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Loan or Lent - Each word can be meaningful for those who reflect upon them
Most of us are willing to loan something of ours to a friend and we usually have reasonable hope that it will be returned. Sometimes we may have lent something to an individual, especially a book, which was never returned. For a much broader perspective of loaning, we can think about God as having lent us our lives, and has the desire that, no matter how much used and damaged, we will return it with some of the love with which the loan was made.
We are not books that have been written by someone but are unique people who compose the story of our lives each day as we decide how to respond to circumstances, people, and inspirations that affect us, and by the thoughts and actions that we initiate. God does not loan us this life that is temporary intending to receive it back to put on a shelf, but to write our story of love that will last through our inevitable death to being fulfilled eternally in God, who is Love. We will then be together will all those who have returned in love to God and entered the communion of saints.
The season of Lent is about taking some practical means of deepening our desire and intention to match God’s, and to return the life we have been lent in as good a condition of love as we are able. Like any of the 4 seasons of earth, the time of Lent has its own characteristics that are common enough to all people everywhere that we can talk about them, but these seasons differ widely from year to year and from place to place. Unlike typical conditions of the earth’s seasons which we can only observe and take into account, we are the main determinants of how Lent will help us to grow. Rather than wait for sunshine or rain, we can decide not only what we will do but also choose our purpose and attitude in response to the ideals, practices, and graces that comprise Lent.
One of the most significant Scriptural quotes from Jesus that appears frequently in this faith-season is “Repent, the Kingdom of God is near.” Although “repent” and “kingdom” may not be in our every-day language, and rarely appear in the media, they have connotations that are very helpful for those of us who are touched by grace to desire what God desires in terms of returning love with love. When we give “repent” its rightful meaning of “look again,” we are strongly encouraged to read the Gospel stories of Jesus as speaking truths to us. When we think of the “kingdom” that is God’s, we look in faith on the Communion of all who are with God, loving us in God, thereby deepening our own desire to return to God the life that was lovingly lent to us.
Last Updated 2/21/2026