Mismatched

For Lent this year I have been wearing the same bracelet every day. It’s basically like a purple shoelace with a silver tree charm in the middle. Someone gave it to me a while back and I decided to save it for the season of Lent. It’s a great reminder for me, a marker that we are in a set apart time of the church year intended for reflection, prayer, and self-denial. The first week I wore it I was bothered that it didn’t go with my outfits. This was perfect since Lent often puts us outside of matching with the culture around us. We are not a culture that does well with silence, delayed gratification, or saying no to our wants. Every-time I notice my bracelet I stop and pray, or take a deep breath, or turn off the radio and listen to the silence.

I’ve learned over the last several weeks not to get the bracelet wet. That means when I wash the dishes I have to push it up my arm, and take it off for bathing. It takes ages to dry out and smells musty if I’m not careful, so I have to do things a little differently. Again this call to intentionality gives me a moment to pray, to reflect and be brought back to the season of Lent.

I’m planning to wear my bracelet again next year, and thinking about other ways I can mark the season of the church year. I like having something with me that calls me to be out of sink with my normal presentation, that doesn’t match what I’m wearing, that makes me work a little harder and do things a little differently. I know that if I wore this bracelet all the time, however, it would just become part of my routine. The season of the church year are designed to help us focus and to try new spiritual practices that we might move from our ruts and routines in to new life.

I am grateful for this little bit of clashing cotton and silver that has done that for me this season.

-Eilidh