Spring break-less musings

Isn’t this a strange time of year? I remember how the third quarter of every school year was always the worst. Even in college, the first half of the spring semester always seemed to drag along. It was like the second half winter was intentionally more dismal than other times of the year. The post-Christmas funk had the nasty ability to stretch all the way into March if we let it. Spring break was always the cure, especially in college when it was preceded by Mid-Term exams.

Yet this year, there is no spring break to look forward to. In fact, my college’s spring break was last week, and my old school system is out this week. I’ve missed the opportunity. To be fair, I don’t have to take Mid-Terms, and there’s no homework or finals to dread, but that break was always so nice. Even though I worked three of my four spring breaks in college, I still relished the freedom to relax and unplug in the evenings when I had no homework to attend to.

I am finding that my work schedule partnered with my home life (we’re redecorating several rooms) leaves little time for just relaxing.[1] Don’t get me wrong, I make time to veg out on the couch at regular intervals in the evenings and on weekends. However, I had great intentions for my free time when I moved home in December. I was going to write and read a good bit. I had grandiose plans for finishing one of the four novels I have written on and off again over the last five years. I haven’t even written one full page of any of them.

But since we’re in the season of Lent, and this is intended to be blog about theological issues, I should probably get to my point. The Lenten season falls right in the midst of that transition time between the funk of late winter and the refreshing early spring. It is a time best suited to reflect on transition, on change. Part of me feels like we should do away with New Years resolutions, as no one really follows through with them. This season is far better for making changes in life. Just as winter creeps away for another year and spring is born anew, we give up things and refocus our lives. THIS is the time of year to make resolutions. It is a time to refresh.

One of my friends, who is Buddhist, recently celebrated the Tibetan New Year, or Losar. I like the idea of celebrating the New Year with the birth of spring. It seems to make more sense. Why not let Lent be a time of resolution? It may not be the official mark of a new year (as the liturgical calendar begins with Advent, and the Gregorian calendar starts with January), but it is meant to be a time of spiritual renewal. Why not use it as a time of physical, emotional, and mental renewal as well?

[1] I’ll be honest; I’m really enjoying working on re-configuring several rooms in our house. We’ve been there for ten years, and some of the rooms just need an overhaul. So, I’m not really complaining about that. Just like I’ve spent time cleaning out and reorganizing my living spaces, helping breathe new life into the rest of the house is refreshing.

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