How do you know when you’re relaxed?

5th March 2012   ·   0 Comments

By Fr. Jerome LeDoux
Contributing Columnist

Relaxation and Lent are two terms that seem incompatible by their very nature and intent. But are they really incompatible? If you would do all the things that the season of Lent invites you to do, would you be more relaxed or more disturbed in your life? Would you honestly be able to claim that Lent is leading you to a more relaxed life?

On the one hand, we have the inherent heaviness of Lent. Even though I have been doing considerably more than the strictest Lenten fast and abstinence for 15 years and nine months, I dislike the presence of the season of Lent and its restrictive environment. That does not sound logical. Why should Lent’s restrictions matter since I am even stricter?

But that proves eloquently the nature of the beast. We humans simply do not like being around strictures, stark limitations, rigid rules of conduct, food deprivation or the prospect of being locked into a season that discourages celebrations and lighthearted fun.

The somber, melancholy atmosphere of Lent is simply not the one of choice for us.

What about someone like me who has chosen to live a permanent Lent by choosing the daily fare of a vegan? What a strange concept! To live a perpetual Lent! Does this have a future, let alone a present? Well, for starters, Lent is perceived as a dreary time when we suffer the deprivation of things that we like or the doing of things we dislike.

With the greatest of irony, Lent, when pursued and lived to its full purpose and spirit, brings about in our minds and demeanor the things we might least expect. Perhaps the composers of the Lenten liturgy knew far more than we give them credit for when they wrote in the old Sacramentary (Roman Missal) Lenten preface for the Mass,

“Father, … each year you give us this joyful season when we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery…” But why does the new translation omit “joyful” and replace it with phrases like “gracious gift” and “sacred time?” Frankly, I see this as one of the many spots where their wisdom in the old translation exceeded that of the new.

Lent sets the stage for us to dismantle the worst stress we encounter in our lives, even though most of us are not ready to admit this particular stress is the worst of all.

“What stress?” you say. It is the mind-bending stress stemming from the fear that we are putting our eternal destiny in jeopardy by not taking good care of the matters of our soul.

Of all the negative stresses in our life, this has to be the worst, both because of its precarious origin in eternal destiny and its insidious, oft undetected presence in our mind and deep within our human psyche. As always, the worst enemy is silent, undetected.

Nevertheless, though silent and undetected, this enemy works subconsciously, under our radar, steadily gnawing at our nervous system, undermining our every attempt to relax, taking our joy away by surreptitiously stealing our peace of mind and soul. No doubt, there is nothing else that causes so much mischief and damage to our nerves.

The only people almost impervious to this terrible negative stress are those without the sanction of a conscience, as expressed in Psalm 73, “I lost my balance; my feet all but slipped, because I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they suffer no pain; their bodies are healthy and sleek. They are free of the burdens of life; they are not afflicted like others.”

And what are the symptoms that you are not relaxed? What about furrowing your brow, tightening your jaw muscles, grinding your teeth, rapidly blinking your eyes, clenching your fists, twiddling your thumbs or fingers, twirling a lock of hair, keeping your shoulders or chest tight, bouncing a leg up and down on your toes while seated?

Or what about labored breathing, facial or other tics, involuntary jerks of any part of your body, random tightening of muscles, any items on the long lists of phobias and manias as well as the for­bidding, frightening lists of neuroses and psychoses?

The first thing Lent does is help lift us from the rut of ignorance and denial by baring our weaknesses, deficiencies and flaws in our attitude, character and personality.

In addition to the foremost blessing of gentled nerves and peace of mind and soul, the discipline of a tough Lenten fast gradually rids our body of physical pain by removing the food-driven causes of sickness and thereby healing all the illnesses that attack us.

This article was originally published in the March 5, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper