The word ‘lent' comes from the Old English lencten, which originally meant ‘spring' (because it is in spring that the days begin to lengthen), then more specifically was used to refer to the month of March.  Since at least some of the church's season of preparation for Easter falls in March, and often most of it, it was natural for this term to be adopted to refer to this ecclesiastical season.  It is a uniquely English name; no other European language uses a similar word for this religious period.  (Even German, whose Teutonic ancestor gave us the Old English word lencten, refers to it as Fastenzeit, the time of fasting).  Many of them, however, are similar to one another - the French call it carême, the Spanish, cuaresma. In Portuguese it becomes quaresma, and in Italian, quaresima.  All of these derive from the original Latin word for the season, quadragesima, which means a period of forty days.

Another word which derives from this Latin original is quarantine.  We now use this to mean any extended period of isolation for medical or public health reasons, but originally it referred to a forty-day period, when efforts were being made to halt the spread of the Black Death.  And this set me wondering whether there might be any mileage in thinking of Lent as a sort of ‘period of quarantine'.

I'm not thinking so much here of the health and disease aspect of quarantine as of the aspect of its being a time of isolation.

Certainly for Jesus, the forty-day period in the wilderness, which is one of the roots of the season of Lent, was a time of voluntary isolation for him, a sort of quarantine, if you like.  By withdrawing from all the distractions of the wider world and society, he was able to undergo a profound inner ‘journey' - imaginatively described in the Gospels as a series of temptations by the Devil - enabling him to discern more clearly who he was and what the nature of his ministry should be.

We are probably also used to the idea that certain individuals renounce society to live as ‘solitaries' (we might call them ‘hermits'), and very often this radical way of life produces rich spiritual fruit.  The American Trappist solitary Thomas Merton, for instance, had - and, forty years after his death, continues to have through his writings a profound effect on thousands.  And I have recently come to know the work of another American solitary, Maggie Ross, who I find fascinating.  (Check out her blog, Voice in the Wilderness, and see if you agree with me.)

But is this isolation, this solitariness, this spiritual quarantine, for us?  Or is it just for those special few who have the calling, and the lack of commitments to family and work, to enable them to take such a step?  Well, of course, to live a life of full-blown solitariness is a costly one indeed, and few will follow that route.  But we could all achieve a degree of isolation, and benefit from it, and Lent is a good time to do this.  Try to find some time this Lent - whether it's a block of a few days, or a certain time each day, or each week, whatever is right for you - take the phone off the hook, switch off the TV, ignore the doorbell, and allow yourself to be......isolated.  Don't think of this as a deprivation, but as a wonderful and all-too-rare opportunity.  (The word isolation comes originally from the Latin insula, which means ‘an island'.  So, if you like, think of this isolation as a trip to a remote and beautiful island for you to explore.) 

I wish you all a holy and blessed Lent.