Preparing the house.

When the owner of the ranch assigned our weekly duties, I was excited to be given the job of painting a small house on the property. Given the demanding collage of duties on the large ranch, painting a house seemed like a gift. I quickly ran upstairs to change and arrived eager to get started.

As I entered the barn to gather the supplies, I was surprised not to see any paint. Instead, I was handed some gloves, sandpaper, and tools for repairing the house.

“You don’t start with painting,” the foreman stated. “First you need to wash the entire house and then work your way around each side repairing the place before you even think about getting your hands on a brush.”

Suddenly my gift became a demanding assignment, as I worked my way around the neglected house. Paint was pealing, water damage had caused rot, boards needed reattaching, and holes needed caulking. By the time I got around to sanding, the one-week job became two. Eventually the preparations were complete and the painting began. It all took much too long for my adolescent impatience, but it taught me a valuable lesson about painting and seasons like Lent.

On Wednesday, many people will begin a season of preparation established by the Church to prepare people for baptism at Easter. Using the example of Jesus in the wilderness, they made it a forty-day season in hopes that people would devote time and attention to their faith before Easter. Many, like me, have come to the season hoping to get painting right away only to learn the importance of thorough preparation.

Like the house at the ranch, there are spiritual holes that need to be filled, chips of paint that need scraping, and boards that need reattaching. Then, and only then, can the painting begin.

The good news is the paint is coming, but for now it is time to prepare.

May we all devote ourselves, regardless of our faith traditions, to using these final days of winter and early days of spring for thorough preparation. Whether by taking time in the morning to connect to a power greater than ourselves, by reading and meditation during the day, volunteering, or setting time aside for one-on-one time with loved ones or a favorite creative endeavor . . . this is a season of rebirth.  It is a time of digging deeper. It is a time of preparation.

Let’s get to it.