Near the beginning of Lent, I was wondering about a practice to engage—something that would be formational. Then my cousin died on the day before Ash Wednesday. Another cousin died on the day after Ash Wednesday. And then my mother had a heart attack on the first Saturday. Things didn’t get any easier after that.

At some point, I realized that I didn’t need to choose a Lenten practice. I could simply try to remain non-anxious, grounded in love. And life would teach me what I needed to know during Lent.

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In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus refers to Judas, his betrayer, when he says, “The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!” (Matthew 26:24)

In Paul’s letter to the community in Rome, he says: “What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?” (Romans 8:32)

The verb translated ‘betrayed’ in the first passage and the verb translated ‘gave … up’ in the second passage are the same verb. (For those of you keeping track at home, the Greek verb is ‘παραδίδωμι’.) It is interesting that it is used for both Jesus’s betrayer and his Father.

I don’t wish to make to much of the ‘betrayal’ meaning. You will never hear me wondering about betrayal by God, or God allowing bad things to happen. That’s bad theology. (If anything, I’m now less likely to judge Judas.)

What I am interested in is the significance for people who have chosen to follow Jesus in life. To what extent are we given over to life? I think we are invited to join in the healing and reconciling life of God. That is a life that I want to live, even during this Lent when life is just way too hard.