In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus urges us: ”...Be like the wise man who built his house upon the rock.” How do we determine when we have reached the prime reality, the bedrock of existence, upon which we can start to build our lives? In the current marketplace of ideas, there are a few ideas of what constitutes this prime reality of existence. For some, the base reality is the face of the angry or indifferent God. Some 20th century philosophers tried selling us on the idea that absurdity or meaninglessness fits the bill. For others, reality is just ongoing suffering, and we can all be participants in the ‘victim Olympics’. It’s a pretty depressing set of alternatives.

For a Christian, what is the prime reality? The author of the book of Hebrews says of Jesus in chapter 12: “For the joy set before him, he endured the cross.” If we are to follow Christ, our prime reality is joy. And, like Christ, we will have to persevere through the passion of indifference, meaninglessness, and suffering in order to reach that place of joy. If joy is like a treasure hidden in a field, it can be a muddy and exhausting job to dig down through the layers of our lives in order to finally have it in our possession. Acquiring joy can be difficult work.

This brings us to Lent. It is interesting that Lent doesn’t start with an upbeat thought: "Today is the first day of the rest of your life!" Instead, it begins: "You are dust, and to dust you shall return!" Lent’s voluntary deprivations and fasting gives us a taste of ongoing suffering. Meditating on Jesus’ suffering leads us through the land of what appears to be the indifferent God (“Why have you forsaken me?”), along with the meaninglessness of innocent suffering and the victimization of being betrayed by your closest friends. Lent is no walk in the park. It is a set of trials to be endured. All this, though, leads to Easter morning, with the joy of the Resurrection which gives us access to an eternal glimpse of the face of the loving God.

To learn to ride a bicycle, you must actually ride a bicycle, as just reading about riding will not do. To learn to navigate through a fallen world, you must navigate through it. Lent gives us an opportunity to practice our navigation skills, under the tutelage of Christ himself.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament... You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” — John 16:20