FIRST TIME IN 23 YEARS? GLAD LENT COMES ANNUALLY

ADMITTEDLY, IT’S NOT AN EVERYDAY OCCURRENCE, BUT AFTER SEEING THE HEADLINES YESTERDAY MORNING, I decided to set up another screen in my office to see what would happen in the markets. Not long after I got CNBC going, the announcement came that markets had dropped far enough to trigger what is known as a ‘circuit breaker.’

Long story short: Built into the rules that govern the markets, when certain declines occur within the course of a trading day the markets take a 15-minute break. In theory, this allows people the chance to take a deep breath, see where they are, and allows for - in theory - a more orderly pattern to sell stocks so that we can attempt to avoid panic selling.

For the first time in 23 years, the markets tripped a circuit breaker. Just four minutes into the trading session, the markets dropped 7% of their value.

As I was listening to the chatter in the background, I was suddenly hit with the parallels between the market hitting the threshold to trip a circuit breaker and what we are doing in the annual observance of the Lenten season.

After all, is Lent not, at its core, the chance for Christians to take a step back, assess what is going on, and find a way forward to help stop a decline in our faithfulness to Christ?

This, of course, begs the question: What got more of our attention yesterday - the stock markets diving so fast the circuit breaker was tripped (giving all a chance to examine their holdings and devise a strategy) OR the circuit breaker known as the season of Lent (giving all a chance to examine the holdings of their faith and devising a strategy to return to God through the acceptance of God’s grace in and through Christ our Lord?)

May we never give up the gift of a season set aside to help us reallocate our life to be properly invested in that which makes us secure now and forevermore - a life lived in such a way that we love the Lord our God with everything we have and our neighbors as ourselves.

Grace and Peace,
Lamar