Have you ever snorkeled or gone scuba diving? (Do you know how to breathe underwater?)
The first time you try to breath under water is the hardest. When you put your face underwater, and tell yourself to breathe, your body revolts. NO WAY! Every fiber of your being resists the snorkel/scuba breathing device. It is so unnatural to breathe underwater. Your breathing becomes ragged, you lungs fight the command to breathe in. You are afraid to let the air in, because you ‘know’ that you are going to swallow not air, but WATER. You know that the next experience you will feel is that of drowning. And even though you are standing in the shallow end of the pool, even though you know that all it will take to ‘be safe’ is to stand up, your mind doesn’t trust you. It is a survival instinct –your body telling you: “Breathing Good! Breathing Water – BAD!”
But bit by bit, you ‘get used to it.’ You begin to trust that the snorkel will provide the air that you need. You begin to trust that, instead of the water that you ‘think’ you will be taking in when your head is underwater, you will be breathing the good stuff. Slowly, your breathing slows down. Slowly, breath by breath, you return to a normal rhythm of breathing. Eventually, it becomes so ‘normal’ that you don’t even think of the fact that you are breathing under water. Eventually, you are so distracted by the beauty that you are looking at that you forget you are breathing under water.
So, too, with our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, almsgiving. They should not be those ‘gasping for air’ experiences. They should not be so strange that we would be tempted to blow a trumpet – LOOK AT WHAT I AM DOING! Jesus says it this way. “Take care not to perform righteous deeds so that others may see you…” Praying, helping the poor, sacrificing something good for something better should be so ‘normal’ that you don’t even have to think about it. They should be so ‘second nature’ that like snorkeling/scuba diving with your gear on, you don’t need to call attention to it. You just put your head underwater and go. You just reach into your wallet and give. You just get on your knees and pray. You just fast from facebook or instagram or whatever without posting to a hundred people that you are doing so.
It took me about 4 days to get used to breathing under water. Psychologists tell us it takes about 21 days to form a habit. We have 40… 40 days to get used to ‘breathing, not under water, but under grace. 40 days to let a discipline of prayer become so natural that we never think twice about it. 40 days to give so generously to the poor – that we don’t even think about it. 40 days to let our sacrifice start to mirror the love that Jesus had when he sacrificed himself on the cross.
Breathing underwater – it is not so strange. Fasting, alms giving, prayer – we don’t need to blow a trumpet – it is just who we are… Just who we are. Have a blessed Lent!