Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil. Joel 2:13 
Will Lent ever be understood unless we believe deep in our hearts that God, our creator, is loving, gracious, merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love?
Surely part of Lent is believing that this God we serve is not out to get us, not out to shame us, not out to take us out.
So during Lent we return, believing that we will be welcomed into the arms of a loving Father.
Is that how you understand Lent?
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