Lent: Practicing Faith in a New Place

It has been a while since my last post. For most of the second half of the year I was commuting between Sydney and Canberra for work. Living in Canberra during the week and Sydney with the family on the weekend. It pretty much sucked. Anyway, all that has changed because at the end of the year my family and I relocated to Canberra.

One of the things about moving cities is that you have to learn about how to do things again. You need to find a new doctor, dentist, car mechanic, a favourite cafe, a faith community, and of course a place to get your hair cut.

I am still trying to find the best place to get my haircut. At one place I tried I was asked, “have you washed your hair with shampoo?” as if it was a sort of prerequisite for being allowed to get a hair cut.

Now last year for Lent I gave up shampoo and conditioner. Since then I haven’t once washed my hair with anything except water. Without any negative side-effects.

I answered, “I have washed my hair”. I presume they must have assumed that my answer was “yes” to their question. At least my conscience is clear that I didn’t lie, I just did what any politician would do. I didn’t actually answer the question. Either way, I got my hair cut and they charged me a ridiculous amount of money for frankly a pretty poor cut.

Anyway, since that Lent washing my hair without any product has become normal. A habit if you will. It started off being a practice for Lent, and became a part of my normal everyday. It has become a part of me. I have changed. To be sure, it isn’t a significant change. But, it is a change none the less.

Now, what of Lent 2010? What should I do to help me practice the faith and to reflect on the way of Christ on the journey to Easter? What should I do to bring change to myself for the betterment of my relationship with God and the world?

Andrew Prior is not really doing anything specific for Lent because he has found that in his context and story it doesn’t seem to matter. Lent simply wasn’t a part of his childhood tradition, and it doesn’t ground him in his context now.

So why would I celebrate Lent?  In the popular inherited story in my city, Lent is where you feel sorry for being bad, and causing so much trouble to land on Jesus’ head. It’s an impoverished understanding of Lent, to be sure, but when a tradition is weak in its appeal, the inherited story is how we know it.

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Symbol, devotion, and ritual ground us in our tradition.  They ground our life, making it more real, by connecting it to a tradition which we share with others. Perhaps that is why I miss a Lenten discipline, even though, at another level, the rituals are off putting. Just like any Sunday when I sit ill at ease as we rehearse our worship tradition, I want to connect more with God. How may I ritualize and ground my life, and my sense of God?

- Andrew Prior, http://scotschurch.org

As I approached Lent, I have struggled to think of something that wouldn’t be superficial – that would be useful for me to do.

I think my problem right now is that I have yet to find my feet in Canberra. I am probably being harsh on myself, as it has been only six weeks since we moved. And, it may seem ironic, given that I grew up in Canberra. But, both Canberra and I are different.

And, Canberra is different from Sydney. The way of life is different here. The issues of life are different. The conversations, the pressures, the whole environment is different.

About two weeks ago it finally dawned on me that this means that the way I practice my faith needs to be different. I haven’t yet grounded myself in this place to allow me to know how to be here. I am not at ease with living my faith here. I need to re-contextualise myself faith in this place.

So I think my Lenten exercise will be to try and [re]discover the symbols and rituals that may ground me into the traditions of this place. This may help me find to a rhythm of living here with my family.

So where to look?