more than that. It is the day we remember why and how we live,” said Baker.
For more information about Lent go to www.cresourcei.org/cylent.html.
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