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Introduction

What is LENT? The word comes from German and Anglo Saxon roots meaning “Spring”. The Church adopted a period of fasting before Easter by the third century. By the seventh century the fast had become a period of forty days, probably based on the wilderness experience of Jesus. Candidates for baptism at Easter were expected to fast in this way.

Springtime was a fasting time anyway. The food stored for winter had run out, what remained had to be sown as seed, and new crops were not ready for harvest.

Ash Wednesday, the first day of the fast, was preceded by Pancake Tuesday, the day when the last of the winter’s supply of flour and yeast could be used up in a feast. The ashes placed on the heads of penitents, and later of all worshippers, were a Hebrew sign of penitence.

As we have difficulty celebrating the festival of the reviving sun (Christmas) in mid-summer, so we have difficulty celebrating a fast of penitence in the abundance of autumn.
Autumn Lent for people on the right side of the world is a period of plenty (not lenty), where we enjoy the harvesting for winter needs, we work hard, have balmy days but not too hot, and still have good energy after the summer break.  It’s also the end of the financial year where we can check out the harvest on the balance sheets, and do stocktaking.

How then shall we celebrate this season in our southern churches?

We are fortunate to have a lot of great music for the summer Christmas. Do we have the equivalent for the autumn Easter? There are some local poems about autumn, but none equivalent to Keats’ “Ode to Autumn”, or Hopkins’ “Hurrahing in Harvest.”  Perhaps Baxter’s “Autumn Testament” is worth another look.

The traditional northern Lent as a period of penitence and hunger equates well with the Via Negativa of Creation Spirituality.  However, it is probably more appropriate for us to look at the Via Creativa.  These four studies are therefore an attempt to look at our role as co-creators with God, and to produce creative tools for living a worshipful life.

One of the great things about the traditional harvest season in Aotearoa New Zealand is cooperation.  Cooperative dairy companies, cooperation between farmers at shearing and harvesting, participation in the fruit picking, church working bees for fairs and pickling onions, potato picking, hay making – and more. The “harvest home” is a village activity.

The theme explored in these studies is communicating the value of cooperating in communities rather than competing as individuals. The four studies could be on Wednesdays, starting with Ash Wednesday, February 25, or whenever suits your group. Sometimes it works to have a morning group and an evening group on the same day so that people can choose the time that suits. You may find that the activities suggested take longer than expected. To do them fully would require two-hour sessions. Plan to use only the time available.