March 5, 2025 “It doesn’t bother you to have people picking apart your work while you sit there?” A mentor asked me that question after I told her I’ve discovered that I absolutely love group editing projects. “I recently wrote a draft of a document, and two other women and I went through it line by line and discussing and editing until we had a document we all thought was exactly how it was supposed to be. It was so much fun!” That’s when she asked me that question. Why did she ask me if it bothered me? Because this woman knows me well enough to know that I sometimes don’t react the best when someone suggests something I did/said/made/wrote… wasn’t good. “I guess I can put aside my ego at least a little bit for projects like this. I think it’s partly that I love discussing language and grammar, and it’s partly that I want this project to be successful, and I want us to put out the best product possible.” It struck me that we had that conversation exactly a week before Ash Wednesday. I’ve been dreading Lent. Lent often feels heavy to me. There’s so much focus on sinfulness, and, like my mentor noted, I don’t really like focusing on the less-than-great parts of myself. While maybe not as much fun as editing a document, God is calling me to look at the Lent as an opportunity to set aside my ego and go through my life line by line with Him discussing and editing my thoughts and actions until I’m who I’m supposed to be. It’s an opportunity to allow God to move me even the tiniest step closer to being the best person I can possibly be, a person who loves and serves God, and a person who loves and serves others. God also reminded me that it’s often easier to do that – to become who were supposed to be – when we do it together, cooperating and supporting one another. Maybe Lent doesn’t bother me as much as I thought. |
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