As we look out our windows or venture outside, we see everywhere around us the signs of spring and new life beginning to burst forth. The sky is blue, there may be calves being born, green shoots are all over, and we hear the bird song with increasing frequency throughout the day.

Days are getting longer, and many of us rejoice at that. While all of these signs of renewed life bring joy and comfort, we still find ourselves in a time of “not quite yet.”

This “not quite yet” time is what we Christians call Lent. Lent is a solemn time as we prepare to celebrate the great feast of Easter. Lent is a time for reflection on how we may not have loved God and our neighbor quite as well as we might.

Lent is a time to repent. We often think of repentance to mean feeling regret, sorrow, and wailing about how awful we are. While it is necessary to look at ourselves with honesty and to recognize when we have done wrong and make amends where we can, a definition of repentance that seems most appropriate during this time is simply to turn towards or return to God.

If we turn towards God that allows us to grow in love towards him and our neighbor. We often give something up, like chocolate, or our favorite food as a means of repentance during Lent. Others take up a spiritual practice in order to do so. What matters most though is that our hearts turn towards God in love, and that our love extends towards each other.

This is our great preparation in this “not quite yet” time as we move towards the celebration of Easter and fully embracing new life. As we move closer to the new life that we see emerging all around us, may we also move to the new life in God that we will celebrate as we look towards Easter.