It won’t be long until Ash Wednesday begins a new Lenten season.  And while deep roots for neither of these moments exist in my own tradition, I am grateful for the opportunity they supply for both reflection and action.  And, as with many such times, they are great for trying to tie up loose ends in preparation for whatever is next.

I’ve been working on Nicholas Carr’s Superbloom for a few weeks now.  I’ve got three chapters left, which I’d like to finish by the end of next week.  I’m almost done with Truly Seeking God by Bernard Bonowitz, ocso.  I came across the title a few weeks ago over at Erik Varden’s blog and am very glad that it is everything Varden said and more.  The book is a nice primer on monastic life, both in the abstract and the personal.  It helps that the chapters are short and can be read between stops on the bus.

I just finished up season two of The Recruit on Netflix.  I started the show a few weeks ago thinking it was The Night Agent.  It is not.  But I actually enjoy The Recruit more.  I’m hoping that the show gets picked up for a third season, but the season two finale was much better than the season one finale, which wasn’t much of an ending at all.  I’ve got one episode left of The Night Agent, which I’ve also enjoyed (but which is also a more straightforward show compared to The Recruit).  It’s already been picked up for another season, which is good.  Community viewing these days is Severance on Apple+.  The second season has been worth the wait, and every episode packs just enough punch to keep the questions coming.

The third quarter of the school year is wrapping up.  We’re done next Thursday.  Things are planned out well for the next week-and-a-half, but “the best laid plans of mice and men” and all that.

I’m still formulating things when it comes to Lent (and spring break) plans.  I’ll definitely keep as much of my routine going as possible.  Beyond that, there’s car work to be done as well as dermatologist and chiropractor visits to take care of.  I need to attempt a perpetually-pushed-back deep clean of the apartment, too.

My more liturgical friends recently asked me what I was doing for Lent.  I’m more of an “add things in” and a “shape what’s already there” guy than a “give this up” guy.   I think I’m okay with that, though I could be wrong.  I like how one Franciscan friar put it: we are journeying with Jesus as a reflection of his own time in the desert, and that time in the desert was above all a time of intimacy with the Father.  I find great comfort in that.