“What if we gave up Walmart for Lent?”

The idea had been carefully considered — you know, for at least 10 seconds — when I eagerly offered it to my wife. 

She looked at me for a moment and responded with the best possible question: ​“Did the Lord prompt that or did you just make it up?” 

And with that I was laid bare.

The idea wasn’t bad; the motives were. It was driven by some ideal, some vague notion of How Things Should Be, some Wendell Barry quote haunting me, and, perhaps, by the sheer challenge of it — just to prove we could. The spiritual reasons might have come later, but they weren’t the impetus.

Trevor Hudson has simple advice for choosing what to give up (or not) for Lent, and it applies to all spiritual practices: ​“It needs to have the smell of freedom about it.”

He sees Lent as an opportunity to intensify our attention to God and prepare our hearts to more fully enter into Christ’s passion and resurrection. Nathan Foster did a half hour interview with Trevor that is well worth a listen (or three).

As the Northern Hemisphere transitions from winter to spring, trees act as a metaphor for God’s work in the soul. Featured articles from Mimi Dixon and Nathan Foster reflect on lessons our branched friends can teach us about life’s seasons.

For freedom,