Every once in a while I hear people say, “I am taking a break from …” Maybe it is social media. Maybe it is drinking. Maybe it is school. It may even be church. Every time I hear this I think, well that’s good (except when its church). People are not just blindly going along, letting their lives take over themselves. It is a sign of agency, people taking the wheel of their own lives by cutting something out and creating space.
That is what Lent is all about and the image of “Laying Down our Burdens” is simply a way to describe and practice the process of interrupting the internal momentum, be it the momentum of temptation, fear, control, ego, or this week, anxiety. We come to church, we lay it down and then we try, for a time, to leave it down. We unplug from it. Take a break from it.
This week we hear the prophet Isaiah telling the people to take a breath and remember the promise of God. And in our gospel story we hear the beautiful gift of Mary to Jesus when she anointed him with sweet smelling oil. Such an intimate thing to do. Only someone who has laid down her fear of getting it wrong would have the courage, and the freedom to do such a thing. A beautiful, serene moment.
Maybe that’s it- serenity. Maybe that is what comes when we lay down our anxiety. Easier said than done, but I hope to see you on Sunday when we gather around the table, and nourished by word and sacrament, we open to God’s serenity.