Smoothing Out Our Rough Edges

Claire McGarry reflects back to when her son whittled, recognizing that Lent is similar to the final step in the carving process.

When my son, Zack, was thirteen, he took up whittling. It was amazing to see him cut away chunks of wood to reveal the sculpture he’d envisioned within.

The final step outlined in both the How-To-Whittle book I got him and the YouTube videos he watched was using sandpaper to gently sand away the jagged edges where he’d cut. Doing so was the difference between a rough creation and a refined masterpiece.

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God created us all to be masterpieces. But it’s an ongoing process. As life chips away at us, our job is to sand away the jagged edges. There’s no better time for that than Lent.

There’s something about denying ourselves something, while simultaneously pursuing the heart of God more, that clarifies where we’ve gone astray. Putting in a concerted effort to journey with Jesus through the desert brings down our defenses and helps us see where we’ve justified bad behaviors for our own comfort.

It’s that lens of truth that God is calling us to look through. It’s what helps us see beyond our outer bad choices and into the person we’re supposed to be.

Zack gave up whittling because that’s what thirteen-year-olds do. They lose interest and move on to other things.

Fortunately for us, God never loses interest; He never moves on. He will always be there to help us cut away what doesn’t contribute to our inner beauty and the ultimate health of our soul.

We can’t lose interest either. It is still Lent. Our desert time isn’t over yet. There’s more benefit to be gained from it.

Pray for the grace to stay the course as you gently smooth away what’s keeping you from becoming a masterpiece.

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