A Time to Savor A Time to Savor

February 22nd we enter the season of Lent and we remember that "[we] are dust and to dust, and to dust [we] shall return" (The Book of Common Prayer, 265). For many, the forty days before Easter, know as Lent, is a time to give something up.

I invite you to think of Lent as a season to savor: savor the life we have been given, our family (blood or chosen) and friends, and the beauty of creation, especially as spring begins to unfold.

Savoring implies delight and pleasure. To savor a moment is to pay attention to all aspects of an experience: the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. Savoring means slowing down and enjoying One way to do this is to engage the senses: What do you see? What do you hear? What does it feel like? Is there a taste? What do you smell?

We are so used to "tuning out" or taking for granted what surrounds us. What if we took 3-5 minutes each day to notice how much we perceive through our senses? We may be amazed at all the gifts that envelop us. Like the Psalmist, we may say,

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth... Taste and see that the Lord is good; Happy are they who trust in him

Psalm 34: 1,8

A prayer from Jan Richardson might help us to "go deeper":

"God of eye and ear, of taste and touch, of smell and of every sense and source of knowing, bless me not with sight alone. But bless me also with ears to hear your voice, and tongue to taste your essence, and nose to breathe your fragrance, and fingertips to touch your nearness, and heart to open the door, which is wisdom, which is wonder, which is God in every sense, God of all. Amen."

Between our birth and death, we are given many opportunities to savor life. May this season of Lent be one you savor!