I am not naturally athletic – it is a challenge for me to get the top half and the bottom half of my body to move at the same time. And I have no sense of rhythm. So how can I follow an exercise teacher who has spent his whole life studying and teaching dance and who notices every move in that truth-telling mirror?
I discovered the answer. If I stand directly behind him, he can’t see me in the mirror! So I carefully place myself behind him. I cannot see myself, so I follow his movements as exactly as I can – after some months I begin to feel that I am moving exactly as the teacher is.
As the weeks pass, and I become thoroughly familiar with the teacher’s movements, I am able to stand anywhere – to see myself in the mirror and still move in time. I can stand the scrutiny of the teacher.
For those who define themselves as Christians, the exercise class is our Christian life, and our teacher is Jesus. He is given to us so that we can pattern ourselves after him, watching him so closely we lose sight of ourselves, and see only him in our lives.
In the season of Lent, which lasts for forty days before the celebration of Christ’s resurrection on Easter (and excepting Sundays which are always seen as ‘little’ Easters) Christians often choose to give up something, to reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice for us, to recommit themselves to a life of faith. Jesus shows us the moves.