Madelynn Winstead, ENDOW Board Member and editor, Colorado

How does one speak about the season of Lent in one simple paragraph? This is a difficult task, choosing one’s words very carefully, getting the most out of every syllable. My first thought was simple and straightforward: “I was made for Lent, born with a hair shirt, as they say.” So perhaps it’s only my melancholic temperament, which draws me to this yearly time of self-denial and penitential practices. And yet, Lent is so much more than giving up chocolate and turning off the television (although these things are admirable and good). For me, Lent is a process that requires tilling the soil in preparation for spring. It’s doing the hard work, breaking new ground and clearing away the debris of fear and failure, compromise and complacency. This is the work that causes a sweat and makes your muscles ache. It requires us to dive into deep water, where we know we can no longer stand. A few years ago, I said good-bye to my son on Ash Wednesday, as he gathered his company of Marines and boarded a plane for Iraq. That Lent was seven months long and at times I felt the water rising up to my neck. But that is the beauty of Lent, the beauty of keeping your head above the water line and learning how to "breathe" God.