Lent quote

As I write this, the holy, orthodox, catholic, and apostolic church—that would be the one mystical body of which we are all members, like it or not—is entering the season we call Great Lent. It is in some sense a self-imposed affliction, a deliberate suffering; it is in some sense a death. It is, nonetheless, a death attended by hope, a death that anticipates new life. We feel how it changes us. We are thereby led to a place where the noises, distractions, and false importance of the street—of our dissipated lives—finally "have no access—a place where they have no power."

Similarly, then, in those seasons of our afflictions—those trials in our lives that we do not choose but press through—a stillness, a calm, and a hope become available to us; they are a stillness, a calm, and a hope that must be acquired slowly because, as Father Schmemann says of our joy in Lent, "our fallen nature has lost the ability to accede there naturally."

We are obliged to recover this wisdom slowly, bit by bit. May our afflictions be few, but may we learn not to squander them.
- Scott Cairns, excerpt from The End of Suffering

This article first appeared in 19 Feb 2010 issue of Christianity Today. Used by permission of Christianity Today International, Carol Stream, IL 60188.