I am old enough to remember Laurel and Hardy. One of their stock lines was "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into." Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever just looked around and suddenly said: "How did we get here?" All of us have and all of us have scrambled then to get out of the mess.

It’s Lent, and of all the seasons of the church year, this is the time when we take a hard look at all the “messes” we’ve gotten ourselves into – and how we might get ourselves out – with the help of God, each other and a time of introspection.

The theme for our Lenten worship and learning is “A Clearing Season”. It’s a time for considering that archaic word “sin” which perhaps we should bring out of the closet! Lent is the season when we consider “sin” – and the sins that we may be participating in that create all those messes!

In his book “The Fifth Discipline”, Peter Senge states "Today's problems come from yesterday's solutions." Sometimes the current “mess” we find ourselves in is a direct result of an old solution adopted months or years before. For instance – one’s loneliness and fear of abandonment might be “solved” by infidelity or casual sex. Emotional pain and anxiety might be assuaged by drugs or alcohol. Fear and jealousy might be alleviated by higher control or bullying. And dissatisfaction with one’s appearance could be addressed by abstaining from food or a “binge and purge” response to eating. All of these “cause and affect” cycles can lead to more problems rather than the elimination of the original predicament!

Another law you may be familiar with is "The easy way out usually leads back in.” Sometimes we try solutions that have worked in the past or just easy solutions that may or may not address the real issues. Lent is a time to “go underneath” the outer layers of ourselves and to find what may be hidden deep within us. It’s a time for radical surgery rather than a Band-Aid fix.
How do you get out the mess you find yourself in? Here are a few suggestions:

1. STOP. Take a long look at the big picture, a panorama of processes that led to the mess instead of just looking at the mess.

2. Avoid the temptation to use solutions you have tried before when they may not address the real underlying problem.

3. If you are in a mess, find a way to stop messes from happening, not just look for a cleaning crew. In other words, an apology and flowers (cleaning crew) might get you out of a “mess” but what needs to change in order to prevent another “mess” from happening?

4. Look “inside” instead of trying to find the cause "out there." In the Laurel and Hardy sketches, it was usually Oliver (the plump one) saying that line..."Well here is another nice mess...." to Stan (the thin one.) It was always true that the mess they were in was not Stan's fault alone. Ollie made decisions too!

Welcome to Lent! A time to enter into a “clearing season” – a time to find our way out of our messes – and into God’s curative time and healing love! This is a time to reconcile, rebuild and be restored to emotional and spiritual health. Let Lent do it’s thing! Let God bring healing to you life. Participate in the “clearing season”.

*”A Clearing Season” – by Sarah Parsons
* “The Fifth Discipline” – by Peter Senge