The Simple Things In Lent

So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

¹¹ But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

¹³ Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

2 Kings 5:9-14

This was the first mass reading earlier this week and it really struck a chord with me.

Mr. Pete and are doing the Bible in a Year with Father Mike Schmitz. We started on New Year’s Day and have been pretty good about getting it done every night. We just finished slogging our way through Numbers and Deuteronomy – lots of names and places and a very slow story pace, at least to me. And as we read and pray through each day I’ve been beating myself up for other things I haven’t been doing for Lent.

I’ve only made it to daily mass once, my Lenten resolutions have slid a couple of times, and although I have made some really healthy meatless meals, we’re giving in to fast fish food this week because we’ve got other things going and my kids requested it … I’m not sure what that says about my cooking, but there ya go.

But reading about our friend Naaman, right in the middle of Lent, is a good reminder that sometimes God just asks us to do the simple things because those can make all the difference.

Maybe I can’t take cold showers for the entire Lenten Season. But I can clean up the mess in the kitchen, that the last person made in there after I already cleaned it up, without complaining. I can pray for that person instead. Or I can pray for myself that I learn perseverance in doing the task.

Maybe I can’t study the bible and pray for hours, but can I thank God for the beautiful day? For letting me wake up? Every time I walk somewhere without pain I thank Him for healing my knee as requested during my Christmas Novena. I also thanked Him profusely for a clean bill of health on my mammogram.

Can I take time to enjoy teaching my granddaughter?

Bring comfort and companionship to my teenager?

Let my adult children know how proud I am of their accomplishments?

Try harder to be a good friend?

Remember to love and laugh with Mr. Pete?

These are the simple things to do during this time of my life. Can it be as simple as Naaman taking a dip in the river? I think it can. There is mercy and healing in just doing these simple things.

How about you? What simple things can you do to grow closer to God this Lenten season?