Preparing the Way: Visual Practices That Lead Us into Lent
Lent doesn’t arrive all at once. It approaches quietly often while we are still carrying the brightness of Epiphany and the routines of ordinary days. Before the ashes, before the purple, before the call to repentance, there is an invitation to notice.
This in-between time is a gift. It allows clergy, educators, and households to begin shifting not with urgency, but with intention. Preparing for Lent doesn’t mean doing more, it means seeing differently.
Noticing Before Changing
Before we alter a worship space or introduce new practices, Lent invites us to pay attention. What visuals are already present? What rhythms feel rushed or cluttered? What colors, objects, or habits are shaping our attention right now?
This noticing, gentle and observant, creates space for meaningful transition. It helps us discern what might need to be simplified, quieted, or set aside so that Lent can speak clearly when it arrives.
Visual Cues That Whisper, Not Shout
Pre-Lent is not the time for dramatic shifts. Instead, it’s a season for subtle visual cues:
Clearing a table or shelf to leave room for a future symbol
Introducing natural elements like stone, branches, or simple cloth
Reducing visual noise so that what remains can be held with care
These small changes prepare the eye and the heart for the depth Lent will bring.
Shifting Rhythms, Gently
Lent often asks us to slow down, but slowing down takes practice. This is a good time to begin:
Pausing before meetings or meals
Shortening rather than adding devotions
Creating moments of quiet in classrooms, homes, or worship planning
These are not grand gestures. They are acts of readiness.
Preparing Spaces at Home and in Worship
Whether you are preparing a sanctuary, a classroom, or a kitchen table, the same question applies: What story are we about to tell?
Pre-Lent is an opportunity to align our spaces with the story of repentance, reflection, and renewal, so that when Lent begins, the visuals already feel grounded and intentional rather than abrupt.
Making Room for What’s Coming
Preparing the way for Lent is not about perfection. It’s about posture. A posture of openness. Of humility. Of willingness to be shaped.
When we give ourselves time to notice, to shift visuals, rhythms, and attention slowly, we honor the depth of the season ahead. We allow Lent to arrive not as an interruption, but as a natural unfolding.
Ash Wednesday will come soon enough. For now, we prepare by paying attention.
