There are two moments that matter. One is when you know that your one and only life is absolutely valuable and alive. The other is when you know your life, as presently lived, is entirely pointless and empty. You need both of them to keep going in the right direction. Lent is about both. The first such moment gives you energy and joy by connecting you with your ultimate Source and Ground. The second gives you limits and boundaries, and a proper humility, so you keep seeking the Source and Ground and not just your small self.
-Richard Rohr, Wondrous Encounters: Scripture for Lent, 9
Watching the Olympics is a big deal in our household. We spend the weeks leading up to it reminding our sons that the TV belongs solely to Mom and Dad. Whether it is curling, cross country skiing, ski jump chainsaw juggling, or snowboard cross, we will be watching the Olympics (ski jump chainsaw juggling is terribly dangerous and should not be tried by anyone). We also let them know that these weeks are the most patriotic they will see us. Pride for the United States of America will be on display in a way that seems out of sync with how we typically feel about our country, especially in 2026.
It’s a weird thing to feel deep pride and deep shame about your country at the same time. Yet those paradoxes are central to our human experiences. I am deeply proud to be from South Carolina and often quite embarrassed by my home state. I love Star Wars and really wish Star Wars fans would chill the heck out and stop policing what others enjoy. The Christian faith is something that I hold near and dear to my heart even as experiences have made me profoundly wary of most every church that crosses my path. I am aware of both the great good and heinous harm of which I am capable. To be human is to live with these seeming contradictions.
Yet there is something in these tensions that helps me make see these different aspects of my life for what they are. To only see the positive or the negative would be dishonest way of looking at things. To grow as a person, I need to be able to peer through these nuances and complications. Especially when I get to the paradoxes that lies within my own being.
I like how Richard Rohr states it in the quote above. Realizing that our life is of immense value gives us the joy and energy to connect with the One who gives us that life. Realizing that our life is—to borrow the language of this Ash Wednesday—dust give us the boundaries and humility to seek something outside of ourselves. Many times we lean too much in one direction or the other. If we pay close attention to Lent with all its reminders of how we are both fragile and full of life, both capable of wreaking havoc and receiving transforming grace then we can better connect to who we are and the God in whom we live and move and have our being.
It’s been encouraging how the Olympics and being honest about what has been going on in our country has helped our sons get a more full picture of what is going on. It has helped them to see that there are things to celebrate and hurtful things that we need to figure out how to make better. I am glad that they can see both sides. I hope that I can take this season of Lent to look inside myself and see more of the picture as well.