2 1/2 minutes a day

At a conference I attended in Arizona last week, the presenter noted that each day between Ash Wednesday and Easter, residents of the Northern Hemisphere experience about 2 1/2 additional minutes of light. He went on to suggest that if each of us spent those extra minutes purposefully, our hearts would be better able to receive the light of Easter.

Some have suggested that his calculation was off; I truly don’t care about the statement’s accuracy, though. I felt as though I had been given a gift, and I don’t wish to be confused by the facts!

I’ve never been very good at Lent, and I often think of my friend who called it “the liturgical season of failure.” Most years, it seems, I begin Lent resolved to change my life completely and then fix the world, as well.

And most years, I end the season more aware of my flaws and less tolerant of them. Forty days and 40 nights, whether one includes Sundays or not, seems a very long time.

2 ½ minutes, on the other hand, is about the time it takes to walk down the hall for a cup of coffee. Or iron a blouse or fix a turkey sandwich or perform any of a hundred other mindless tasks most people do every day.

2 1/2 minutes — 150 seconds — is manageable. I may not be able to change my life or cure the world’s ills, but I’m fairly certain I can carve out 2 1/2 minutes to reflect on a verse of scripture or give thanks for the gifts of the day or simply sit in silent awareness of the presence of Providence. And I’m fairly certain that doing so will make a big difference.

2 1/2 minutes a day — how will you spend it?