The Reminder of Lent

I recently read an online reflection about what the season of Lent offers us each year.  (In the middle of it, I actually chuckled about how Lent creates space in our lives -- in the church, Lent tends to be a season of extra activity.)  While the piece starts slowly, it grabbed me with one fantastic paragraph:

It's a sobering thought: the way I live my life can diminish not only my humanity but the humanity of people around me.  Being honest about the fact is not just important or "a good thing to do."  It is critical if I want to make a break with the past -- to renegotiate the story I am living about what makes up a good life.

The article by Tim Keel, who is Senior Pastor of Jacob's Well Church in Kansas City, probably focuses too much on the act of giving things up for Lent (as you have probably noticed, I tend to focus more on spiritual formation and teaching than fasting during Lent, though both have ancient roots).  But I greatly appreciate, especially as we are talking about seeing our faith journey from the bondage of sin to the Kingdom of God in a way that parallels the Exodus of the Hebrews, this clear statement about the truths we have to see in our own lives in order to be open to the change that God has in store for us.

What in our lives is getting in our way?  What is distracting us?  How are we creating roadblocks on our pilgrims' journeys?  What can we learn, in this time and place, to improve this?