The weather has been so violent of late that we sit inside and listen to the windows rattle and the feel the fickle changes through rain and thunder; sleet and ice rain; snow and now today, some sun.  While it looks beautiful outside today the high winds and low temperatures belie the cold and sting that awaits anyone who might emerge from their shelter.

And, how is the Lenten climate in our souls these days?  Do we show a calm and sun shining forecast  on the exterior while the winds blow and the temperatures of our interior lives are icy cold?

During this Lenten time we should be taking care to examine the interiors of our thoughts, our ambitions, our souls – our true selves – and putting things in alignment with the exterior view we show to the world.

But we also need to be gentle with ourselves.  Our struggles to be competent; accomplished; successful; or compassionate should not leave us wasted when we think we cannot do all that needs to be done to attain such a state.  We are also human and part of being human is that we have conflicting emotions and are graced with the options to see ourselves as we think we really are – or to see ourselves as God sees us.

We will never be able to accomplish all that our hearts desire – all that is within us –  because some things necessarily must be left to God.  Yet, we can still bring our interior desires in sync with our exterior actions and show our true face to the world.  Our inner storms will blow, but let us not ever let them destroy us or prevent us from the work we can accomplish when we put our hands in the hands of God and work in tandem for a better future.  Let us never let our inner storms so overshadow the reality of our days that we cannot still see the true nature of our graced souls and let what God sees shine forth to the world.

Lent can help us to purge our doubts, confront our demons, and challenge ourselves to carry on, in spite of them all, no matter the weather.  There is grace, even in the storms.  And there are calmer days to come.